Supergirl #5 review

Supergirl takes Lesla Lar to Metropolis for a spot of superheroine training, leaving Lena Luthor to mind the Midvale store. She’s also looking after Super-Pets Krypto, Streaky, Kandy and Tinytano… all of whom abscond the second the girl genius’s back is turned.

Bad bunny Kandy begins trying to annoy Krypto, because they first met as enemies when Lesla was pretending to be Supergirl and she’s a tad confused. Krypto barely notices her rabbit-sized heat vision, but he does notice…

Streaky, meanwhile, is giving the recently reduced Titano the Super Ape a ride when they come across a gang of kittens gorging themselves on Lesla’s power-giving Super Substance.

Streaky wades in, Tinytano joins in, and brains rather that brawn win the day. Krypto and Kandy take the more traditional route of combining powers against their toothy foe.

Regular writer-artist Sophie Campbell takes a break from drawing interiors this month, but she does give us the cute cover and clever script. I can’t say I’ve been aching for an all-animal issue, but ‘Paws and Effect’ is lots of fun thanks to Campbell’s personality-packed script and guest artists Paulina Ganucheau and Rosi Kampe

Krypto is as chilled as ever, the experienced hero, while tetchy tomcat Streaky is so laid back he can barely be bothered to help. Kandy moves on from henchbunny to helpmate, while Tinytano has a ball, for once not being the target of super-punches.

As for Lena, she’s run ragged trying to catch up with the excitable animals.

Last issue ended with a white kitty slurping up Lesla’s sci-fi goo, something I’d forgotten all about by this month, so a caption reminding us what the stuff is would’ve helped – I honestly thought, ‘purple poo.’

It’s terrific to see Supergirl #1’s breakout star, Princess Shark, back, just in time for Krypto to demonstrate not so much a new power as aSuperdog move that makes perfect sense. And while Kara is barely in the issue, the cliffhanger does centre on her.

If my eyes don’t deceive me, Ganucheau is drawing the first half of the book, starring Krypto, while Kampe is Streaky’s handler in the back half. Both do a great job, with Ganucheau’s softer look and Kampe’s scratchier stylings somehow both nodding nicely towards Campbell’s house style.

I remember Ganucheau from her cute work on Young Diana in Wonder Woman a while back, and here she made me smile with Princess Shark’s latest outfit – she’s swapped an octopus skirt for a jellyfish gown. Expect her to open a boutique in Midvale any day now.

Kampe has a wonderful way with animal body language, I certainly recognised my cats, Emmy and Millie, in Streaky’s behaviour.

Colourists Kendall Goode and Marissa Louise keep things light and bright, while Becca Carey’s good-natured letters also got the memo.

As I said, I wasn’t hoping for a Super Pets story, I’m really ready for an issue that’s wall-to-wall Supergirl, with her pals having the day off. But I did enjoy this. I mean, how cute are these furry (super) friends?