Review: Supergirl #42

Supergirl #42 was released digitally last week, the last issue of this volume of the title character, born from the brightness of Rebirth and ending in darkness.

I don't know what to say about this pattern with Supergirl in DC. I have seen her go dark and need to be redeemed too many times to count. But this one, given how it began with the 'return to classics' zeitgeist of Rebirth stings the most. Since Supergirl #21, when Marc Andreyko had her abandon Earth out of bloodthirsty revenge, through Supergirl #42, Supergirl has been mistreated. There have been a few bright moments mixed in. But mostly these last 21 issues have been her nearly becoming an ax-wielding murderer and then becoming a Goth villain.

Supergirl #41 and Supergirl #42 was a chance for the creative team of writer Jody Houser and artist Rachael Stott to redeem her and set her up for the next bold new direction. But instead, even their 'redemption' reads like a lack of understanding of what Supergirl fans are looking for.

Add to that some wonky art and some convenient story telling and you limp out of this volume. And given how this all transpired, I wonder if DC is even remotely interested in putting a new volume on the shelves.

Supergirl fans should be used to this. And maybe I am not surprised. But it still bothers me.

On to the book.

Supergirl is in Florida trying to save people from an ongoing hurricane. General Banes, an elderly Army general, has donned Kryptonite armed armor and goes out to bring in Supergirl.

Initially Banes grabs Krypto and threatens the pooch. Even Supergirl knows that is low. What sort of monster attacks a dog.

But,as with last issue, Supergirl continues to have hallucinations, the after effects of the infection of Batman Who Laughs infection. Don't look for such relapses from Donna Troy, Hawkman, or Commissioner Gordon. They came out fine.

It is only Supergirl plagued this way.

We get several pages of Kara fighting Banes/mirages as she tries to figure out what is real and what isn't.

The art is for the most part good. But these panels took me out of the story.

In the first panel, Kara's left arm is just too strange to be real. In the second, she looks like she is galloping like a horse and jumping over the lasers.

When the story doesn't click and the art doesn't click, it is always going to be a slog to read.

No matter how much Kara keeps trying to send Krypto away, the dog keels staying.

Here is a nice panel of the two steeling themselves for battle.

But I have to say, in these last 2 arcs, the hero is really Krypto. He has saved Supergirl from herself too many times to count.

The visions aren't always draped over Banes. Sometimes they are just mirages. And so Kara has a hard time figuring out where the fight is.

Of course, we conveniently forget all of the other super-senses Kara has. Does she hear a heartbeat? Does the rain bounce off the hallucinations? Does she have infra-red vision? Does she smell them?

There are plenty of ways a smart Supergirl could determine what is real. But we haven't seen an intelligent Supergirl for a while.

One of the visions is Starshame, a character from the back end of the Steve Orlando/Jody Houser run.

At least we get a bit of a callback, an acknowledgment of the continuity. But do any of us remember Starshame?

Finally, the hallucination takes the form of the Goth Kara and is over Banes.

Get it ... Supergirl is fighting herself! She is defeating her inner demons!

Finally, Supergirl is able to show Banes that there are people who are need rescuing, people who didn't get away before the storm hit.

We start to see what I think is a troublesome message for the end of this book. Supergirl keeps saying 'I'm not human' but she will save humans.

She convinces Banes to give her a moment to save these people and Banes relents.

And then, magically, the hallucinations stop. Just when they aren't needed for the story any more and without explanation, Kara stops seeing things. I hate saying the phrase 'lazy writing' but at the very least, this is convenient. We simply forget the problem that has been impacting Kara for the last 2 issues.

Sure enough, she is able to save everyone by taking a section of bridge and flying them out.

When Banes tries to still arrest Kara, the citizens get in the way and tell her to escape.

You know what that means? It means this book will end with Supergirl still on the run from the US military.

She has become the Hulk. A monster to be stopped.

Does that sound like Supergirl?

Whenever there is a dark turn in Supergirl that tanks sales and irritates Kara fans, the outgoing writer usually throws in a heartwarming 'I choose Earth' page, showing that once more Kara has found a new home and plans to be its defender.

Here, Houser gives us a sort of twisted version of that.

She didn't choose Earth. She doesn't want to live a human life. Krypton was a better world. Maybe one day she'll call Earth home.

That sentiment basically undoes the first 2 years of this book's sentiment of Kara caring and calling Earth home. It distances Supergirl from the people here. It makes it sound like she is going to be a 24/7 superhero, something that has failed before and was revamped by Sterling Gates.

But it just doesn't sound like Supergirl.

"I'm on Earth not because I want to be. I guess I'll stick around."

What a terrible way to declare her desire to be a hero.

And no dramatic splash page at the end invoking a never-ending battle will change the fact that this book ends darkly. Sure, Supergirl isn't a demonic clown anymore. But she doesn't consider herself at home on Earth.

That's not Supergirl.

I can only hope Brian Michael Bendis does something in the Superman books to give us a better redemption than this.

Will there a new Supergirl book on the shelves at some point? I don't know.

But I can only hope that DC picks a creative team that likes the character, likes the character's foundation, and strives to make her a likeable young hero again. Because these last 2 years have been a slap to the face to Supergirl fans.

Overall grade: D-