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.

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

HALLOWEEN HORROR: Lovely, Dark, and Deep (2023)

Socially-awkward Lennon (Krypton and Barbarian's Georgina Campbell) lands a position as a backcountry ranger in the (fictional) Arvores National Park.

The massive park is known for the large number of people who go missing there, including Lennon's sister when they were youngsters.

Lennon is determined to find out what is really going on in the dark and creepy liminal spaces of the heavily forested park, but encounters a conspiracy of silence among her work colleagues.

Head-strong and determined to march to the beat of her own drum, Lennon disobeys a direct order during a hunt for a missing person (who she actually ends up rescuing, thus attracting the ire of whatever is lurking in the darkness) and finds herself on five days notice.

It is during these final days of her first season in the park that things start to get really strange.

I had high hopes that Lovely, Dark, and Deep would be a solid blend of two of my favourite horror sub-genres: rural horror and cosmic horror, but ultimately it falls into a well-trodden formula seen in so many similar movies.

While it's thankfully not as grating as a pretentious Ben Wheatley rural horror outing, early Blair Witch and Picnic at Hanging Rock vibes soon give way to obtuse, clichéd and random imagery. 

There's an overly-long nightmare sequence that has Lynchian aspirations, and is clearly meant to be the closest we'll get to an explanation of events, but much of it ultimately comes off as being weird for weird's sake.

The film, written and directed by Teresa Sutherland (who wrote the far-superior The Wind) clearly has good intentions; there's an interesting idea buried in there but as a story it's poorly told.

The cycle of sacrifice to the hungry and unknowable spirits that inhabit the woods is a really novel concept, but is hidden among a lot of unnecessary distraction padding out the 87-minute run time. 

Clearly there isn't enough of the main plot, as written, to satisfactorily fill the movie's duration and so atmospheric artistry is called upon to inflate what is there.

On one hand there actually was much to admire in Lovely, Dark, and Deep but on the other was the inescapable fact that it was thin fare, reminiscent of so many other movies - both better and worse.

Superman (2025)

On his own initiative, Superman (David Corenswet) has sought to prevent a war between an allied nation of the United States and its neighbour, much to the annoyance of the American government and tech billionaire Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult).

A social media campaign is orchestrated to turn the American people against Superman, and even his girlfriend, Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) starts to question him.

Superman is not another origin story, rather throwing readers into the non-stop action in media res. However, Superman's backstory is explained episodically throughout the movie as it's a central theme of the story.

This brand, spanking new iteration of the Man of The Steel unapologetically blends the wholesome positivity of the Christopher Reeve era of Superman movies with both Silver Age comic book zaniness and modern sensibilities.

It's clear from the get-go that writer/director James Gunn loves comic book superheroes and has a deep knowledge of his chosen universe, presenting deep cuts - such as Superman's robots and flying dog, Krypto; Metamorpho The Element Man (Anthony Carrigan); bowl-haircut-sporting Green Lantern Guy Gardener (Nathan Fillion); Mr Terrific (Edi Gathegi); and Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced) - in a matter-of-fact way, rather than tongue-in-cheek.

Superman isn't embarrassed to be a comic book movie, rather it dives headlong into the superhero genre tropes with relish, emerging as one of the finest and most accurate adaptations of the beloved source material that we've yet seen on the big screen.

Gunn's film captures the brightness and optimism of the best, most truthful, Superman stories, yet still manages to weave in the character's inherent "look after the little guy" political nature that has been part of the Last Son of Krypton's makeup since he was created by a pair of Jewish immigrants in the 1930s as a rebuttal to the rise of Adolf Hitler.

Launching the new DC Comics cinematic universe, Gunn brings his A-game to his iteration of Superman, meaning I was hooked from start to finish, and came away totally smitten by this work of art.

However, something I kept to myself until I actually saw this film: I actually wasn't sure if Superman was going to work under the character's current cinematic stewardship.

While I adored Gunn's Guardians of The Galaxy trilogy for Marvel, for embracing the wackiness of comics, his other recent superhero-related shows, such as Peacemaker, Suicide Squad and Creature Commandos, have left me cold. These attempts to force "mature themes" (ie. swearing, crass humour and graphic violence) onto DC characters just doesn't work for me.

These are attitudes I'll embrace on more independent  "superhero" worlds, such as Invincible and The Boys, because they are their own thing and their "edginess" is there for a reason, but for me the 90-year-old beating heart of the DC comics universe isn't like that at all, it's purer, family-friendly and more aspirational.

And that's exactly what Superman is.

Man of Steel (2013)

With the next iteration of Superman just around the corner, I've decided to take a whistle-stop tour through the Snyderverse take on the iconic character. 

I started with my first ever rewatch of Man of Steel, which I haven't seen since I originally saw it on its home video release and was simultaneously awed by the spectacle and disappointed by the story.

Now, removed from that original atmosphere by many years I find myself pleasantly surprised.

Man of Steel is a lot better than I remember it.

However, it still has an unforgivable problem in its finale: the Superman I grew up reading doesn't kill.

He always finds a different way to deal with a problem.

How else could he have resolved the situation? I don't know, I'm not Superman (Henry Cavill).

That's one of the things that makes him Superman and makes him better than General Zod (Michael Shannon).

The fact that he doesn't see that is due in part to the strange attitude his human-father, Jonathan Kent (Kevin Costner), tried to instil in young Clark Kent that he had to guard the secret of his abilities at all costs, even if it meant letting people die.

But again, a young Superman should have been able to find a way to save people and conceal his super powers at the same time.

Outside this rather major character flaw, Zack Snyder delivers a fantastic, action-packed, superhero origin story, from David Goyer's scipt.

I had totally forgotten the impressive, alien-realisation of Krypton at the start of the movie, before his biological father Jor-El (Russell Crowe) and mother Lara (Ayelet Zurer) send their infant child off into space just ahead of the planet's destruction.

If this Superman had gained better box office traction and been allowed to run through multiple sequels, I would have loved to have seen - somehow - a revisit to Krypton as envisaged by Zack Snyder.

Henry Cavill cuts a fine, square-jawed, figure as Superman when dressed in the red and blue costume, and there are moments when you get fleeting reminders of Christopher Reeve (the definitive live-action Superman).

I even found myself warming up to Amy Adams as Lois Lane. Again, she's no Margot Kidder, but actually following the growth of the character, and her relationship with Clark/Superman, I realised that she was more 'Lois Lane' than maybe I had previously given her credit for.

One of the issues I've had with the Snyderverse was the grey and grim filter everything appears through, but approaching this with an open mind - and eyes - I've come to appreciate the fact that, taking the film as a whole, it isn't as grim as the initial trailers portrayed it.

The film still errs towards Zack's trademark grey palette a bit too much on occasion, and there are too many grey/black costumes for my liking, but the story is much stronger than I recall from my previous viewing. And story, ultimately, always triumphs for me.

Man of Steel is flawed, but it isn't quite the "style-over-substance" affair it was originally painted as.

That said, collateral structural damage has always been a given in comics and films when it comes to monumental superhero slugfests, but the destruction wrought in Man of Steel is off the chart.

Smallville is pretty much laid waste in the initial attack by Zod and his fellow Kryptonians (and a significant amount of it is caused by Superman himself), but then when the fight moves to Metropolis, the devastation gets cranked up to 11.

I know Superman ultimately saved the people of the city (and thus Earth), but, seriously, they need to look around themselves and tally the cost. Who pays for all that damage? I bet 'superhero fight damage' isn't covered by insurance.

I realise that this was his first battle, but you'd think the US Government - or the United Nations - might suggest some kind of training course, to reduce the large-scale collateral damage in any future superpowered conflicts.

DC Stages A Comeback In My Superhero-Dominated Pull-List

Krypto: Last Dog of Krypton #1 movie variant cover (out this week)

As we were talking about statistics yesterday, I thought today would be a good time for a breakdown of my comic book pull-list.

This will then set a baseline for future comparisons as I monitor my shifting tastes.

There are currently 36 titles on my list, which sounds like a lot but includes pre-orders and one-shots as well as ongoing titles and limited series.

Over my nearly five decades of collecting, my "publisher of choice" has oscillated between DC and Marvel every few years - often with a short spell in between to focus on the smaller publishers. 

I actually thought my current list was dominated by DC at the moment, but I'd overlooked the number of Fantastic Four titles Marvel is pumping out to coincide with the arrival of their First Family in the MCU next month.

Pull-list broken down by publisher - June 2025

DC and Marvel are actually running pretty much neck and neck, thanks to both publishers pushing books tied into their potential summer blockbusters - which just happen to feature my favourite team and my favourite solo hero.

Pull-list broken down by genre - June 2025

I'm not surprised to see "superhero"-themed comics holding such sway over my list though as DC has really hit its stride this year, with its All In initiative. I hope this quality of storytelling will set the status quo for the company's books for a looooong time.

Prior to this, DC had pretty much been wiped off my pull-list (as I wasn't a fan of whatever convoluted balderdash they were doing with their storylines), but now the pendulum is definitely swinging back in the direction of the Distinguished Competition. 

Which is all great fun for me as a reader, but it's also starting to really put a strain on my budget. 

Therefore, largely for financial reasons (the cost of a single comic book continues to creep upwards) I'm aiming to trim my list down to books related to DC's Superman, books related to Marvel's Fantastic Four, and books related to the works of Robert E Howard (e.g. Conan The Barbarian, Solomon Kane etc).

We'll have to see how that goes. I'm already pondering "exceptions", such as catering to my interest in the Green Lantern Corps and its members as well as the JSA!

Fantastic Four Fanfare #2 (out this week)

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.

Who's A Very Good Boy? Krypto The Superdog!

Due to land in stores on June 18, Krypto: The Last Dog of Krypton is a reimagining of the origin story of Superman's beloved canine companion by the Fantastic Four's Ryan North with art by the wonderful Mike Norton of Battlepug fame.

DC’s Krypto: The Last Dog of Krypton comic book series begins Krypto’s journey on the planet Krypton.

Jor-El and Lara are working on a ship capable of keeping someone alive in interstellar space, but when their first test - with Krypto inside - goes catastrophically wrong, the dog is thought lost.

Unbeknownst to them, Krypto and his spacecraft merely entered an unexpected space-time gateway, and days later from his point of view - even though it’s been decades in real time- Krypto lands on Earth.

Through the five issues of Krypto: The Last Dog of Krypton, Krypto explores Earth in search of his family.

Finding himself lost and alone on our alien world - and with strange new superpowers quickly coming in - Krypto begins traveling the strange planet he finds himself in the middle of, always on the trail of his lost friend: Kal-El, a being now better known as Superman.

DC has released a short tease of the first issue, which you can see below:

As Many Varieties of Kryptonite As There Are Of Ice Cream

A new five-issue Black Label title from DC this August will see Superman investigating the properties of four new flavours of Kryptonite.

The work of the team behind behind the popular horror title Ice Cream Man,W. Maxwell Prince, Martín Morazzo and Chris O’Halloran, Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum promises to be something a bit out of the ordinary.

DC publicity explains that:

...four new Kryptonites have been discovered in deep space, and Superman needs to know just what, exactly, they do to him - lest the colourful rocks of his home planet fall into evil hands!

With Batman at his side, this DC Black Label Superman five-issue event explores the consequences of each never-before-seen variety of Kryptonite - all in the formal, and boundary-pushing fashion, that Prince, Morazzo, and O’Halloran are celebrated for.

Check out some interior art from the first issue, by Martín Morazzo and Chris O’Halloran, below:

Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum will carry DC’s Ages 17+ content descriptor (for mature readers).

Here are some variant covers for the first issue:

Foil variant cover art by Wes Craig

Cover art by Tula Lotay

Cover art by Alex Eckman-Lawn

Cover art by Juan Ferreyra

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