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Review: Supergirl #4

By | December 23rd, 2011
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

Written by Michael Green and Mike Johnson
Illustrated by Mahmud Asrar

Trapped and powerless aboard a space station, Supergirl is at the mercy of an ingenious new foe who wants to learn everything there is to know about her. But Supergirl is more than just her powers, and she’ll soon show this foe — and all of Earth — what’s she truly capable of! Plus, more on the Girl of Steel’s mysterious origin!

Last week, Superboy took a sharp turn towards the lame. Since these books are very similar (both fish out of water Krpytonian stories), it is only natural to compare them. So, how would Supergirl fair this month? 

Hit the jump to find out.

One of the flaws of the Bat and Super family books is the need to give many of the characters a carbon copy of the supporting cast of the main book. In Batwing, for instance, Matu Ba is, very much, the African Alfred. In Jeff Lemire’s Superboy, Simon Valentine was very much Connor’s Jimmy Olsen. I understand why this makes sense on one level, but it can also stunt the growth of a book, causing it to be just a lesser version of the original idea.

That was my fear with Simon Tycho in Supergirl —that this is her Lex Luthor, and we’re going to get lots of faux-Lex vs. faux-Kal stories. However, the last few pages of Supergirl #4 made it quite clear that Tycho, only a few issues into his existence, is going to become something quite different.

This book has been full of pleasant surprises from the get go — the foremost being Mahmud Asrar’s artwork. His style is perfect for this book — he never gets caught up in the, frankly disgusting, sexualizing of this teenage girl. Instead, he highlights her determination and emotions — and she is not a stoic fighter. Dave McCraig, the colorist on this book, works with Asrar exceptionally well, and together they create a book that looks beautiful and unique. The color palette is slightly more muted than you would expect for a book about a Kryptonian, but it helps set a tone that further sets this book apart.

This is very much a book about isolation — Tycho lives in space, Kara feels she is all alone, we see Jacobs, one of Tycho’s employees, feeling isolated by his morality. Johnson and Green, fresh off of Smallville, manage to do a really nice job of recontextualizing Supergirl within the DCnU without so much of the melodrama that came with Smallville. They manage to make Kara a sympathetic character without her being whiny, which was one of the major complaints about how their show characterized Kal-El.

Only a few issues in, and a lot of ground has been set: there is a villain (Tycho), a few solid motivations (finding out what happened to Krypton, how she survived, how to view the sunstone), the family connection with Kal, not to mention some solid characterization. Both Supergirl and Superboy were enjoying good runs before being rebooted; sadly, both books, because of their Super-family status, had to be totally reconfigured because the main Super books were, even if they, perhaps, didn’t deserve to be. However, both have been placed into new, exciting status quos, and had two of my favorite #1s of the New 52. However, Superboy has gotten dull, while Supergirl continues to improve.

If you had told me a year ago that I would be reading, and loving, a book written by two of Smallville‘s writers, I’d have laughed in your face. However, if the DCnU has taught me one thing, it is that some creative teams are so well placed that they can overcome even the steepest odds. Let’s not forget that the great Brian Wood was all but announced as the writer of this series before being replaced by Green and Johnson — I was all set to hate this book. I still think Wood could have done a spectacular job on this book, but I am happy that it is in the hands of Green, Johnson, and Asrar.

Final Verdict: 8.8 – Buy


Brian Salvatore

Brian Salvatore is an editor, podcaster, reviewer, writer at large, and general task master at Multiversity. When not writing, he can be found playing music, hanging out with his kids, or playing music with his kids. He also has a dog named Lola, a rowboat, and once met Jimmy Carter. Feel free to email him about good beer, the New York Mets, or the best way to make Chicken Parmagiana (add a thin slice of prosciutto under the cheese).

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