Man Of Steel Prequel Re-visited

I know that I just covered the Man of Steel prequel comic just a couple of days ago here but after reading it in its entirety I just had to cover a couple of things I didn't get to show closely the first time.

But before I get there, I had to thank everyone here who helped me actually get to see this thing from sending me unused codes from the early admission tickets (thanks Kent!) to sending me to websites where the book was already pulled down to finally getting me to see it all. I love the Supergirl community here and just want to thank everyone for helping me out!

Now I fervently hope that this ends up being in print and more widely distributed than just to those WalMart ticket buyers because this is truly an excellent Supergirl story. If this is the first exposure that someone has to Kara Zor-El, they are going to come away impressed because she is smart, strong, and determined throughout this story. It also has some hopeful moments ... things that make me think that maybe, if the stars align, we will again see Supergirl on the big screen.

I shouldn't be surprised when I see that the script was done by Sterling Gates. He always showed those traits in Supergirl during his run. Writing her again must have been a treat.

But look at the other credits! This story of Kara is by David Goyer, Geoff Johns, and Zack Snyder. They also must have that understanding of who Supergirl is. Just fantastic.

I know I shared some pages last time but here a few more panels that Supergirl fans need to see.

The story starts with some sort of military expedition in the wilderness, some sort of survival training to see who will pass and become a Kryptonian space pioneer. I guess it makes sense to make sure there is a sort of Bear Grylls 'Man versus Wild' ingenuity of these candidates if they are heading to a alien world. And Gates sprinkles lots of Easter Eggs in the story including a shot of the Fire Falls.

Since only four of these candidates will get picked, Dev-Em decides to move the odds in his favor by killing the other troops. That includes Kell-Ur, Kara's significant other. She watches him die while remembering how they talked of traveling the starways together.

Not only is Kara one of these trainees, she assumes to role of leader. And when she learns of Dev-Em's treachery, she takes matters into her own hands, beating him up and capturing him.

While Dev-Em gets sentenced to life imprisonment, Kara ends up graduating and being picked for space exploration.

On top of that she gets 'The Star of Rao', the highest distinction on Krypton for her impeccable scholastics and capturing Dev-Em. So Supergirl is a smart and strong hero on her own world.

Well, as we know, Dev-Em escapes somehow, gets on Kara's ship, and kills her crew while she remains in suspended animation.

While in suspended animation, Kara has a dream sequence where she is able to save Kell-Ur from falling to his death.

I find it absolutely fascinating that the script calls for her to dream of flying and saving him, under a yellow sun no less. This had the feeling of foreshadowing to me, as if this is to set up her heroics in the future. There is really no other reason for this to be there ... right?

She awakens from sleep to find that Dev-Em has killed the crew and taken to the ship to the Sol system. The two fight and it becomes apparent they have super powers in our galaxy. Punches dent walls. And the only thing that Kara can use to hurt Dev-Em is the sunstone her parents gave her.

The super-powered brawl destabilizes the ship such that it is forced to crash on Earth. Amazingly, Kara jumps into the pilot's seat and flies the thing to the northern area of Canada. Again, another nice moment of bravery and intestinal fortitude on her part. But, she crashes in what seems to be prehistoric time, cave dwellers painting the S-shield on their walls.

It is an ambiguous ending in terms of Dev-Em and Kara's fate. If they have powers, should they survive the crash? The ship says it is attempting self-repairs. Could Kara re-freeze herself? Or do we assume they die in the crash?

Regardless, the ship starts calling out to Clark.

What a fabulous Supergirl story! Kara is smart, strong, resourceful, and gutsy. She is a leader and a hero. I loved this! Kudos to Goyer, Johns, Snyder, and Sterling Gates.

Jerry Ordway does an excellent job on art here, no big surprise, handling the alien areas of Krypton and the interior of the ship perfectly.

I am not expecting much in the actual Man of Steel movie in terms of Supergirl. But if this is percolating in the back of the film creators' minds, we might have a nice surprise at some point!