Friday, September 21, 2012

Review: Supergirl #0


I have been pleasantly surprised with DC's Zero Month finding most of the issues to be solid origin-based stories and decent jumping on points. But no title seemed more geared for a zero issue than Supergirl; the details of Kara's trip to Earth have been a mystery since the beginning of the book. With this week's Supergirl #0, we finally get some answers ... and a couple more mysteries.

One of the things that I have commented on ad nauseum here has been the difference between the Supergirl character in the book and the one presented in publicity by DC's PR staff and editors. While the publicity makes her sound like an angry loner with a mean streak, the book itself shows a character with a deep seeded sadness. Sure, she has occasionally exploded (literally) but she has always seemed to have the right motives, the desire to help others. In Supergirl #0, which takes place on the last days of Krypton, we get a sense of why she has that core, who she was in her own environment, and basically the type of person she is. I liked what I saw.

On top of that, we get a better sense of Zor-El, his abilities, his obsessions, and his overwhelming love for his daughter.Thankfully, there doesn't seem to be madness in him, just desperation.

And we also see the lengths Alura will go to in order to protect Kara as well. Prior glimpses of Alura made her seem like a rigid traditionalist with a strained relationship with her daughter. Here we get to see a loving mother trying to protect her child.

On top of this characterization which really builds a foundation for the Supergirl character, we get answers. When was she rocketed? By who? And who shot Zor-El?

There are some minor details which I don't know if I have wrapped my head around yet but overall this was a very good issue. The creative team of Mike Johnson, Michael Green, and Mahmud Asrar just deliver here. On to the details ... and since this is a big issue with big revelations, this is a long review.


The issue starts in Zor-El's secret lab, a lab hidden from the Science Council, where he is running experiments which push the boundaries of the Council's ethics. So already we know something about Zor. He is willing to do what he thinks is right even if it flies in the face of authority. That sort of determination is something that we have seen in this Kara ... heck in the best of all incarnations of Supergirl. I thought this was a nice little way of showing where Kara gets some of her internal strength.

Now, preparing to do whatever necessary to save your daughter is one thing. To experiment on your teenage daughter without her consent is something else. So maybe there are some boundaries that shouldn't be crossed. The words here have to be deliberate. 'Code Matrix' has to be some subtle homage to the Matrix Supergirl. It also implies, especially given this is the World Killer lab, that this Kara was altered by these experiments. So maybe these new powers - the super-intuition, the corona wave solar flare, the combined vision - isn't simply because female Kryptonians process yellow sun energy differently. Maybe she has been enhanced. I have to admit ... I don't know how I feel about this quite yet.


Zor-El knows that the planet is doomed. But he can't come right out and say it. Why incite panic? Or risk his own freedom to do what he thinks is necessary? Instead, he has to act somewhat in secret to try to save what he can. With the blessing of the Science Council, he has placed 'generators' around Argo City. We know those are really force field generators, designed to save Argo. Again, this shows a sort of headstrong 'I know best' attitude in Zor.

There is always a lot to compliment in Mahmud Asrar's art but you can just feel the fatigue and desperation in Zor-El here. He is racing against the clock and it shows.


As I said before, one of the things I loved about this issue was seeing Kara in a comfortable environment. It gives me a better sense of who she is.

So despite the ongoing feud between Zor and Jor, she still visits her aunt and uncle, still plays with her cute little cousin. She has a sense of family and loyalty. She clearly loves little Kal. So she has a strong emotional core.

Interestingly, we also hear her comment about bickering classmates, equating the Jor/Zor dispute to 'mean girl' nonsense. But that statement also makes her sound like she is simply above all that. So there is an implied maturity here.

But that fraternal disagreement is based on Zor's experiments. Jor-El doesn't approve of things he has seen Zor doing (the world killer stuff, I suppose).


At home, Zor-El continues to push himself to the limit. Time is short and he needs to get everything ready. He is curt with Alura, hiding his plans with Kara and the planet's destruction even from his wife. So Zor is complicated. He isn't the sunny purely good guy we saw with the last Supergirl.

He keeps a phaser set on stun by his side because scientific caste members have been attacked. There is a lot to digest here. First off, the scientific caste sounds a lot like the science guild from prior Krypton culture. I am glad that the super-books are maintaining that part of Krypton's history. Second, these attacks are probably from the 'doomsday' anti-science cult we saw in Superboy #0.

But lastly, you never see a gun in the first act unless it is going to be fired in the third.



With the clock ticking down, Zor takes Kara to his main lab in Argo.

Alura, who had been curious about Zor's research, discovers that he has been using Kara as a guinea pig. On top of that, she is startled when Superboy appears telling her there is still time to say goodbye to Kara.

Suddenly there is a new mystery in this book. How the heck did Superboy end up here. It makes my review of the Superboy on Argo City seem prescient!

Anyways, we have already seen Kara in the crowd shot of Superboy's origin in Superboy #0. Now this. Somehow these two get to be part of each other's origins even if it means time travel. Hopefully this will be spelled out in H'El on Earth. But more importantly, what an interesting message from Kon. He doesn't want Alura to miss this moment, he calls Supergirl Kara. He seems to ... care! What an interesting future moment for us to peek at knowing what Superboy is going through now, knowing what Supergirl thinks of him now.


Zor-El meanwhile has his rescue of Kara timed to the second. He takes her to the lab, has her get into her 'family crest' outfit, and shows her the pod she is sent to Earth in.

I know that I have been talking about this solid emotional core and maturity that Kara has shown but this panel reminded me that she is still an adolescent. But this panel, so wonderfully drawn by Asrar, speaks so much. The beaming smile, the shy knocked knees, the brandishing of the cape. This sort of childlike joy she evidences, just from wearing this outfit, reminded me that she isn't a fully formed adult despite her upbringing and set of values. She is in many ways still just a kid, learning about the world.


But the world is literally crashing down around them. For some reason, presumably because he has drugged her, Kara passes out. Zor has the time to tell her what she is doing and she begs him not to send her away.

I thought this was a good moment for the two. The father who loves his child so much he has to send her away to protect her. It isn't an easy choice; he is weeping.

This is a different portrayal of Zor-El then we have seen recently. He resides somewhere between Kelly's insane murderous Zor and Gates' perfect father figure. This is a complicated guy stuck in a bunch of no win situations.


I do think his heart is in the right place. We have surmised in the past that the raw power of the World Killers is what powered his generators, made the force field. He basically admits it saying that he has redeemed himself, using their power to save lives.

But he also says it is saving Kara's life. He must have altered her genome, using the work he did on the World Killers as a template to increase Kara's capabilities. I have to say, I am still on the fence about this one particular detail of her history. I'll need to see it play out a bit more before I decide if I like it or not.

Also, in a nice piece of symmetry, we get the reverse angle of the speech Supergirl heard off the sun-stone crystal in Supergirl #5. We see Zor recording it.


We know that recording ends with Zor-El being shot. I had always assumed it was a kill shot. But that gun from Act 1 was a stun gun. And it is Alura who pulls the trigger.

Back in my 'who shot Zor-El poll' I listed her as a suspect and the person I hoped would not have pulled the trigger. (Of course, back then I thought it would make her a murderer.) Now knowing this simply stuns him, I suppose it is semi-justified. She has learned that her husband has experimented on their child and is planning to rocket her off the planet. I can understand why she would be angry and try to do everything in her power to stop him.

Congrats to those people who voted for her!


Of course, she arrives to late. The pod speeds off just as Argo's shields go live ... just as the planet explodes.

I love this image of Alura, simply defeated, ragdoll-like in her sorrow. We have always seen Alura in a position and posture of strength. To see this image of her humanizes her.

So a very solid and intriguing origin story here ... one that answers a lot of questions.

We know now that Supergirl was rocketed at the same time as Kal. Now why she would orbit the sun, or finally break orbit and land on Earth ... I don't know.

We know that Argo survived. It must have been Zor-El (or perhaps Alura) who built the wormhole gates between Argo (as it orbited the blue sun as seen again in Supergirl #5 ) and Earth. Perhaps he was hoping to reach her, be reunited with her. And this is why Reign says the lab she awoke in was in space. It was the Argo lab she was in, powering those generators.

Zor-El survives being shot. Perhaps that is why he and Alura seem very much a team when seen as a vision in Supergirl #6. Maybe, once she learned why he was doing what he was doing, she forgave him. Heck, maybe they are in the Survival Zone given how they appeared. I am glad he survived this far although it does change the impact of the shooting dramatically

We know why Supergirl thinks she was on Krypton just the day before. We know how she got into her uniform (I guess some short term amnesia about her conversation with Zor is expected). And most importantly we have a sense of who she was on Krypton.

Mahmud Asrar's art is supreme in the issue especially in the characters' expressions, magnifying the power of each scene.

Now can I deal with her amplified genome? And how did Superboy get there?

What I really want to know is what did all of you think?

Overall grade: A

10 comments:

  1. I think it was one of the finest issues in the series to date. It will be interesting to see how Kara will react once she finds out about this (if she finds out). Until the next issue.

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  2. Great review, Anj, I loved this issue too. As regards what caused Supergirl to come out of her orbit, I assumed Zor-El had set a timer on the Cosmic Wok.

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  3. "We know now that Supergirl was rocketed at the same time as Kal. Now why she would orbit the sun, or finally break orbit and land on Earth ... I don't know."

    It's spelled out in the issue, isn't it?

    "Safe in this pod, orbiting the yellow son, Kara will remain in stasis until I can retrieve her. Assuming Argo City survives.
    And even if it doesn't, Kara will wake with such poer that she will never be in danger again."

    So orbiting the sun in hopes he could pick her up, without her knowing or risking her landing on earth. Maybe it dropped because of some time limit, "If I haven't managed it in 25 years, I'm dead, let's drop her on earth full of sun-power"?

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  4. I don't understand why Zor chose to send Kara away like that if he already had a plan to save Argo...maybe he had no faith in his own tech? And the rift with Jor El explains why Kal and Kara reached Earth separately...Bu then why did Kara fly at subliminal speed? Me am confused!
    And don't get me going about "Superboy" (I think he is some sort of family household "Clone" prototype...but likely I am wrong).
    And Zor got Kara in the escape pod with the distraction of new clothes and anesthesia?
    Who says the new DC can't push the envelope??
    Okay kidding aside it was an interesting issue but it illuminated but little save the parameters and limits of the Jor-Zor rift...Oh and we know who shot Zor....dats about it though.

    JF

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  5. Thanks for the comments.

    John, I do think Zor didn't know 100% if his shield tech would work. So the genome tinkering and pod was a failsafe plan. He says it in the issue and his recording that he hopes to end up getting her again. As for the uniform, it has been shown to have some sort of cultural significance so I think it is more than just a new outfit.

    Kim, I think you're right about a timed fall to Earth. Zor must have set it thinking he would want time to be able to chase her. And orbiting the sun and guzzling energy was as good a way to keep her safe as any.

    We all knew she was rocketed from Argo to Earth. But the details (from where - planet or floating city, when fired, etc) spelled things out more definitively.

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  6. Sorry!!! I not like this history of new supergirl's origin, very, very strange.

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  7. Guys!!! look the true origin of the supergirl in this video on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIwoMO48fak

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  8. Here's something that I think will clarify why Kara came to Earth so late: http://www.newsarama.com/comics/supergirl-0-questions-answers.html

    Maybe you should do a blog about this.

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  9. Interesting interview at Newsarama.com...quiets some of my Matrix 2.0 concerns but essentially leaves Kara wide open to the possibility of becoming the DCU's own version of the Incredible Hulk.


    JF

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  10. Will be covering that interview tomorrow ... with my usual sidebar comments.

    Interesting stuff.

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