Supergirl: Being Super

Bought at my school's Spring book fair.

Title: Supergirl: Being Super
Date: May, 2018
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Mariko Tamaki
Artist: Joelle Jones, Sandu Florea
Colorist: Kelly Fitzpatrick
Letterer: Saida Temofonte
Cover: Joelle Jones, Kelly Fitzpatrick
Editor: Paul Kaminski, Andrew Marino, Robin Wildman

Trade paperback collection of Supergirl: Being Super issues #1-4 from 2016-2017.

It feels like rebooted origin stories are getting to the point where they are separated by months, rather than years these days. So I had a bit of trepidation approaching yet another origin reboot (putting aside the question of whether this was main-canon continuity or not; that's also something that's become more and more fuzzy these days).

But this was really good. Not for the plot, necessarily, although the plot did its job adequately. It was the dialogue and supporting cast that really made this work. Kara Danvers of (Smallville stand-in) Midvale, Kansas, turns sixteen years old, having hid the powers that make her different from her peers since childhood, only to have those powers fail her when she needs them most.

In the face of tragedy, Kara begins to question everything about her life, and she uncovers the secrets that will set her on the path to, well, to being super.

Kara's interactions with her friends were interesting enough that I was to some extent disappointed that this is essentially the story of her leaving home to start her hero's journey. I would happily read further adventures of Kara's best friend Dolly, without needing a bit more superhero stuff. And her relationship with her parents was intriguing, and definitely worth further exploration.

The villains introduced here (two new ones and one very familiar one) are likely to be seen again and all of them have plenty of story potential.

Joelle Jones does great work with the art all through the series, ending with an awesome visual on the last page.

This was a great fresh start for a classic character, and I would be happy to have this be the definitive Supergirl origin story moving forward.

Rating: 8/10

Supergirl #1

Title: Supergirl
Issue: 1
Date: November 2011
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Michael Green, Mike Johnson
Penciler: Mahmud Asrar
Inker: Dan Green, Mahmud Asrar
Colorist: Dave McCaig
Letterer: John J. Hill
Editor: Will Moss
Cover: Mahmud Asrar, Dave McCaig

An unusual meteor shower hits the Earth and the US military goes on alert. The object that is being tracked ends up in Siberia and apparently the US has signed a "visitor protocols" treaty with Russia. Basically this allows American redshirts to land in Russia and get beaten up by whatever alien threat has arrived.

In this case, the alien is Supergirl. She's dazed and confused and she doesn't speak the language. And guys in powered armor start shooting things at her almost immediately. Good thing for her that she's got all those handy superpowers. So she fights off the soldiers-in-mechs and...

And the issue ends, pretty much. There's one additional plot development on the last page, but otherwise it's just Supergirl looking a bit shaky with the new powers and not understanding any dialogue not in Kryptonian while she trounces a bunch of Tony Stark wannabees.

And to make matters worse, Kara doesn't come off as a teenager. I'd been under the impression that this was to be a major goal here. Make her a realistic teenager personality-wise. Instead, she's very introverted and reflective, and she's really only displaying confusion and annoyance. Not much of an emotional range at this point.

A few of the other "New 52" books (See my reviews of Green Arrow, Batgirl, or Men of War) have managed to annoy me. This one just left me bored.

Rating: 5/10