Best Of 2017:Top Ten Supergirl Moments in Comics - #5 - #1

First I covered the non-comic Best of 2017 for Supergirl.

Then I covered the Best of 2017 Supergirl Comic Moments, Honorable Mentions and #10-#6.

So there's nothing left but to cover the top 5.

But before I get there, allow me a little space to comment on the main Supergirl title. One thing that I have appreciated from writer Steve Orlando (and now Jody Houser) is how he has really leaned into DC history and all Supergirl incarnations to make this new Rebirth book. So we get Psi from the Bronze age. We get Selena the Sorceress from the movie. We get Jeremiah, Eliza, and the DEO from the show. We get Belinda Zee from Cosmic Adventures. We get a connection to the Legion. We get a friendship with Batgirl. We get Strange Visitor and Our World At War. This is the sort of lush loam that great books grow from. I have loved all this and I have liked that recently we have a more streamlined feel to the book.

Back to the year in review, as I said earlier, this has been a very good year for Supergirl on all fronts. As I reviewed the year, I picked about 50 very good moments which needed to be boiled down to these five. And there is a sort of running theme through most of these top moments. It is about Supergirl being a hero. She's part of a family. She's sort of a kid still. She is ready to jump into battle if she has to. And she is there to protect everyone.

This is another year where the top ten is filled with these moments. And that makes me happy.

And all of these panels made me stop and pause. And when there is a pause moment for a grizzled comic reader like me, it means the creators have succeeded. These are massive moments that deserve accolades.

Here are the Supergirl Top Five Comic Moments of 2017.

5) Simple Human Decency - Blue Beetle #13

The Supergirl from Justice League 3001 was all over last year's 'Best Of' and then she disappeared. So I was very happy when the band of JM Dematteis, Keith Giffen, and Scott Kolins came back together for one last go around.

With the war against Lady Styx slogging along, the JLA 3001 Flash seems to lose hope for a second. And then Supergirl, who was the leader of the Justice League, comes in with hope and inspiration and support. This isn't a stern Supergirl, looking off into the distance, and vowing they will win. This is a Supergirl who hugs, giving energy to her friend, and saying hope will beat despair, and human decency will defeat evil.

Supergirl as the leader of the Justice League saying decency will win out.

Wow.

4) A Looney Crisis and Querl - Bugs Bunny/ Legion of Super-Heroes #1

On a very different note, Sam Humphries and Tom Grummett brought a sense of nostalgia and fun to the irreverent Bugs Bunny/Legion of Super-Heroes Special #1. It felt like the angsty seventies Legion mixed with the nonsense of Looney Tunes. And best of all, Supergirl plays a key part ... even if it is as the unconscious Kara that needs saving.

But when you get a Supergirl wearing her 70's hot pants costume, being revived by a Super-Bunny holding her in a Crisis pose, and then awakening and rushing into the arms of Brainiac Five for a kiss .. well you hit a bunch of major nostalgia notes that can't help but floor me.

Kara and Querl kissing? Bugs holding her like Crisis #7? How can I not love love love this issue?

3) Hey Kal, Wanna Have a Catch? - Supergirl #8

Superman Reborn was a huge part of this last year, unifying the two Supermen, officially ending the New 52, and rolling in a bunch of pre-Flashpoint super-history into the continuity.

THANK GOD!

But part of that Superman rebirth (with a small r) was bringing the super-family back together again. Remember the New 52 when Supergirl said she wanted to be left alone and Superman listened? Remember when these two seemed to hate each other?

All gone.

And nothing said that more than Supergirl #8 where Superman has a nice day with his cousin. He applauds the hero she has become. He takes her to the Fortress for dinner with Lois and Jon. And he tells her all about the unification. He has to explain the new timeline. And he invokes the Kryptonian Day of Truth.

But even amidst all that, the two have fun. Here they are playing catch with the Supermobile. How wonderful is this??? They are cousins, playing together, and talking about life.

This whole issue could be in here. And yet, it only made #3!

2) Iconic - Action #982

If there was one panel that floored me ... I mean floored me ... it was this iconic shirt rip reveal of Kara becoming Supergirl in Action Comics #982.

It is a simple, classic pose. But it is historic and powerful. I love the hair change happening as she rips off her glasses. I love the buttons flying. I love the look off into the distance. I love the direct 'on my way'.

And I love that this is because Superman has called her for help. There is no delay. She doesn't carefully unbutton. Her cousin needs her? Shirt rip.

Just brilliant.

Writer Dan Jurgens wrote this. But it's Jack Herbert who brings the power to this.

This could be a t-shirt. A poster. A coffee mug.

I thought this was going to be #1 ... it almost was.

What got that honor?

1) 'Hope, Help, and Compassion For All' Redux - Supergirl #9

I get the sense that Orlando might be trying to get 'I choose Earth so we can save each other' as a tagline. But early in the year, I was floored when I saw 'Hope, Help, and Compassion for all' invoked as Supergirl's credo in Supergirl #9.

That saying was coined in the last issue of Sterling Gates' Adventures of Supergirl book. It was last year's #1 moment. We have heard Melissa Benoist say it in an episode of the Supergirl show. And now to have it in this continuity too! That gives this some heft. That gives this a sense of history.

I love that Supergirl has her own saying. I love that it is this saying. And I hope it keeps being her saying.

Hope, Help and Compassion for All. That works for me.

And so that ends my look back at 2017.

So what did I miss? Do you agree? What were your favorite moments??

Posted in: Reviews