Not Super, But a Decent Read
Of all the female clone characters of the DC Universe, I feel like Supergirl is the most obnoxiously obvious. To be honest, I don't know much about her, but, going by this, she has the exact same powers of Superman, but she hasn't fully grasped or understood them, so she's not as powerful as him... which is kind of sexist in itself, despite the point of her character. However, this, surprisingly, is a pretty solid addition to the New 52 line-up. Certainly not the best, but it's up there, to be sure.
One of the best points of this work, by far, is Supergirl's characterization. She may be naive and stubborn, but she's definitely a badass. If you've read by Batgirl New 52 review, you'll know that one of the weakest points of that book was her attitude and persona. Yea; the MAIN CHARACTER'S CHARACTER was the worst part of that book. Ouch. And that's because it never felt like she was in control or had any confidence in herself. She second guessed everything, and was constantly made out to be powerless or weak, especially by herself. Even at the end of the first story arch, which was all about empowering her again, I never felt that Batgirl rose to the occasion. Supergirl, on the other hand, jumped in fists first. Don't get me wrong, she wasn't always "in control", but she had initiative, and when she believed in something, she fought for it. A literally stronger character, and a better one to follow for sure.
Also, she isn't sexualised at all. You'd think with some of the stuff they're doing with Starfire or Catwoman there'd be a hint of that, but no, not really. Even her costume exudes strength, not sexiness. And that's great. Yes, I know, she is a rather attractive comic book character, I'm willing to admit that I really enjoy her skirt costume (it speaks volumes that I know of it even when I've never read the series before; that's how well known the sexualisation of Supergirl is), yet, in progressing forward, we really ought to move away from that, and, from a character standpoint, this works great. It helps to exude the strong, independent vibe that makes this book shine.
Something from a story standpoint that really shown was that, for the entire volume, Supergirl does not know English. At all. And, because of this, she cannot communicate properly with humans. No, there is no mystic device that makes everything better; there are struggles of Supergirl understanding the world around her. I love this; the stupid mystic device that makes translating easy is irritating and a cliched mess of obnoxious "let's move on with the plot" kind of thing. This takes that and makes it a part of the plot, which is fantastic in its conception, and it feels innovative rather than lazy.
And the art is great overall. It's not always the most consistent, as there is a clear change of hands (*buh-dum-tish*) between some of the issues, but generally it flows well and it looks great. I never had an issue with the art and, though it wasn't my favorite, I enjoyed looking at it.
There are, however, a number of problems with the series that holds it back, and they mostly fall under the category of "logic". So, if you wanna read this without spoilers, skip past the second *SPOILERS* marker.
So, firstly, in the second issue, Superman finds Supergirl and tries to talk to her and explain everything that's going on. Yet, when she doesn't agree to stick around or help him with any of his endeavors, he just kind of disappears... for the rest of the volume. I mean, yea, he went to go save people, but he never checks up on her or anything, even when she's in space immediately outside of the Earth's atmosphere?
The survival of the first villain is fairly predictable, but also dumb. That's all, moving on.
the whole battle at the end of the volume feels really awkward, forced, and rushed for a plethora of reasons. Firstly, there's a dome around this part of the Earth that is holding Supergirl inside and keeping everyone else outside, as Reign states that she is the strongest person on the planet by far. ... Look, don't take this the wrong way, but there are a lot more powerful figures in the DC Universe, and... sadly, they are mostly male. Look, I'm not trying to be sexist here; it simply comes down to the fact that Superman has been here for years, and thus has a better handle on his powers that Supergirl. And honestly, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, even Batman, who has easily defeated Superman before, are definitely stronger than Supergirl as well, if nothing more than because they have had much longer to learn and understand their abilities. Each of those characters could beat Supergirl at this point in her career. And yes, this could be Reign saying that Supergirl has the potential to be the strongest person on Earth and that's her understanding of strength, but I think my point is pretty damn valid. Also, if this dome is around the area so Supergirl can't get out, how did she get into the dome in the first place? Reign was there for a little while before Supergirl showed up; what was stopping The Flash from zipping in there before the domr went up?
Just before the fight starts, a bunch of Reign's buddies comes out of nowhere for the battle, literally nowhere (presumably from a ship they were beamed down from). They have no characters or personas other than their appearances, which are nothing special, and on the first page of the issue immediately following their reveal, there are little captions telling us their names and abilities. That's it. No establishing them as people in this world or anything, they just kind of exist for the sake of having this fight. That's obnoxious and frustrating.
Also, this fight ends waaaaaaay to suddenly. Supergirl says a line that makes the audience feel like the fight is about to really get underway, when Reign is just like, "Nope, we're done, everyone pack up your bags." It's really frustrating as a reader to feel like the rug was pulled out from under you.
And that little hinty-winky-foreshadowing thing at the end from reign was way too obvious, so I don't really feel like I have to keep reading at this point, because I know what's gonna happen next from that little dialogue. Stop being so predictable!
End of *SPOILERS*
Otherwise, there were two problems that I had with this; the villains and the fights.
The villains, frankly, were lame. Like, really lame. Yes, they had characters and interesting backstories, for sure, and I kind of liked the first one for his ruthlessnes and all that, but neither of them really had an impact on me or felt memorable. And seriously? Reign is the name of one of the villains? That's pretty freakin' lame, and bit too on the nose for me.
As for the fights, well, they all felt rather similar. And yes, I get it, characters have a limited number of powers, but they, for me, didn't feel like they varied all that much. It might just be my perspective, and I plan to read the Action Comics series in the future, so hopefully they will give me a better idea of whether it was just this series or Superman/Supergirl fights in general feeling repetitive.
This isn't a stand-out book, nor is it bad. It's generally pretty average, but Supergirl's persona makes it just a little better than the run-of-the-mill book. I'd encourage you to give it a try, but don't expect anything super out of it.
