Mild Mannered Reviews - Supergirl Comics
Supergirl #34
Scheduled to arrive in stores: October 1, 2008
Cover date: December 2008
"Why the World Doesn't Need Supergirl"
Writer: Sterling Gates
Penciller: Jamal Igle
Inker: Keith Champagne
Reviewed by: Jeffrey Bridges
Click to enlarge
Cat Grant writes a story about how the world doesn't need Supergirl, after getting a black eye when Supergirl accidentally knocked Jimmy Olsen on top of her while trying to protect them.
Kara fights Silver Banshee, and they crash down in the middle of a Monarchs/Meteors baseball game. Supergirl saves one of the players and then drops a garbage truck on Banshee. The crowd gets upset with her for ruining the game, and someone mentions Cat's article. Supergirl reads it and is heartbroken.
She has a talk with Superman, who advises her that it might be time for a secret identity, as being Supergirl 24/7 is wearing on her. She talks with some of the Titans, and Robin gives her Conner's old glasses.
Perry tries to get Lana to come work at the Daily Planet, but she turns him down. Supergirl helps Wonder Woman subdue a Griffin (?), and Diana warns her that if her identity is discovered by any of her enemies it can put friends and family (from outside the hero life) in danger.
Jonathan and Martha Kent worry about Kara, and call Lana up to try to help her out. Lana discovers that she and Kara have the same problem, running from their problems and trying too hard to be what everyone else wants them to be.
Lana takes the job at the Daily Planet and introduces Lois and Clark to her "niece", Kara's new secret identity, Linda Lang.
 Story - 5: Honestly, I'm so happy I could almost cry.
This is, by far, the best this book's ever been. It takes the nonsense and mistakes of the past 33 issues, references them in a way that makes sense, and uses them to propel the story (and character) forward.
Kara and Kal's discussion was more than I recall them having EVER up to this point, and while I think it still kind of glossed over a lot of things, it was very nice to see. And I cut it some slack for glossing things over because this issue had a lot to do...
But do it, it did. And ain't that a fine sentence.
In ONE ISSUE we not only get a new secret ID for Kara (finally), but it felt... like an apology to us, it honestly did. It's like saying, look... we know this book has sucked. By all that is holy, this book has been mostly a pile of dung (Rucka's and Bedard's issues not included), and we're SORRY about that. We KNOW there's problems, but we're going to fix them.
Note the word use. FIX.
They are not ignoring the past, pretending it never happened. No retcons, no continuity-wiping... they're not insulting our intelligence by acting like we wouldn't notice. We WILL notice. We DID. And it was good.
Keeping continuity is respecting those who've still been reading this dreck over the past few years (is there anyone besides me? and if so... why?) but moving on. Moving! Yes, there was motion, there was progress, there was character...
And oh, the references! Soder! Big Belly Burger! The Monarchs and the Meteors! There's even a nod to how ridiculous Kara's costume looks the way most artists draw it.
More continuity kept, more problems acknowledged, and there was much rejoicing.
This may come back to bite me on the ass, but they've actually got me honestly believing they're going to turn this thing around.
I'm a little confused by Banshee, though... did her powers change, or am I remembering incorrectly? I thought any of her screams would kill anyone who heard it unfiltered. I don't remember the "having to speak your true name" thing at all... and she was never just an indiscriminate killer, was she? She always had her motivation tying back in to her family... maybe this was one of the continuity changes from the infinite number of crises lately. It's a small thing regardless, and it doesn't change this issue at all because Banshee served her purpose, which was simply to forward the story to the point where the crowd was yelling at Supergirl.
All told, highly enjoyable and, Rao help us all, I'm excited for the next issue.
 Art - 4: Sometimes the art was very good and evocative, but other times it felt a bit... clunky, I guess. Especially faces (like Kal, for example), where something just seemed... off. Inanimate objects I found to be delightful, and again, some of the people were very good, but others needed more work or some tweaking or something, because they looked a little strange.
Cover Art - 3 (Silver Banshee): I love the concept of this cover, I really do. It was a great idea. I love the paper and the tears and the bits of story that can be seen...
What bothers me is that Kara looks like she's 12 years old, and the bizarre pose Banshee and Supergirl are in is just nearly impossible to wrap your head around. How did their legs end up like that, and where did Kara's right foot go? Do I even want to know?
Mild Mannered Reviews
2008
Note: Month dates are from the issue covers, not the actual date when the comic went on sale.
January 2008
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