Review: Supergirl #43

Supergirl #43 was released last week and had the tough task of being a sort of 'rest issue' between the 'Who Is Superwoman?' story arc and next months super-title crossover 'Codename:Patriot'.

With 'Patriot' around the corner, it was not as if Sterling Gates and Jamal Igle had the luxury of opening up any major can of worms for the future. Knowing this needed to be something of a done-in-one story, I didn't know what to expect.

What I got was a pretty good story that took a long hard look at the Alura/Kara dynamic. After seeing only snippets of Alura acting like an evil stepmother from a fairy tale for the last 9 months, I was glad to get a bigger glimpse of her, to get a better sense of her motivations.

This was a character driven issue through and through and sometimes those are the hardest ones to get right. Add to that some scenes detailing Kryptonian culture and a great scene with Superman and overall I was pretty happy with the outcome.

The issue takes place just before Kara's birthday and the upcoming celebration on New Kandor. This birthday will also mark the time when Kara will need to declare a guild to join. All along I thought she would choose the Artist's guild given her own predilection to painting as well as her close relationship to her father.

The issue is told via excerpts from a letter that Kara is writing to her dead father Zor-El. Now the 'letter to a dead loved one' motif has been used many many times. It can easily veer into schmaltz and saccharine. I worried this might become an 'after school special' issue. Luckily, my fears were unfounded. The letter excerpts are there more to frame the scenes we are shown albeit with some personal reflection by Kara.

One thing that has not changed is how icy and belligerent Alura is shown to be. When Kara comments on how prominent the House of El crest is on Alura's outfit, Alura responds that it is there as a warning to anyone who would harm any other El family members. Alura has a whole planet of Kryptonians that she can command to fight.

I had begun to wonder if Alura was going to become a one-note character. At least in this title, we haven't seen any other emotions from her other than bitterness and anger. Gates has really done a wonderful job making Kara and the other characters here 3-dimensional. I mean, no one can be bitter and angry *all* the time? Can they?

Seemingly upset at Supergirl's failure to capture either Reactron or Superwoman, Alura sends Kara to work with the labor guild for a couple of days.

I enjoy any look into Kryptonian culture as it fleshes out their world and customs. Here we see a Labor Guild unit repairing some machinery. They seem proud of their work as they toil away in the grime. I like the look of understanding on Kara's face in that last panel. Suddenly members of the Labor Guild have faces and names. They are people who are treated as slave labor. Kara seems to be looking at them with sympathy.

And then there is a wonderful scene were Supergirl and Kal's Red Shard unit discover the apartment that Lucy was hiding out in as Superwoman when on New Kandor.

I am so happy that Gates wrote this scene. Just like we needed to see Lois' response to the Lucy mystery, so too did we need to see Kal's. What I love most about this scene is how Kal completely supports Kara. In the Silver Age, this would have been the time that Superman would have chastised Superman. That doesn't happen now.

In fact he apologizes to Kara for Lois' behavior. Realizing that Lucy could not have put together the suit and acted as Superwoman alone, Kal vows to find out who is behind this threat to New Krypton.

This scene alone made the issue for me. Throughout Gates and Igle's run we have seen Superman support Supergirl. It would have been easy to have him be upset about the death of his sister-in-law, to question Kara's abilities ... but he didn't.

Lastly, a new name has been added to the Superwoman mystery. This apartment belonged to someone named Kryn Kel-Ur, a Kryptonian missing since the city was enlarged. Where is she? Did Lucy kill her?

But Alura has more duties for Kara to perform on New Krypton and so the mystery needs to wait.

Next Kara meets Zal-Tel the man commissioned to carve a statue in Zor-El's honor. He also happened to be Zor-El's mentor in the artist's guild.

Zal-Tel asks Kara about her own painting and wonders if she would like to be his next apprentice. Kara's expression sort of says it all. I assumed she would jump at the chance and be beaming. Instead this semi-confused look let me know that Kara was conflicted about this decision.

And that feeling was probably greater after some jumbled meetings with members of the Religious Guild and Science Guild.

As I said before, Alura's constant vitriol had started to feel a little stale with me.

But Gates does a good job of letting us know that Alura isn't all steel. Throughout the book we see Kara lying in bed at night listening to her mother cry. Alura always cries at the same time and always nears hysterical sobbing. Kara even worries if her mother might take her own life.

This suddenly humanizes Alura. She is still reeling with grief from Zor-El's death. Maybe that rigid exterior is a mask to hide the crumbling interior.

Finally, Kara confronts her mother who has flown to Zor-El's grave.

There is one new plot point here ... why is Alura always crying at the same time of night?

Once again though, this scene shows just how much Kara has matured over the last several months. There was a time when Kara wouldn't have confronted her mother like this.

It turns out that Alura has had Kara running all over New Krypton to expose Kara to all the different guilds. On Kara's birthday she'll need to choose a guild to join and Alura used her pull to give Supergirl some insider information.

Alura regards these trips as a gift ... a statement that flummoxes Kara.

I love the confused look on Kara's face, the slightly furroed brow, as she admits that she simply doesn't understand her mother.

There was no anger here, no angst. Supergirl is outright perplexed by her mother and her actions.

Which makes Supergirl's choice of the Science Guild intriguing.

I had really thought it was a foregone conclusion that Kara would pick the Artist Guild. It made sense.

Instead she joins the Science Guild in hopes of learning why Alura acts the way she does. I also thought this choice showed some maturity. Supergirl didn't choose the Science Guild to try to make Alura love her more or to try to 'buy' Alura's respect. She did it in hopes of coming to some understanding.

This was another very good issue by the Gates/Igle team. I have yet to be disappointed by any of their issues and there is always something noteworthy. In this issue, Kara's scene with Kal and their mutual respect for each other really stands out as the high point.

Overall grade: B+/B