Buy Now!

Mild Mannered Reviews - Supergirl Comics

Supergirl #59

Supergirl #59

Scheduled to arrive in stores: December 15, 2010

Cover date: February 2011

"Day of the Dollmaker" - Part Two: "End of the Line"

Writer: Sterling Gates
Penciller: Jamal Igle
Inker: Jon Sibal and Robin Riggs

Reviewed by: Jeffrey Bridges

Click to enlarge



Anton Schott (The Dollmaker) has Cat Grant tied up, and explains that he was born on Christmas, and is the son of Winslow Schott (The Toyman). When he grew up he became uninteresting to his father, so his mother took him away only to abandon him in Metropolis earlier this year.

He found his father's old workshop and decided to continue his legacy, and took other kids who'd been abandoned (the missing children). He found out about what his father did to Cat. So he's decided Cat can help him get revenge on Toyman, and in exchange she will get to be his new mother.

Then we get two pages of Kara retelling the story from last issue.

Kara stopped a bunch of low-life criminals with hopes they'd have information on the missing children, but didn't find out anything.

Lois asks Lucy what she is as an excuse to recap Lucy's entire history for a page, and then Lois tells Lucy how disgusted she is by her.

Back in her apartment, Cat Grant tells the Dollmaker she wouldn't love him if he were the last child on earth. This prompts him to give it a shot, and he declares he will kill all the children of Metropolis. As he and his dolls march for the door, Cat gives in and calls out to Supergirl.

Kara arrives, spouts a cheesy line, and kicks some ass. Dollmaker says he's got bombs strapped to the kids and threatens to kill him, but Kara frees Cat and she knocks Dollmaker out. The kids are discovered and returned to their parents.

Kara and Lana head to Smallville for Christmas with the Kents, where Kara says Dollmaker is in intensive care but should pull through. Lois and Superboy arrive, and Lois brings a copy of tomorrow's Daily Planet headline, in which Cat reverses her stance on Supergirl.

4Story - 4: My score here should more accurately be for the writing, which is actually how I always score in my reviews, and not just for the story. The story itself is very good and an excellent end to this mini-arc and the long gestating Cat vs. Supergirl situation.

The only reason I docked it a point was for the needless amount of recaps. Those may be editorial mandate, those may have been Gates' decision, I don't really know. But the end result was that 3 pages of this comic was devoted to recapping things from the past, most of it things right from last month. If they were referencing events from a long time ago, recap would be fine (like last month, when Cat's backstory with Toyman from a decade ago was recapped). But to spend two entire pages retelling exactly what happened from last month was just unnecessary. That could have been two pages of Kara's search for answers, or two pages of Cat trying to cope with Dollmaker. It's just wasted space.

And I'm totally overlooking the "I don't play nice with bad toys" line. Groan-inducing, yes, but not worth docking a point over.

That's my only complaint, though. Fill those wasted recap pages with more of this same goodness and I'd be a happy camper.

4Art - 4: Very good stuff. Cat's face was exceptionally expressive, and that added a lot to the story for me and made it work even better.

2Cover Art - 2: Not particularly compelling or creative by any stretch of the imagination, and Kara once again looks like she's 12. Blah.


Mild Mannered Reviews

2011

Note: Month dates are from the issue covers, not the actual date when the comic went on sale.

January 2011

February 2011 March 2011 April 2011 May 2011 June 2011 July 2011 August 2011 September 2011 October 2011 November 2011 December 2011

Back to the Mild Mannered Reviews contents page.

Check out the Comic Index Lists for the complete list of Superman-related comics published in 2011.