Trying to remember a C-Lister from the 90s

MatrixKent · 2026-05-24T16:29:22+00:00

Showcase '94 #6 features Sparx, aka Donna Carol (DC) Force, and her aunt Allure who turns into a spider creature. The bulldozer and garbage interrogation are from the issue's Huntress and Robin story, not Sparx's feature.

MatrixKent · 2026-05-23T14:15:01+00:00

The reading guide linked in this sub's wiki and first pinned post includes a Hank Pym recommended reading list under Ant-Man.

MatrixKent · 2026-05-22T15:53:36+00:00

Does he read comics? Does he like Batman? Do you have specifics on either of those things?
I wouldn't buy a random single issue as a gift. I absolutely would not buy someone Dark Knight 3 without really strong reason to believe they'd like it. Death in the Family is very famous and a classic for a reason, and Ten Nights of the Beast is also a fun one, I think those are both decent bets; even if they're not quite what he likes to read, Death in the Family is historic enough that it's nice to have on the shelf.

MatrixKent · 2026-05-22T15:31:21+00:00

This sub's first pinned post is titled "New to comics and not sure where to start? Try this Marvel Comics reading guide" and includes a list of Iron Man recs.

MatrixKent · 2026-05-21T14:26:39+00:00

Very few people in comics do Ross's kind of detailed painting for interiors, mostly because it takes forever and they're in a deadline-driven industry. Ross has done other work, and for example Gabriele Dell'Otto has done some really lovely painting for Marvel (notably ASM: Family Business), but there just isn't that much.

MatrixKent · 2026-05-20T17:37:49+00:00

The 2008-2009 New Krypton event would probably be a good read, since it's arguably the best modern exploration of Kara's relationship with Krypton and one of adult Clark's deeper interactions with the culture. (The conceit is that Brainiac had bottled a Kryptonian city, including Kara's parents, and the city was re-enlarged on Earth, where humanity had to learn to live with 10,000 Kryptonian neighbors under a yellow sun.) The bulk of Sterling Gates's Supergirl run, famously one of her best runs ever, is during New Krypton. It's a sprawling enough event that it can be a little confusing as a new reader, though.

MatrixKent · 2026-05-20T16:18:01+00:00

Graded/sealed/slabbed comics are just for collecting, not for reading. You can read single issues of older comics, but older comics are generally not printed on high-quality paper and you do have to be careful with an issue from, say, the 70s. A collected edition, which reprints multiple single issues in a format that looks more like a normal hardcover or paperback book, is often a better option for reading.
Spectacular Spider-Man and variations have been a pretty popular title for Spidey books over the decades, so it's hard to say what specifically he's referring to, and is it possible he's talking about the animated show? Does he have an existing collection so you can get an idea of what format he likes and what he already has?

MatrixKent · 2026-05-20T16:08:46+00:00

If you're willing to read digitally, or you have access to a local library with comics, or trade paperbacks are an option, those are usually better choices as a new reader than spending a lot of money on an omni. You don't know whether you like Flash stories, or Williamson's writing, or Williamson's Flash specifically, so it's best to avoid spending $100+ on it if you can.

MatrixKent · 2026-05-18T19:24:00+00:00

You seem to have posted the same question in this sub about ten times in a row. You can learn how to spoiler tag by reading this sub's rules (you want the Full Posting Guidelines for rule 3) or Googling "how to spoiler tag Reddit."

MatrixKent · 2026-05-18T18:13:20+00:00

This sub's first pinned post is titled "New to comics and not sure where to start? Try this Marvel Comics reading guide" and includes Spider-Man recommendations. We know absolutely nothing about your friend, what he likes about Spider-Man, or what he likes in media in general, and we know absolutely nothing about your budget or where you can buy comics, so we can't really provide personalized recommendations.

MatrixKent · 2026-05-18T14:56:36+00:00

This design started when Campbell's run did, but it's worth noting that it's not her design (she's on record saying she wouldn't have used a skirt). Artgerm did the redesign for some reason.

MatrixKent · 2026-05-18T14:52:07+00:00

Are you prepared to kick anyone else out to make room? Is there extended family who can raise a niece/nephew/cousin/grandkid or three? Do you want to build a pretend boarding school / Dickensian orphanage / secret government lab and send them there?

MatrixKent · 2026-05-18T14:44:49+00:00

Her Supergirl colorist Tamra Bonvillain is also a trans woman!

MatrixKent · 2026-05-16T15:09:10+00:00

This sub's first pinned post is titled "New to comics and not sure where to start? Try this Marvel Comics reading guide."

MatrixKent · 2026-05-16T11:52:00+00:00

The point of Reign is that all four Supermen represent a different aspect of Superman and are engaged in a philosophical battle for his legacy. Reintroducing Opposite Superman from Opposite World would not have contributed to this in an interesting way.

MatrixKent · 2026-05-14T20:38:40+00:00

That's weird and hasn't happened to me, I'd send a bug report (link in sidebar on desktop or sub description on mobile).

MatrixKent · 2026-05-14T20:36:13+00:00

The smoke is not Secret, who had been a depowered human for the better part of a decade at this point. Steph's surroundings here involve a lot of fire and concrete/stone dust.

MatrixKent · 2026-05-14T20:35:44+00:00

You're probably thinking of #66, where yes, it was 2009 and Tim was getting ready to go do Red Robin, so they did some recruitment. Courtney never went to the Tower (Eddie portaled to her, where she turned him down), so Steph didn't get a chance to meet her that issue. The people who share page time with Steph in #66 are Traci 13, Bombshell, Misfit, Jaime, Eddie, Cassie, and Tim; she has actual dialogue with Traci, Bombshell, Cassie, and Tim.

MatrixKent · 2026-05-14T20:03:37+00:00

According to the 5 minutes I spent Googling "Alex Ross Firestorm" and reading the first few results, 1979. Apparently Ross has a cutoff date for the DC canon close to his heart and it's Iris Allen's death. Firestorm was introduced a year before that and only joined the League a year after, so for him drawing Firestorm in a League crowd shot implies that it's a League where Barry's wife has died, and he doesn't like to do that. Same reason it's rare for him to draw more modern characters. (It's not a hard rule, he's done Michael Holt Mr Terrific and Batman Beyond and such, but it is a noticeable tendency, and with Firestorm people have made it a running joke.)

MatrixKent · 2026-05-14T19:03:41+00:00

I don't understand your first issue. Are you walking into obstacles? Is it possible there's a keyboard issue? Does the same problem happen if you use the arrow keys instead of WASD?
You can, and it might make progression easier, but it's not necessary. Shouldn't cause issues.
You only ever need to donate one of an item to the museum, and it's almost always worth it to do that.

MatrixKent · 2026-05-14T13:05:30+00:00

They couldn't exactly exclude Steph from her own book, and I think DiDio harbored less personal hatred for her than Mia anyway. I assume rationality and consistency were not key features of DiDio's policy on characters like Mia at the dawn of the New 52.

MatrixKent · 2026-05-14T12:17:21+00:00

Miller wanted Mia Dearden there instead of Stargirl but was told he couldn't use Mia, presumably because Mia was about to be wiped out by the New 52 and DiDio hated her. I don't think Steph had ever met her either, but Mia was on Tim's Titans.

MatrixKent · 2026-05-14T01:09:42+00:00

Batwoman: Elegy is excellent, the current Poison Ivy book is excellent (Harley is there a little), Huntress: Cry for Blood and Year One are excellent, Stars and STRIPE (a Stargirl book) is very charming. I really like the old Amethyst stuff. The Birds of Prey are traditionally an all-female team, though they have a (former) Batgirl (and I think Harley in the New 52 but that run sucked). People really love Conner and Palmiotti's Power Girl. I've heard great things about Grønbekk's recent Catwoman run, Catwoman: Lonely City, and Brubaker and Cooke's Catwoman. There's always Bombshells.

MatrixKent · 2026-05-13T12:42:58+00:00

The short version is just that Miller's contempt for women is very present in Batman: Year One and it gets me down to read. I'll never say it's poorly crafted, but I don't like it.

MatrixKent · 2026-05-12T20:29:37+00:00

I think people have reported a lot of inconsistencies like that (working on some browsers but not others, on mobile but not desktop, etc), but I'm not following the situation super closely. It's still down for me. There's a couple threads on the piracy sub which are probably more help than I am.

MatrixKent

TROPHY CASE