DC’s Kal-El-fornia Love #1 review

As a journalist who’s written thousands of punning headlines, I have to say that this DC giant has one of the worst titles I’ve ever come across.

Happily, the cover illo by Bernard Chang is pretty nice, and the actual logo treatment is great, very early Seventies romance mag… but how are the contents? Here’s what we have in a book that really should bear the ‘Summer of Superman’ branding.

The opening story sees Superman trying got protect the public from a massive alien beast that’s hit Earth… and swallowed Lois >gulp<. Bryan Q Miller emphasises our hero’s respect for all life, gives us a smart use of super-vision and has him thinking about the contrasting views of his two dads. Geraldo Sandoval’s art is big enough for the story.

Next up, the long-awaited sequel to 1966’s the Bride of Jungle Jimmy as a long-forgotten ex from out-of-town turns up at a party in Metropolis. A very hairy ex – with Gorilla Grodd in tow.

Christof Bogacs channels the spirit of the Silver Age for his delightfully daft script while Jacoby Salcedo puts loads of personality into the art. Top letters, too, from Taylor Esposito.

If you enjoyed the recent Power Girl series you’ll likely like the team-up with Ice. I didn’t, and I didn’t. Joshua Hale Fialkov writes Power Girl as the wet blanket she was there, while Ice gets terribly offended when a guy at a sports game asks her out. The former JLI colleagues have a moan about life before Power Girl persuades Ice to give her old toxic relationship with Guy Gardner another go. Well done Power Girl.

The art by Bruno Abdias is pretty nice.

Speaking of Guy Gardner, he shows up to tell Bizarro he’ll never be Superman after he rescues a cute kitty but endangers citizens in the process. The Opposite Superman tries to prove the Ginger GL wrong with a trip to Hollywood, where he steps on a cameoing Batman baddie.

James Reid brings the Silver Age silliness, but also doles out a dollop of poignancy. Jon Mikel’s art is splendidly goofy, while colourist Ian Herring and letterer Lucas Gattoni add to the atmosphere.

Lois Lane unmasks a mystery villain hiding behind the persona of a podcaster in Meghan Fitzmartin’s tale, but the reader can’t play along as we’re not told there’s a mystery villain on hand, and said baddie is someone way out of the Super Family’s ambit. Still, I empathised with Lois’s patience in the face of everyone telling her print is dead, and the full-colour art by Marcial Toledano Vargas is excellent, especially when a hero turns up to claim their foe.

Juni Ba provides the anthology’s most striking illustrations as Natasha Irons falls in lust while on holiday with Uncle Steel. I’m not keen on people occasionally swapping feet for flippers, and there’s an early time lapse panel in which what’s going on isn’t entirely clear, but overall I like the cartooning. The story by Brandon Thomas is good fun, reminding us that even heroes need to let themselves relax.

You want a Superboy? Writer Dave Wielgosz and artist Joey Vazquez give us two in a terrific tale focusing on the relationship between the current day Superboys – or rather, lack of one.

Supergirl just wants to kick back and enjoy an ice cream. John Constantine wants to banish a hell god. So, corn syrup can wait in a cheery piece by writer George Mann and artist Travis Mercer. The light-hearted tone jibes nicely with that of the new Supergirl book, and being a Brit, Mann gives us a more than serviceable Hellblazer. Mercer’s visuals, beautifully coloured by Andrew Dalhouse, are a treat, with the demon looking especially great.

All in all, this is one of the better DC giants – I’ve still not managed to get through the interminable Pride special – with breezy tales giving lesser-known creators a chance to show what they can do. For me, the best are the Jimmy Olsen and Bizarro stories, how about you? If you baulked at the price point, but subscribe to the DC Infinite Ultra tier, DC’s Kal-El-Fornia Love is there right now. Crap title and all… mind, it could be worse, imagine the Black Label version – DC’s Kal-El-Fornication, anybody?