Supergirl Núm.04: Mundo Bizarro

Supergirl (2005) (Old Editions) #9

by Sterling Gates (Writer), Jamal Igle (Illustrator), Matt Camp (Illustrator)

Supergirl está a punto de recibir una visita tan inesperada como indeseable: ¡Supergirl Bizarro! Pero ¿qué querrá de ella esta duplicada imperfecta? Acompaña a Kara Zor-El en un viaje por medio universo en este nuevo volumen realizado por Sterling Gates, Jamal Igle, Matt Camp, Marco Rudy y Bernard Chang. Además, los autores nos han preparado otras aventuras, como un periplo por la época de la Legión de Superhéroes y una historia en que nuestra protagonista formará equipo con su peor enemiga... Cat Grant.

Corresponde a Edición USA: Supergirl #53-59 y Supergirl Annual #2

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Superheroes, Science Fiction, Fiction, Sequential Art

216 pages, Paperback

First published August 30, 2011

About the author

Sterling Gates has written stories featuring some of the biggest superheroes in the world, including Superman, Supergirl, Spider-Man, Batman, Green Lantern, and the Flash. He is the cowriter of the New York Times best-selling "Superman: New Krypton Saga" graphic novel series, including SUPERMAN: NEW KRYPTON, SUPERMAN: THE LAST STAND OF NEW KRYPTON, and SUPERMAN: WAR OF THE SUPERMEN.

Gates was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and studied filmmaking and art at the University of Oklahoma. He moved to Los Angeles in 2006, where he worked first as a writer's room production assistant and later as personal assistant to comic book legend Geoff Johns.

Gates' critically acclaimed run on SUPERGIRL with artist Jamal Igle redefined the character for a new generation and was named one of the "100 Greatest Superhero Comics of All Time" by The Hollywood Reporter in 2016. ADVENTURES OF SUPERGIRL Vol. 1 was selected by YALSA as one of 2017's "Great Graphic Novels for Teens." Gates and artist Matthew Clark contributed a Supergirl story to the Eisner and Ringo award-winning anthology, LOVE IS LOVE.

Gates has written for various other media, including the independent superhero film THE POSTHUMAN PROJECT, Marvel Animation Studios' SPIDER-MAN, and The CW's SUPERGIRL and THE FLASH.

A proud Eagle Scout, Gates currently resides in Los Angeles, California.

Reviews

[John Yelverton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite the efforts of the writer to bring Supergirl into her own with this addition to the popular series, he fails miserably. Supergirl spends half of her time mentoring Bizarrogirl and the other half fighting her. To make matters worse, what Bizarrogirl was so afraid of, was something Supergirl defeated relatively easily. It makes no sense, and could definitely have spent a few more hours in the thought oven.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a highlight in Supergirl’s history.

The rest of Sterling Gate’s run of Supergirl is fraught with crossovers — of which he handles fantastically, more so than most other books — but the loveliness and spirit of his storylines untainted by interruption can’t be understated, which is why this particular volume is so recommended so highly by me. The art is very lovely, but ultimately nothing too spectacular outside Amy Reeder Hadley’s absolutely phenomenal covers and an annual with art from Matt Camp.

An absolutely delightful book that plays with both the Superfamily mythos and Supergirl’s relation to it to its strengths. A personal favourite Bizarro storyline, side characters like Cat Grant used in a perfect manner, and all of the uniqueness Supergirl has as a book based on a unsure superpowered teenage girl has is on display.

[Emmett Spain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sterling Gates knows what he's doing with the Girl of Steel. He shows her as fallible, heroic, and rash—as someone who hasn’t finished growing up yet. It’s what makes this character interesting, and sets her apart from her cousin, Kal-El, the hero we know as Superman, who Kara has always seemed to stand in the shadow of.

The story itself is all a bit silly—there’s a Bizarro Supergirl, there’s a few fights, a trip to the future, and a run-in with the Dollmaker... none of it will be particularly memorable a week after you read it. But the care with which the character is treated forgives minor errors (such as the wildly inconsistent use of Bizarro-speak which is very conveniently explained away), and ultimately makes simple adventure stories into tales of some emotional substance. A great continuing run from Sterling Gates that picks up after the New Krypton saga, and good value for money, with this trade being 2-3 issues longer than the usual book, makes this a worthwhile pickup.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought that this comic was quite interesting. It’s about this world called Bizarro where everything is backwards. It has everything that’s on Earth, but the people look like stone creatures and they use very strange speech. It wasn’t weird or confusing though, which was quite nice.

They find out that the Godship keeps eating Bizarros (Bizarro Lex, for example) for energy and such. We’re left with a cliffhanger about how Supergirl is going to need Superman to solve this problem!

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

good super hero fun. get over yourself & enjoy it.

[Simeon Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

After two Volumes of arcs that felt like snip its of a much larger story (Which they kinda were in actuality), this trade came as a breathe of fresh air. It collects the title story which was really fun in that silver age high concept kinda way, a one and down redoing Kara's first encounter with The Legion of Superheros which was alright but ultimately just felt like a bit excuse to foreshadow things, and a great two issue about Kara and Cat Grant going up against Toyman's son, The Dollmaker, for the first time. As I said, the stories all vary in quality but I feel the last arc and parts of the first one make this trade well worth it's asking price, especially if you only know characters like Cat Grant from the Supergirl TV series, her and Toyman's son are very different here from the way they are in that show and, in my opinion, much more interesting. The art is pretty good too, not really a style I've ever been big into and it does get a bit smudgy at times but it does it's job well and the panel layouts are done in interesting ways for their time. I've not been into this run so far due to how snap shot-y it was for the first two trades, but this one finally felt like it was it's own book and was able to get me into things, looking forward to reading the next volume whenever I track it down.

[Joel Kirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Supergirl and Batgirl rarely have strong stories, which come from a guy who is a big fan of the two heroines. While the stories in this collection could have been tighter, they satisfied my Supergirl fix; they're not mind-blowing or have me thinking long after I read, but they do the job.

Also, Supergirl gets stories with no agendas in Bizzarogirl; no pausing of stories to discuss social justice or virtue signal (i.e., be 'woke').

This collection has three stories: One focused on Supergirl helping the Bizzarogirl of the title, the second involving Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes from the Far Future, and the third involves The Dollmaker.

While I don't see myself owning this collection, I do see myself borrowing this again from my local library. Especially to see how it holds up.

Now, a little side note: I know of the relationship between Lana Lang and Clark Kent from his Smallville years (in the Christopher Reeve films, the Superboy TV show from the 1980s, and the TV show Smallville).

Pete was a close friend of Clark, and he eventually married Lana Lang. According to this collection, the name of Pete and Lana's son is Clark.

Why would a man go along with his wife naming their son after her ex-boyfriend?

[Pato Myers · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I need to find a beginning to supergirls story because so far it's kind of depressing, everything I've read thus far (random books I find in my library) has a serious lack of hope and joy. I especially dislike when a character becomes a hero because after getting powers through no choice of their own other characters yell at them about responsibility. This happened with Miles Morales too and although I definitely don't mind other characters encouraging, explaining, training, or talking to the main characters to help them decide I hate when in a world full of super powered beings the main characters basically get told their selfish for wanting a non hero life. It also didn't help that Lana told Kara she needs to suck up losing her entire family and people like Kara's pouting about not getting ice cream after dinner and then turns around and tells Kara to go easy on Cat because Cat has a tragic backstory. It didn't sit well with me. I did like that Kara goes to save Bizarro world when it was in trouble and came when Cat called.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

The greatest part of this volume, the Bizarrogirl story, is sadly a disappointment. There's too much fighting, then Supergirl is taken off into space away from her supporting cast (which is really what makes this book) and then there's more fight.

Fortunately, Gates is redeemed by his final stories.

The annual is a Legion of Superheroes story, which is a lot of fun. It's great to see Kara back in that context, something that I don't think had previously happened post-Crisis. (Maybe the threeboot was prior to this? I don't remember the ordering!)

Then the final two stories are great, and that's because of the supporting cast. We really get some details on why Cat is the way she is, and why it's so different from the Cat we saw early post-Crisis. It all makes sense and makes us feel for her.

So that ending at least is solid.

[Sergio Ponce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book.

I have always had a special place in my heart for Supergirl ever since I was introduced to her in the 90's super hero cartoon of yore. This was my first trek into her comics and while it is not the best entry point as it is not the beginning (it's actually the last book before the new 52 even changed everything), it is "sufficiently" self contained.

The books tone is mostly lighthearted and fun with underlying mature/dark themes. Really just the kind of book that is right up my ally.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, it might be sacrilegious but I'm not a big Bizarro fan. Its hard to take him serious if the book is supposed to be serious. The introduction of Bizarrogirl is the same. Partly the dialogue, partly the lack of common sense origin, I just can't get it to work in my head. All that being said, Gates does a good job here making the story somewhat interesting. The best piece here though is the Cat Grant story. This was fantastic. The art, mostly by Jamal Igle, was still very good. Overall, a decent read with some highs and lows.

[Douglas Gibson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book because I love Bizarro World (and Supergirl, of course) but I ended up liking the second half of the book that deals with a story about Cat Grant and Dollman as much as I liked the Bizzaro first half! ! I have not read Sterling Gates' Supergirl before, but I love the character in his hands and will definitely be reading more. He does an excellent job of balancing character development and action!

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, there was something missing from the Superbooks around this time. That's fun. Which is part of what makes Serling Gates run one of my favorite runs on the title (second only to Peter David) is that he brings back lots of modern takes on a bunch of silver age concepts. Bizarro. The Legion of Superheroes. The Toyman. it's just a Mxyzptlk away from being a bingo of my favorite Superman opponents. So if you want FUN in your Supergirl comics... check it out.

[Zachary King · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great reminder of how interconnected the pre-Flashpoint universe was. Supergirl recovers from New Krypton, journeys to Bizarro World, and teams up with Cat Grant when the Toyman is implicated in recent child abductions. Strong writing, fun stories, though an annual with the Legion bogs the book down a bit.

[Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve only read chunks of the run, but Gates and Igle are the rare consistent team for a long run on a superhero book and they make a very good team. I wasn’t very invested in the individual plots but the character development carried me through from story to story. Real classic, Claremontian superhero stuff.

[David Matheny · Rating 5 out of 5]

congrats to Sterling Gates for writing my favorite supergirl story. not to lessen Jamal Igle work but when Bernard Chang takes over illustrations. the book just triples in quality and the Amanda Reeder covers are absolutely beautiful.

[Burton Olivier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man, trying to parse Bizarro talk is annoying. I appreciate them trying to explain away the inconsistencies with "dialects" but still. Besides that, it was a really nice story. And I liked the Christmas story with Cat Grant.

[Emily Beck · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked some of the reflective parts, but not a huge Bizarrogirl fan. Loved the Christmas issues at the end of the book though!

[Wayne McCracken · Rating 3 out of 5]

This graphic novel contains three adventures with Supergirl: An encounter with Bizarrogirl, Helping the Legionnaires in the 30th Century stop an apocalyptic fight with a magic devil lady, and Saving Ms. Grant from the evil Dollmaker.
The first arc is the longest, with percentages of each arc as follows, (65%, 20%, 15%).

The Bizzarogirl story was enjoyable, but it's very old fashioned. It felt like it was plucked right out of the 60s. It's a simple story with very simple characters. The main obstacle for Supergirl through the book is her feeling of uncertainty; she feels out of place in this world, and guilt for her inability to save the citizens of Krypton. This is only lightly brought up in each issue, but it's constant throughout.
The 2nd adventure with the Legionnaires is great! I haven't read much with them and I enjoyed it, though it was confusing with all the time travel antics.
The 3rd adventure was boring. It does bring some closure with someone acknowledging and appreciating Supergirl's heroic actions (and possibly convincing others to do so).

To me, the art of a comic is just as important as the writing - even in a collection like this. The art in this book leaves a lot to be desired, it's average at best. There's actually an issue near the end of the Bizzarogirl story that has fantastic art and great character designs, matching closely to the vibe I get from the story, but it's only one issue and just leaves you with wishing for that for the whole book.

6.5/10

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having never been a big Supergirl fan, I was intrigued by the premise of a favorite plot device - the Bizarro! This volume continues the fallout of the New Krypton/War of the Supermen storyline, as Kara Zor-El is convince she is hanging up the cape and costume for good. When a female Bizarro that looks like her is seen jetting about Metropolis, Supergirl must don the emblem once again to discover the truth behind her imperfect doppleganger. Following the trek to Bizarroworld, we get a lackluster Legion of SuperHeroes story and a twisted take on the son of the Toyman. Honestly, I just enjoyed the Bizarro events!

[Nicolas · Rating 2 out of 5]

To be fair, seeing "Bizarro" in the title really should have let me know that I wasn't going to enjoy this. All Bizzaro stories feel the same to me and I just don't find it interesting. I was slightly more into the second story focusing on Supergirl's time with the Legion, but only slightly. Not a strong volume.

For more on Supergirl check out this episode of Comic Book Coffee Break: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xj5wm...

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its a good book but confusing at times were the characters settings are. Its about supergirl and she has an evil spirit inside of herself that gets relised while she gets nocked out in a fight. Supergirl then realises that bizzarogirl (her evil spirit) is just trying to get home to her planet, bizzaroworld. I think its a really good, interesting action book, with lots of fights and twists within the story.

[Annette · Rating 3 out of 5]

My five year old daughter is now obsessed with Super Girl, but I did not find this fascinating or intriguing at all. I liked the concept of Bizzaro Bizzaro Girl etc etc. But it was not enough. While I appreciated some of the art, Super Girl is not drawn consistently from book to book, and it bugs me. Is she an idiot hottie, or a strong, smart young woman? Figure it out and stick with it, DC.

[PJ Ebbrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enyoyable romp with Bizarrogirl.

[LtLEGOReads · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rather Freaky.