Wash, Rinse, Repeat

I have been blogging about Supergirl for 12 plus years here.

I know ... hard to believe.

During that time, I can't help but notice the cyclical nature of things involving Kara. Mostly, it seems that DC doesn't know what to do with her. Inevitably they lead her down a dark path thinking it will be all grim and moody. Ultimately, that dark path fails and Kara gets a redemption and a cancellation.

How cyclical is this? Well, 2 years ago I posted about it here.

I find it fascinating that DC thinks that a Dark Kara is 'bold' or 'gritty' when it has been done so many times before. Talk about the antithesis is a 'new direction'. I also find it odd that they don't cultivate the 'young hero learning the ropes' theme that seems to work so well for characters like comic darlings Ms. Marvel and Naomi.

And I am baffled that we have a television show with millions of weekly viewers and DC still can't put a book on the market to try and entice those viewers into the comic store. The Kara in the current book hasn't been recognizable for almost 2 years.

But here we are in the repeat part of the 'darken, cancel, repeat' Supergirl cycle. It is a perverse 'lather, rinse, repeat' that has happened too many times over the last decade.

Perhaps saddest of all is the 'redemption' at the end of this volume. Usually we get some sort of 'I choose Earth and I will be a hero' moment. Here, Kara, in essence, says 'Earth isn't Krypton, I don't want to be human or live a human-like life, but I guess I'm stuck here so I'll do stuff.'

Because that sounds like an inspiring young hero you would want to read about.

Usually, as in that link from last year, I bemoan the cancellation saying the book had just righted itself. Here, I am not so sure.

Perhaps craziest about this run is that just 9 months earlier ... 9 months!!!! ... Kara has the 'I choose Earth' moment in her own book. Read these panels from Supergirl #33.

That's right! In a Supergirl book where she is supposedly the protagonist, twice within one year the writer had to make her say out loud that she cared enough about Earth to stick around.

This is insanity.

But also think about the character as a whole and the need for DC to think they need to do this. Imagine if every year or so, they felt Batman needed to say 'Maybe .... I'll .... Gotham.' Imagine if every 9 months Spider-Man said he was going to stay in New York.

It just makes the character feel indecisive, immature, and idiotic. And it makes fans of the character cringe.

But as I was researching this post by reviewing some of my old posts, I came across an oddity that really drove home the cyclical nature of this editorial problem.

This panel is from the prior volume of Supergirl, Supergirl #33, the 7th panel I scanned for my review. In it, writer Tony Bedard has Kara shed darkness (in this case the Red Lantern ring) and choose Earth.

Those panels above by Mark Andreyko and Kevin Maguire? They are also from Supergirl #33 and also the 7th panel I scanned for my review.

Both are in my database as SG33-07, albeit in different folders.

Creepy.

I hope we get a new title with a new creative team who loves the character and doesn't feel the need to do more than bring us heroic stories.

But I am not holding my breath. My guess is DC won't be giving us a Supergirl book for a while.

Posted in: Reviews