Tuesday, August 9, 2022

Supergirl Through Two Different Lenses


I have been blogging about Supergirl for 14 years now, always with the intention of celebrating her as a character. There are so many aspects of her character and her history that I love. One of them is that I think, despite the tragedy in her life, she is bright and optimistic. She wants to help people. 

While I think that is the true foundation of the character, DC doesn't always agree. And over the course of my time blogging I have seen editorial fiat turn her jaded, dark, depressed, emotionally bereft, and empty. 

So when I see something which captures that quality I have to applaud.



Thank you Doc Shaner for this simple little image which is in the background of The New Champion of Shazam #1, a poster in Mary's room. In that world, Supergirl took part in a public campaign to promote reading in kids and support public libraries. 

This is my Supergirl. Amazing. I'd buy this poster.


And then I saw this from the backmatter of last week's comics.

When discussing DCeased, a book I am not remotely interested in reading, we hear that they are retelling Supergirl's origins but this one goes really badly wrong.

Okay, I get it. This is a noncontinuity book. It is about zombies. It isn't even a book I am reading. 

But I am just exhausted with Supergirl being simple fodder for people to 'go dark'. 

So two takes on Supergirl. One I love. One I don't.

Welcome to the fandom!

9 comments:

kenkraly2004 said...

Yep I pretty much agree Dark Supergirl or even Dark Superman takes tired of in the comic books or any form of media Supergirl should be hopeful , bright and optimistic like despite it's flaws the Supergirl TV Series did so well. Now And Doc Shaner's Supergirl read ad amazing. Hopefully after Dark Crisis On Infinite Earths we get a new Supergirl ongoing series that is hopeful , bright and optimistic like the tv series.

Martin Gray said...

How in Earth did you spot that, Anj? What’s the story behind the full image version you tweeted? I didn’t see that in the comic.

REYNARD, THE FOX GARDENER! said...

Taylor is a hack and DCeased has just been elseworlds horror-porn since its inception. He did the same thing in the Injustice series, and all of this edginess is just a product of the 2010's comic culture where everybody is mean, gritty, and bloodthirsty. A return to competent storytelling and consistent characterization is needed.

Anonymous said...

“DC stands for Depressing Crap”...wow I mean first vampires, now zombies? Good Lord but DC has the Courage of it’s Restrictions, the same old junk with the expectation of a different outcome, the very definition of madness...
If you think about it, Supergirl has pretty much been a zombie since last summer either as Ruthye’s entranced henchwench or else this summer’s grotesque infectee...sad and tedious.
But lets have some fun shall we?
What is Supergirl’s Favorite Book per the literacy poster? Any nominees?

JF

William Ashley Vaughan said...

Supergirl's favorite book? The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum maybe.

Anonymous said...

I was toying with “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte...

JF

Anj said...

Anne of Green Gables?

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Anonymous said...

I don’t think she is much for science fiction “it’s too much like work” thinks the Blonde Blockbuster...my theory is she likes fiction about women in the thick of things...could be “Little Women” as well...

JF

Metal Mikey said...

I could've SWORN at some point they had a Helen Slater as Supergirl "Read" poster! Oh well, someone needs to fire up the DeLorean to make that happen!

But you're right in that it seems like DC wants two flavors of Supergirl. Not saying some readers shouldn't have the "spicier" take, but my preferred take is akin to a light and confident Superman.

P.S. Even as a zombie fan, the zombie genre teat is milked dry, and I have ZERO time for zombies and super-heroes mixing.