Review: Supergirl #33

With excitement cresting for next month’s new creative team, Supergirl #33 arrived in comic stores this week, representing the thematic closure of Kelly Puckett’s run. One of the ongoing threads in Puckett's arc was Supergirl discovering her limitations, what she can do, what she should do, and what she should aspire to do. Most of these beats have been encapsulated in her attempts to save Thomas, the young boy with brain cancer. The end of issue #31 had Thomas dying despite a blood transfusion from Resurrection Man. Issue #32 was told mostly in flash-forwards so this issue picks up more from #31, with the current Kara still frustrated ... frustrated about her inability to help Superman in the intergalactic war, her inability to save Thomas, her inability to be an effective hero on this world.

And you can tell Supergirl is frustrated by her stating she wants to break the world in half. She works off some of her frustration in this confrontation with Clayface. First, by giving him a wicked right cross.

Then by flying him up to space and flinging him earthward. Brutal!

When Supergirl flies down to gather him up, she finds Clayface has already been restrained by Empress.

Now I know nothing about Empress but she seems to have some mystical power. Also, her parents have been de-aged to elementary school kids and she has to take care of them. The kids have been kidnapped and threatened by a villain named ‘Aftermath’ and Empress enlists Supergirl to help her.

When Kara asks ‘why her’ rather than Empress’ old teammates Arrowette or Wonder Girl, Empress points out the damage Supergirl has been dealing out recently. Who wouldn't want an angry Kara going into a fight with them?

Well, it turns out to be something of a double-cross. “Aftermath’ is a normal man who was paralyzed during the Superman/Doomsday fight. This man is convinced that he must show the world that super-beings, be they ‘hero’ or ‘villain’, are bad for humanity. He kidnapped Empress’ parents so he could blackmail her into putting a spell on Supergirl which would put Kara in his control. By then having Kara go on a rampage, public support would turn on heroes. Hmmmm ... pretty convoluted plot he has going on there.

And why would he focus on Kara of all heroes? Well, because she has brought ‘more confusion and shame to the ‘S’ on her chest’ than anyone. People would believe she would go bad and they would rally against super-heroes. Suffice it to say, Kara shakes loose of the spell and easily defeats Aftermath and his men.

In a nice touch she realizes that in his own twisted way Aftermath was trying to make the world better, much like she was in trying to save Thomas and cure cancer. But trying to make the world better doesn’t always make you right. Sometimes the road to Hell is paved with the best intentions. She forgives Aftermath and she even forgives Empress for back-stabbing her in an attempt to save her parents.

In fact, this whole incident has made Supergirl question her whole recent outlook. Maybe she should stop fighting things she can’t beat (like cancer) and start protecting people again. And thus, Puckett’s themes end and Gates' storyline can start fresh. Much like Puckett immediately showed a loving Zor-El so that Kelly’s story would end and his story could start.

And here is the new introspective Kara flying in space and vowing to just go about living and helping.

This was an okay issue that did its job. The idealistic ‘change the world’ Kara from Puckett’s run has sort of found her head and realized that she was trying to do the impossible. This also ends the timeline ending in a Kara-totalitarian future briefly seen earlier in the run.

The truth is with the all the publicity for Gates’ run, the impending immersion of Supergirl into the other super-titles, with her great scenes in Action Comics and her inclusion in the upcoming ‘New Krypton' arc, this 'Saving Thomas' storyline sort of ended with a whimper. James Peaty seemed to have Kara’s voice down in her lines and Ron Randall did his usual solid art here.

So the Puckett themes are in the rear view mirror and we see some of what lies ahead in Gates' run. This was a transition issue, wrapping up all the threads from the last 11 issues and putting the character in a place that makes the new direction plausible. But I do think that the "she has brought more confusion and shame to the ‘S’ on her chest" line was a subtle swipe at the convoluted and confusing and varied takes on Supergirl in these first 33 issues. Is she a brat? A rave girl? A killer? An ineffective idealist? All of the above at one point or another? It is time for a clear consistent take on Kara ... some stability.

As I have done in the past, I want to thank Kelly Puckett wholeheartedly for making Supergirl a likeable character again. I enjoyed this storyline more than others but I think it showed us Kara’s Kryptonian curiosity and adolescent enthusiasm, optimism, and even some teenage stubbornness. It is hard to bring some real issues ... like why wouldn't super-heroes try to cure cancer rather than stop muggers ... into comics without them become cliched. But it worked here. Kara wanted to be a hero for this young boy and pushed the limits of her abilities, morals, and even friendships to save him.

But now it is onto the new team! I think it is a good time to be a Supergirl fan.

Overall grade: C