Comics / Comic Reviews / DC Comics

Supergirl #1

By Andy Frisk
September 21, 2011 - 20:57

So the main thing that I took away from Supergirl #1 was how awful her costume is. That means that there really wasn’t much else that I took away from this first issue of the rebooted Kara Zor-El’s new series. The S-Shield is too weird looking, but obviously not weird enough for the alien intercept team that battles Kara after her Kryptonian ship crashes in Siberia. They recognize the design, and apparently they aren’t too thrilled to see it on another super powered being. Guess that plays into the whole “feared and mistrusted” description that is now indicative of being Kryptonian in the DCnU. Anyway, Kara doesn’t know what in the world is going on, how she got wherever she is, and that she will be developing a bunch of super powers under our yellow sun. All of which leads to a massive fistfight with her human interceptors, etc. etc. until her super cousin show up and literally tells her to “Stop” in their native language.

As was the case with the story in Superboy #1, there really isn’t much of a change here thematically from Supergirl’s Michael Turner spearheaded reintroduction almost a decade ago. She doesn’t know what’s going on, she doesn’t realize her own strength, she’s a bit of a baby, and the reasons behind her arrival on Earth are shrouded in mystery. Apparently, there really wasn’t anything wrong thematically with Superboy and Supergirl as they’ve existed for the last decade in the DCU. There’s really not much new here (admittedly this is just another in a long line of boring new #1’s and can’t be written off immediately), and it appears that DC Comics just wanted to screw up Superman, not his extended family.

So, as concerns Supergirl’s new outfit. There was much concern about how her (now retro) midriff baring/Britney Spears look was degrading and over sexualized what was supposed to be a 16 year old girl. Okay, point taken, cover up her belly. No problem with that. It actually makes sense. After all, Kara is a 16 year old girl. The problem is that now, instead of baring a little belly skin, she is sporting thigh baring bikini cut “bottoms” that are so ridiculously high that they're almost obscene. Maybe her legs are covered by flesh toned tights or something, but it sure looks like we all are getting a pretty good view of how well Kara bikini waxes. This is something that we don’t need to see. I can live with her new costume, even with the screwed up looking S-Shield, but for God’s sake give the girl her skirt back.

Miss ya Kara...

On the positive side, writers Green and Johnson manage to put together a smoothly flowing narrative. Honestly though, as stated, there isn’t much going on besides a Girl of Steel vs. real steel fistfight which is ended when the big kid, Superman, shows up. Mahmud Asrar’s pencils are solid, but he somehow doesn’t really capture the innocent yet confident look that Jamal Igle immortalized during his run on Supergirl.

Overall, Supergirl was one of the most dynamic and engaging characters in the DCU just before Sterling Gates and Jamal Igle left her book. Now, as far as the first issue is concerned, she’s just a pale rehash of the Kara we met again for the first time a decade ago. This is a new and dynamic DCU? Not as far as Supergirl, or Superboy for that matter, are concerned…at least yet.    

Rating: 3 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12