Review: Supergirl #34 - The Wait Is Over!

Pardon the long post, but there is a lot to cover here.

It was back in late June that Kara fans first learned that Sterling Gates and Jamal Igle were taking over the Supergirl title. Since then there have been numerous interviews and panels in which the team described their approach to the character. They wanted to make Kara a likeable character again, a heroic character again; someone who will try and fail and grow and try again and succeed. We have seen glimpses of this ‘new Kara’ in Action Comics and Final Crisis. Even though I liked Kelley Puckett’s run on Supergirl, I have been looking forward to Supergirl #34, the new team’s first issue for some time. It finally was released yesterday and I can say succinctly it did not disappoint.


Before we get into the issue itself, I also have to commend the DC promotion for the title as they try to bring in new readers. We saw preview pages on Newsarama; we had interviews on CBR. Supergirl is currently prominently displayed on their home page. And we get this very nice Fernando Pasarin variant cover, enticing to collectors and dealers alike. I love the joy on Wonder Woman’s face as she and Supergirl take out this griffin. But on to the issue …


As hinted at all along, the issue starts with a shot of the front page of the Daily Planet showing Cat Grant’s ‘Why the world doesn’t need Supergirl’ opinion piece. Despite Clark and Lois’ attempts to persuade Perry White to scrap or bury the piece, the decision is made to run it on the front page.


Cat actually does a good job of defending the merit of the piece listing off all the things that haven’t gone well for Kara recently: taking down Air Force One, hurting people during the Reactron rescue, leaving the Atlas battle, and not saving Thomas’ life. Of course, all the good things that happened during those incidents are conveniently not discussed.

I am so glad that the current team is taking on this perception and not forgetting Supergirl’s recent past. I feel sometimes when new creative teams begin a ‘bold new direction’ they simply ignore recent history and start with a blank slate. It would have been easy to simply not mention the prior runs on this title, as out of synch they have felt with each other. That would be the easy way out. So kudos to the new team for taking on Kara’s confusing and conflicted history head on.


Oblivious of the smear campaign, Kara battles the Silver Banshee above Metropolis. Unfortunately the battle lands them in the middle of the Metropolis Monarchs baseball game.

Acting quickly, Supergirl saves a player and (in one of my favorite panels) swiftly decisively takes out the Banshee by dropping a garbage truck on her! What a great action shot!


While pleased with herself, the crowd is not so happy as seen above. First we get a Baywatch shot of Kara smiling about her victory. If this was TV, a slight breeze would be blowing out her hair. That happy moment ends as quickly as the battle with a soda to the face from the disgruntled crowd. Rather than thank Supergirl for saving them, the crowd brings up the mess she made, how she interrupted the game, and tell her ‘The Daily Planet’ was right.


Not knowing what they mean about The Planet, Kara flies off and reads the Cat Grant piece. In what is probably my favorite panel from the book, we see a despondent Kara sitting in a windstorm of the paper. It's like her life is metaphorically swirling out of control around her. Now some might complain that this shows a weak Kara, but for me it was a moment of realism. Supergirl has been on Earth for a short period of time and has mostly strived to do good. Despite that, she never seems to catch an even break. Why shouldn’t she feel sad when no one mentions the good she has done and only mentions the bad?


She broods through until morning when Superman shows up with a coffee and advice. Throughout the conversation, Superman is completely supportive of Kara and recognizes her heroism. This is not the chastising Superman we have occasionally seen in this title. He is shocked when Kara asks her if he agrees with Cat and tells her she is ‘more than worthy’ of carrying on his legacy.

He does give her one piece of advice … get a secret identity. He tells Kara she needs some space to decompress. He does not want her to stop being a hero … just stop heroing for 24 hours a day.

Supergirl agrees and begins to ask advice of her other friends. First she talks to the Titans. Robin gives her Connor’s glasses telling her that Connor would be proud to have someone in the family using them. Then she talks to Wonder Woman who tells her that the mask that is worn by a hero is sometimes their secret identity, changing to Diana to prove the point.

I was never a big Connor fan but I feel this is a nice homage to his character. Superboy died saving the universe from Prime so I also think the glasses will be a reminder to Kara about the price and power of heroism.


Lastly, she talks to the Kents and Lana Lang. Kara talks about how Clark wanted her to hide from her problems in a secret identity, not exactly what he said but maybe how she interpreted it. Supergirl and Lana hit it off, both realizing that they have been running away from their problems and need to face them instead. They decide to face them together.


Cut to the Daily Planet again, where Cat Grant finds this card on her desk. This was a perfect response by Kara. It shows that Supergirl is not going to shy away from the Cat Grant problem, not run from the city. It shows self-confidence in an understated but powerful manner. She didn’t write ‘stop writing about me or I’ll pulp you’ or 'F U' like the Joe Kelly Kara might have.


And then the unveiling of the secret identity …. Linda Lang!!! Okay, so I like the use of Linda here, an obvious tip of the hat to prior Supergirls. Nice touch! Nice ending! This issue is what 'bold new direction' issues should be ... a recap of the character and a bunch of hooks to grab the readers and keep them coming back for more.

I am sure there will be people out there who did not like the issue because Kara seems weak, tearful, and too subservient to Superman. For me it didn’t feel that way at all. This felt like the natural ending to 3 difficult years of stories. Kara is bowed but not broken. In fact, she seems to have emerged stronger.

On top of this big thematic change, there were other nice touches throughout the issue, like Supergirl dropping Kryptonian words into her conversations. That just makes sense giving her background.

And the art by Jamal Igle was absolutely stunning. The battle scenes are crisp. Kara looks lovely and healthy. But what really impressed me were the facial expressions throughout the book, perfectly capturing the character’s feelings. I could post a dozen more panels of facial expressions that were spot on. I think Geoff Johns and Sterling Gates were right when they said Jamal hit this issue out of the park.

I wish there was one or two more issues before the new Krypton storyline so we could have the team really solidify their direction before a big cross-over event. But really I have nothing but praise for this issue.

Overall grade: A+