SUPERGIRL #61
"Mondo Bizarre"
Recommended (8/10)
|
DC Comics
Writer: Peter David
Pencils: Leonard Kirk
Inks: Robin Riggs
Colors: Gene D'Angelo & Digital Chameleon
Letters: Bill Oakley
Editor: Mike McAvennie
Price: $2.25 US/$3.75 CAN |
It's been a while since I visited with Supergirl, Peter David and the rest of the creative crew on this title. My interest in the book waned a while back, but David renews it here with a funny but poignant story about ethics and the aftermath of war.
Feeling less than appreciated after an encounter at a local police station, Supergirl happens upon an alien scavenging through dead bodies in the town she protected during the Imperiex/Brainiac-13 war. She assumes him to be some kind of monster, but once "Mondo" introduces himself, she discovers he's something of an intergalatic businessman (er, business-thing), whose wares come from the debris of war zones throughout the universe. The reality sparks a debate between Supergirl and Mondo, one the heroine is at a loss to win.
Despite the more gruesome aspects of his character, Mondo proves to be immediately likeable. He's funny. He's clever. He's realistic. He acts as the voice of reason here, albeit a pessimistic one. That doesn't mean he's wrong. Throughout the "Our Worlds at War" crossover, the writers have been trying to convey the sense that it was a war, not a cosmic conflict between heroes and villains. They rarely did so, but David manages to pull it off here.
Kirk's soft style continues bring a sense of realism to the unrealistic world of super-heroes. Of course, after seeing the wrong inker embellish his pencils on Deadman: Dead Again, it's more than clear that Robin Riggs brings a great deal to the equation with his inks as well. The only real problem with the art is the colors. They're a shade too bright for the more mature tone of the story. One would expect a pall to loom over a war zone, but it's brightly colored.
Though my interest in the Quest for Supergirl/de-powered temporary replacement remains a bit low, the fact that the overall plotline of the series is not the focus here makes it a moot point (for this month, anyway). Peter David demonstrates that once again, he is a gifted, intelligent writer who manages to bring real-world issues to the forefront in sci-fi/super-hero fiction.
Email Don MacPherson comments about this review, or discuss it on the Fourth Rail message board.
|
