Review: Supergirl #39

Supergirl #39 came out yesterday and is the penultimate chapter of the 'Who is Superwoman?' storyline. The issue was written by Sterling Gates and the bulk of the pencilling was done by Jamal Igle.

One thing to note is that inking was done by Jon Sibal rather than usual inker Keith Champagne. Sibal seems to use a finer line and adds more detailing and cross-hatching than Champagne does. It gives the Igle pages a crisper feel than we have seen before.

Also, we see a couple of pages done by Talent Caldwell, the scheduled artist for next issue. Caldwell's art is stylistically similar to J. Scott Campbell of Danger Girl fame. It is a departure of the feel Igle has given the book this last half year, a bit flashier.

As for the story, this was a very interesting issue with some new clues revealed about Superwoman's identity and some suspects essentially eliminated. But as important as these revelations were, what I liked about the issue was the continuing growth of supporting cast and some smoldering subplots.


We had already been privy to the opening scene from the book last week in a preview. Just a quick recap. Superwoman is able to stop Reactron from killing his ex-girlfriend Lori Murphy. We see that her heat vision is a little different from the usual straight lined lasers.

In a startling development, Superwoman states that she has saved Murphy because she needs Murphy's death to look like a accident. She then rips open a gas line and creates a conflagration in the apartment.

Early in the story I actually wondered if Superwoman was a good character forced into doing bad things, someone where the ends justified some questionable means. All those feelings of sympathy go out the window here. To kill an innocent woman like this puts you in the realm of evil regardless of blackmail by General Lane.

In the meantime, Kara has recovered enough from her battle with Superwoman to continue her mission to apprehend Reactron. She flies through Metropolis at high speed so she cannot be seen. She is essentially an outlaw on Earth now given the UN edict that Kryptonians are not allowed here. That message is trumpeted on the Planet billboard to the right, the Cat Grant 'Kryptonians Go Home' headline right in Supergirl's face. It's a very nice and dynamic splash page.

Kara calls upon the one human she knows she can 'absolutely trust', Lana, to help her. It is an interesting line since we know that Lana is hiding her illness from Kara. Will this deception harm their relationship, make Kara question the trust she has given Lana?

Lana is researching the addresses of all the Lori Murphy's who reside in Metropolis. Kara has hunted down 6 of 8 of them, none of them the one linked to Reactron. She is given the address for our unlucky victim, an apartment on the corner of Binder (named for Otto Binder, writer of the first Supergirl story) and Mooney (named for Jim Mooney, legendary artist of Supergirl in the 60's).

I did like this interaction between Lana and a planet worker where she shows some protective maternal instincts. When the gentleman describes Linda as hot in a 'sexy librarian' way, he is quickly chastised by Lana.

Unfortunately Kara arrives only in time to see the emergency crews picking up the rubble. She lingers long enough for a military surveillance drone from Project 7734 to film her.

In the meantime, we cut to Inspector Henderson who is still working on the Agent Liberty murder. It's a quiet moment which gives us some insight into his character. He talks about how unsolved mysteries haunt the police. His old Captain used to lament an unsolved murder of young boy killed by the sound of a woman's voice.

Hmmmm ... sounds like Silver Banshee to me. I like how the Banshee is slowly becoming more of a Kara rogue than a Superman villain.

Henderson is informed that Liberty's suit's memory has been recovered.

With Murphy dead and no new lead to follow, Kara heads back to her and Lana's apartment. Reluctantly, she contacts Alura to report. When Kara tells her mother that she was stymied in her mission by Superwoman, Alura begins her usual rant of emotional torture.

Alura tells Kara that she has 'one more chance'. That this mission was a test to see how 'useless' Kara is. She tells Kara that her best 'isn't good enough'. Bullied and frustrated, Kara tells Alura to shut up, smashing the communication device.

We have seen Alura be this cruel in the past. But this is a pretty concentrated dose of bile questioning Kara's worth. Alura's is a very conditional love, if it is love at all.

The result of this negative barrage is for Kara to finally break down and cry. She voices the horrible thoughts she has been thinking, wishing that Reactron could have killed Alura instead of Zor-El.

Some critics will lambaste Kara's tears as further evidence of her weak character. And I have to say if I don't see Kara cry for a year I'll be pretty happy. That said, tears make sense here. Kara thinks her parents are dead. They are found miraculously alive. Then her father is killed before her eyes. And now her mother has descended into madness and sadism.

On top of that despair, she finds herself wishing her mother was dead.

Or course tears will come.

It is nice to see that Kara has Lana to lean on for some support.

Somewhat jarringly, we switch to the Caldwell pages. We see Superwoman in Project 7734. She tells a soldier that her suit blocked Reactron's kryptonite blasts as she thought it would. She also says she hopes she never finds out what would happen if the suit didn't hold.

Sounds to me like she is worried about Kryptonite. So I think her 'who said I was Kryptonian?' line was a little subterfuge. She is Kryptonian!

She is given her new mission: work with Reactron to capture Supergirl!

Here is a good example of Caldwell's version of Kara.

Inspector Henderson contacts Lois Lane to send Superman to Police HQ to discuss the Agent Liberty murder. With Kal off Earth, Lois sends Supergirl instead.

When a police officer attempts to arrest Kara for violating the UN edict, Henderson tells him to stand down. He knows Supergirl wasn't involved in the deaths of the SciPo officers. And he needs some help. If Superman isn't available, Supergirl will do.

I think Henderson is going the become the 'Commissioner Gordon' equivalent of this book, working behind the scenes with Supergirl despite the new laws.

He shows Supergirl the new evidence he has found. The last image Agent Liberty's suit recorded was Superwoman's face, red eyes smoldering.

Since she is wearing the family crest of the House of El, it makes sense to question Superman or Supergirl about who she could be.

Before Kara can answer, Lucy Lane comes storming in. She was tipped off by someone that Supergirl was at the Police Station, that Henderson was harboring an illegal alien.

Lane thinks Supergirl and Superwoman are working together. After all, Superwoman has just been seen flying in Metropolis with Reactron. It is too much of a coincidence that both Supergirl and Superwoman are together.

I do think it is interesting that Lane doesn't seem to know about Superwoman and Reactron's mission. Maybe Lucy isn't aware of all of her father's nefarious plans.

It also is pretty clear that Lucy is not Superwoman. She can't be in two places at the same time.

This news of Superwoman and Reactron working together is all that Kara can stand. She prepares herself to meet them. Next issue, Superwoman's identity is revealed.

This was another very solid issue as we careen towards next issue's conclusion.

The Superwoman mystery is close to bubbling over. With Thara eliminated and now Lucy Lane eliminated, the list of suspects is smaller than ever. Add in the implied weakness to Kryptonite and I think we are looking at some version of Alura or Kara be it clone, Black K creation, or time split duplicate. My very first guess was Kara evil clone. I switched a while back to Alura clone. I am sticking with that guess.

I also liked the increasing presence and growing characterization of the supporting cast. The scenes with Lana and Inspector Henderson really fleshed out who they are and what their current relationship with Supergirl is.

Sterling Gates seems to have a great handle of Supergirl's voice as none of her lines seem stilted or forced. While I would have been fine without seeing Kara's tears, I think they fit the moment.

The art really continues to sizzle. I have said before how I think Jamal Igle draws the best facial expressions. This issue is no exception. You really can sense what characters are thinking just from the look on their faces. He also adds a kinetic energy to the action sequences as well. You really can feel the force behind punches, the heft needed to carry Reactron, etc. I have to admit I like Jon Sibal's inks a smidge more than Keith Champagne's. But I always prefer a thin lined approach.

So, with Thara and Lucy seemingly out of the running, is it worth running one more 'Who is Superwoman' poll?

Overall grade: A-