Supergirl

Hello Everyone! Today I will be starting a series where I will generate random DC characters with a generator and let you guys decide who would win?

Today's Fight

SUPERGIRL VS ATROCITUS

Rules:

-Both characters will be at their normal strength

-Location: The Fortress Of Solitude

-How the fight starts: The Red Lanterns invade the fortress leaving Supergirl to encounter Atrocitus

Who Will Win?

This... this exists. Not much more to say about it. After the terrible Supergirl Who Laughs, this is barely a step up, and that is being generous.

These last two issues were boring as heck. They wanted to do another "Supergirl outlawed" story? Fine. Whatever. That said, could they have done it in a more entertaining way? Having her spend the last issue fighting a U.S. army general? Seriously?

I get that we've seen this plot before. Supergirl outlawed is an overused plot, but Sterling Gates sure made it work, and it was really good. If Gates would have been writing, these issues could have been the perfect end to what has been a lackluster series.

I personally think Jody Houser is a meh writer from what I've read, and I originally thought it was editors that messed up whatever she wrote, but I remember when she wrote Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows, and I see the same thing here: a what could have been great book that suffers from an uninterested writer. Jody Houser I believe felt no interest in writing this. It's the only explanation for the Supergirl Who Laughs, which I definitely think editorial shares a lot of the blame, and these two issues.

This series ended with another problem: they never continued or ended that whole Leviathan story they were starting before the disaster that was the Supergirl Who Laughs. I would have liked to see at least one more issue with Jeremiah and Eliza. Maybe that thing ended in a separate book(I have no clue), but they couldn't at least have them here one last time?

The beginning of volume 7 was a lot of fun because we finally saw Kara starting fit in on Earth. She had a family, she was starting to be trusted by the public, and it didn't seem she was stuck in Superman's shadow for the most part. But of course they had to take away all of that character development. Marc Andreyko's run was a tediously long story with an old-as-dinasour-fossil plot. Kara leaving Earth and all of that character development was a big slap in the face to long time fans.

On a positive note that art wasn't too bad, but it wasn't good either.

I'm so frustrated that I can't even bother to write all of my thoughts right now. I hated these last two issues. Easily a 3/10 for me, and that is me being generous.

It has been a long time since our last "Guess the Context" game, hasn't it?

Explanation for newcomers: The "Out-Of-Context Picture" is a forum game where someone posts a random and usually head-scratching panel with no context, and other people try to guess what on Earth is happening in the picture (or they just joke around).

So... Someone wants to try to guess this panel's context?:

I saw a post on Quora related to DC, and people were chatting about the pronunciations. And then I remembered in Supergirl they always referred to him as "Malefic", which was really weird...

So I do you pronounce that name?

To my thinking, it may sound a bit Arabic...

I am gonna talk about the female superheroes of Marvel and DC and how they are at some times at brunt of toxic reactions by a certain section of the fandom. I am not gonna name that certain section of the fandom because they know exactly who they are. But the thing I noticed is that any show or movie that sheds light to women empowerment is spammed with hate and toxicity by these people, and they start to collectively hate on those characters as well like Supergirl and Captain Marvel.

While Supergirl does give light to women empowerment, Captain Marvel was given a lot of shit when it was an empowering story about what makes one human, and even with Supergirl being targeted towards women shouldn't be a problem because there are characters like Thor and Iron Man who represent what would be seen as 'masculinity' by these people, although I much prefer someone like Spider-Man or Captain America over them. Even Spider-Man raises many issues that boys may face like people saying that you aren't man enough or people bullying you for being sensitive or not that into sports ect.

But these people ignore all that stuff and all the female-led movies are a war on their masculinity, and they won't bow down to this feminist propaganda. That's what goes in their minds but then they would try to say stuff like, “Oh no, we don't hate female-led movies. We like Scarlet Witch and Black Widow.” But you notice how these characters that they often try to mention to prove they don't hate strong female superheroes are often characters that are either extra sexualized and usually side others or even both, just to prove that notion that they only care women characters as eye candy.

Black Widow was first introduced as Iron Man’s hot assistant, while Scarlet Witch was showing cleavage in Age of Ultron, and they were good with that. But when Captain Marvel’s first set photos were revealed, instead of talking about the costume or anything, people were objectifying her by saying she has a small butt, and when Supergirl went to a full suit then their complain was about that why did she leave her short skirt dress because that's all these people care about.

This kind of mentality needs to be removed from the fandom, and people need to stop hating on characters just because they are strong and female. Strong female characters are important for young girls and women, and if female characters are still sexualized that would leave a bad impression on little girls and characters like Carol Danvers are actually inspiring regardless of their gender as Captain Marvel as a half alien makes us realise what it means to be a human.

Since it was announced that DC was breaking off with Diamond, much has been speculated regarding the future of comic shops, DC, and even the monthly floppy model. Some people are going so far to predict the impeding death of the direct market. And although panicked "the sky is falling on our heads" reactions are nothing new (the demise of super-hero comic-books has been predicted as early as the Sixties), it looks like they may be right this time.

Why? Let's face it: Sales have been dropping for decades and are in the toilet right now. Most of the current dwindling readership is made up for impossible-to-please continuity-obsessed middle-aged people whose likes and dislikes have been carved in stone. Comic-book shops have been dying since the 90's, and the pandemic outbreak isn't helping matters. DC is resorting to sales-boosting reboots and relaunches with increased frequency, which has ensured continuity is non-existent.

DC breaking up with Diamond might be the first sign of the death of the direct market.

And, to be honest, I wouldn't regret its demise. I'll be sorry for the people who will find themselves jobless, but I'll not mourn the direct market because its rise has led the industry to this situation. Marvel and DC started to focus on the direct market in the 80's because comic-books weren't wanted in newsstands and the like. Back then, the direct market was a lifeline, but abandoning the newsstands altogether was a disastrous long-term decision because it meant the disappearance of the casual buyer, who is willing to try new things and may become a dedicated fan and regular buyer. Marvel and DC stopped looking for new fans, which meant their fanbase began gradually aging and shrinking because lapsed older fans weren't replaced with newer fans.

Films, cartoon and live-action series, and games show people still like super-heroes. But young kids aren't reading comic-books. And why should they? If they want to get into some character they'll have to find a comic-book shop, wade through thousands of issues and titles, and pony up 3-5$ for a fragment of a -probably crappy, convoluted and opaque- story which they'll take five minutes to read.

And still, the Scholastic comics sell way better than either DC or Marvel's stuff has for years now. So maybe it isn't modern kids don't like comics. Maybe it is the current monthly floppy model sold to specialty stores is not and was never sustainable in the long term.

It's rumored DC will phase the floppies out in favor of self-contained books sold in bookstores and malls, and although it may be detrimental to the shared universe, I think it may be a good thing.

Why?

As you may know, I'm a Superman fan. And for whatever reason, the vast majority of popular Superman stories published since 1986 have been self-contained, alternate continuity titles: All-Star, Birthright, Secret Identity... The only exception I may think of is "The Death of Superman", and it didn't become popular because the story was so good. Similarly, DC cancelled the trades collecting Supergirl's Peter David and Sterling Gates' runs, but "Cosmic Adventures of 8th Grade" has been reprinted four times since 2009, and "Being Super" is being reprinted again after four years.

So it sounds like single trades collecting a self-contained story are definitely profitable.

And it isn't only that. I was in my early teens when I started reading Asterix and TinTin stories. I could find their albums easily in any bookstore and library, even though most of them were published decades before my birth, I knew where I should start reading, and I could pick any book and understand the story. I didn't need to hunt old back issues, I didn't have to wade through dozens of mediocre comics until finding the good ones, I didn't need to read four different books to follow one story, I wasn't confused about several first issues or different continuities.

They were very accesible comics, and it's relatively easy and affordable to own all albums.

Then I started reading Dragon Ball and other manga series. And although they were an ongoing series, I knew I had to start off with the first book, then read the second one, after open the third one... until it's over. A single book, a single continuity, a single version of the characters.

So, should DC and Marvel drop the direct market and the monthly floppy format and try other models? I think they should. Of course, perhaps I am wrong.

Either way, I thought it may be an interesting topic.

So, thoughts?

I came across a few articles about the Sun being white, and not actually yellow (it has to do with something in relation with the color spectrum, I hardly paid attention in my Social Studies classes).

So, would this mean that Superman (and gang) gets his powers from the effects of our WHITE Sun and NOT YELLOW Sun?

I've tried searching for the reason behind Earth 2 Kara switching from Supergirl to Powergirl but didn't find anything...

Could you guys please tell me, how and why did Earth 2 Kara change from Supergirl to Powergirl? And why not Superwoman??

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There were seven paragons, and so I'll share seven (potential) spoilers...

New Earths (Earth Prime, Earth 2, Earth 12, etc):

Finally (almost) all the heroes are on one Earth. I wonder how will that play, especially with the crossovers.

Is the term "Justice League" reserved for the movies???

And the Green Lantern movie is a part of the new multiverse too!!!

Ezra Miller as the Flash?! What does this mean for the DCEU? Has it been reset? And could it in anyway link to Zack Snyder's Justice League?

Sarah Diggle is alive! Does this mean John and Lyla had twins instead of either of the kids?

What happens to the future (Legends of Tomorrow, Green Arrow and the Canaries)? Has it changed too?

And Lex is the Director of the DEO...

I'm pretty sure for those who've also seen the entire crossover have picked up on more things and you probably have more questions.

How did everyone find the Crossover?

Let's discuss...

I'm pretty active on the Marvel wiki, and one of the users has asked me for Supergirl recommendations for his girlfriend.

@MektonZ I'm sure you can help me out here. Other than Supergirl volume 5(already recommended), Rebirth(already recommended), anything Pre-Crisis(out of the question), N52(out of the question), and Being Super(already recommended) what can you recommend? I've been thinking of recommending the Peter David but I also think that is out of the question, mostly because I'd actually like to recommend something good for a first timer.

Any help would be appreciated. Maybe even anything from Legion of Superheroes within the past 20 years would work.

And I mean stuff like who belongs to what generation, and how old is each age group.

Personally I think the "DC is about legacy" slogan was mostly 90's marketing propaganda, fueled by the success of Mark Waid's Flash. Definitely DC wasn't kind to their legacy heroes before or after that decade. The different Supergirls, Batgirls, Robins and Titans have often been fridged and served as mega-event cannon fodder. But I digress.

Regardless, I think DC has messed up their legacy characters, and -unsurprisingly to those who know me- I think the roots of that mess can be traced back to the Crisis on Infinite Earths.

Personally, should DC approach me and task me with the unenviable chore of straightening their universe up, this is what their generations would look like.

Earth-Two First Generation: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, JSA... In their fifties or sixties.

Earth-Two Second Generation: Power Girl, Huntress, Fury, Silver Scarab, Infinity Inc. In their mid twenties.

Main Earth First Generation: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Justice League, Green Lantern Corps, Vixen, Batwoman, Black Lightning, Steel... Mid-thirties. Superman, Batman, Hal Jordan or Barry Allen should be in his early forties at most.

Main Earth Second Generation: Supergirl, Batgirl, original Titans and New Teen Titans... In their early twenties. Babs should be a little older than Kara and Dick.

Main Earth Third Generation: Kon-El, Cassandra Cain, Cassandra Sandsmark, Stephanie Brown, Stargirl, Bart Allen, Jaime Reyes, younger Titans and Young Justice... In their mid to late teens. Jon Kent and Damian Wayne should be in their early teens, at most.

Thoughts?

The recent rumors regarding DC replacing five or six of their biggest guns at once, which can negatively affect characters like Jon Kent, have made me ponder about why some characters are successfully replaced whereas other legacy characters fail and are forgotten.

Of course, there're many reasons why a character succeeds, fails, or succeeds for a while before failing. Maybe they had potential but they weren't given enough chances. Maybe they were put through a string of terrible runs. Maybe the revolving door of creative teams with little to no interest on building on foundations set by former writers makes almost impossible flesh their world out. Maybe editorial didn't know what to do with them. O maybe -and this is a possibility which hardly anybody wants to face- they aren't good enough of a character.

Keep in mind, though, Morth Weisinger used to say (or at least I think he said) there're no bad characters. There're bad writers and worse editors. Whatever else you think of the man, I think he was right. Batman was nearly cancelled once (Maybe twice?). X-Men was cancelled.

So, why some replacements are widely accepted whereas others fall by the wayside? Why some fans feel Superman cannot be replaced whereas Flash fans bicker over who the real Flash is (Jay Garrick, obviously)?

After much pondering, I think I have narrowed it down. Leaving aside creative reasons -and obvious exceptions to the rule-, I think legacy characters are more liable to be regarded as the real deal when they have been born in early ages when the mythos were being expanded; they have been around for more than ten years; and they have headlined her own title or backup strip.

Why? Well, when you've been born in the formative early years/decades, people will usually respect your seniority, at the very least, since you have been around since almost the beginning. If you've been around for decades since your creation, fans usually come to regard you as a permanent fixture (Have you noticed how Marvel's "super-heroes shouldn't be married" creatives leave Reed and Sue alone most of the time?)

And it's easier earning a lot of fans if you have been born during those times when comics were read by hundreds of thousands of kids. Especially if you have been around for several decades headlining your own adventures, which means you'll be not forgotten for the next generation of readers.

Moreover, being born early means more chances to show up in other media. Increased exposure often results in increased number of fans, increased sales of merchandise, and editorial favoring you over other options.

Let's examine some examples:

* Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman have been around since the late thirties/early fourties, headlining their own books. Even though they've been replaced every so often, their substitutes (Mon-El, Azrael, Donna) have been very short-lived. Hence, most of fans think Clark, Bruce and Diana are the real SM, BM and WW, and replacing them is non-negotiable.

* Alan Scott, Jay Garrick, Al Pratt... Either they had no solo books or they were cancelled within nine years. The original JSers were limboed for a while during which their original fanbase -which wasn't enough to sustain them- moved on. They are generally well-liked but not considered the REAL GL or Flash.

* Barry Allen was created in 1956 and headlined his own book for twenty-six years. Wally West was created in 1960, and headlined the Flash book for... a long while, too (I'm not sure how long since if I'm not wrong Wally was missing or replaced several times before Barry's return). This is because there's a Flash Fanbase War. Both characters have been around for long that every one is THE Flash to many, many readers. Barry fans were told "Shut up and get over it" by Wally fans during twenty-three years, and Wally fans aren't happy that their positions have been swapped.

* Green Lantern. Again, Alan's book was cancelled because of low sales after nine years and he was limboed in a time when the audience moved on. So, his fanbase wasn't a threat to Hal Jordan when he was created ten years later. Hal was the main GL during thirty-five years, which is because his fanbase was large, loud and wouldn't be silenced. Kyle Rainer had the deck stacked against him because of the circumstances leading to his becoming the newest -and only- GL, his book lasted only ten years before being cancelled, and he lost importance as soon as he stopped being the sole GL in the cosmic neighborhood.

* Supergirl. Lucy of Borgonia was limboed after one issue. Super-Girl was limboed after one issue. Kara Zor-El was created in 1959, and until her death twenty-six years later she headlined her own backup strip and even her own books (short-lived, but bear with me). Neither of her replacements lasted so long. Seven or eight years, at best. Kara was -grudgingly- brought back fifteen years ago, and during that time she has starred in her own book(s) as well as series, cartoons, movies and her own show (and even during the eighteen years she was The-One-Shall-Be-Never-Mentioned she made several cameo appearances). The fact that DC's new timeline appears to ignore the existence of other Supergirls sounds like DC thinks they can dismiss their fans safely.

* Batgirl is a more complicated case. Bette Kane was created in 1961 and dismissed shortly after. Barbara Gordon was created in 1967 and completely eclipsed Bette. Babs' adventures were Detective Comics' backup strip until 1982, and she was also a regular in two immensely popular media, the Adam West's show and Batman: TAS. Because of all this, Barbara had gained a sizable fanbase among comic and non-comic fans who regarded her as THE Batgirl and didn't care for her Oracle identity. However, her successors became popular enough on their own right in a relatively short time (well, Cass did. Steph was created seventeen years before becoming Batgirl) than DC finally got to acknowledge their stints wearing the Batgirl cowl.

* Green Arrow is in the same place as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman. Olliver Queen was created in 1941. Did someone truly believe back in 1994 Connor Hawke would be able to replace him permanently?

There're more instances worth of looking over (like, you know, the original sidekick Robin whom I've completely skipped over), but I think it's enough for now.

So, what do you think?