2005 Comic Book News Archives

Superman/Batman #19

April 4, 2005: Jeph Loeb Talks Supergirl

Newsarama caught up with Jeph Loeb to ask him a bunch of questions about his up-coming "Supergirl" title. Here's part of what he had to say...

    Q: You handled it in Superman/Batman #8-#13 in "The Supergirl from Krypton," but whose idea was it originally to bring back Supergirl, and specifically - and unabashedly - Kara Zor-El, Superman's cousin from Krypton?

    A: It was the convergence of two trains heading on toward each other. I was working on the Superman monthly when Superman Group Editor Eddie "Extravaganza" Berganza and I were kicking around an Armageddon type story where this giant asteroid from Krypton was making its way toward Earth and somewhere out past Neptune Superman was beginning to feel it. We figured we could tie it into The Fall of Luthor since DC was very kind to let me both put Lex in the White House and figure out how to get him out. Eddie and I started giggling over the possibilities of there being something in the asteroid. Or someone in the asteroid -- neither of us daring to speak her name, but we both knew who were talking about.

    As it often happens with stuff like that, you put it away and wait for the right chance. Which, in my mind, was ... never. They had a Supergirl book. And since the original Crisis, there had been several of them actually.

    Meanwhile, unbeknownst to us all, Dan Didio had plans of his own. Dan has an expression which goes something like "Something's not right." And when that happens, things happen. He was having trouble explaining to people who Supergirl was -- which at the time was something like an ectoplasmic being from another dimension who bonded with an angel and ... well, his head started hurting. He, like me, thought Supergirl being Superman's cousin from Krypton was a pretty great origin.

    Cut to: It's now the launch of Superman/Batman #1 and Eddie and I decide to do the Fall of Luthor story as planned. Whether or not there was something in or on the big rock hadn't been decided. That's when Dan got involved and thought it would be a good idea -- but, and its a pretty big but - we had to find the right artist for the next arc.

    Here again, two trains, both doing the same thing. I'd been talking to Mike Turner about doing something with me at DC. And at the same time, Dan Didio was talking to Mike about the exact same thing. The Marriage was made and I had the perfect artist in Turner to bring Kara to Earth.

    Q: Speaking of Supergirl's origin, at WizardWorld LA, you mentioned agreeing with Dan Didio that if DC was to have a Supergirl, she needed to be a 'clean' version - straightforward in that she (being Superman's cousin) is what people expect. Can you elaborate on that a little?

    A: I've answered some of that with my first answer, but suffice to say, I was and still am a huge fan of what Peter David did with the character. Say what you will, eighty issues of anything is something to stand up and take notice. He built a world, populated with characters and I really respect that.

    This book is different. Kara Zor-El knows who she is. She knows the awesome responsibility it is to wear the "S." The trick for her now is to figure out if she wants to live in her much more famous cousin's shadow or break out on her own. Does Kid Flash wish he were the Flash? Does Robin get up every morning and think about how he'd be Batman? Those are different ways of playing a younger version of an Icon.

Read the entire interview at the Newsarama website.



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