Review: Supergirl #25

Supergirl #25 came out last week, a double sized anniversary issue celebrating ... I guess ... the title making it to the quarter century mark. It is amazing what passes as a high number in comics these days.

The book is made up of three stories. The first continues the current plotline with Kara investigating Rogol Zaar's part in the destruction of Krypton. Writer Marc Andreyko does a decent job here mixing in visions and reality, playing on a bit of Supergirl's history, and adding a new rogue to her villain list. The art there is done primarily by Supergirl veteran Emanuela Lupacchino and fits in well with the Maguire/Shaner look to the book.

The second story focuses on a past encounter of current shipmate Z'ndr Kol. We get a better sense of the sort of swashbuckling, Tomb Raider-like adventurer he is. But we also get some crumbs to deepen the current mysteries of this title. I don't know how much I can trust this guy. And there are so many apostrophes in his language that I can't help but think he's a Martian.

The last story feels like an inventory holdover for some never published holiday special. Dan Jurgens and Tom Derenick give us a story from Supergirl's past, clearly set in the Steve Orlando era, with a simple but beloved holiday message.

Overall I thought this was a very good issue but for one overused plot element that bores me.

On to the book!

Last issue, Supergirl was told by Mogo to head to the site of Krypton's destruction to gather more clues. As the ship nears the space where Krypton used to be, Kara is forced to see chunks of planet, buildings, and monuments, reminding her of how much she lost.

It also floods her with ambient Kryptonite radiation. Luckily Z'ndr Kol is able to get both her and Krypto into space suits which, at least for a short period of time, blunt the radiation effects.

There is something almost too tender about the way Z'ndr puts his hand on her helmet earlier in the book, like laying his hand on her cheek in a romantic way. If Andreyko is trying to make us think this is Brainiac 5, he is doing a sort of good job of it.

But having Z'ndr name drop a family god of F'llcyp? That's one apostrophe too many in my book. And I doubt the computer people of Colu were big into idols. My guess is he is either all Martian or maybe half-Martian/half Coluan.

Spared some pain with her suit, Kara heads out into space to look for clues when she runs into a rather 90's looking and 90s named villain named Splyce. She is the guardian of the site of Krypton's demise. But who hired her?

All spiky corners (and maybe garters), Splyce shows that she is a sort of amalgam of beings. She can shoot energy like a Tamaranean. She can shape change like a Durlan. She is, I suppose, a number of species spliced together to be a sort of Amazo. Maybe her look is more akin to Cell from Dragon Ball Z, another villain with other people's powers.

For me what is more interesting is that all that Kryptonite radiation is playing havoc with Kara's mind, giving her fever dreams and distorted memories.

Here she mourns the death of a Kryptonian glass bird (one of my more favorite Kryptonian fauna) only to have her parents mutate before her eyes.

At least Kara recognizes it as a symptom of Kryptonite poisoning, the very excuse Sterling Gates and Jamal Igle used to explain away all the weird memories Kara had of Zor-El being a gun-toting psychopath in the Joe Kelly run waaayyyy back in Supergirl #35. Kryptonite poisoning causes feverish hallucinations.

But some of it also seems more like true memories.

Here Zor-El shows Kara a device he has made to reignite a planet's core. Perhaps he was thjinking of using it to save Krypton?

But he says it in an arrogant way, even to his child. Weird.

And, to be honest, sort of tiresome. Poor Zor-El hasn't caught a break in a long time. He was just cured of being the Cyborg Superman. Let the man rest in peace.

Do I really need a story where Zor-El might have caused Krypton's destruction? Do I need that layer of guilt draped on Supergirl?

The visions twist into Rogol Zaar as Supergirl fights both Spluce and these nightmares she is seeing.

Even she knows that the device Zor-El was inventing was the one Zaar was using to try and destroy Earth. Suddenly Zor-El might have a part to play in the Krypton disaster!

I'll say it again, Lupacchino is fantastic. And the flipping back and forth from dream to reality works well. Even here the mix of Zaar/Splyce shows us what Supergirl is fighitng.

And check out the now 'old school' Rebirth costume Kara is wearing here. Maybe Lupacchino didn't get the press material of the new blue suit? Or maybe this is what Kara's mind is telling her she should wear?

For reference, there is that device at Earth's core in Man of Steel #5.

Finally, realizing that her suit is about to fail her and she needs to end this battle with Splyce, Supergirl comes up with a new idea. She'll overload Splyce's Tamaranean energy absorption abilities by blasting Splyce with all her stored solar energy.

I never quite get why giving an alien more energy is a good strategy. What if you don't have enough to overload? You're just feeding her?

Moreover, the last four pages of the story are drawn by Lan Medina and Sean Parsons. That explains the sudden S-Shield on the space suit. And ... a mouth beam?? When has Supergirl been able to vomit energy like that? And isn't shooting mega-energy through your helmet glass a bad idea?

As odd as all that is, I also think Kara's 'Drink it up ugly' seems off character for her, at least the her we have come to know since Rebirth.

Luckily (maybe), she and Splyce are teleported away before her lack of a helmet and exposure to Kryptonite kills her. They are brought into the lair of Harry Hokum, Czar of the Citadel. My guess is Hokum is behind the experiments that created Splyce so having a Kryptonian to add is a boon.

Hey look, the S-shield is gone from the space suit again!

I do like the sort of Vermin Vundabar-ish look of Hokum. He obviously is pleased with the medals he's earned.

That's a decent cliffhanger to end on. And the added information about Zor-El's device I suppose made the trip worth it. Too bad it again is a smudge on the character of Zor-El.

The middle story has Z'ndr on a side mission to the Idieg Prime cluster where he is looking for the legendary Ch'tyl healing flower. Hmmm ... more apostrophes.

While on this supposedly unexplored planet, he runs into the remains of a Kryptonian colony. He even trips a distress call from someone named Revell-Tor who says the aliens on the planet are butchering the people. We even see her killed with a sword bearing that circular sigil Rogol Zaar has on his axe.

These look sort of like Byrne-era Kryptonians with their fuzzy shoulders and headbands/hoods.

And there are aliens on the planet who don't like trespassers. Z'ndr has to flee for his life all the time thinking about why there were Kryptonians there and why the aliens were using Kryptonian weapons.

He also stumbles onto a strange altar and he pilfers some artifact also bearing the odd circle logo.

Here we see how Indiana Jones this Kol is. Running from natives, stealing artifacts, thinking like an anthropologist. He is fascinating ... but a bit too much of a rogue for me to think he is pure Coluan. And his desire to impress his mother is another wrinkle.

I might add he has a sort of Inspector Gadget right robotic hand. That makes my Martian theory less palatable. Unless mom is Martian and dad is Coluan?

That symbol has to be the mark of this darkish Circle Supergirl is investigating.

And then we get the delightful story 'The Plourott' from Dan Jurgens and Tom Derenick.

Supergirl arrives home at the Danvers' covered in buckets of mechanical grease after helping the Justice Leaguer Ice defeat an giant robot named Megazon.

I love how disgusted Kara is at her grimy state.

And seriously, I love the Rebirth costume. Can we go back to that?

While away on the mission, Kara hears that Eliza and Jeremiah have been gathering things up to donate to the poor. One of the things they gave away was a pair of boots Kara had outgrown. Little did they know that in that box was The Plourott, a sort of AI stuffed animal that traveled with Kara from Krypton. It is a treasured memory and piece of her life and now it is gone.

She hid it because she was embarrassed about still holding on to a stuffed animal.

It should be easy enough to find out where the boots went.

Of course that leads Supergirl to an orphanage where a refugee named Rosa has already become attached to it. Realizing that Rosa needs the Plourott more than she does now, Kara let's her keep it. After all, girls forced to leave their lands need any comfort they can get.

Kara invites ice over to make the orphanage a winter wonderland and both talk about happy holidays.

It is a simple, very Christmas message of giving. We have all read stories like this before. So it isn't ground-breaking. I love it for it's sappiness.

So not a bad anniversary issue. If only Zor-El could go back to being a good guy!

Overall grade: B