Supergirl Best Of 2024 Part Three: Top Ten Comic Moments #5 - #1

Well, we are nearing the end of our recap and so far it has been a little bit of a circuitous tour.

Part one was the Supergirl non-comic highlights and some comic moment honorable mentions.

Part two was the beginning of the top ten Supergirl comic moments, #10 - #6, with a bonus honorable mention. 

As always, my hope is that Supergirl will be recognized for the cool character she is and warrant her own ongoing title. It is intriguing to me that the books where she is a supporting character, the writers showcase how great she is. But in the past few solo books, she is angry, drunk, sad, ineffective, or idiotic. Can't we get someone who likes the character to write the book? 

That said, 2024 has had its highlights as you will see. Much of them show how integral she is to the super-family, either emotionally supportive or action ready. 

My favorite moment might seem random but when you are a lifelong Supergirl fan it completely made my year. We'll get there.

So let's settle in as we review the top five moments for Supergirl in the year 2024!

Comic Moment #5 - Justice League Vs Godzilla Vs Kong #4 - "Staring Contest"

The Justice League Vs Godzilla Vs Kong mini-series was a hoot of a book. It was a bit insane, a bit 'summer blockbuster', and a sort of homage to 'Saturdays with a Young Anj' mixing Super Friends and kaiju movies. 

While never outright said, there were plenty of moments where Kong just seemed sort of mesmerized by the blond Supergirl. He didn't go berserk. He didn't fight. He just sort of regarded her, even reaching for her at one point. We all know Kong's infatuation with beautiful blondes. So giving us this in the book had to please fans of Kong AND Supergirl.

I loved how Supergirl was able to keep him in check with just her presence. This whole book made me smile.

Comic Moment #4 - Action Comics #1078 - "Family Support"

A very recent addition but certainly worthy!

In this scene, Superman has been banned from visiting Kandor by a vindictive Science Council leader. As Kandor helped Superman feel less alone in the world, this is devastating.

I love this panel of Supergirl, knowing how this will impact her cousin, says a quiet 'Kal' while resting her hand on his shoulder. Such a supportive moment. And shooting it from the back emphasizes that physical display of support.

There were times when these two seemed at odds with each other in the DCU. Mark Waid knows they are family. Fantastic.

Comic Moment #3 - Action Comics #1064 - "No More Boogey Man" 

In the House of Brainiac story, Supergirl was a bit of brawler. She was not going to sit idly back while Brainiac and his drones swarmed her adopted world. Here she is the leader of the superfamily squad, blasting the drones with her heat vision and demanding to know where the real Brainiac is. 

But most importantly, there was this statement of how she has overcome her fear of Brainiac. That was a long time ago. 

With all the writes and re-writes of the DC timeline, it is hard for me to know which Supergirl origin is considered the origin these days. But back in the halcyon days of Sterling Gates and Geoff Johns, Supergirl had a major phobia of Brainiac. She was on Krypton when Kandor was taken. She lost her best friend. Heck, compare this defiant statement to her reaction to a broken drone in Action Comics #867 from <gasp> 16 years ago!

This is character progression in a great way. She is a leader. She isn't afraid. She is fierce.

Comic Moment #2 - Action Comics #1070 - "Supergirl To The Rescue"

The recent Mark Waid storyline involving the Phantom Zone opens with a monstrous amalgamation of three Phantom Zone villains battering their way through Metropolis. It is three Kryptonians in one meaning they are three times as powerful as Superman.

In fact, he is getting the worst of it as he tries to stop this thing. Superman is losing. He actually fears he is going to die ... 'if not for Supergirl'. 

Kara comes flying in to save the day. To save her cousin. And he goes out of his way that there is no one else who could have helped him in this situation BUT Kara. Not Jon. Not Conner. Not 'Paige'. 

Supergirl is who he trusted. Who he needed. Who saved him.

Mark Waid 'gets' Supergirl. Let him write her more. 

And now ... the number one Supergirl moment from 2024 ...

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Comic Moment #1 - Superman #13 - "Kara/Dox Paradox"

While Kara was a physical force in House Of Brainiac, she wasn't unscathed. She got captured, shrunk, and bottled at one point. 

Now I love a fierce powerful Supergirl. But you know what I love more?

An intelligent Supergirl. The science nerd Kara. The 'smartest person in the room' Supergirl. Here, despite being a prisoner, she utilizes Brainiac tech to free herself. Check out the self-satisfied look on her face in the second panel. This alone might have made the top ten list.

But saying that she knew how to do it because 'once upon a future' she was close to a Brainiac? That vaults it to number one. I already said that I was unsure what is the true continuity these days. This? This puts the long-standing history of a Brainiac 5/Supergirl romance back on the table, in current canon. When a writer respects Supergirl as a character and shows they respect her history, it makes me swell. Kudos to Josh Williamson for picking up right where Phillip Kennedy Johnson left Kara. 

Add the Rafa Sandoval art (I love Sandoval's work) and this is a major win, the best moment of the year.

And so we bring 2024 to a close. 

What do you think of the year? What do you think of this list? And what did I miss?