DC Comics
Supergirl #11 Review
By Zak Edwards
August 5, 2017 - 12:56

DC Comics
Writer(s): Steve Orlando
Artist(s): Brian Ching
Colourist(s): Michael Atiyeh
Letterer(s): Steve Wands
Cover Artist(s): Bengal



In my review of Supergirl #10, I talked about how the “Kryptonian who loses their powers” trope in the Super-people genre can be frustrating and predictable. That these stories don’t often deviate from a set path, and certainly in Supergirl #11, the conclusion of the current storyline, that story plays out pretty much as expected. Thankfully, though, Batgirl is here to save the day.


Supergirl1_1.jpg
Supergirl #11. Cover art by Robson Rocha, Daniel Henriques & Michael Atiyeh.
Personally, Supergirl #10's highlight was when Supergirl, Batgirl and their companion Ben took on some prison guards. Supergirl, de-powered because of Phantom Zone something something, still kicked some butt and it’s always awesome to see Barbara Gordon fight anyone. It was a wonderful, riotous team-up moment and part of me hoped that more of such action was on the way. But last issue's cliffhanger ended with Supergirl jumping off a cliff and into some sort of psychic drangon's mouth, and that was effectively the end of the team-up.

Instead, the story arc's conclusion is split in two just like the team. Supergirl is trapped inside some sort of psychic energy, walking through the “I’m good and I know you’re good, too” part of the de-powered genre while Batgirl beats up a different bad guy alongside a bewildered Ben. One half is filled with tons of explosive and jaunty action, made exceptional by artist Brian Ching’s cartoonish and loose pencils and inking, and Michael Aityeh's fantastic, bright colouring. The other has Ching’s visuals as the sole interesting aspect while Supergirl talks in a psychic dragon head.

If the purpose of a team-up is to have two characters bounce off each other in a sort of chemistry experiment, Supergirl #11 doesn’t really even attempt to do it. Batgirl and Supergirl really only interact in the falling action, long after the fight is over, meaning about a third of this entire arc saw them fighting side-by-side. And seeing as the two taking on enemies together was the highlight, clearly demarcating their plots in the final act only makes both storylines suffer.

tl;dr review: Supergirl #11 has explosive visuals that are an absolute joy, lots of action and lots of unnecessary talking. A team-up where the two characters are completely separated was disappointing but helped take an otherwise boring story to a different place.

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