DC's Supergirl Next Door Valentine's Day anthology came out this week, a smorgasbord of quick romance stories starring an interesting if unaffiliated group of characters. Much like the Ma Hunkel Christmas Special, the talent on the book are mostly people I haven't heard of with a smattering of a people I know from a few books.
I used to love these holiday books when growing up. These days they are mostly 'hit or miss' without much to remember afterwards. But they had me at calling it Supergirl Next Door.
One thing that is tough about these books is that they are outside of continuity so trying to figure out the whens and the wheres are tough especially in this book where things seem far afield for most of these characters. And for a hefty $9.99 I would love for there to be one story, maybe a lead story, from a big name talent team.
I do love the Amy Reeder cover even if it isn't related to the Supergirl story inside.
Let's jump into the Supergirl story.
Welcome to the post-Tom King Supergirl where the default mode is the young woman just holding back the tears, filled with sadness.
Thankfully Allen knows a way to cheer her up, asking her to discuss the constellations she is looking for. She has a sheet of paper to remind her what they look like.
'A Dream of Different Stars' was written by CRC Payne with art by Paulina Ganucheau. We saw Ganucheau's art in a recent Supergirl issue so I recognized the name.
Here a blonde Linda Danvers (haven't seen that before) is the popular girl in high school and isn't afraid to show some athletic prowess. All of this feels very new for almost any incarnation of Supergirl.
Allen is a shy boy who thinks she is lightyears away from him.
Late one night, Allen hears footsteps on his roof. There is Linda doing some stargazing. She likes his roof more than her own because he has a better view.
She is trying to see stars that she used to see back home. And she missed that view.
Welcome to the post-Tom King Supergirl where the default mode is the young woman just holding back the tears, filled with sadness.
Allen says she can go on his roof whenever she wants and he can join her. She would love that so she could have a friend with her. As a shy guy, he can't believe how easy Linda is open to be friends.
But that is a pretty fast turnaround from the girl who just said how much she misses her old home and seemed despondent.
As the continue to view the stars, Linda opens up about how she has dreams of flying in a ship with her family and her father teaching her all the constellations. She wishes they could have got in the ship with her.
She collapses on the roof, head between her knees, forlorn. She will only see her parents and those stars in her dreams.
Welcome to the post-Tom King Supergirl where the default mode is the young woman just holding back the tears, filled with sadness.
In a nice touch, she talks about the Flamebird and Nightwing star configurations, even touching on their mythology. You'd think he might ask where she is from and if those beings are local color. But he doesn't.
Remember, this is a Valentine's Day special.
In the end, Allen does something very sweet, recreating Linda's star map on a light dome, making a personalized planeterium. And she responds, putting her head on his shoulder and thanking him.
It is a sweet story.
I won't touch on all the stories but the Swamp Thing story by Rosie Knight and Michael Shelfer was my favorite. Swampy remembers the day he first met Abby Arcane in the swamp. (It doesn't jibe with continuity but that is par for the course here.) But it is also very sweet.
And Shelfer's art was the best in the book by far.
Anyways, Happy early Valentine's Day.
Overall grade (Supergirl story): C+
Overall grade (whole book): C
I’ve only read the Supergirl and Flash story so far. The Jay tale is awful, this is just a tad nothingy, YA longing. If this is actually Supergirl she could, perhaps, just possibly, get a good view of the night sky by, you know, flying?
ReplyDeleteThis T.K. version of a traumatized young woman with PTSD is very realistic! Despite the simplicity of the plot, it shows a more realistic and human version of her story, much better than her current comic book version where Kara is alienated, dumbed down, infantilized, and without any personality.
ReplyDeleteI'm familiar with CRC Payne, the writer of the webtoons Wayne Family Adventures (which have also been gradually released in book form, which is where I read them - they are free on the webtoons site, but I don't like the scrolling format). It's YA, and an enjoyable take on the extended Bat family from some indeterminate time in the past.
ReplyDeleteI realized eventually that this was just Valentine's special named with a pun on "the girl next door," and not a Supergirl special, but I bought it anyway. (All these specials are named with puns.) Normally I don't buy the DC seasonal anthologies, and this one was, typically, not worth the price.
T.N.
I don't have a problem with this story touching on Kara's grief for her parents and home because it isn't laid on with a trowel. She's sad and has a moment of pain thinking of them, but she isn't an emotional wreck as she is in Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. In this story she honors her parents by remembering them, she makes a new friend, she goes on living, and she finds reasons to hope. We see her healing from her tragedy, not wallowing in it. Crc Payne understands something that Tom King doesn't. We all have traumas, but we are more, much more, than the sum of our traumas. I also loved Paulina Ganucheau's emotionally expressive interior art and Amy Reeder's gorgeous cover.
ReplyDeleteThe weird Swamp Thing story and the Supergirl story are the only ones I even remember from yesterday. I'd say this isn't Tom Kingified (that's a word in spell check?) because she's obviously new to Earth and fairly recently orphaned. It's a story about her faking being the Kara she once was and maybe her first true friend on Earth helping her getting back to actually being that Kara again. With no costume involved in most of it, the blonde hair even makes sense as a visual reminder that this is indeed Supergirl.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the comments.
ReplyDeletePerhaps I am a bit too twitchy. For sure, this YA story isn't as dark and ham-fisted as King's WoT. But there is a world in the past where a Supergirl romance story wouldn't have her near tears talking about the sadness in her life.
There could be stories starring Kara without her reliving her trauma.
But perhaps I was a bit too harsh.