Supergirl Annual #2 Review and *SPOILERS*

The Past That Haunts You

Written By: Robert Venditti
Art By: Laura Braga, Chris Sotomayor
Letters By: Tom Napolitano
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: November 27, 2019

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

Supergirl has once again been dragged into another book’s story. Judging by the cover of this issue (yes, I know we’re not supposed to do that), this issue will continue to add to that story rather than be a separate issue like annuals sometimes are. I am still a bit upset that Supergirl is once again being dragged into something else, especially now that there are so many hanging threads from the issues that took place before. However, I hope that we can at least make the most of it. The idea behind all of this isn’t a bad one. It just comes at a bad time and now Supergirl feels more like a companion book. However, maybe it’ll be the best companion book that we could possibly have asked for. Let’s just jump into this new issue and see where it takes us.

We begin back on Krypton where a sporting event of some type is taking place. As we see more and more scenes it seems to be a variation of hockey (sorry, SPACE HOCKEY!). Kara is one of the players and as she is running toward the goal, she is knocked down by a player on the other team. She eventually returns the favor, steals the orb, shoots, and scores as time runs out. Her team wins and she celebrates with her teammates and fans. After the match, the player that she fought with comes by and congratulates her before a groundquake shakes the city. When the ground stops shaking, the boy’s face has changed and he begins saying things that have haunted Kara for a long time. Kara shakes it off and everything goes back to normal. It is revealed that the boy is actually a gentleman suitor for Kara but just as things seem to be turning romantic, Kara has to leave with her family. On their way back home, Kara is told that she has to take care of her cousin Kal tonight because her parents are speaking with the council to address the groundquakes.

As Kara is getting ready for the night she sees the reflection of herself infected. She is interrupted by a call from one of her teachers who has sent an application for her to a school studying Historical Science. It’s a very prestigious school and Kara has been accepted. Her father seems displeased that she will be studying a different area than he does but they are interrupted by another groundquake. This time it is her parents that turn grey and start speaking horrible things to her. After things return to normal the family collect themselves and Kara’s aunt and uncle arrive to drop of Kal. After the adults leave, Kara plays with Kal for a while before he eventually falls asleep. Krypto seems to be barking at something but Kara shushes him before inviting the boy from earlier over. The two flirt at little before Kara calls him her boyfriend and he accepts it. Then the two finally share their first kiss. This is interrupted by another groundquake and more of the same follows.

However, instead of things going back to normal, Kara awakens in her parents lab and they are sending her away to protect her from the destruction of the planet. Kara is about to leave but this time she decides to stay. Her form changes to her infected form. She weeps as she reveals all the things she has been struggling with for so long. She feels the weight of the dead on her shoulders all of the time. Kal doesn’t remember anything so she is the only true survivor of Krypton. Finally Krypton explodes. Kara awakes in the void of space and she is confronted by The Batman Who Laughs. He reveals that they are simply in her mind and he monologues for a while before giving Kara orders to follow. We snap back to reality (oops, there goes gravity) and Kara eventually finds Superman and the battle begins a battle of the kryptonians is about to take place. This is where the issue leaves us.

This wasn’t an awful issue but it unfortunately is a lot of stuff that we’ve already seen before. The twist that the issue gives to the familiar story is pretty obvious as soon as it happens so it’s a bit of a disappointment that we spent the entire issue to reveal what was really going on. We already knew in the first few pages. We didn’t need to get all the way to the end of the issue to have it finally revealed to us. The art is pretty good in this issue at least but this annual didn’t really add anything to the story that we didn’t already know. I kind of feel like we should have had a separate story instead because it would have accomplished the same thing.

Bits and Pieces

This issue was a bit unnecessary and didn’t really add anything to the current story. In addition, it repeats a familiar story with a twist so obvious that the readers will get the gist of the entire issue within the first few pages. The art is pretty damn good at least.

5.5/10