Review: Future State Kara Zor-El Superwoman #2

Future State Kara Zor-El Superwoman #2 came out this week and I did not enjoy it. Not at all.

I know I should probably stop there. I usually want to praise comics, not bury them. 

But there is a lot not too like here.

Let's start with the basics. This isn't a Kara Zor-El book. It is a Lynari book. It is a book made to promote the new character that the writer has created. Kara isn't the star here. She doesn't end the conflict. She doesn't grow. She doesn't say a word after the middle page of the book. Not one word.

Next, this is the usual crime of a creator not understanding the basics of the character they are writing. Last issue, Supergirl was a passive, unloved drone. Here she is an angry, hate-filled lunatic. She is a self-proclaimed 'villain to loathe, a tyrant queen'. Sorry, that's not Supergirl.

Lastly, there is this odd relationship this version has with Krypto, from saying that the super-dog was the only being in her life who taught her anything (so much for Zor, Alura, Fred, Eliza, Kal, etc) to literally being buried in the backyard next to him (spoiler alert). 

I enjoyed writer Marguerite Bennett's first year on Bombshells but since then not much of hers has grabbed me. I think she wants to be edgy, political, cute, and profound ... and that is simply hard to pull off. 

The one part of the book which I did like is Marguerite Sauvage's art, a sort of ethereal, breezy, fairy tale look to the proceedings. I don't know if the style necessarily works here but it is quite delightful.

On to the book. Read on if you dare.

Last issue, Lynari talked about having the Starfall jewel in their possession, a powerful artifact for their people which grants super-powers. Crashing onto the moon, they befriend a pacifistic Kara, protector of those seeking sanctuary there.

Now Lynari's relatives have come to retrieve the jewel. They claim that Lynari is a killer and doesn't deserve protection or the jewel.

And a rusty Supergirl, who hasn't been very active on the moon, isn't a threat.

So I am having a little bit of a hard time determining what the jewel does. It seems like these relatives can shapeshift already. And apparently fly. And maybe travel through space.

We then get a two page origin story of Lynari's family and the importance of the Starfall jewel. This attacking alien is Lynari's aunt. Lynari's father held the jewel inside him. To protect his offspring, he killed himself, pulling the jewel out of his body (thus killing himself) and putting it into them.

Lynari's aunt thinks she deserves it. And so the chase was on.

Now I suppose giving Lynari they/them pronouns might mean this is a story about a trans person escaping abuse or a toxic family relationship. But it seems like Lynari was loved. 

The page is well constructed with nice borders. 

But it is two pages trying to explain a long family feud, both too short to explain what it all means and too long for a book where we are supposed to learn about Kara's future.

Regardless, the story and the banter infuriates Kara. To prove she means what she says, Lynari's aunt detonates a bomb, destroying a chunk of this moon colony. It spurs Kara to the point that she finally springs into action.

Nice action shot here. Finally, Kara is being active in her own story.

 

As the fight goes on, Kara becomes more and more enraged.

She sounds exceptionally petty here as she compares Lynari's plight with her own. But in that comparison she calls Jon a usurper who steals power, legacy, and a story she should have had.

 

She looks like a pastel version of the 'infected' Supergirl we saw last year.

An angry, jealous Supergirl? If that is what the future holds, I don't want to read it.

This is terrible.

But it gets worse.

She seems to lose her mind and her way, bashing this thing and saying that if the universe wants her to be 'a villain to loathe, a tyrant queen' then she is more than happy to be that.

I don't know about all Supergirl fans. But I can say that I would rather read about the 'help, hope, and compassion for all' Kara Zor-El and not the fury-stoked 'tyrant queen'.

This is terrible. 

 

But before Superwoman can do something she might regret, Lynari grabs Kara and drains her. Now an amped up Lynari can battle her aunt. And Lynari would rather do this than see Kara throw away her recent life of peace.

I include this picture (including the emphasized staple to show where this falls in the actual book) because this is the last line that Superwoman utters in the book. 

The star in her own book, a brief 2 issue story to tell her fate, and she has no dialogue in the back half of the final issue. 

This is terrible.

But Bennett is a bit stuck here. We have been told that removing the Starfall jewel kills the person who had it. 

So she simply says that somehow the mix of their own powers and Supergirl's allows Lynari to drain her aunt of her powers, remove the jewel from themselves, and destroy it.

Poof.

Just like that, magically, the conflict is over.

Lynari faces their depowered aunt and talks about how tilling the land will make her see the universe differently.

Kara also remains depowered for some time.

And without her powers, Kara is finally accepted by the people on the moon. 

So the place becomes a perfect Eden, with everyone holding hands and building and farming. And Kara lives to an old age as a friend to Lynari. And when she finally dies, she is buried next to Krypto in the back yard.

I don't know what to say.

This being labeled a Kara Zor-El book seems like false advertising. This angry, jealous, villainous character isn't the Supergirl I want to read. Bennett seems uninterested in telling Kara's story. She likes Lynari and wants to tell their story.

But then I wonder if the problem is me. For the most part, the last 20 years have given us this sort of Supergirl. Fans in their teens are more used to seeing an angry, petty Kara than a helpful, compassionate one. Maybe, unfortunately, this *IS* Supergirl now. 

If that is true, I wonder if I should still be buying new books.

Overall grade: D