Supergirl #38 Review

Written by: K. Perkins and Mike Johnson
Art by: Emanuela Lupacchino
Cover Price: $2.99
Release Date: January 22, 2015

Comic Kon

I have really enjoyed the start of the "Crucible" story.  Seeing Supergirl in Space School sounded pretty cool to me when it was announced and it has proven just that in the first couple of issues.  K. Perkins and Mike Johnson have done a great job with the new setting as well as Kara's new "friends".  Emanuela Lupacchino's art has been the real surprise, however, making this book look so good.  Last month's issue ended with Supergirl and her chums on a little extra credit field trip that quickly turned into an awful family reunion.  While it's still a little early to be fully invested in side character, I was looking forward to this issue to see more Kara and the promise of an awesome new guest star...Superboy.



Yep, the issue opens with Kon and I loved the setting.  He's a bit undercover walking around the Roma Con with all the cosplayers,  It's a brief, but fun scene.  The meat of the issue lies with Kara and her crew on Ngo, Tsavo's home planet.  Last issue we learned that Tsavo's brother, Rho, was once a member of the Crucible, but has gone rogue.  It seems that him and a bunch of other former Crucible students have formed an evil organization bent on causing trouble and taking down the Crucible.

After these villains take care of the younger students, they head off to Earth in search of Superboy.  Since Kara still thinks Kon is dead, it leads to an awkward reunion when her and her friends catch up to them.  She gets over the surprise quickly with another knock down drag out fight that succeeds in putting a little doubt in Kara's mind about the Crucible.  The issue ends with the students saving Superboy, but when Maxima shows her true colors, we have ourselves a cliffhanger and the beginnings of a pretty cool story.

This issue was mainly setup.  I don't mind too much since we get Superboy back in the mix.  Perkins and Johnson have hinted that the Crucible was up to no good, but we are getting some real concrete examples of it.  While this wasn't the best issue of this new run, it lays out some interesting pieces I want to see more of.

Emanuela Lupacchino's art was good, but not her best.  She has done such a good job on this book and while this one didn't hit all the right notes, it still looks better that three quarters of the books hitting the shelves nowadays.

Bits and Pieces:

This issue wasn't the best from Perkins and Johnson, but it does set up a bunch of cool things I can't wait to see more of.  The Crucible isn't what Kara (or the reader) first thought it was and I can't wait to find out what else they are up too. The best part of this month is the reintroduction of Superboy which is worth the price of  admission alone.

7.0/10