Supergirl #41 Review and *SPOILERS*

You Ever Fight a Hurricane in the Pale Moonlight?

Written By: Jody Houser

Art By: Rachael Stott, Cris Peter

Letters By: Tom Napolitano

Cover Price: $3.99

Release Date: May 26, 2020

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

We finally have the return of the perennial crossover companion book, which is occasionally referred to as Supergirl. Coming out of it’s most recent crossover run, Supergirl finally starts it’s own story once again (for those taking bets, I give it four issues before we get bitten by the crossover bug again) and they’ve made a choice that gives me a little pause. Houser has taken over the book going forward and I wasn’t a huge fan of the crossover story that she told. That being said, I think any writer would struggle heavily when they are given so little creative freedom in a crossover event. Thus, I think it would be unfair to hold any of the previous issues against her, and instead, I hope that going forward we will end this mess with an entertaining story. However, that won’t be determined until we can read the story ourselves so, let’s jump into the latest story and see how things go.

Our issue begins on Krypton in the past as Kara is once again haunted by the destruction of her planet. Kara’s inner dialogue really hammers the point home that things that you believe will always be there are actually more fragile than you would expect. We immediately catch up with Kara in the present as she is flying over some sort of body of water. As she sees her reflection in the water, she sees the version of herself that was being controlled by The Batman Who Laughs. The events of the previous crossover still seem to be weighing on her heavily which is to be expected. As Kara gets closer to the shore, she sees that the clouds have become darker and sees that it’s a hurricane that is about to hit an oceanside town. As lightning flashes, she sees the robots from Smallville going through the town but after a moment, she realizes that it was simply a hallucination.

Kara leaps into action to try and save as many people as possible who are in the area. However, before she can do that she is reunited with Krypto. While she is initially happy to see him, she quickly becomes solemn as she apologizes to him for the actions she committed while she was infected. She wasn’t in control of herself but she cannot say that it wasn’t her. She asks for forgiveness and Krypto simply looks towards the town to remind her that they don’t have time for such things right now. While flying through the air, Kara and Krypto are knocked around by the gale-force winds. A nearby house is damaged in her fall but she and Krypto keep following Krypto’s nose. Kara enters a nearby house and begins hallucinating about the destruction of Krypton once again and in her panic, she flies out through the roof, causing damage. Kara continues her search and finds that most people are already gone, most likely in an evacuation.

Meanwhile, the US Government seems to be monitoring her movements and the person in charge seems to think that Supergirl might be the cause of the hurricane itself (….REALLY?) and decides that she will handle things herself. Kara eventually comes across someone who hasn’t fled. A woman and child who have stayed in case her parents return to their home. She ushers them inside to help them but suffers another hallucination. Once she composes herself, she flies off to get supplies that she needs to help the woman survive the storm. She flies to a faraway market and gets the supplies but as she is flying back she comes across another hallucination, this one of The Batman Who Laughs himself. After shaking it off, she finally arrives back at the house and gives the supplies to the woman before telling her that she is going to do everything she can to find the woman’s parents. Another hallucination haunts her before she leaves but as she is flying away she is struck by a blast of some sort that knocks her down. When she collects herself, she sees the woman from the US Government in some kind of suit who tells her to surrender to the US Government. This is where the issue leaves us.

So… this issue is dumb. Like really dumb. There are a million reasons for the US Government to go after Supergirl, especially after the events of the last crossover. However, of all those reasons, the one that doesn’t come to mind is Supergirl caused a hurricane that will hit the east coast of the United States. I had to reread that line several times because it was so unbelievable that I legitimately believed that I had misread it. Also, the government is tracking her through that hurricane but during the entire time she is aiding the woman and child she meets, not once do they decide that they misunderstood her intentions. Also, I don’t really like to criticize art that much because I’m not an art critic. I’m not super knowledgeable about that type of thing but the art in this book, in particular, Supergirl’s facial expressions are weird and inhuman. Who screams “stop it” while covering their top row of teeth? In general, all of the close-up shots of Supergirl look crooked and seriously makes her look non-human. At the very least, you should be able to draw the main character of the book you are drawing well. This is a mess and a very bad start to a book that is already struggling hard.

Bits and Pieces

Supergirl finally starts it’s own story after being dragged into another crossover, but unfortunately, that story is full of ridiculous reasoning and dumb decisions by characters as well as unappealing art and unrecognizable facial expressions.  After reading this issue, it’s easy to see why this book was canceled. Hopefully, it will come back soon and next time, someone at DC will care to make it good.

1.5/10