All The Different Ways You Can See Supergirl

After yesterday's final trailer and character posters, today we get this set of posters highlighting the many formats in which you can see Supergirl.

Supergirl Character Posters - Including Krypto!

RPG REVIEW: Amazing Heroes by Martin Lloyd

To give you a quick summation of my feelings about Amazing Heroes (from 2021), consider the fact that I'm on record (probably many times) moaning about my inability to cope with reading large PDF files, being an old geezer who thinks books should be printed on paper.

Then consider the fact that I made the effort to read - and make notes about - the 131-page PDF file of Martin Lloyd's new Amazing Heroes superhero roleplaying game; quite possibly the largest PDF file I have read from cover-to-cover.

Recently Kickstarted into existence, this is Martin's reimagining of his original kid-friendly, introductory, roleplaying system, Amazing Tales, but targeting a slightly older demographic.

Geared towards playing superhero characters (although the freeform nature of the game allows for a great deal of flexibility), the style of play encouraged takes its inspiration from superhero TV shows (particularly The CW ones), such as Flash, Arrow, Supergirl etc, while still drawing on the lore and tropes of comic books, of course.

Expanding on the very simple rules at the heart of Amazing Tales, Amazing Heroes is - in a nutshell - the perfect distillation of the core elements you need for a rules-lite, narrative-led superhero campaign.

Rather than explaining, and cataloguing, every possible superpower, such aspects of the game are left to a combination of player creativity and gamesmaster fiat.

Characters have a handful of attributes, and powers, each allocated a die type.

All checks in the game are player-facing, however if a player fluffs his roll in, say, a combat situation, he doesn't automatically get hurt, rather the situation "escalates", meaning it gets worse for the hero and his colleagues.

Straight off I will say that while I absolutely love this approach, as it addresses a lot of the problems I've had, personally, with overly mechanical superhero roleplaying systems in the past, it's not going to appeal to everyone.

Power gamers, people who talk about "optimum builds", and those who welcome characters that need spreadsheets to keep track of, will be scratching their heads at the bare bones nature of Amazing Heroes.

It's about as far from my own traditional, old school, comfort zone as you can imagine, and yet the primary function of the simple mechanics is to encourage interesting story creation at a fast-pace, without the necessity of constant rules-referencing.

To me, this seems perfect for a game seeking to emulate the biff-bam-pow of superhero comics, TV shows, and movies.

The freeform, storygame, approach of Amazing Heroes means the gamesmaster will often be flying by the seat of their pants, but with creative players the story is also very unlikely to run afoul of a crunchy ruling.

It does require the players to buy in to the superheroic world that they and the gamesmaster are creating, but with the right ensemble, of any age, I believe great things are possible.

The whole book is gorgeously illustrated in full-colour, with the player's section of the rules taking up the first 23 pages, followed by about 22 pages of GM advice (ranging from pacing and villain creation to guidelines on awarding experience so that player-characters can grow through the campaign).

The rest of the book covers the default setting of Storm City, on America's west coast, a plentiful array of example villains, a collection of story hooks (tied to different areas of Storm City), and then two adventures.

When you read through Martin's sample setting and the fully-fleshed out adventures, you can immediately grok the fact that you don't need pages and pages of stats and description to run an exciting and inspirational scenario.

Amazing Heroes is available to buy in POD or PDF from Drivethru.

Supergirls Just Wanna Have Sun

When an unexpected and ruthless adversary strikes too close to home, Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl, reluctantly joins forces with an unlikely companion on an epic, interstellar journey of vengeance and justice.

Supergirl, DC Studios’ newest feature film to hit the big screen, will be in theaters worldwide this summer from Warner Bros. Pictures, starring Milly Alcock in the dual role of Supergirl/Kara Zor-El. Craig Gillespie directs the film from a screenplay by Ana Nogueira.

This Summer Belongs To Supergirl, According to DC

Summer of Supergirl Special #1 main cover art by Belén Ortega

Ahead of the release of the upcoming Supergirl movie, a 48-page comic, the Summer of Supergirl Special, is due to hit stores on June 24.

According to the publisher:

This celebratory anthology brings together an all-star roster of writers and artists for a trio of stories honouring Kara Zor-El’s legacy across the DC Universe.

The creators involved include writers Sophie Campbell, Mark Waid, and Gail Simone, and artists Belén Ortega, Cian Tormey, and Emma Kubert.

The main cover is illustrated by Ortega, with variant covers by Tula Lotay and Pablo Villalobos, plus a Supergirl movie variant cover by Mahmud Asrar.

The book's lead story is by the current ongoing Supergirl writer Sophie Campbell, with artist Belén Ortega. It sees the quiet town of Midvale shaken when Supergirl comes face-to-face with the galactic bounty hunter Lobo. Can the Maiden of Might stand up to the Main Man?

Clearly this is to echo the movie where Lobo and Supergirl cross paths in live-action, but I suspect in Campbell's hands the story will be more light-hearted and Silver Age. The movie trailer looks like it's positioning her halfway between Guardians of The Galaxy and the Snyderverse. I could be wrong... I often am.

I have to admit I've also never been a fan of Lobo (although, surprisingly, I enjoyed his appearance in the 2019 Krypton TV series, where he was portrayed by the excellent Emmett J Scanlan). The character was always seemed too much of a one joke/one note creation who outstayed his welcome.

But then again I felt the same about Deadpool and Venom when they were first "breaking out" and I've subsequently changed my mind on both of those characters (although comic book Deadpool will never be as funny as cinematic Deadpool).

The Summer of Supergirl Special also includes two other stories - one by Mark Waid and Cian Tormey, and another by Gail Simone and Emma Kubert - each celebrating Supergirl as she resumes her rightful place as the Heir to El.

Supergirl movie variant cover art by Mahmud Asrar

Variant cover art by Tula Lotay

Variant cover art by Pablo Villalobos

Superheroes Getting Medieval Again This Summer

Yasmine Putri's main cover of Dark Knights of Steel II #1

In July, as part of DC's new push on its Elseworld's alternate reality settings, writer Tom Taylor and artist Otto Schmidt take us back to the popular Medieval universe of Dark Knights of Steel for a second adventure arc.

Other Elseworlds books being released this Summer include Supergirl: Survive (Kara and Kal-El escaping Krypton’s destruction together) in June and Superman: Father of Tomorrow (Jor-El arrives on Earth instead of Kal-El) in May.

SUPERB OWL LX MOVIE TRAILERS

SUPERGIRL

THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU

DISCLOSURE DAY

SCREAM 7

MINIONS & MONSTERS

Bizarro Am Not Getting Own Miniseries

Bizarro: Year None #1 main cover art by Nick Pitarra

Pop culture icon Kevin Smith - with the aid of Supergirl scribe Eric Carrasco - is bringing the an origin story of one of Superman's strangest and most persistent foes to life in the four-issue miniseries Bizarro: Year None.

Appropriately launching on April 1, the series...

"...follows Superman’s pal Jimmy Olsen and Clark Kent’s boss Perry White as they depart the Daily Planet for a strange adventure in outer space. 

"Their journey leads them to a dimension that mirrors Metropolis in uncanny ways and reveres its legendary newspaper as an article of faith.

"As they unravel the mystery of this bizarre world, they confront the being behind it all. Is he a misguided Superman fan, an agent of pure chaos, or is he no one at all?

"Smith and Carrasco bring a blend of humour, heart, and high-concept storytelling to a character whose contradictions have made him a fan-favourite for decades.

"Nick Pitarra’s bold, hyper-detailed artwork grounds the series’ surreal tone, giving readers a version of Bizarro’s world that feels both familiar and unsettling."

Variant cover art by Ibrahim Moustafa

Variant cover art by Frank Quitely

A Taste of Supergirl's Way of Guarding The Galaxy

Supergirl, DC Studios’ newest feature film to hit the big screen, will be in theatres worldwide this summer from Warner Bros. Pictures, starring Milly 'House of The Dragon' Alcock in the dual role of Supergirl/Kara Zor-El.

Craig Gillespie directs the film from a screenplay by Ana Nogueira.

When an unexpected and ruthless adversary strikes too close to home, Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl, reluctantly joins forces with an unlikely companion on an epic, interstellar journey of vengeance and justice.

Supergirl lands in theatres on June 26.

THROWBACK THURSDAY: How Many 50-Year-Olds Have Superhero-Themed Birthday Parties? Not Enough

The 'Must-Eat League': from left - Richard, Erica, Paul, Jeni, Pete, Me, Nick, and Clare...

The month of celebrations for my half-century (in 2016) came to an end with a superhero-themed meal at the Oriental Buffet in Tonbridge, with a loose comic book-inspired dress code.

You can't really go wrong with an all-you-can-eat dining experience, accentuated by a selection of T-shirts and outfits that ran the gamut from Richard's Batman shirt (he wore the plastic Bat-mask for 90 per cent of the evening as well, which was true dedication to the theme) to Jeni's She-ra costume (complete with gauntlets and headgear) and Rachel's bespoke Marvel comic book dress.

As well as having decorated our table ahead of time with appropriate balloons (several of which also survived the journey home afterwards), my wonderful wife still had one gobsmacking surprise up her sleeve: the best birthday cake ever!

Based on Des Taylor's design from my main birthday present, it was the scumptious, double-decker cake you can see below (created by a local cake aficionado), complete with Acrobatic Flea, Flash, and Supergirl decorations:

BEST. CAKE. EVER!

BEST. WIFE. EVER!

Special mention has to be made of how Paul turned up at our door, before we went to the restaurant. The doorbell rang, and I opened the door to be greeted by The Black Power Ranger!

Apparently he'd changed into his superhero alter ego outside our house (although I still suspect he'd travelled down from London on the train like this, only he'd used super-ninja skills to blend in with the crowd).

Sadly, the costume was too uncomfortable - and totally impractical - for going to a restaurant in. But major kudos for borrowing this outfit and throwing himself into the spirit of the evening!

What Is Seen Cannot Be Unseen: Alice has no clue as to what is happening at this point!

THROWBACK THURSDAY: BEST. PRESENT. EVER!

Back in 2016, I turned 50.  It would be quite gauche to list all the amazing presents I got from friends and family for successfully reaching my half-century, but I have to share with you this incredible gift that Rachel gave me.

She commissioned a one-of-a-kind piece of art from DC Comics artist Des Taylor (also one of the co-hosts of Sky Television's DC Fancast), featuring not only a race between television's Flash and Supergirl, but also a cameo by my very own Acrobatic Flea!!!

Does this make the Flea part of the DCU? Probably not, but I can dream.

The picture now hangs in pride of place at the top of our main staircase.

In pride of place

At the time, Des presented Sky One's sadly short-lived "Arrowverse" companion show, DC Fancast, along with Bec Hill and Rick Edwards, recapping and discussing episodes of The Flash, Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl.

This was where I came to appreciate his art and mentioned this to Rachel, as my "special" birthday was approaching.

Currently Des is probably best known as the creator of Titan Comics' Scarlett Couture, as well as being a frequent contributor to one of the best online comic book resources, 13th Dimension.

With the picture, Des included some of his initial sketches as well, so I also have wonderful black and white illustrations of the Flea, Flash, and Supergirl, which I still need to get framed at some stage.

Rabid (2019)

After an argument with her best friend, vegetarian wallflower and aspiring fashion designer Rose (Laura Vandervoort aka Smallville's Supergirl) is hideously disfigured in a road traffic accident.

During her recuperation, she learns of an experimental private medical centre, run by the not-at-all-sinister Dr William (yes, I see what they did there) Burroughs (Ted Atherton).

After undergoing cutting-edge stem cell treatment and remarkable restorative plastic surgery, Rose emerges full-on Vandervoort gorgeous.

However, upon returning home, she is troubled by crippling stomach pains and increasingly gruesome nightmares.

Unfortunately, for everyone she comes into contact with, they are not nightmares and she is actually patient zero for an outbreak of superfast, mutated rabies which spreads through the city like wildfire.

A retelling of David Cronenberg's original 1977 body horror classic, Jen and Sylvia Soska‘s Rabid is a phenomenal and shocking tale that takes its audience to some surprising places along its visceral journey.

Featuring everything from Lovecraftian mad science to unstoppable plague zombies, this ticks a lot of boxes for me.

As the mayhem escalates - with the mutated strain of rabies engulfing the city - there's almost an In The Mouth Of Madness level of existential dread, which is then compounded by the film's bleak denouement.

The not-too-subtle critique of body-shaming and vanity is wryly amusing, with several of the supporting roles teetering on the brink of being arch.

Nicely paced and cleverly shot, blurring hallucinations (such as the Silent Hill/music video sequence) with gruesome reality, the action in Rabid may take some time to get going but the central performances never fail to draw the audience in.

As well as a number of the characters carrying over their names from the original, the Soska Sisters's Rabid is sprinkled with Cronenberg-related Easter Eggs, such as the use of  the name of William Burroughs alluding to Cronenberg's adaptation of his famous novel Naked Lunch and the red surgical gowns worn during Rose's operation are a clear nod to Jeremy Irons's gowns in Dead Ringers.

Supergirl Continues To Radiate Silver Age Energy

Supergirl has a new 2025 series that sees her returning to Midvale to face off against classic foes. This latest DC All In series contains numerous nods and references to classic silver and bronze age stories, and some villain comebacks. How does Lesla Lar [h]old up in the contemporary era? Is this book fun? We discuss [it] here on Casually Comics!

The new Supergirl book is fast becoming one of my favourite new comics of 2025... largely because of its Silver Age energy. And the super-bunny, of course!

The simple trick to the title's success is that writer/artist Sophie Campbell acknowledges that superhero comics can be fun and a bit silly without destroying a book's verisimilitude: hence the full-throated embrace of Silver Age wackiness and Bronze Age throwbacks. 

Once again, Sasha of Casually Comics (above) deep dives into reviewing the issue for you, so I don't need to.

TALES FROM THE VAULT: Action Comics #499 (1979)

It's the end of the world (again) in Action Comics #499 and I feel fine... because Superman is on the case.

"As The World Turns... For The Last Time!" (written by Cary Bates with pencils by Curt Swan, inks from Vince Colleta, colours by Gene D'Angelo, and letters by Todd Klein) starts out as a typical day in Metropolis but things are soon heading to Hell in a handbasket after a flying figure is spotted in the sky.

It's not actually the Man of Steel, but his newest chum, the bare-chested, moustachioed Vartox, former protector of planet Valeron and latest "getting-over-Superman" love interest for Lana Lang.

Kids these days, don't know the hardships of the 1970s!

The crowd's apathy to another Superman sighting won't last long though.

Vartox, having failed to save his planet from destruction, now believes that the Earth is going to suffer the same fate because of the dread "x-element" (that he brought with him) which will, very soon, cause the oxygen in the atmosphere to explode.

However, Vartox's unfortunate part in our imminent destruction is even larger. His "hyper-abilities"(which generally mirror Superman's superpowers) are psychically-powered, and he is radiating apocalyptic fear around the globe!

It starts with a "mental plague" in Corleyville, a small town in northern Wisconsin, where the townsfolk plead with Superman to take them away (that's the cover picture for the issue), then rapidly spreads until it seems most of the world's population believe they are facing impending doom.

The Last Son of Krypton, however, isn't convinced and his experiments at the Fortress of Solitude back up this belief. However, Vartox is sticking to his guns and stages a bizarre "intervention" after knocking out Superman with a "hyper-brain blast".

When Supes awakens, Vartox is dressed as Jor-El and has constructed a jury of mannikins dressed as Kryptonian Science Council - re-enacting Jor-El's vain attempts to convince the council that Krypton was about to explode!

This misguided attempt at psychological torture backfires as Supes goes a bit crazy and smashes through the wall of the Fortress.

However, once outside, in the fresh Artic air, he senses that the "x-element" is actually starting to take effect, and deduces that there must have been something in the Fortress preventing this chemical reaction.

Of course, it turns out to be the radioactive fragments of the planet Valeron!

So, Superman and Vartox speed off through space to gather more fragments, grind them up and seed Earth's atmosphere... thus saving the day.

Around all this bonkers Bronze Age chaos there's an awkward romantic sub-plot for Lana, who really has the hots for Vartox (since she first met him in the previous issue), even once he reveals his secret identity (she initially believed him to be Vern, a security guard at the Galaxy Building, where Clark Kent is working at this time).

In the end, she has to let him go, though, as he declares that Earth has enough superheroes and he has an obligation to find a planet to protect with his "hyper-powers". Or it's just an excuse to get away from the very clingy Lana.

"It's not you, it's me!" (But it really is you)

If you've ever wondered what Superman would look like if he had been created in the 1970s - or joined The Village People - you have to check out Vartox's Who's Who entry from March, 1987 below.

Created by Cary Bates and Curt Swan in Superman #281, Vartox was actually inspired by Sean Connery's memorable appearance in 1974's Zardoz, in case you hadn't realised.

This "older and more experienced" iteration of the Superman archetype has reappeared post-Crisis (thanks to the multiversal shenanigans of recent DC event storylines) and even cameoed in the pilot episode of the The CW's Supergirl show (played by by Owain Yeoman) as a short-lived villainous escapee from Fort Rozz.

Thought Bubbles, Silver Age Easter Eggs, and A Super-Bunny - This Fun New Supergirl Comic Has It All!

I had every intention of reviewing the latest Supergirl #1 - part of DC's Summer of Superman initiative - but Sasha of Casually Comics got there first and has done a far better job than I ever could have.

In the absence of "editor's notes", I'm always impressed by Sasha's ability to spot Easter Eggs, especially those that are deep dives into the Silver and Bronze Age.

And Supergirl #1 appears to be full of these.

I'm Pretty Sure I Am, But Are You Ready For The Summer of Superman?

To coincide with the release of a certain movie we're all looking forward to (don't let us down, James Gunn!), DC Comics has announced its Summer of Superman initiative.

Leading the charge will be a new ongoing title in May, Superman Unlimited, from the ever-excellent Dan Slott (of Fantastic Four, Amazing Spider-Man etc fame), making his ongoing DC debut, and artist Rafael Albuquerque.

A massive extinction-level Kryptonite asteroid showers Superman’s greatest weakness down upon the earth, creating an arms race for the new most valuable resource on the planet: Green K.

The greater availability of Kryptonite in the DC Universe changes the balance of power in the criminal empires of Metropolis and across the globe: Intergang, under new leadership, is on the rise, with practically all their foot soldiers carrying at least one clip of Kryptonite bullets on them.

The asteroid left massive Kryptonite deposits to be mined, and it houses unlimited horrors yet to be unpacked. To survive, Superman will need to forge new alliances, new tech and new tactics if he hopes to carry on his quest for truth, justice and a better tomorrow!

Superman Unlimited won’t just provide Superman’s nemeses with near-unlimited Kryptonite: the Daily Planet gets an upgrade.

A merger with a new incarnation of Morgan Edge’s Galaxy Communications expands the Daily Planet brand into a multimedia news platform with a cable news channel, website, strong social media presence, and—yes—Lois Lane is still editor in chief.

Daily Planet regulars Jimmy Olsen, Ron Troupe, Cat Grant and Steve Lombard will staff satellite branches across the DC universe, creating a global network.

Behind it all is the tech savvy of a new IT specialist from Gorilla City, King Solovar’s goddaughter, Tee-Nah.

The story kicks off with a 10-page preview in the DC All In Free Comic Book Day Special Edition #1, coming out on May 3. This flip book will also include a new Absolute Universe story, written by Jeff Lemire. 

Superman Unlimited #1 is then scheduled for launch on May 21.

DC’s Summer of Superman will not only embrace the already ongoing Action Comics and Superman titles but will include limited and ongoing series starring Superboy, Supergirl, Krypto (yay!), and more, highlighting DC’s deep roster of Superman-related characters.

I suspect this could see some heavy culling of non-Superman, and non-Fantastic Four, titles from my monthly pull-list, but nothing immediately springs to mind as expendable. Ahhh, first world problems!

The two faces of DC's FCBD flip book

THROWBACK THURSDAY: My (Continuing) Adventures With Superman

My deep affinity for the character of Superman has a poignant origin story. I had this copy of Amazing Heroes magazine, which takes an in-depth look at John Byrne's impending (at the time) relaunch of Superman for DC Comics (post Crisis on Infinite Earths) when I travelled up to Stoke-on-Trent in 1986.

I was visiting my dear friend Matt, who was studying at university there, and I have a vivid memory of sitting on a small hillock in some parkland, waiting for him to turn up.

As I sat there I was reading Amazing Heroes and becoming increasingly convinced that I was going to really enjoy this era of Superman's comic book adventures.

Now, of course, this is also another strong memory I have associated with my gone-too-soon old pal.

I was already a massive fan of John Byrne's work from his stint on Fantastic Four (still a benchmark by which I judge most other superhero books) but I'd only really dabbled in Superman titles up until that point.

I had a few random Bronze Age issues, including both parts of Alan Moore's classic Whatever Happened to The Man of Tomorrow? story (I was a big Alan Moore fan, as most people were at the time, religiously reading Watchmen and Swamp Thing) and this particularly memorable issue of Action featuring Captain Strong (most definitely not a Popeye knockoff):

As Byrne's The Man of Steel (the six-issue miniseries introducing us to all the key players in the key Superman mythos) was published, I knew I had found "my" Superman.

I treasure my original collection of The Man of Steel, for the artwork, stories and memories

As I wrote on Facebook the other day:

"Although I'm a fan of all eras of Superman (with a particular penchant for the wackiness of the Silver Age these days), it was John Byrne's 1986, post-Crisis, relaunch, with The Man of Steel miniseries, that truly sold me on the character. For me, this remains the definitive take on Superman and his supporting cast."

Luthor was no longer a 'mad scientist' but a corrupt businessman

But, of course, me being me it's not just Superman comics I collect (... and films... and T-shirts), it's also the occasional action figure, miniature, and Funko Pop.

For the longest time, it wasn't even a conscious effort to accumulate these artifacts, but as time passed I realised my 'horde' had a definite Superman bias.

I'm not a hardcore hunter of such Superman memorabilia, but if I see something that catches my eye (and I can afford it at the time) I always like to add it to the shelves of my gamesroom:

Alongside Beppo The Super-Monkey, Bizzaro and Doomsday, one of these Supermen
is actually a "Superman Robot" - can you pick him out?

A selection of Supergirls (from TV and comics),
with Krypto and Streaky The Supercat and Wonder Woman

A comic-accurate Kelex, soon believed to be appearing in the new Superman film

Funko Pops of Superman and Lois from the original Christopher Reeve movie

I love my collection of miniature Smallville residents from the Silver Age comics

My shelf of Superman graphic novels and omnibuses - along with a Daily Planet pen holder.