Supergirl #40-- Spoilers and Review [Archive]

HaroldAllnut

04-22-2009, 06:42 PM

Now we've come down to it, haven't we, ladies and gentlemen?!

Without further ado, a brief plot summary:

Supergirl leaves the MPD station, but not before theorizing that Thara Ak-Var could possibly be Superwoman. As Major Lucy Lane enters the Inspector's office, she mentions the last location where Reactron was seen, and Supergirl bolts off. She thinks she sees Superwoman in the distance, but it was merely a cloth decoy set up by Reactron. They skirmish, and she tears out his gold kryptonite heart, tossing it off of a skyscraper; he dives after it and seemingly disappears.

Jimmy Olsen, Lana Lang, and Cat Grant appear at a student journalism awards ceremony. Cat manages to catch Lana in a pickle about Supergirl's identity; when Lana mentions that her niece is in town, Cat asks whether Lana's niece is the daughter of Lana's brother or sister. Before Lana has to answer, the Supergirl/Reactron battle causes an explosion downtown, distracting Cat from the previous conversation. Later, as the three reporters leave, Lana collapses, spewing blood from her nose.

After battling Reactron, Supergirl examines the decoy and notices something that allows her to discover Superwoman's identity.

Later, Inspector Henderson (was that his name?) is murdered by Superwoman with a heat beam eye blast to the chest. Supergirl bursts in right after the murder is committed, piledrives Superwoman through a wall and tears off her mask--revealing Superwoman to be none other than Major Lucy Lane!

Sterling Gates and Jamal Igle continue to knock it out of the park. This is a great and severely underrated title.

d newton

04-22-2009, 07:18 PM

Okay, so how did Superwoman find out about Kara's mission to get Reactron then?

americocaine

04-22-2009, 07:34 PM

I guess this was obvious from the get-go? Or maybe not?

CYOTI

04-22-2009, 07:59 PM

No it wasn't since people were swearing up and down that it was Lana or Alura.

Retro315

04-22-2009, 08:02 PM

I guess this was obvious from the get-go? Or maybe not?

It was down to either her or Lana Lang, and Lucy's the more obvious choice. Working for General Lane ... trying to prove something ... god knows what kind of secrets and connections.

I've got plenty of speculation, but right now I'm just enjoying how appropriate it is, since Lois Lane herself has donned a "super-suit" and borrowed some powers and become Superwoman, as recently as in All-Star Superman.

My big theory on how she got her powers is Blue or Orange Kryptonite's new status, but we'll find out. Meanwhile, we can tally just how many assets General Lane has (even if some of them are wild cards).

Lex Luthor
Brainiac
Metallo
Reactron
Superwoman
Atlas
Codename: Assassin

And more than likely Captain Atom will be joining that list in some manner or another. If the guy is looking for a way to take out Superman and every other Kryptonian, he's well on his way. And to think, this'll probably escalate into a full-scale super-battle between his forces and Zod's ...

Doc Goblin

04-23-2009, 06:03 AM

So Superwoman is Lucy Lang after all. Kind of cheap how we were shown Lucy and Superwoman allegedly at the same time in different parts of the city at the end of last issue to throw us off her as the prime suspect. Not the best way to keep a mystery going.

I wonder how this is going to be explained. Not sure Superwoman's appearances in the New Krypton arc match up well with the idea that she is Lucy Lang. Having an apartment in Kandor, being fluent in Kryptonese. Stuff like that. I wouldn't be surprised if this was the same as the situation with Flamebird and Nightwing with Johns & co. not having clear idea about it when setting it up.

Lois' sister is being portrayed pretty damn evil though. She's killed... what? Two undeserving people in cold blood so far?

Bored at 3:00AM

04-23-2009, 07:02 AM

I was hoping they were gonna reveal Superwoman as Lana Lang instead of the painfully obvious Lucy Lane. But, you never know, maybe this is all a clever fake out on Gates' part.

Either way, my enthusiasm for Supergirl has begun to wane again. The Metallo-lite Reactron doesn't really do it for me and I can't muster up much interest in any of the supporting cast.

I'm glad that the creative trainwreck that this comic used to be is over, but I think I'm done with Supergirl for the time being.

Nothing in particular wrong with the comic. It's got solid art and writing, but there's better stuff out there right now.

Mia

04-23-2009, 09:57 AM

Lois' sister is being portrayed pretty damn evil though. She's killed... what? Two undeserving people in cold blood so far?

I'm not up on the Soupie verse. Has Lucy Lane always been this nasty? Or is it something contrived for this storyline?

md62

04-23-2009, 10:50 AM

Mat001

04-23-2009, 11:29 AM

I'm not up on the Soupie verse. Has Lucy Lane always been this nasty? Or is it something contrived for this storyline?

We last saw Lucy in "That Healing Touch", back in 2005. This is a new development for Lucy, but it's been about three years comic time since she was last seen before "New Krypton".

Seraku

04-23-2009, 12:03 PM

Gates has done the impossible: he's made Supergirl seem cool

mark my words, he'll go far in this business

Mia

04-23-2009, 12:15 PM

Gates has done the impossible: he's made Supergirl seem cool

mark my words, he'll go far in this business

I agree that he's a very good storyteller and the book is very enjoyable. But I don't know why you think he made her 'cool'. All he did was reverse the characterisation (mostly) to what it was from issues 1-19.

But too many people have pointed out that Gates's SG breaks into tears way too much and unquestioningly takes orders from her shrewish mother and craves the approval of others. Something that the Loeb/Kelly one never did.
We last saw Lucy in "That Healing Touch", back in 2005. This is a new development for Lucy, but it's been about three years comic time since she was last seen before "New Krypton".

Thanks for the answer. I'm not that familiar with the character. Seems as if Gates has a penchant for writing fiesty/hell to contend with women. Which adds flavour to the stories.

Ms. M

04-23-2009, 02:19 PM

The character of Lucy Lane has been pretty directionless since they took her away from her Silver Age function of being Jimmy's girlfriend. I suppose making her into a villain is a direction of sorts, though it is a little extreme for Lois to have two evil/crazy family members.

I've missed some issues, but have they gone into the status of her marriage to Ron, another underdeveloped Superman supporting character?

Karl O'Neill

04-23-2009, 02:21 PM

This is a cool issue. really loving the creative team on this title.

top mark all around.

Toonimator

04-23-2009, 03:52 PM

I suppose making her into a villain is a direction of sorts, though it is a little extreme for Lois to have two evil/crazy family members.
It's all set-up for 2011's big storyline, The Madness of Lois Lane. Her dad & sis went evil partly due to a mental defect in their genes... Lois eventually suffers a break after a traumatic event and goes nuts thanks to the same defect. Clark will get her through it, of course, correcting the genetic flaw, but it'll be a crazy time with Evil Lois in a lot of the DC books for the duration...

...and at the end, of course, we find out that Lois is pregnant!

But that's all in the future. Lucy Lane as Superwoman, well it's one of the two most obvious choices (Thara being the other one, nixed once we found out she's Flamebird). So, why the hell is Lana collapsing at the same time Superwoman is raising hell? I gotta check on the recent issues, since the nosebleed isn't the first clue that something's wrong with her, and I'm not sure if it's the first time it coincides with Superwoman activity. Could be connecting dots from two separate puzzles though. :tongue:

DonC

04-23-2009, 05:21 PM

I was hoping they were gonna reveal Superwoman as Lana Lang instead of the painfully obvious Lucy Lane. But, you never know, maybe this is all a clever fake out on Gates' part.

I was too. Figuring it was Lucy didn't really dimish the story much, though. So that was a plus. And, like you, I'm starting to think there might be better stuff out there. With more and more books hitting $3.99 every month, I'm having to cut back on my pull list. I recently dropped Teen Titans and I think Supergirl might be next. It's not a comment on the quality, just the times we live in.

Karl O'Neill

04-23-2009, 05:58 PM

is supergirl increasing in price?

I think supergirl is a pretty good at the moment, what makes a 3.99 comic worth buying over supergirl? The most populer character staring in it or the actual quality? which can't be judged yet until the put the prices up and people read them.

what I am saying,I am done with supergirl as of next issue, I only wanted to read this arc because it spun out of new krypton and i liked the premise of the story.

not a huge supergirl fan generally.

Mia

04-23-2009, 06:13 PM

Well I won't be dropping the book with the price increase. Provided of course the writting is up to par. I've gone to collecting most of my books in TPB form. But I find SG a compelling enough read to want to read it every month.

KET

04-23-2009, 06:20 PM

Gates has done the impossible: he's made Supergirl seem cool

He has? Seems like the current incarnation is still a cipher with all the usual 'misunderstood teenager' cliches still in place.

I'm still waiting for the character to actually do something that's deserving of her name.

Gates played his overhyped 'mystery' hand way too obviously.

md62

04-23-2009, 07:14 PM

Well I won't be dropping the book with the price increase.

There is no price increase. The book is listed at $3 (at least thru July!).

DonC

04-23-2009, 08:27 PM

Yeah, what I meant was that is that with comics in general getting more expensive, I'm having to cut back on the number of books I get.

WorstThingUS

04-24-2009, 12:12 AM

I'm not up on the Soupie verse. Has Lucy Lane always been this nasty? Or is it something contrived for this storyline?

Something for this storyline. Last we saw her, she was married to Ron Troupe and they had a kid. Now suddenly she's in the army, a Major (a rank that takes about a decade to reach and remember she's the younger sister) and now obviously being controlled by her crazy father. In the end she'll break free of his control and weep about all the horrible things she was made to do because you just can't give Lois Lane two murderously crazy family members. The only question is he using the same "evil juice" that Deathstroke used on Batgirl?

dupersuper

04-24-2009, 12:41 AM

Remember when Lucy was a happily married mother who loved her sister and never killed any one with eye beams? She was a married mom in the golden age to, long before she switched to dating Jimmy in the silver, then left Jimmy for Ron in the modern age. Still, golden, silver, bronze or modern, I miss Lucy, her relatively happy family, and her lack of killer laser eyes and deranged daddy-instilled psychosis.

Mat001

04-24-2009, 12:04 PM

A military rank that could've been falsified with the help of the Calculator. It's not like that kind of thing hasn't happened before. We also don't know everything about what's going on yet. There's two more issues to go.

Karl O'Neill

04-24-2009, 12:10 PM

I liked the reveal, I mean, who else could it be? that would work as well?

WorstThingUS

04-24-2009, 02:27 PM

A military rank that could've been falsified with the help of the Calculator. It's not like that kind of thing hasn't happened before.

That makes no sense. She's not "pretending" to be a major. She clearly works in the military and you can't work in the military under a faked rank. For Lucy to be a major it would a) obviously be the result of favoritism for being the late Sam Lane's daughter or b) a deliberate abuse of his power by the very much living Sam Lane, which is the most logical answer. Either way it would still raise eyebrows and resentment to the people around and definitely under her.

Now this is obviously a detail that plays no greater part on the story, but it's one of those annoying things done by writers that pull some of us out of a story because it's dumb and obviously there simply because the writer thought it "sounded cool" and didn't give it a second thought. He wanted Lucy to sound hardcore and committed, so he thought "major" sounded good without looking into it. It's like casting Zac Efron as a police detective or when Nicole Kidman played a 26-year-old brain surgeon. You're too busy giggling to take the character seriously after that.

CBikle

04-24-2009, 03:02 PM

WorstThingUS

04-24-2009, 05:06 PM

Yeah, but General Lane is doing a lot of things that would raise eyebrows in the conventional military like routinely assassinating other US operatives like Agent Liberty and dropping Doomsday in the middle of an American city in order to sabotage a diplomatic meeting between representatives of New Krypton and the POTUS (who seems to be unaware of Lane's status).

Lucy Lane receiving a somewhat nepotistic "battlefield promotion" to major, is the least troubling of General Lane's actions.

True, but all his other actions are covert and not really subject to general scrutiny. This is something everyone sees. But like I said, this isn't a major (heh, I made a funny) story issue, just an annoyance.

Captain Jim

04-24-2009, 09:39 PM

She was a married mom in the golden age to,

Really? I had no idea she was around during the golden age!

So Superwoman is Lucy Lang after all... I wonder how this is going to be explained. Not sure Superwoman's appearances in the New Krypton arc match up well with the idea that she is Lucy Lang. Having an apartment in Kandor, being fluent in Kryptonese. Stuff like that.

I'd forgotten about those things. You raise valid points.

My opinion: I'm still enjoying this book and have no plans to drop it anytime soon. In fact, with the upcoming summer crossover of all of the Superman books, I don't plan to drop any of them now (even Superman, which I like the least).

md62

04-25-2009, 05:14 AM

I don't think this Superwoman is really Lucy Lane. Somehow she is being mind controlled & given powers by magic/"comic book pseudo-science" or she is a Martian seeking revenge on Superman. The second explanation would explain her powers & it would be ironic considering General Lane's anti-alien feelings.

Mat001

04-25-2009, 12:12 PM

That makes no sense. She's not "pretending" to be a major. She clearly works in the military and you can't work in the military under a faked rank. For Lucy to be a major it would a) obviously be the result of favoritism for being the late Sam Lane's daughter or b) a deliberate abuse of his power by the very much living Sam Lane, which is the most logical answer. Either way it would still raise eyebrows and resentment to the people around and definitely under her.

It'd be both. And it can still be a faked rank. She could go through basic training, finish that and then have someone do some dirty work here and there. Birbery and what not. Putting her name up to the top of the list for promotions by having someone do so.

Now this is obviously a detail that plays no greater part on the story, but it's one of those annoying things done by writers that pull some of us out of a story because it's dumb and obviously there simply because the writer thought it "sounded cool" and didn't give it a second thought. He wanted Lucy to sound hardcore and committed, so he thought "major" sounded good without looking into it. It's like casting Zac Efron as a police detective or when Nicole Kidman played a 26-year-old brain surgeon. You're too busy giggling to take the character seriously after that.

Doesn't bother me in the slightest. But then again, I don't get bent out of shape over such things.

WorstThingUS

04-25-2009, 12:38 PM

It'd be both. And it can still be a faked rank. She could go through basic training, finish that and then have someone do some dirty work here and there. Birbery and what not. Putting her name up to the top of the list for promotions by having someone do so.

What I described and what you describe are all examples of unearned rank, not faked rank, because like I said, you cannot fake a rank and work in the military. Not to mention, if you have to make up all these stories in your head for stories to work then exactly what are these writers being paid for?

Doesn't bother me in the slightest. But then again, I don't get bent out of shape over such things.

That type of thinking justifies all kinds of laziness in terms of creators everywhere. "Oh, no one cares. It's just a movie. So like I was saying, Miley Cyrus is heart surgeon..." In the film Stakeout, Emilio Estevez is also too young to be a detective, so they make a point in the film of how hard he had to reach that rank at such a young age, which also plays into his character. That's the work of people who people who were creative enough to reconcile what they wanted to do with not insulting the intelligence of their audience.

I've enjoyed Sterling Gates' work so far, but if he cared more there'd be a reason why Lucy is a major at such a young age.

Rev. Calibos

04-25-2009, 01:03 PM

Well, however unlikely it seems that she could have become a major so quickly it IS possible, just not likely.

For instance, depending on when she entered the service (I don't know that much about her character, her education, etc) and under what conditions she could have attended OCS which is about two months I think. Upon completion she would have been a Lt. If she had spent time overseas she would have climbed through the ranks pretty quickly as an overseas tour is usually a good bet if one wanted to get promoted early.

If you just did the absolute minimum.....it takes about 9-10 years to go from Lt. to Major, but overseas, a squared away officer could probably shave that right down to five years which puts us at about the time frame ( I think) that she's been gone.

If she was a Colonel or something that would be one thing, but Major, although unlkely, is still within the realm of reason.

I'm digging this series. I begrudgingly picked it up because it was a part of New Krypton but I gave it a shot. Initially there was just something so disturbing seeing that diamond on the cover.....

It's a decent read though, Supergirl is a character that has a lot of potential and when we saw her confessing that she sometimes wished it was her mother that had been killed?

THAT'S when I was hooked, lol. This isn't the cheesecake, Turner pin-up Supergirl that I was so terrified of when I first picked up the book, this is the Supergirl that we deserve, a character strong enough that she's able to stand on her own outside of her cousin's shadow.

CMBMOOL

04-25-2009, 05:34 PM

Wow, I wonder how Lois and Clark will take the news ? :eek:

WorstThingUS

04-25-2009, 07:16 PM

This isn't the cheesecake, Turner pin-up Supergirl that I was so terrified of when I first picked up the book, this is the Supergirl that we deserve, a character strong enough that she's able to stand on her own outside of her cousin's shadow.

Wow, I wonder how Lois and Clark will take the news ? :eek:

And that's the cruel irony of the book. Even as it gets more interesting on its own, it's only because it's being tied more to Superman. It doesn't bother me (I focus on weird things like a character's rank), but this hardly establishes her on her own with her own villains, because these are Superman's problems. What I'm saying is, this is his father-in-law and his sister-in-law doing evil deeds in his costume eventually causing tremendous pain to his wife.

Rev. Calibos

04-25-2009, 07:28 PM

And that's the cruel irony of the book. Even as it gets more interesting on its own, it's only because it's being tied more to Superman. It doesn't bother me (I focus on weird things like a character's rank), but this hardly establishes her on her own with her own villains, because these are Superman's problems. What I'm saying is, this is his father-in-law and his sister-in-law doing evil deeds in his costume eventually causing tremendous pain to his wife.

True, but I see Supergirl's growing confilct with her mother to be the better, more compelling story compared to the physical threat provided by Lucy.

While Lucy can pound the stuffing out of her, I'm more concerned with the icy, manipulative manner Kara's mother has been treating her.

_OM_

04-26-2009, 12:04 AM

I'm not up on the Soupie verse. Has Lucy Lane always been this nasty? Or is it something contrived for this storyline?

...It's a post FC retcon, where they've also removed her being married to Ron Troupe, as well as any semblance of her being ever kissypoo with Jimmy Olsen. I predict in the end we'll find she's been made as close to permanently Kryptonian as possible, Sam Lane will reject her because of it, and Lucy will punch his square head inside out and send it off to become the Bizarro World's first satellite.

paulski

04-26-2009, 01:16 AM

Superwoman? Yeah, like the rest of the world, I picked it. :wink:

Mat001

04-26-2009, 12:23 PM

Actually, they haven't said that Lucy wasn't married to Ron. Nor that she dated Jimmy. It's not like couples cannot get divorced. And save for that one or two issue appearence during Rucka's run, Lucy's been out of the books since at least 2000. Enough time for her to enter the military.

What I described and what you describe are all examples of unearned rank, not faked rank, because like I said, you cannot fake a rank and work in the military. Not to mention, if you have to make up all these stories in your head for stories to work then exactly what are these writers being paid for?

It could very well be an unearned rank, but one that was faked after she completed basic training and such. Remember, if Batman and Oracle can fake documents, someone else can do so just as easily.

I've enjoyed Sterling Gates' work so far, but if he cared more there'd be a reason why Lucy is a major at such a young age.

You assume that he doesn't care. Did it ever occur to you that it could become a plot point that would be addressed later on?

Ms. M

04-26-2009, 06:09 PM

Now that I think about it, I wouldn't be at all surprised if Lucy's marriage and particularly her kid have been retconned out. It would hardly be the first time a child character in the Superman series has been retconned out of existence (heard about Lena Luthor lately?)

If Lucy's child is still around, Lucy must be one of the world's worst moms, though it would fit in with the bad mom trend in Super-comics (Allura, Ursa).

HaroldAllnut

04-26-2009, 11:35 PM

My opinion: I'm still enjoying this book and have no plans to drop it anytime soon. In fact, with the upcoming summer crossover of all of the Superman books, I don't plan to drop any of them now (even Superman, which I like the least).

Hold it... There's a Supes crossover coming up this summer? SO SOON?!

IvCNuB4

04-27-2009, 08:12 AM

Wow, I wonder how Lois and Clark will take the news ? :eek:

Well, in Supergirl #42 (http://www.dccomics.com/dcu/comics/?cm=11879) ...

Written by Sterling Gates; Art by Jamal Igle and Jon Sibal; Cover by Joshua Middleton

Supergirl has answered the question "Who is Superwoman?" but there's more to the mystery! In this dramatic epilogue issue, Supergirl must deliver devastating news to one of Superman's closest allies! And something strange is going on with Lana Lang – can anyone help her before it's too late? Back on New Krypton, Alura is none too happy with her daughter – leading to some drastic consequences for our Girl of Steel!

WorstThingUS

04-27-2009, 09:08 AM

It could very well be an unearned rank, but one that was faked after she completed basic training and such. Remember, if Batman and Oracle can fake documents, someone else can do so just as easily.

You really don't get it, do you? She's not sneaking in the for the day. She works there. People see her every day. Her father is a well known general who died very publicly in action. It would be noticed if she just "turned up" one day with a new rank. I'll say it one more time: you cannot work in the military with a fake rank.

You assume that he doesn't care. Did it ever occur to you that it could become a plot point that would be addressed later on?

No. As I said before, it's a common occurrence in fiction to place people too young in prominent positions (doctor, cops, military) with little knowledge about the reality of it. It can be "fixed" easily, but at face value it's just a mistake.

Vic Vega

04-27-2009, 09:37 AM

...It's a post FC retcon, where they've also removed her being married to Ron Troupe, as well as any semblance of her being ever kissypoo with Jimmy Olsen. I predict in the end we'll find she's been made as close to permanently Kryptonian as possible, Sam Lane will reject her because of it, and Lucy will punch his square head inside out and send it off to become the Bizarro World's first satellite.

If this is the case it would explain everything. It not like Troupe has mentioned being married or having a kid in his brief apperances to date.

This Lucy Lane might have joined the Army the first chance she got. Not to mention what ever experimentation she submitted herself to might have come with a promotion in rank.

Mat001

04-27-2009, 11:37 AM

You really don't get it, do you? She's not sneaking in the for the day. She works there. People see her every day. Her father is a well known general who died very publicly in action. It would be noticed if she just "turned up" one day with a new rank. I'll say it one more time: you cannot work in the military with a fake rank.

No, you don't get it. I never said that she just turned up one day with a fake rank. I said that someone forged the documents pushing her up to the rank of major. Also, this is fiction. You can do whatever you want.

No. As I said before, it's a common occurrence in fiction to place people too young in prominent positions (doctor, cops, military) with little knowledge about the reality of it. It can be "fixed" easily, but at face value it's just a mistake.

It's also possible that Gates did research it and has it worked out for future issues. But of course, that's too much to take a leap of faith and just quickly condem it as a mistake and lazy. You just assume it is a mistake. Do not assume until all the facts are in.

CYOTI

04-27-2009, 11:46 AM

No. As I said before, it's a common occurrence in fiction to place people too young in prominent positions (doctor, cops, military) with little knowledge about the reality of it. It can be "fixed" easily, but at face value it's just a mistake. No it's not. At face value, it's almost certain that she is in there as a pawn of her dad's anti superman plans or else it's nepotism owing to her father being an ex-secretary of defense and a big league hero and general.

WorstThingUS

04-27-2009, 11:46 AM

No, you don't get it. I never said that she just turned up one day with a fake rank. I said that someone forged the documents pushing her up to the rank of major. Also, this is fiction. You can do whatever you want.

No, you can't do that either because that's not how the military works and that's a sad way to look at creative work. You are a lazy writer's dream audience, demanding nothing and accepting everything.

CYOTI

04-27-2009, 11:56 AM

Captain Jim

04-27-2009, 05:10 PM

Hold it... There's a Supes crossover coming up this summer? SO SOON?!

Yep, all of the July Superman solicitations make reference to "next month’s crossover event in the SUPERMAN books!" (i.e., the August issues).

WorstThingUS

04-27-2009, 08:39 PM

Wait so you don't think that a general who can get away with assassinating foreign leaders, okaying attacks on the nation's capitol without presidential approval and arming and using mass murders and criminals can't manage to alter military personnel records?

What is this obsession with altering records!?! As a general with obvious broad covert powers, he wouldn't have to alter records, he'd just arrange for her to be promoted, period. He wouldn't have to fake it. Though as a military brat and Pulitzer Prize winning reporter, Lois would notice her baby sister's severe jump ahead in rank in such a short period of time.

But as I said before, pages back, the explainable way is that he's responsible. I'm just not giving Sterling credit for that having that in mind all along when he decided she was a major. I think he falls under the heading of the same people who decided Nicole Kidman was fine as a 26-year-old brain surgeon. They simply don't understand the time frame involved in reaching such a level of success. They're just thinking about how cool it looks. We'll see by the end if I'm right or wrong in the inevitable "This is how I did it" monologue Sam Lane will have.

CBikle

04-27-2009, 09:18 PM

I think that Project 7734 is General Lane's operation and is so very, very far off the books and covert, that it barely classifies as any legitimate arm of the U.S. military.

However, for a deceased U.S. general, Lane seems to still have a lot of juice, so much so, that he was able to fast-track his daughter's military rank to major.

Sure, Lucy would be considered unqualified for the position, but in the DCU, unqualified people rising to positions of great governmental power has been happening for years.

Both Harvey Bullock and Maxwell Lord ran Checkmate for chrissakes.

WorstThingUS

04-27-2009, 09:23 PM

CBikle

04-27-2009, 09:35 PM

Bullock!?! How is that possible!?!

Actually, he was only a bishop in Checkmate (still that's pretty good for a notoriously corrupt Gotham cop with no real experience in espionage or geopolitics.)

Harvey Bullock info in Wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Bullock_(comics))

This was all waay early in Checkmate's history (and has probably been retconned), but the stories I read, led you to believe that Bullock wielded a lot of power in his role.

Also, Roy Harper, an ex-junkie who later fathered a child ( showing a lot of good judgment all around) with a supervillain terrorist also ran Checkmate for awhile

CYOTI

04-27-2009, 09:45 PM

What is this obsession with altering records!?!
Because it's obvious that Sam Lane is working off the grid without oversight or authorization from military or civilian higher-ups with his attack on New Krypton and the murders of zor-el and Agent Liberty and also evidenced by his willingness to authorize the murders of American civilians who have had contact with his agents.

But as I said before, pages back, the explainable way is that he's responsible. I'm just not giving Sterling credit for that having that in mind all along when he decided she was a major.
So you think it's totally complete coincidence and not planned at all that Major Lucy Lane shows up to take a crucial piece of evidence from the Metropolis Police that could implicate her father in a wide ranging anti-Superman/Kryptonian conspiracy?

d newton

04-27-2009, 10:59 PM

So you think it's totally complete coincidence and not planned at all that Major Lucy Lane shows up to take a crucial piece of evidence from the Metropolis Police that could implicate her father in a wide ranging anti-Superman/Kryptonian conspiracy?
Supergirl 38, pg 11 panel 2:
"I'm Major Lucy Lane. I've been assigned by the President of the United States to investigate Agent Liberty's disappearence, and I find him in a Metropolis morgue being flayed by some cop."
Reread the 5 words in bold, please.

WorstThingUS

04-27-2009, 11:52 PM

Double post.

CYOTI

04-27-2009, 11:52 PM

Supergirl 38, pg 11 panel 2:
"I'm Major Lucy Lane. I've been assigned by the President of the United States to investigate Agent Liberty's disappearence, and I find him in a Metropolis morgue being flayed by some cop."
Reread the 5 words in bold, please.
Reread New Krypton, Agent Liberty had told the president he was investigating those shady dealings before he walked off. Pretty clear in retrospect that she was LYING!

WorstThingUS

04-27-2009, 11:56 PM

So you think it's totally complete coincidence and not planned at all that Major Lucy Lane shows up to take a crucial piece of evidence from the Metropolis Police that could implicate her father in a wide ranging anti-Superman/Kryptonian conspiracy?

Um, what I said was I don't think Sterling thought about her rank too much. I never questioned her role in the plot. I'm stunned how you got from "A" to "Q" like that.

Supergirl 38, pg 11 panel 2:
"I'm Major Lucy Lane. I've been assigned by the President of the United States to investigate Agent Liberty's disappearence, and I find him in a Metropolis morgue being flayed by some cop."
Reread the 5 words in bold, please.

Who the hell are you to bring actual facts into this!?!

another_version

04-28-2009, 12:44 AM

d newton

04-28-2009, 01:15 AM

Pretty clear in retrospect that she was LYING!
Oh? Show me 1 page in Supergirl 37 - 39 where Major Lane and her father are talking with her in the military uniform? Or are you going to say that she was lying about that, as well?

jamal Igle

04-28-2009, 08:07 AM

Remember there are still two more issues to the storyline.

WorstThingUS

04-28-2009, 08:12 AM

Remember there are still two more issues to the storyline.

This is the internet. If we were willing to wait, what would we talk about and work ourselves into a frenzy over!?!

But hey, as long as you're here, let me tell you how pleasantly surprised I am that Superwoman is fully clothed. Half-naked women in comics are a pet peeve of mine and give that Justin Gray mentioned he had to argue to keep his character of Forerunner for Countdown fully clothed I wonder if you were ever asked to "sex her up" a bit. Especially since she's a bad guy and as Mary Marvel has shown us, the more evil you become, the shorter your skirt gets:

http://www.supernovacomics.com/Images/ProductImages/countdown47r3j25.jpg

Rev. Calibos

04-28-2009, 08:13 AM

I just read New Krypton, an am currently reading WoNK, should I be getting the regular Superman, Action Comics, and Supergirl? Are the stories going to be completely necessary, or are they just waiting till Supes gets back?

You don't have to pick up Action, Superman or Supergirl if you're mainly interested in what Superman is doing on New Krypton.

The triangle system is there for folks who are buying everything to get an idea of where everything fits in the overall picture but I'd say that the other titles wouldn't be necessary, they're just detailing what's going on on Earth while Supes is away.

Once WONK ends Superman will make his triumphant return to the pages of Action and Superman, but for the time being Nightwing, Flamebird, the Guardian and Mon-El are taking center stage during his absence.

Mat001

04-28-2009, 11:52 AM

No, it's not necessary to read all four books. But it doesn't hurt either. Each one gives you the broader scope of where they are going. Just because Clark is only in one book right now, doesn't mean that the other books aren't worth checking out. For me, I'm doing so because there are characters in there that I like and have liked for years.

Mon-el

05-05-2009, 09:50 AM

I know Jamal Igle reads these forums....I just want to say Thank you for all your hard work and your dedication for making this a wonderful read the past few months.

Mat001

05-05-2009, 11:56 AM

Here, here. I second that. Oh and I like Reactron's current costume a lot better than his original look from the 80's. I picked up a copy of Doom Patrol during the Kupperberg/Larsen run and that design was not nearly as good as the current one.

Lorendiac

05-06-2009, 08:32 AM

Even though Lucy was revealed to be Superwoman there are still many questions to be answered & two more issues to go in this arc. I have been enjoying Gates portrayal of Kara so I think the answers will make sense...

Someone on another forum suggested that maybe the first "revelation" of Superwoman's identity is just DC playing mindgames with us as they toss out a red herring. With more issues to go, maybe the Real Revelation will be that Superwoman is actually someone else entirely (he suggested). I haven't even been bothering to read the "Supergirl" title, but I understood the guy's basic point. It reminded me of how Jeph Loeb gave us a couple of beautiful false alarms in his 12-part "Hush" story arc before finally getting around to the "real" Big Reveal of who the Mysterious Bandaged Trenchcoat Guy was . . .

Lorendiac

05-06-2009, 08:43 AM

Remember when Lucy was a happily married mother who loved her sister and never killed any one with eye beams? She was a married mom in the golden age to, long before she switched to dating Jimmy in the silver, then left Jimmy for Ron in the modern age.

Really? I had no idea she was around during the golden age!

I got curious about this Golden Age reference myself, so I ran over to Wikipedia to take a look. Here's one paragraph of their entry on Lucy Lane (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_Lane):

In the Golden Age comics, Lois was shown as having had a young niece named Susie Tompkins. Susie's main trait was telling tall tales to adults, and getting into various kinds of mischief. Susie's last appearance was in 1955. While Lois' sister (and Susie's mother) was never shown in the Golden Age comics, after the advent of DC's multiverse in the 1960s, later stories such as Action Comics #484 (from 1978) presented Lucy as having had an Earth-Two counterpart (a married woman named Lucille Tompkins), who was the mother of Susie.

So the answer appears to be: Lucy wasn't exactly around during the Golden Age, but implicitly Lois did have a married sister lurking somewhere offstage; the only things known at the time were that she must have married someone named "Tompkins" and then gave birth to Susie. Eventually it was retconned during the Bronze Age that Susie's mom had been Lucy's Earth-2 analog, Lucille.

Captain Jim

05-06-2009, 06:47 PM

I got curious about this Golden Age reference myself, so I ran over to Wikipedia to take a look. Here's one paragraph of their entry on Lucy Lane (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_Lane):

In the Golden Age comics, Lois was shown as having had a young niece named Susie Tompkins. Susie's main trait was telling tall tales to adults, and getting into various kinds of mischief. Susie's last appearance was in 1955. While Lois' sister (and Susie's mother) was never shown in the Golden Age comics, after the advent of DC's multiverse in the 1960s, later stories such as Action Comics #484 (from 1978) presented Lucy as having had an Earth-Two counterpart (a married woman named Lucille Tompkins), who was the mother of Susie.

So the answer appears to be: Lucy wasn't exactly around during the Golden Age, but implicitly Lois did have a married sister lurking somewhere offstage; the only things known at the time were that she must have married someone named "Tompkins" and then gave birth to Susie. Eventually it was retconned during the Bronze Age that Susie's mom had been Lucy's Earth-2 analog, Lucille.

Thanks, that explains a lot. The truth is, a claim in 1978 that Susie's mother was the Earth 2 Lucy is not at all the same thing as having a Lucy in the golden age.

Fallman

05-08-2009, 09:40 PM

d newton

05-09-2009, 01:03 AM

Are any of the remaining Superwoman guesses on the Newsarama list working for General Lane and co?

KET

05-09-2009, 06:30 AM

Remember there are still two more issues to the storyline.

...and it seems you're not drawing the pivotal one, either. Too bad.

Lorendiac

05-10-2009, 01:36 AM

How old is Lucy supposed to be, and what career is she supposed to have been in, currently? Because from what I've seen of this storyline she looks to be maybe a year or two younger than Lois, and have been military her entire adult life. Which makes her look about thirtyish, which isn't odd for a major who went straight into the military.

Of course, the only time I remember Lucy being on screen with Lois in this arc, my initial impression was that she was the older sister, so.... yeah.

Over on DC's forums, someone has recently asserted that until "Major Lucy Lane" started appearing in the Supergirl title as a possible suspect for the role of "the mysterious new Superwoman," Lucy hadn't been seen or heard from in any Superman-related comic since sometime in 2005. (I assume the guy who says that actually knows what he's talking about.)

In other words, Lucy quietly faded away into comic book limbo before "Infinite Crisis" wrapped up in 2006. So it's perfectly possible that her entire career history was rewritten on the fly by one of Superboy-Prime's Retcon Punches (or other odd stuff going on during IC), with none of us actually noticing at the time! In which case, instead of having been an airline stewardess and then marrying Ron Troupe and so forth, Lucy may simply have followed in Daddy's footsteps and spent the last decade or so as a career military officer who isn't married to Ron Troupe.

(Apparently, since Infinite Crisis, there's been no story or editorial comment -- according to fans on that other forum -- which has clearly said "Lucy is married to Ron" or "Lucy has never been married to Ron or anyone else." So who knows how much of her biography has been rewritten when no one was looking?)

CYOTI

05-10-2009, 09:15 AM

Mat001

05-10-2009, 04:57 PM

Over on DC's forums, someone has recently asserted that until "Major Lucy Lane" started appearing in the Supergirl title as a possible suspect for the role of "the mysterious new Superwoman," Lucy hadn't been seen or heard from in any Superman-related comic since sometime in 2005. (I assume the guy who says that actually knows what he's talking about.)

In other words, Lucy quietly faded away into comic book limbo before "Infinite Crisis" wrapped up in 2006. So it's perfectly possible that her entire career history was rewritten on the fly by one of Superboy-Prime's Retcon Punches (or other odd stuff going on during IC), with none of us actually noticing at the time! In which case, instead of having been an airline stewardess and then marrying Ron Troupe and so forth, Lucy may simply have followed in Daddy's footsteps and spent the last decade or so as a career military officer who isn't married to Ron Troupe.

(Apparently, since Infinite Crisis, there's been no story or editorial comment -- according to fans on that other forum -- which has clearly said "Lucy is married to Ron" or "Lucy has never been married to Ron or anyone else." So who knows how much of her biography has been rewritten when no one was looking?)

Lucy last appeared in "That Healing Touch", which was during Greg Rucka's run and before "Infinite Crisis" began. There's 18 months between "Last Son" and "New Krypton", along with a year for "Infinite Crisis" to "Up, Up & Away". That's three years or so. Lucy mentions being involved with Ron and Jimmy in "New Krypton Special". Matt Idelson seemed to allude to the fact that Ron and Lucy were married, but that their son wouldn't be mentioned. He might've been retconned out.