Supergirl #2 review

Supergirl, this is your life… and Lesla-Lar has stolen it.

A young woman from Kandor who’s been saved by Supergirl, Lesla is a mixed-up kid, her low-self esteem turning her into one twisted sister.

Via a combination of Earth’s gravity and yellow sun, and the super-skin she invented, Lesla has become a ‘better’ version of Supergirl and Linda Danvers.

When the real Linda shows up on the Danvers’ doorstep, the imposter also shows her science know-how extends to shrink-tech.

There goes the neighbourhood.

Poor Titano, like King Kong he can never catch a break, constantly finding himself in the middle of human stupidity. Did he ask to be enlarged inside a clapboard house, and be attacked by not one, but two Supergirls, a Superdog and a Superbunny named Kandy? Even with Green Kryptonite vision, Titano doesn’t have a chance

Poor Titano.

Also ending the fight as a loser is Lesla-Lar, whose disguise slips after her lack of fighting experience sees her blasted by those gorgeous green ape eyes.

Nice one, (real) Supergirl, showing sensitivity to your troubled rival. I’d have had Krypto slobber all over her.

Later, Linda catches up with old pals Clarissa and Terri.

With Lesla-Lar on her mind, Linda can’t concentrate on the banal. One thing she’s wondering about is what’s up with her costume, her S-symbol turned into a P by her rival’s ‘discombobulation generator’. It’s time to phone a friend – Lena Luthor, last seen in Metropolis.

Lena’s initial efforts failing to fix Supergirl’s latest costume, Linda needs to find something else to wear. Luckily she has a crate of old outfits fake Supergirl had dumped in the street outside the Danvers home.

Yes, that’s Lesla at the bottom of the page, she’s also sorting out a new look, which we see on the final page.

I’m more interested in Lena’s makeover. What do we call it, Science Goth? I know she has a lot on her mind, but it’s very odd that Linda doesn’t comment on it.

Thinking on, a comment from Linda does set this story after Superman Unlimited #1, which features a three-month time jump, so maybe Lena has had her new look for a few weeks and she’s already been complimented by one and all.

If this is Lena trying to get far from the clean-cut look she sported working with dad Lex at Supercorp, maybe she should tweak her surname too… how about Thorul?

Do you get the idea I enjoyed this issue as much as I did the debut? Sophie Campbell’s storytelling continues to enchant as she picks and chooses from Supergirl history. I honestly never thought elements of Seventies Supergirl would be brought into play, but as well as all the reader-designed outfits we get Terri, one of Linda’s roommates from her first solo comic book. I’m sure she’s not really boring!

The script seems to play fast and loose with how Kandorians manifest super powers in Earth’s atmosphere, with Lesla doing a bit of a She-Hulk… usually physiques stay the same. Maybe Lesla experimented on herself and did something to her physiology that explains the effects. If we look again at an earlier panel there’s certainly evidence of interest in that area.

They met last issue but Lesla never introduced herself, so how does Linda know her name? Has Campbell brought back the telepathy writer-artist Mike Sekowsky gave Supergirl for a couple of pages back in 1970? No Prize!

Or maybe Linda simply picked up the kid’s name on one of her patrols.

I’m looking forward to hearing why Streaky sought out Lena, and seeing how Lesla gets on with the plan she announces towards the end of the book. And after she sorts out the problem with Linda’s latest costume – it’s taken me a month to work out that the chest-P stands for ‘Phoneygirl’, the name Lesla gave Supergirl last time – I really hope Lena works out how to de-Titano a certain adorable super-ape.

Campbell’s art seems even better than last time, with the opening image of Supergirl especially stunning. Lesla looks great bar an extremely pointy chin. And Titano is the business, DC should probably give him his own strip. Tamra Bonvillain colours everything beautifully, it’s rare you can set a modern comic beside one from the Seventies and find the modern one brighter. Becca Carey also makes a great contribution with her cheery lettering. Heck, let’s also give a shout-out to editors Jillian Grant and Brittany Holzherr for overseeing all the shenanigans.

I wonder if the all-female creative team is deliberately dialling down the testosterone… two issues in and we’ve had maybe 100 words from the men of Midvale – and I never even noticed until this month. A good comic is a good comic.

The cover is fun, but it looks as if Campbell did her own lettering – it’d look a lot smarter had Carey been brought it.

A minor complaint… Supergirl #2 is a wonderful nugget of superhero entertainment. More please!