Last Week’s Comics 9/28/2011

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Supergirl #1

(DC – writers: Michael Green & Mike Johnson; art: Mahmud Asrar)

Bannen’s Book of the Week: I had zero interest in this book. When I saw that my comic shop guy had pulled it for me, I went to the comic rack to return it. The issue, however, had sold out. I could have put it back for some other schmuck to buy, or I could drop the $2.99 and expect to be underwhelmed.

So far, I feel like DC has been hitting the mark with their top tier characters and falling short on their secondary and tertiary heroes. I put Supergirl into the latter category because for me, she never held any interest.

When Kara Zor-El first appeared in the pages of Jeph Loeb’s Superman/Batman, I could have cared less. Here was one more female character for DC to turn into a little sexpot. And they did. Michael Turner gave Supergirl a mini skirt and a belly shirt, exposing her toned and provocative waistline. I immediately felt distanced from the character because it felt like Loeb and Turner were saying that Supergirl was first a sex

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symbol and second a hero. She had no ferociousness this way. She lacked the strength to really make her an imposing figure. Until now.

Michael Green and Mike Johnson have taken Supergirl and turned her into an ass-kicking machine. She spends thirteen pages beating the shit out of a group of robotic soldiers who have come to detain her. Green and Johnson don’t leave the sex appeal behind in their approach (Mahmud Asrar still shows us plenty of Kara Zor-El leg), but the difference is that this Supergirl actually feels like she can hold her own in the DC Universe.

Much like any Super-Person origin story, the issue starts with Kara landing on Earth, her fiery rocket crashing through the ground in Kansas and emerging in Siberia. When she climbs out of the rubble, Green and Johnson develop Kara through thought boxes. Readers get inside her head (as she can’t speak English yet), and what surfaces is what you’d assume from this kind of comic.

Kara is innocent, much like a baby, without any understanding of how she got to Earth, why she can’t communicate with people and why the first people she meets want to harm her. It’s a classic origin story.

Then we get the moment where she manifests her powers. In a beautifully paced and beautifully illustrated page, the yellow sun climbs over the mountaintops, and when its rays hit Supergirl, she goes nuts.

It’s awesome.

The rest of the issue is a knock-down, drag-out fistfight as the soldiers try, one at a time, to first contain and then take out Supergirl. Each expected super power is given a little face time, and by the end of the issue, we know what Supergirl can do. The buildup is well executed, and the final page of the issue – which I should have seen coming – makes for a great conclusion.

I don’t know if it’s because I had such low expectations for this book or if it really is this good, but Supergirl is one of the most entertaining #1s DC has released. Before this issue, I could have cared less about Supergirl. Now, I know I’ll be a regular collector of this series. It’s the kind of writing that DC needs in order to keep its readership on board with their reboot.

Supergirl has all the makings of a classic heroine. She’s strong, both physically and mentally, and she has an innocence about her that makes her vulnerability palpable. By the end of the issue, I was in love with the character in a way I didn’t expect. I urge you to pick up a copy of this book. Other readers need to share in this kind of excellence.

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