https://aiptcomics.com/2023/07/24/full-october-2023-dc-comics-solicitations/
Now I usually go over the super-solicits in one post but as you can see by the title a Supergirl Special has been announced. I felt like that deserved its own post. Because I should be thrilled. I should be.
Here is the solicit.
SUPERGIRL SPECIAL #1
Written by MARIKO TAMAKI
Art by SKYLAR PATRIDGE
Cover by JAMAL CAMPBELL
Variant covers by FRANK CHO and WILL JACK
1:25 variant cover by RAMON PEREZ
1:50 variant cover by AMANCAY NAHUELPAN
Foil variant cover by WILL JACK ($8.99 US)
$5.99 US | 48 pages | Variant $6.99 US (card stock)
GIRL INTERRUPTED!
After joining the Superman Family and their heroic efforts in Metropolis, Kara thought she had found her place in the world. But there’s only room in town for one Supergirl, and Power Girl’s sudden reappearance has made her redundant. Her identity and role are both in question as she looks for answers. Will they lead her out of the city or out of this world?
Find out as critically acclaimed writer Mariko Tamaki (Supergirl: Being Super) returns to the Maid of Might with the help of Skylar Patridge (Wonder Woman)!
Alas.
When Tom King's Supergirl Woman of Tomorrow ended, I thought it would mean the character would have a rough period of time as the angry, depressed drunkard she was in that book.
Instead, the reverse happened.
Phillip Kennedy Johnson made her 'the smartest person in the room' in Action Comics. She is clearly the first officer in the Super family. We see her playing with Krypto in the Kent apartment, reading books to Otho and Osul. She speaks her mind, often pointing out when Kal isn't thinking right. She has been incredible there.
Mark Waid and Dan Mora have been crushing it on World's Finest and Supergirl is a big part of that book. She is the first person Batman and Robin call for back-up. She has been fierce and courageous. She has been a loving member of the El family, risking her own life to save Kal. She has been the first to take on the big bads of Nezha and Newmazo. She has been amazing in that book.
So what books have this special's writer Mariko Tamaki been reading? Has she been reading the current books?
Because for the last 2 years, we have seen this strong Supergirl enmeshed in the Super Family. So why would she question her place in the family, the city, the planet because Power Girl has returned? Why?
It makes no sense.
It makes no sense.
Worse than that is the 'going back to a dry well' mentality of this story's description. Supergirl questioning her identity and her role in the world? So much she leaves the planet?
Has that ever worked in comics??? The angry New 52 who wanted to live alone on the bottom of the ocean? Later in that run when Michael Alan Nelson had her head into deep space to 'find herself'? More recently Marc Andreyko's run when she went into space?
A Supergirl who isn't on Earth, not a young hero learning the ropes, not happy? IT NEVER WORKS!
Has that ever worked in comics??? The angry New 52 who wanted to live alone on the bottom of the ocean? Later in that run when Michael Alan Nelson had her head into deep space to 'find herself'? More recently Marc Andreyko's run when she went into space?
A Supergirl who isn't on Earth, not a young hero learning the ropes, not happy? IT NEVER WORKS!
Yes, Skylar Partridge has a great art style. Yes, there are great variant covers.
But this whole thing gives me pause. The Kara in the current DCU deserves better than this.
8 comments:
Exactly. I could not believe this solicit. Phillip Kennedy Johnson has, as you say, been doing a great job in Action Comics showing her as the confident, smart heart of the Super Family, and here she’s going to be a flying bag of insecurities? For cripes’ sake, Kara is a veteran!
Mark Waid has been giving us a spunky, competent but very human Supergirl in WF… so what the hell is DC thinking?
IIRC 'Supergirl: Being Super' was the AU tale where she was discovering her identity and powers, which overall I enjoyed. This description though, yeah doesn't seem to make much sense. Wasn't PG's problem in her storyline, she felt redundant or 'replaced' by Kara? Why would that suddenly flip to Kara feeling that way? It's not that I want either Kara or Karen to feel like they don't have a place, but like why is Kara suddenly thinking this. It doesn't seem a great basis for the story based on the description.
I hate to say it, because Supergirl SHOULD have her own ongoing monthly, but Kara seems to work better as a supporting character these days. Every new writer assigned to a Supergirl title seems compelled to put Kara through the wringer and "make their mark" on the character (and not in a good way).
It has been six (that's ESS AYE EX) years since we had a good Supergirl comic.
The Andreyko run, the "infected" storyline, Future State, Woman of Tomorrow, and now this special. At least it's a one shot and not a mini series.
And yes, the variant covers DO look nice.
I enjoyed Supergirl: Being Super, so I am not going to assume that Mariko Tamaki is going to trash the character when she actually has a track record of doing the opposite. It is possible that the solicitation is misleading, which wouldn't be the first time for DC. At least, I hope this is the case.
It looks as if DC has arbitrated in favor of Power Girl since a couple of months now. I say this based on the sheer amount of foil/variant & exclusive covers she was featured on. Since the end of her last series, Kara has almost vanished from the DCU.
Agreed. This is a ridiculous take, and really disappointing.
Yikes Talk About "A Giant Leap Backwards"...that word "redundant" really irks the hell out of me since it implies that membership in the "Superman Family" is somehow a zero sum game, i.e. Karen's wins are equal to Kara's losses. Its this kind of bleak two dimensional thinking that led to COIE #7...y'know that misbegotten attempt to Make Superman Special Again by Snuffing Supergirl expelling her from Continuity and Telling Her Fans They Are Ungrateful Scum Who Should Take a Long Walk Off a Short Pier.
But I wax lyrical,
I suspect that Mariko Tamaki may have had one reasonable Supergirl story in her, faced with the prospect of filling up an special she took to beating a very dead horse indeed.
JF
Thanks for all the comments. Appreciate hearing all the opinions!
I think I like Supergirl Being Super. I know I liked that art.
Might be time for a reread.
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