Review: Supergirl #14
By Philip Schweier
May 2, 2018 - 08:23
DC Comics
Writer(s): Steve Orlando
Penciller(s): Jose Luis
Inker(s): Norm Rapmund
Colourist(s): Michael Atiyeh
Letterer(s): Steve Wands
Cover Artist(s): Robson Rocha, Daniel Henriques, Michael Atiyeh; Stanley Lau
Supergirl
has a problem. Her powers have been amped up to the point where control is
slipping away. So Cousin Kal sends her to Super-Man, the Chinese Superman who
in turn refers her to I-Ching, the Chinese sensei of the DC Universe. He knows
a thing or two about inner strength. After all, he helped Wonder Woman all
those years ago when her powers were stripped away.
But when a crisis in Mongolia requires Supergirl and Super-Man’s intervention, power may not be the answer. It’s not so much a question of fighting fear with peace, as it is using people’s own weaknesses against them. In the end, a sort of peace is found for all concerned. I do love a single-issue story.
Artists Jose Luis and Norm Rapmund are a great team, and I greatly enjoyed their art in this issue. However, it seems to offer greater texture in close-ups. When figures are at a distance, the illustrations seem to flatten out from a lack of texture and dimension. Michael Atiyeh’s colors help in this regard, but not always.
What I enjoyed most was I-Ching’s interpretation of the S shield, as a path to be walked. Since the advent of “it’s a symbol of hope,” the emblem has taken on a much more abstract concept, and much more philosophical than the original “S stands for Superman.”
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