Destroy all Danvers!
Creative Staff:
Story: Sterling Gates
Art: Bengal
What They Say:
Supergirl is desperate to save her sister Alex from certain disaster, but can she stop a helicopter from falling out of the sky while ALSO protecting the humans endangered by an alien the DEO calls Rampage?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The debut of this series last time around was a pretty pleasing event and I certainly enjoyed it even as it had to do the difficult job of bringing everyone up to speed on the TV-universe while also telling its own story. With it taking place early on within the TV series framework, it can be difficult to connect with it at times as the show goes through a lot of changes on a weekly basis, particularly with Kara and how she’s growing as both a person and a hero. The book did some fun stuff in working with Rampage and just going kind of fun with the action there, which was certainly made all the more enjoyable because of Bengal’s very dynamic and perfectly colored artwork.
With this installment, we get to dig into things a bit more without all the usual exposition to launch the book. Kara’s in pursuit of Rampage but she has to deal with other problems first, such as ensuring the Alex’s helicopter doesn’t crash in the middle of National City and kill a lot of people. It’s a straightforward sequence, but what I really liked about it is the internal struggle. Since Kara grew up and got some education on Krypton, it’s here that we see some of how she struggled from one educational system to the other, particularly one that was more advanced. That she still thinks in Kryptonian terms is interesting as it reinforces just how strong it all took at that time, something that you often don’t think about. It makes for a nice bit of nuance to the character to take forward.
Where the book goes from there is certainly fun as Kara joins Alex and her team in hitting the sewers to go after Rampage thanks to a little help from tech genius Winn. The sewer time is certainly familiar but it’s the sisterly aspect that plays the best here as the two talk as best as they can amid the muck and we get some backstory revelation for Alex about one of her first assignments. I’m a little miffed that the two are so free with the secret identity thing even while they think they’re alone, but it’s mid-mission and Alex in particular should be a whole lot better about it. It does fit the loose rules of the show though, so I can’t complain too much. And it does lead Rampage to realizing that the women are sisters and she must smash them all.
In Summary:
Now that we’re getting into things more on its own and not just trying to introduce the concepts of the series, Adventures of Supergirl is clicking a whole lot better. There’s definitely an ease and familiarity to the character that we get from Sterling’s writing simply because he gets it and he gets her, just tweaked to this incarnation. Bengal’s art is once again a delight, though I’ll admit some frustration that we really don’t get a lot of great views of Kara’s face as she’s often turning away or surrounded by so much text so as to be overwhelmed by it. I’m digging his artwork and the layouts in general but it just needs a little more to really drive home Kara, her costume, and the presence that she has.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 12+
Released By: DC Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: February 8th, 2016
MSRP: $0.99
