Supergirl #8
Scheduled to arrive in stores: April 12, 2017
Cover date: June 2017
“Family of Tomorrow”
Writer: Steve Orlando
Penciller: Matias Bergara
Inker: Matias Bergara
Cover: Emanuela Lupacchino
Reviewed by: James Lantz
In the aftermath of “Superman Reborn” it is what Kryptonians call the Day of Truth. Kara Zor-El and readers who may not have read that serial learn what happened to Superman. He and Supergirl fight Emerald Empress, who has a grudge against the Girl of Steel for something she has not yet done. Kara never met the empress before this issue. After using iron to defeat Emerald Empress’ magic, Supergirl spends some time with Clark, Lois and Jon for family bonding. It is then that Clark tells Kara that the true mastermind behind the events of “Superman Reborn” is out there somewhere, and he may need her help to combat him.
Some days have passed in National City. CatCo and the D.E.O. are after the same thing without realizing it. The former wants the scoop of the century, while the latter wants stolen technology. Tychotech is the company both Cat Grant and Cameron Chase want to investigate, and National City will soon see the shadow of the bat.
Story – 5: This is a story that is long overdue. It’s taken a while for this series to find its legs, but we finally have an issue chock full of wonderful character moments and superhero action. Plus, Superman and Supergirl are together again in a story after what feels like a century. I want to see more with Lois, Clark, Jon and Kara in future issues. A holiday story with the Kents and Danvers families together is on my mental wishlist.
One thing that I’m hoping is not a red herring is Emerald Enchantress’ claims that Kara “ruined her life”. It would make an interesting mystery plot thread to put in the final pages of about four to six issues before putting it into a full story arc. If it’s been mentioned in other comics, I apologize. I just haven’t had the time to read as many titles as I used to due to writing deadlines on various projects. Anyway, DC better bring back the Enchantress in future Supergirl comics.
Overall, I loved this issue. It was very reader friendly filling in readers on the “Superman Reborn” story, and Steve Orlando has finally gotten a good grasp on the characters and action after a bumpy beginning. If next month’s comic is like this one, we’ll be in for a real treat.
Art – 3: There are times when Matias Bergara’s art style reminds me of the great Sal Buscema. Yet, there are other moments when his images look, for lack of a better term, too cartoony for a Supertitle that isn’t based on an animated series. Still, it helped to tell the comic’s story without distracting too much from the full finished product.
Cover Art – 4: It feels like Emanuela Lupacchino put a little too much into one image of what is an otherwise superb cover.
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While I agree that art that is the vein of Sal Buscema basically what I tend to refer to as illustrative styles (think Adams,Byrne,Perez,) is a good fit for Superman I also think those animated and cartoony styles can work well for him to. I usually don’t like seeing more kind of dark, shadowy art styles with lots of scratchy lines all over applied to him and his supporting cast. Mxy’s gum filled Joker grins in recent issues didn’t work for me at all.
I’m glad we have this Clark Kent and Superman back, but I have to be honest with you guys that I’m so confused over what is happening in DC. For example, who is this Supergirl? Has she changed too? She’s dressed in her classic outfit, which is a huge improvement over the New 52 uniform they made her wear. She seems like a friendly version of herself too. Also, do all the heroes have memories of pre-New 52? And if people have memories, do that mean those events actually happened? Does the world know that Superman died after his fight… Read more »
I have the feeling that, if DC could go back to 2011, making New52 a separate “Ultimates” line is what they’d likely do. It can seem confusing, but that’s just because everything is in flux right now. A lot of the cast as fuzzy memories in places (even Lois and Clark, now that they’re integrated into the timeline), and all of this *should* lead into the rest of what’s going on and become more clear at that point. From the looks of things, Kara remembers Superman, but since it was a split part, it’s fuzzy. I’m expecting this to be… Read more »
I do love DC, but I’m the first one to admit that its comics are really hard to follow. They seem to have something against continuity. ha ha
Thanks for the reply.
LOL, yeah they do seem to have a hard time not screwing with continuity repeatedly. For me, it’s definitely complicated, but not too confusing (yet, lol) I’m just hoping this one sticks when they’re done with it. 🙂
The questions continue. My biggest one, are Superman and Supergirl even related? It seems more like Power Girl and Superman from pre-Flashpoint.
Yes, they are – they were before, technically, because both Superman were the same one just split, but now it’s official.