Speed Reviews for: Supergirl #44, Superman #691 and Superman Annual #14

Since I liked doing the Speed Reviews so much last night, that I think I'll do another batch of them tonight!

Supergirl #44 Writer: Sterling Gates Penciller: Jamel Igle
This is the third part of Codename: Patriot.
What Happened: Gen. Lane purposely let it slip to Ral-Dar that Lane was only using him and that the US President, along with several allies were going to blow up New Krypton. Ral flips out and heads to Markovia, where the President is to meet with his Markovian counter-part. Supes chases after Ral upon learning he was headed to Markovia and Supergirl and Mon-El head to Los Angeles, where Nightwing and Flamebird are inexplicably tearing up the town. We discover it was a trap, and that Nightwing and Flamebird were actually Reactron and Metallo in disguise. Metallo and Reactron(along with Lane's lackey Mirabai)beat up SG and take off, leaving Mon and SG to chase after them.
What I thought: Honestly, there really wasn't much to this comic. It mainly consisted of super-folks flying after each other. Thus far, I think my favorite part of this x-over is Gen. Lane. I'm really enjoying the way he has been pulling every body's strings, and I can't wait to see what his endgame is.
Score: 6 1/2 out of 10The worst kind of Kryptonian? An angry Kryptonian!

Superman #691 Writer: James Robinson Pencils: Renato Guedes & Eduardo Pansika
This is the forth part of Codename: Patriot.
What happened: Mon-El and Supergirl track Nightwing and Flamebird to the sewers of Metropolis where Mon discovers that SG is actually Mirabai in disguise, while Nightwing and Flamebird are Reactron and Metallo. The trio KO Mon and after getting out of there they blow the Metropolis sewer system up, all on the orders of Gen. Lane, who makes it look like an act of Kryptonian terrorism. Superman catches Ral-Dar just as he reaches Markovia, but before either Kryptonian can make a move towards the respective leaders of the US or Markovia, Gen. Lane arrives on the scene and attacks the aliens with Squad K and Kryptonian firing weaponry. Ral is KO'ed in the attack, but Supes is more concerned as to how Lane is alive. Before he can get his answers, he is called back to New Krypton by Alura, who states Supes is urgently needed. Supes leaves with Ral, looking like a traitor to Earth, while Lane comes out smelling like roses.
What I thought: Meh. This comic was OK, but for me there was just something missing... I can't quite put my finger on what the missing aspect is though. I guess I was left feeling kind of unfulfilled. I don't know, I was hoping for something more I guess.
Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.USA! USA! USA! Sorry about that...

Superman Annual #14 Writer: James Robinson Artist: Javier Pina
What Happened: This was a Mon-El origin issue. Daxam was originally established by Kryptonians who colonized the planet and then crossbred with the natives. In time the Daxamites became their own people and began to explore the stars themselves, not as conquerors, like the Kryptonians, but as scientific observers. One such observer visited Earth several hundred years ago and was impregnated by a Terrain. She returned to Daxam and bore the child. From there the Daxamites begin to fear space and after a bloody civil war, they ban all space travel. Years later, Mon comes across an old Daximite ship and escapes from Daxam just as the anti-space forces were closing in on him. He crash lands on Earth, meets a young Clark Kent, and the rest is history. Oh yeah, and Mon is a descendant of the Daxamite who visited Earth, meaning he has some Terrain blood running through his veins.
What I thought: Once again, I was hoping for something more here. The origin of Daxam/Mon-El wasn't particularly interesting or original, and the stuff with Mon's distant ancestor and the earthling was just plain dumb, with some of the hokiest dialogue you'll ever read.
Score: 6 out of 10.Look, it's Mon-El meeting Clark Kent for the first time! Again...

A Quick Look at Action Comics #880

This is the second part of the "Codename: Patriot" storyline and is written by the duo of Greg Rucka and James Robinson. Julian Lopez provides the pencilwork.

-This issue begins with Superman and Supergirl following Ral-Dar(the Kryptonian who shot General Zod)to Earth. As soon as Gen. Lane gets word that three Kryptonians are entering Earth's airspace, he sends several fighter jets to their estimated location as well as alerting the media as to what was happening.

-Ral-Dar smashes the jets, which causes Superman and Supergirl to go after the falling pilots, enabling Ral to escape. Mon-El arrives on the scene to help save the pilots.

-Nightwing and Flamebird hear about the invaders from New Krypton and decide to see if there is anything they can do to help out.

-Superman, Supergirl and Mon-El head to Science Police Headquarters in Metropolis and Supes informs Guardian of what happened on New Krypton. Supes bumps into Lois Lane and she informs him that their adopted son, Christopher, is alive.

-From there we head back to Gen. Lane and discover that he and Ral were in cahoots the whole time and that Lane was not only aware of the assassination attempt on Zod, but that he encouraged it. Apparently, Lane has managed to convince Ral that Zod was hellbent on going to war with the Earth, and that if that were to happen, both planets would wind up being destroyed.

-Nightwing and Flamebird get jumped by the two evil Kryptonians they were chasing the past few issues and give chase. NW and FB follow the Kryptonians into a subway and are immediately knocked to the ground by a strange blast of energy. The two evil Kryptonians beat NW and FB unconscious and we learn that the two Kryptonians were actually Metallo and Reactron in disguise. The weird woman working for Gen. Lane then steps out of the shadows and informs Gen. Lane that phase two of his plans were complete and that they were moving onto phase three.

-There was also a Second Feature starring Captain Atom, but I haven't have the foggiest idea as to what was going on there...

I liked this issue, and enjoyed the revelation that Ral was working with Lane when he tried to assassinate Zod. If(when)the Kryptonians learn of Lane's involvement in the attempt on Zod's life, you have to believe the Kryptonians are going to respond in kind. For a score I'll give this issue a 7 1/2 out of 10. This issue was OK, but it didn't thrill me like part one of "Codename: Patriot" did.Damn aliens...

Superman: World of New Krypton #6(Codename: Patriot Part 1)

This is the first part of this year's Superman x-over event, Codename: Patriot. This comic is written by the team of Greg Rucka and James Robinson. Pete Woods handles the artwork.

-Previously in World of New Krypton, Superman managed to narrowly escape execution thanks to an unlikely assist from Gen. Zod. At a celebration celebrating some Kryptonian holiday, Gen. Zod was shot in an apparent assassination attempt. Now that you know what happened before, let's see what happens next.

-The Kryptonian who shot Zod screams that he did it for his people, before taking flight in an effort to escape. An angry mob of Kryptonians manage to get a hold of the would be assassin and they begin to beat him to death. Supes and his military unit rush to the scene of the riot and prevent the furious Kryptonians from killing the assassin. As the assassin lays on the ground, beaten to a pulp, he weakly says, "For Krypton" before passing out.

-With Zod at death's door, the leadership of the Kryptonian military guild falls to the three commanders, Supes, Ursa and Gor. Gor wants to kill the assassin immediately, but Supes explains that it's possible the assassin wasn't working alone and that he needs to be interrogated when he wakes up. Ursa appears extremely distracted and winds up leaving Supes and Gor behind, not wanting to leave Zod's side.

-Supes and Gor strap the assassin to a Kryptonian lie detecting machine and begin to ask him questions about why he tried to kill Zod. The assassin, Ral-Dar, says he wanted to kill Zod for the safety of New Krypton. He also says that with Kryptonians numbering at less than 100,000 people strong, something had to be done to assure the survival of New Krypton. According to the lie detector, Ral seems to sincerely believe that by killing Zod he was helping to save his people. However, he refuses to give a straight answer regarding whether or not he worked alone. Before Supes can press the issue further, he is summoned to meet his aunt Alura at the medical facility immediately.

-Supes makes his way to see Alura and she explains to him that thus far the science guild has proven unable to heal the damage done to Zod. She then tells Supes that prior to Zod losing consciousness, he specifically asked to see Supes.

-While in the medical facility, an aide to Alura reports that the people of New Krypton are panicking over the shooting of Zod and that they fear Brainiac is somehow involved. Alura takes to the sky and manages to assuage the Kryptonians with her words. Alura then asks Supes to find out why Zod was shot and Supes, along with Supergirl head back to the prison facility.

-Upon arriving at the prison, Supes and SG discover all of the guards unconscious and Ral broken out of his cell. Supes puts out an all point bulletin to find Ral, and a member of his military unit reports that Ral was spotted leaving New Krypton and heading for Earth. Supes realizes that Ral's arrival on Earth could start a war between the two planets, as well as the fact that a Kryptonian military unit arriving on Earth to hunt down a Kryptonian criminal could also have dire consequences, so Supes decides the only thing left to do is for him to don his Superman costume and head to Earth himself.

I really enjoyed this first part of Codename: Patriot! It was very fast paced, set up the x-over nicely, and left us with lots to ponder. Such as why would a member of the military guild try to kill Gen. Zod? Who helped Ral escape from his cell? What was it that Zod wanted to tell Supes before he lost consciousness and was placed in stasis? And of course, what's going to happen when Supes sets foot back on Earth after he seemingly abandoned the planet to join his fellow Kryptonians?

Personally, and keep in mind it's still VERY early in this x-over, I think Ral wanted to kill Zod so that Supes would become the head of the military guild. Ral seemed sure that under Zod's aggressive leadership the Kryptonians would eventually go extinct, and he also remarked that everybody on New Krypton knew who Supes was. Of course I'm probably as wrong as can be, but still, that's my early prediction. For a score, I'm going to give this comic a very strong 9 out of 10. THIS is the way to begin an x-over event. After reading this comic I can't wait to get my hands on the second part to discover what will happen next.All I can say is, it's about time we get to see Supes back in the red and blue!

Superman Secret Files 2009

Just so everybody knows in advance, I'm dead tired tonight, which means this review is probably going to be pretty half-assed! There, you've been warned. There are many writers and artists responsible for this comic.

-We begin with profiles on New Krypton, Superman, the Kryptonian Military Unit Red Shard, Alura and the Guilds of Krypton and General Zod, Ursa and Non.

-The first story is about Ursa, who is in a Kryptonian medical facility standing guard over the grievously injured Gen. Zod. While standing vigil, Ursa thinks back on her relationship with Gen. Zod and the day Braniac stole Kandor. Ursa was a fearless soldier leading one of the finest Kryptonian fighting units when Braniac took and subsequently bottled Kandor. The battle against Brainiac's remorseless robotic forces shook Ursa to her core and wound up making her doubt herself and her abilities as a soldier. It was Zod who helped her remember who she was, and without him she isn't sure what she would do.

-Next we have profiles on Brainiac, Superboy, Krypto, Lex Luthor, Metropolis, The Daily Planet Staff, Mon-El and Guardian.

-Story #2 details the partnership between Billi Harper(Guardian's great-niece)and Jonathan Kent(Mon-El's alter-ego). They get off to a rocky start, but eventually Billi begins to warm up to her very strange Science Police partner.

-Next up is a profile on Supergirl followed by a short story about Supergirl and Thara(Flamebird)back when they were younger. As children, the girls were practically inseparable, even though they were quite different in their belief systems, with Thara being highly religious and SG believing everything had a scientific explanation. After the death of Supergirl's father, the two girls had a falling out and no longer speak to each other.

-From there we get profiles on Nightwing and Flamebird.

-The final story is about Pete Ross, the man who became President of the United States after Lex Luthor was removed from office. Pete wanders around the Oval Office wondering exactly what his legacy will be when all is said and done. While getting ready for a press conference, Amanda Waller asks him to sign some papers. Pete tells her he doesn't have the time to read the papers, and Waller tells him she has already gone over the papers and that they are mainly small time things that just require a signature. Pete signs the papers and leaves, and we learn it was those papers that created the shadowy Project 7734.

-We end this comic with a profile on Project 7734.

I really don't think there is much for me to say here. Anybody who has read one of the DC Secret Files before knows the format, which is profiles and short stories. All the stories were well done, with the final one on Pete Ross standing out the most to me. For a score, I'll give this entire comic an 8 out of 10. With Codename: Patriot running through the Superman family of books for the next few months, it's probably a good idea to give this comic a read, especially if you haven't been following the Superman books the past few months.What the hell is up with that guy in the cape?