The Daring New Blog of Supergirl

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  • Supergirl Surprise 1: Supergirl Vol. 4 #5

    In a new feature of my blog called “Supergirl Surprise” I will go to my Supergirl comic boxes and pick an issue at random to read and talk about. My goal for these posts is to explore the issue on its own and on its own as a collection of paper and staples. As such I will be taking pictures of the comic as opposed to finding digital screenshots of the panels. I will also bring in pictures of the ads or letters pages if there’s anything that catches my eye.

    Supergirl #5 has the cover date of January 1997 and is written by Peter David and has art by Gary Frank and Cam Smith. The story opens with our heroine visiting her, at one time, adopted parents Jonathan and Martha Kent.

    This interaction gives some nice closure to Supergirl’s life before the new status quo introduced in the vol. 4 iteration of Supergirl. This Supergirl, Mae, is a protoplasmic clone from another dimension. More recently, when this comic had come out, Mae had merged with the dying human Linda Danvers. Showing her interacting with her past life in a way that feels almost alien to her as Linda now was a nice way to respect where the character was before and allow for the character to start anew.

    We then fly from Smallville back to Leesburg, the home of Linda Danvers. Here we are briefly introduced to the new Dick Malverne who says “sometimes you recognize people’s souls from previous incarnations” which is of course a clever nod to the pre crisis Supergirl and Dick Malverne. To find out more about Dick Malverne take a look at my blog post about him here.

    Meanwhile, in the background, a b-plot has been brewing that involves Chemo reforming in a lab in Leesburg. The A and B plots come together and result in a fight between Supergirl and Chemo. This fight results in a dialogue between the two where Supergirl tells Chemo he isn’t alive because he’s a collection of chemicals and the result of a freak accident. This conversation ends the fight and Chemo dissipates into the sky but Supergirl is met with a crisis of conscious wondering if she is alive or not when she is also just a creation that wants to be more and wants to be human.

    This issue is a great look at Supergirl and her transition from the Matrix Supergirl into something more and helps further build the new world of Linda Danvers and Leesburg. This issue is the first appearance of Dick Malverne in the post crisis universe and has been reprinted in Supergirl Volume 1 TP from 1997, Supergirl by Peter David book 1 from 2016, and will be reprinted in the upcoming DC Finest: Supergirl – Body and Soul that realeases in October. This issue also came bundled with a Supergirl action figure based on Linda’s later white t-shirt costume that came out in 2005.

    None of the ads really caught my eye but were mostly advertising PlayStation and Sega Saturn games. The letters didn’t intrigue me much aside from this one that called this new Supergirl title “Supergirl Vertigo-style” and “Twin Peaks on Kryptonite”.

    The letters page also came with a little blurb that briefly caught readers up on the previous 4 issues of the title.

    Thanks so much for reading my blog! If you have any thoughts, questions, comments, or corrections about any of my posts feel free to contact me via email at blogofsupergirl@gmail.com

  • Supergirl in the Multiverse: Earth-13

    Arcane Supergirl comes from the magical dimension of Earth-13. Earth-13, as depicted in the game Infinite Crisis, is home to a collection of Arcane superheroes who use their magical powers in the multiversal battle against the oncoming Infinite Crisis. Earth-13, also known as Earth Arcane, is a desolate place ravaged by the magics of the Shadow League. The universe is briefly explored in the game and tie in comic, Infinite Crisis: Fight for the Multiverse.

    Kara Zor-El, Blessed of Rao, is the Arcane Supergirl. Zor-El, as she is most often called by her companions, is the last daughter of Krypton and Herald of Rao. Saved by the magical Flamebird before the Black could fully consume Krypton, she now possesses the powers of the Flamebird which she uses to fight back against the Black.

    As with all my Supergirl in the Multiverse posts, this is my own artwork and depicts Arcane Supergirl in front of the Diurnal Sphere. The Diurnal Sphere is the information hub of Earth-13 and looks like a giant glowing globe surrounded by sorcerers. Arcane Supergirl, in the foreground, is hovering and projecting flame bursts from both of her outstretched hands. A motif of Arcane Supergirl’s S Symbol is in the top right with a 13 on top of it.

  • Supergirl: Being Super

    Supergirl: Being Super

    Supergirl: Being Super, written by Mariko Tamaki with art by Joëlle Jones, is my favorite Supergirl story. This story came out in late 2016 and early 2017 and was one of the first Supergirl stories I read after really getting into the character. At the point when this story was coming out most of my exposure to the character was from the television show and the Rebirth era Supergirl ongoing title and general knowledge of the character from stories I read as a kid where she would show up. Since then I have read a lot of supergirl stories but this one has maintained its position as my favorite Supergirl story and one of my favorite comic stories of all time.

    The story follows Kara Zor-El, who came to earth in a rocket 8 years ago. Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers are farmers from Midvale who find the young alien and adopt her as their daughter. The story explores Kara experiencing life as a teenager with superpowers in a way that feels natural and real. Kara has 2 best friends Jen and Dolly and they’re all on the track team together.

    I think the story does a lot of very interesting things to the lore of Supergirl and explores common concepts in some new and interesting ways. Part of the story revolves around Kara randomly losing her powers which ties into a plot where she learns to deal with not being able to save everyone. The story also introduces a new Kryptonian character, Tan-On, who was an explorer from Krypton that left the planet long before the destruction and was imprisoned on earth soon after landing. I thought this was a clever way to approach Kara learning about Krypton and also explain another Kryptonian who escaped Krypton.

    The Danvers that are presented in this story are very different than any other version that had been presented, and while they were depicted as farmers, they didn’t feel too much like the Kents. Eliza is a very kind hearted mother that doesn’t know how to approach Kara’s powers but knows how to be a good mom, and Jeremiah, while a man of few words, loves his daughter and will do anything to protect her.

    One of the most impressive things to me about this story, is how it handles the Superman question. As the story is presented, Kara doesn’t remember Krypton aside from brief flashes, most likely due to the trauma surrounding the experience of her home and everyone she knew being gone in an instant. Because she doesn’t remember her planet, she doesn’t know she has a cousin that also came to Earth. The story is also set up in a way that Superman doesn’t expose himself to the world until nearly the end of the story which really adds to how alien and confused Kara feels about her powers. Structuring the story like this allows Kara to stand on her own as a hero and shine without being in her cousin’s shadow.

    The story was initially published as 4 prestige format issues and was soon collected as a single trade paperback. The coloring for these first 2 versions of the story was done by Kelly Fitzpatrick. In 2020 a new version of the story was released and the book was formatted at a smaller size similar to DC’s young readers line of graphic novels. This newer version had coloring by Jeremy Lawson who approached the story using a limited color pallet and having all the art use only blues, yellows, and reds. Most often the panels would have mostly a single color and sometimes use an additional color used to create a focal point.

    I’ve collected a couple examples of the coloring to show side by side comparisons. In my opinion, while I enjoy the thought and concept of a triadic pallet, I prefer the coloring by Fitzpatrick. I feel like in quite a few places that some of the details get lost or some of the artwork blends together too much. This being said, I did like how Lawson approached Kara having her powers fail on her. I felt like the hard contrast of the red line work and white coloring on the blue backgrounds worked really well and really helped illustrate the power loss.

    Before I close out I would like to mention this (minor) Kryptonian typo I noticed on my most recent read through.

    I assume this line is supposed to read “be safe, Kara Zor-El, my daughter” but it instead translates to “be sage, Kara Zor-El, my daughter”. This is of course inconsequential to the overall story but I noticed it and I wanted to mention it in this blog post.

    This is a perfect Supergirl story for anyone to read. I think it’s great for newcomers to the character and long time fans. I think it’s also a great coming of age story for young girls. As mentioned above, this book has been collected in 2 different ways since its initial run and should be fairly easy to get your hands on.

    Thanks so much for reading my blog! If you have any thoughts, questions, comments, or corrections about any of my posts feel free to contact me via email at blogofsupergirl@gmail.com

  • Supergirl in the Multiverse: Earth-12

    Earth-12, also referred to as the DCAU or the Timmverse, is the home to a few of the animated series based on DC Comics in the 90s and 2000s most notably Batman the Animated Series, Superman the Animated Series, and Justice League. These shows spanned a number of years producing many seasons of shows, movies, and a handful of tie in comic books. Earth-12 is most often associated with the Batman Beyond line of comics and most crossovers with other universes usually reference Batman Beyond as opposed to the handful of other shows. However, because all the shows exist in the same universe and continuity, it is safe to say any character that appears in any of the DCAU shows and tie in comics is a part of this universe.

    From here we find ourselves with the star of Superman the Animated Series season 2 episode 27: Little Girl Lost. Kara In-Ze is the last daughter of Argo, a sister planet to Krypton that also suffered devastation in the wake of Krypton’s death. Kara is found by Superman after hearing a distress signal and brings her to earth. For more information on Kara In-Ze’s origin please take a look at my post talking about Supergirl Adventures #21. After taking on the identity of Supergirl, and the human identity of Kara Kent (cousin to Clark Kent), we are introduced toa heroine that loves having powers, loves saving people, and is determined to never let anyone suffer in the same way she did. Supergirl would have a handful of episodes revolving around her in Superman the Animated Series and Justice League Unlimited (And she even teamed up with Batgirl in an episode of Batman the Animated Series). But in the events of Justice League Unlimited season 2 episode 10: Far From Home, Supergirl is taken to the 31st century to help Brainiac 5 and Bouncing Boy save the rest of the Legion of Super-heroes. Supergirl would come to love the 31st century (and a certain green boy she met) and decide to stay in the 31st century. Supergirl of earth-12 has popped up a handful of times since this episode but it is either stories set before she goes to the future or brief cameos of this character.

    The costume Kara wears throughout her early appearances is one of the most iconic costumes for the character. It was even adopted by Linda Danvers Supergirl in the pages of her comic in 2000. I think the costume is remembered so well because of how different it is and how influential the Superman animated series was. This is why I chose to draw her in this costume as opposed to her later blue and red costume she would adopt in the Justice League Unlimited cartoon.

    As with all my Supergirl in the Multiverse posts, this is my own artwork and it depicts Supergirl in the foreground flying out of a window in the background. In the background you can see the Kent farm and luscious green fields stretching to the horizon. The second floor window of the Kent house is open and is shown to be where Supergirl is flying out from. A motif in the top right shows Supergirl’s S symbol and a 12 on top of it.

  • Supergirl Adventures #21

    Supergirl Adventures #21 is the 21st issue of the Superman Adventures comic which was a 66 issues series that tied into the Superman animated series that aired on the WB in the late 90s. This issue has its cover dress altered to read “Supergirl Adventures” as opposed to the normal “Superman Adventures” title logo that appears on the other issues in the series. The 5th issue of the series did a similar thing with Livewire taking over the cover dress.

    This story is titled “The Last Daughter of Argo” and was written by Evan Dorkin and Sarah Dyer with art by Bret Blevins, Terry Austin, Lee Loughridge, and Kevin Cunningham. This issue is oversized at 52 pages and while telling a continuous story it can easily be split into 2 parts. The first half of the issue explores Kara’s origin that was shown in the episode “Little Girl Lost” of the aforementioned Superman animated series but goes into further detail. The start of this story shows Kara In-Ze (who would later become Supergirl) as a young child on the planet of Argo. Her parents, Kala and Zor In-Ze, are scientists on the planet. As Zor goes off to Argo City he leaves Kara and Kala at an observatory. While Zor is gone Kara receives a video call from her friend Pala who lives on Krypton, a neighboring planet to Argo. This line goes dead and as Kara goes to tell her mother they witness the explosion of Krypton. Even though it was Krypton that exploded, not Argo, the destruction still hit the planet and causes mass destruction all over the planet. Kala, Kara, and a few other Argoans that were in the observatory stayed safe from the destruction but a new crisis arose. The explosion of Krypton knocked Argo out of orbit. Now as Argo drifts further and further away from Rao, their sun, the atmosphere becomes colder and the planet uninhabitable. To save the remaining survivors, Kala has everyone go into stasis pods in hopes of a distress signal reaching someone. At this point the story overlaps a bit with the episode of the animated series. Kara is shown waking up in STAR Labs, getting settled in with the Kent’s in Smallville, and even briefly touches on Kara’s tussle with Intergang.

    The second half of this story is original and has Kara watching over metropolis while Superman is out in space with the Justice League. While Superman is away, Supergirl does the usual saving cats from trees superheroing, when she hears of a bomb threat and the terrorist calling out for Superman. Supergirl soon rushes to the scene and is met by Kanto from Apokolips who tries to stop her with a Kryptonite knife. Supergirl, being from Argo not Krypton, isn’t affected by Kryptonite and easily takes care of the threat. We then cut to Apokolips and the displeasure of Darkseid. Granny Goodness and Kanto then go to the Phantom Zone to find a new threat to take out Superman and Supergirl and find Zod. Sending Zod to earth, he soon finds former foes of Superman Jax-Ur and Mala and the 3 join together and go off to take out Supergirl. After a few fights where Supergirl is overpowered by the triple threat, she once again uses her Kryptonite immunity to take out the Phantom Zone villains. This plan almost works but General Zod is also Argoan and has the same immunity. Kara rushes away to the Fortress of Solitude and, after another fight with Zod, uses her wits and a Phantom Zone projector to send all 3 villains back where they belong.

    This is a jam packed issue that has a lot of action and allows this Supergirl to really shine in her own story. The story is written with Kara writing diary entries to give the reader a bit more insight into what it’s like for Kara to live as a refugee from Argo on a planet that is centuries behind what she was familiar with. The story also explores the trauma and fear Kara has of cold and ice because of what Argo went through in the 4 years between Krypton’s destruction and being put into stasis. A lot of the elements of this story would later be used for other iterations of Supergirl. Kara being alive for the destruction of Krypton and being in stasis as Kal grew up on earth was something that was added to the Supergirl origin in the 21st century and has since become the norm for the heroine. The idea of another planet in the same system as Krypton being destroyed as well would be explored in season 2 of the CBS/CW Supergirl show when we’re shown Daxam having similar destruction happen.

    I would definitely recommend reading this story and it’s become fairly easy to get a hold of as it’s been included in 3 different collected editions. In 2015 DC began collecting the series in a handful of trades and this issue is in the 3rd volume. A compendium collection of the series is set to come out in July this year that collects the first 29 issues of the series including this story. Lastly, the issue is also collected in a compilation book called Supergirl Adventures Girl of Steel, which also collects 3 other Supergirl centric stories from the Superman Adventures and Justice League Unlimited comics from the late 90s and early 2000s.

    Thanks so much for reading my blog! If you have any thoughts, questions, comments, or corrections about any of my posts feel free to contact me via email at blogofsupergirl@gmail.com