Convergence: Supergirl: Matrix #1 Preview (1 Page)

[captainbellman]

I was hopeful about this one, I really was, given that Matrix Supergirl/Linda Danvers was one of my favourites, despite (or perhaps because of) her ridiculously complicated origin story, not to mention her depth of character. But DC just had to go and disappoint me again.



WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?



Has all the good work of Escher Girls been for naught?

Comments

[aperturedreams]

I know Giffen can be known for being tongue-in-cheek, but it really kinda sounds like he's unhappy about having to write this. Also, do they really have to go with the double ass shot on page one? Sigh.

[redmagpie]

Supergirl is bad but oh my god what happened to poor glowy boob sock woman?

[q99]

Lady Quark? GOOD QUESTION!

[abates]

I think she just ran into an invisible wall in the sky and her lower half kept going.

Maybe they're parodying 90s art?

[lizard_of_aus]

That's probably being optimistic. Parody doesn't stand a chance against reality sometimes.

[q99]

Yep. And Matrix and Quark aren't associated with this kind of art anyway.

[thatnickguy]

Invisible motorcycle?

[silicondream]

I like how Luthor's looking down at all the spine-twisted carnage with absolute disgust. Like, "Wow, I didn't know ladies could look like that. I wonder if my head can fit down the barrel of my amnesia ray?"

It's particularly annoying with Lady Quark, who's about as likely to be found in a cheesecake pose as Wolverine is.

[captainbellman]

The panty-flashing is just addinng insult to horrific injury. Much as I don't miss Post-Crisis/Pre-Nu52 Kara, at least she eventually got to wear a pair of gym shorts.

[icon_uk]

Just gonna leave this here.... (Closest I could find)



Art by the inestimable Joe Phillips

[sagrada]

That is one wasp-waisted Wolvy. Still, a rowr is a rowr.

[ozaline]

"Not really Supergirl," augh.

I'm pretty loyal to Kara as a character, and a concept but to say Matrix ain't Supergirl just isn't nice or correct. She is a Supergirl, and I'd like a story involving her that didn't mock her on the first page.

Should have had Peter David write the Supergirl comeback.

[q99]

Oh wow, the rest of the preview has "I'm pretending to be in love with Matrix to manipulate her," Lex say almost the exact same thing as the blurb.

I think Giffen was given *really* crappy cliff-notes of the era by someone who didn't like Matrix.

[matrix_dragon]

Okay, I remember 90s hair Lex being something of a jerk, because you know, it's Lex, but this just seemed... crude.

[q99]

Exactly, from the comics I have with him, very much not like this.

[icon_uk]

IIRC that's pretty much exactly what he DID do, in the Reign of the Supermen story and beyond (Which also makes even more of a mockery of the "Superboy is half Luthor" bit, since there is no way on God's green Earth that he would not have sought to exploit that paternal/fraternal link from the very first moment Kon was... decanted into the world, A Superboy and Supergirl BOTH being manipulated into being on good terms with Luthor (who was pretending to be his own son thanks to cloning and comics) would have been a dream come true for him.

[q99]

I don't have all of what came after, but in Reign, he was smooth and suave and huggy with her. Very much... not this.

According to what I found out, that only came apart when he tried to clone her. Because multiple Supers under his control is a dream come true for him ^^

[icon_uk]

Well, they have been stuck under the dome for a year, with Lex cut off from his usual resources, it's entirely possible their relationship isn't quite the same as it was.

[q99]

Yes, but... for it to go like this, seems pretty dumb of Lex. And Matrix wouldn't put up with him if they did get to this level, she'd avoid him entirely or work against him.

[thatnickguy]

This Kara was the one I was introduced to when I started reading comics (with the Death of Superman). Glad to see DC still respects that character.

Wait, did I say respect? I mean the opposite of that. Disrespect.

[bradygirl_12]

*sigh*

I miss Linda Danvers Supergirl.

[captainbellman]

That makes two of us, and more than that, I suspect.

For real, I have not been remotely interested in any kind of a Supergirl character since she left, and next to her depth of characterisation most of them seem completely obnoxious.

[bradygirl_12]

I thought I was the only one who felt that way! Linda was a well-rounded character: she didn't hate Earth when she arrived but she mourned Krypton. She learned about Earth and American culture and made her share of mistakes, but learned from them. She had a series of jobs that brought her interesting adventures and she was a well-respected hero. I can't really get into the rage monsters and other versions of her character.

[captainbellman]

Not to mention that she had a nicely-developed family and a nice intellectual/theological/psychological bent to her stories. I did particularly enjoy her puzzling out of her own identity between being Matrix, Linda, Supergirl and that 'Earthbound Angel' business.

She was the first Supergirl I ever liked, after I found a copy of her first PAD trade in a public library as a teenager. I still miss her.

[laughing_tree]

Erm, aren't you two actually talking about two different characters? (Bradygirl seems to be talking about the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, while you're talking about the PAD version.)

[bradygirl_12]

Yes, I'm referring to pre-Crisis Linda. Things got pretty confusing after that!

I would have liked DC to focus on Supergirl mourning Krypton and trying to adjust to Earth, since she was a teenager when she lost her world and Clark never really knew it. They had later versions of her raging and contemptuous of 'inferior' humans but I would have preferred respect for her new planet but with the ability to teach Clark about his heritage. The Supergirl who has been portrayed in recent years is this grim, emo Kryptonian who seems to care little for Earth and constantly clashes with her cousin.

[sagrada]

"By special arrangement with the Jerry Siegel Family"

It really stings to think of all the horrible crap that lies behind inoffensive comic book characters.

[jaybee3]

Wow, they're not making any pretext of their contempt for Matrix, are they? I don't find these lines FUN!Funny but CONTEMPT!Funny. Just think of the treatment of Mary Marvel in Countdown. It's what happens when you have writers who don't like the character assigned to them.

[q99]

Right. It's kinda like how in Aquaman how 'Aquaman sucks!' filtered in despite in-universe that never being the case. Only here, someone's dislike of Matrix coming through way way stronger.

[daningram.insanejournal.com]

"Not really Supergirl!"

Wow, way to delegitimize the main character. Nice!

very bitter end

[7dialsmystery]

I know this is the bitter end of New52 but they writers don't have to be total d--ks about having to write old school characters.

Re: very bitter end

[q99]

I don't think it is the end of nu52... but yea, kinda jerks here.

[richardak]

I saw this issue in the store today, and I considered buying it because I was a big fan of the Matrix-Supergirl, but now I'm very glad I didn't. This looks really terrible, for all the reasons that others have already pointed out. It's a real shame too, because Matrix-Supergirl was a really interesting character. She had a foot in two camps, so to speak, because she was Clark's little sister (by adoption, but nevertheless) and Luthor's lover. Her relationship with Luthor was also really interesting, because she had been created by the Luthor of an alternate universe, making him, in effect, her father (I said interesting, not good). She was a good person and determined to use her abilities to help people, but she was also prone to serious misjudgments (like trusting Luthor). That especially makes her an interesting character. It's a shame she's not being treated more respectfully here.

[q99]

Right! This completely misses the point.

[thepinkperil]

It's intentional art. Giffen asked what characters were left that no one wanted to write. The answer was Matrix, Lady Quark and Ambush Bug. Throw them in the blender and this is what you get.

I like to think of this issue as more of a Mad Lib of 90's DC Comics. The more ridiculous the better. Probably why Supergirl is in a weird pose in every scene. Still, Lost in Space Dr. Smith style Lex kind of works for me.