Poll Results: Grade For The First Year Of Supergirl

A week ago I posed the question 'what grade would you give the first year of Supergirl'?

Now, this is a Supergirl blog so I assume that the people who frequent here are Supergirl fans. As a result, this isn't an unbiased audience to poll. After all, we are more likely to want to read and like a Supergirl book. That said, we are probably a more discerning bunch about Supergirl. We are her fans and we have lived through some hard times. So we might be harsher graders than an average comic fan who doesn't have a stake in how Supergirl is portrayed.

Anyways, 88 folks stopped by and voted. Thanks to everyone who took the time to click. As always, while this isn't powered to be statistically significant (with 30+ K readers each month), this is a great turn out and would be a great focus group size.

The results are above and pretty clear cut. As a whole, people have enjoyed this first year of Supergirl.  65% of voters gave it a B+ or higher. 12% gave it an A+ !

There are lots of good comments on the poll post here. 

As for me, I gave the book a B+.

I was trying to think back to the pre-New 52 promos, the bittersweet ending to Kelly Sue DeConnick's brief run on the book, the fear I had that things would be taking a huge step backwards. I felt a bit betrayed by DC. After all, the Gates/Igle run solidified the character as being a hero, set her forward on the hero's journey, and rehabilitating her character. Did we need to go back to square one?

Well, slowly, over this year, I have seen enough of this Supergirl to feel that the core of her character, that need to do good and help people, is there. This is the first time that the crushing loneliness and grief of the character, that conscious loss of everything, is being investigated. This isn't a happy Linda Lee heading into an orphanage. This isn't Kara living in the Fortress learning the ways of Earth. This is a girl adrift on a new planet, trying to figure out how she got there. And yet, despite all that, we have seen her time and again do the right thing as best she can.

She doesn't seem like 'Hell on wheels'. She doesn't seem to have no affection for humanity. She has jumped to the rescue of the people of Earth despite everything that has happened to her.

And, I will admit that that has changed how I look at this title. I was expecting a Supergirl that was a bratty, edgy, angsty, violent, loner. Thankfully, I haven't got that. Writers Mike Johnson and Michael Green seem to get who Supergirl is. They just have this opening portion of that hero's journey be more difficult, more mysterious than prior.

Now I still have my issues with the book. I wish she would learn English and communicate with people. I wish she would stop being attacked by the police and the military. I wish she and Superman would be closer. But even with these things, I have seen small progress which makes me think they aren't set in stone.

Add to that the fantastic art by Mahmud Asrar and I think this book is a winner.

Do I miss the Supergirl from the end of Gates' run? The one James Peaty set up as the leader of the next generation of heroes? Yes. I loved where that Supergirl was as a character, thinking she was about to take the next step.

But do I care about this Supergirl and her struggles? Yes.
Am I rooting for this Supergirl? Yes.

And that speaks volumes.