Little Girl, Lost

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TPB:  Supergirl Vol. 1  
Writer:  Michael Green and Michael Johnson
Artist: Mahmud Asrar
Price:  $14.99

Supergirl is seemingly reinvented by writers every few years. At first she was Kal-El’s cousin until she was killed in a Crisis Event.  Then she was written out of the universe entirely to make Superman truly the last Kryptonian.  Then the Supergirl role was filled by several women, some of them from Eath, including Matrix, Linda Danvers, and Cir-El.  In the New 52 (and for a while before) she is back where she started from even though she couldn’t feel any more lost.

Kara Zor-el has just crash landed to Earth but has no memory of what transpired during the last days of Krypton.  Confused at being almost immediately attacked, she lashes out with as much power and strength as the other person who shares her family crest.  Unfortunately she can’t bring herself to trust Big Blue since he was only a baby when she left Krypton and does not believe his story or who he says he is. 

Returning to Krypton to start her own investigation, Kara meets a Worldkiller (a Kryptonian WMD) who confronts her about its perceived enslavement by Kara’s race.  After a brief battle, the Worldkiller announces it is headed to Earth to kill the last remnants of the Kryptonian race.  Supergirl must speed home to Earth and save her new home planet all while getting used to her new powerset and mourning her long-dead world.

The art in this book is a little too boxy and segmented for my liking.  Kara’s costume looks like it snaps onto her in 8 pieces.  Although this is also apparently a new take on her costume, I can see the same thing in people’s faces which is disturbing.  The writing is adequate to tell the story but moments where warm thoughts and rainbows get Supergirl out of a jam foreshadow buildup that doesn’t have sufficient payoff.  In fact, the final pages of the book are a bit of a letdown.  The concept is great and the story is serviceable, still making this in the top 10 or 15 of New 52 titles. 


Final rating (out of 5):

4 stars

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