Written by James Peaty
Illustrated by Bernard ChangContinuing the new arc by the freshly minted creative team of writer
Nick Spencer (JIMMY OLSEN, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS, Morning Glories)James Peaty and artist Bernard Chang (WONDER WOMAN, SUPERMAN) ! Someone has set his sights on killing the next generation of heroes, and his latest targets are Robin and Batgirl! Who is this new foe, and how is he connected to some of Superman’s deadliest foes? Supergirl had better find out fast, before it’s time for another Bat-related R.I.P. story!
With this issue, James Peaty goes solo after his debut issue on Supergirl with Nick Spencer. A lot of people pre-ordered this, thinking that comics’ latest star writer was going to write it, so follow the cut to see whether or not they (meaning I) were disappointed.
I tried to be lenient on James Peaty. Gates’ Supergirl was, in my opinion, DC’s most underrated title, and the only way I could get excited about someone replacing Gates was finding out that someone was Nick Spencer. Finding out Spencer wasn’t going to write the title after all was a bit disheartening, but I didn’t want to hold it against Peaty.
Unfortunately, this issue was still a fry cry from the preceding issues of this ongoing. The idea behind it is pretty neat, but not exactly fascinating. I’m sure that social media would change a bit in a world or caped superheroes, and it’s interesting to see that change in effect, but the way it ties into what appears to be a standard supervillainous plot is a bit underwhelming. The story seems to be pretty fun, but it isn’t ahead of your standard cape comic by leaps and bounds. At least, not yet.
One thing that bothered my with this comic was the dialogue. Anything that wasn’t instrumental to the plot was well-done, particularly concerning the two boys asking Kara for her number. Anything that was plot-related, though, seemed to lose all semblance of character and just read like Peaty going “alright, here’s what’s going on.” In his defense, dialogue is one of the trickiest parts of writing, but it was distracting at some points (though, I will say, I loved Peaty’s Damian).
The best part about this issue, though, was Bernard Chang’s art. Lately, DC seems to have been picking up a good handful of artists that have a really clean, tight style, and Chang definitely falls under that banner. My only complaint with his work, though, is that every now and then you get a panel or two that is so “clean” that it appears lifeless. This doesn’t happen too frequently, though, and it’s usually only with smaller panels, so I’ll let it slide… this time (and by that, I mean every now and then, so long as Chang’s average output continues to be as great as it is).
Overall, while this is a nice enough comic with some solid art, it’s hardly above the curve. I’ll probably keep reading until the end of this arc, but unless it takes a big step up in quality by then, I don’t see myself reading much further. It’s a shame, considering how much of a supporter of this book I was when Gates was onboard.
Final Verdict: 6.4 – Browse.
