Supergirl #39 – Jody Houser, Writer; Rachel Stott, Artist; Cris Peter, Colorist
Ratings:
Ray – 9/10
Ray: Jody Houser came onto Supergirl just in time to tie into two events – the Superman identity reveal, and the Batman Who Laughs’ infection of DC heroes. So with Supergirl possessed and the public more suspicious of Kryptonians than usual, Kara’s attack on Smallville has attracted the attention of some very powerful figures in Supergirl #39.
The US military is planning an attack, led by a mysterious female general whose identity is carefully concealed from us. Is there a big reveal coming? Lucy Lane, maybe? We’ll see, but it doesn’t take long for Kryptonite-powered robot tanks to descend on Smallville just in time to interrupt Diana’s attempts to make Kara see reason with the help of the Lasso of Truth. As the battle spills out into the field, the people Kara is trying to infect and Diana is trying to protect find themselves in the middle of the line of fire as the battle heats up in a fast-paced issue.
Houser has done a good job with a difficult task, as she has to keep Kara the protagonist in this title even as she spends most of her time rambling villain lines. She’s done that by grounding the title in Kara’s jumbled, confused narration and also showing us that Kara is not trying to hurt innocents. She continues to think she’s trying improve the lives of vulnerable people by giving them the protection she got.
Despite this, she finds herself always making the right decision when up against the wall – protecting innocent lives even when it means putting herself at risk. But the infection is only this weak because she’s this strong, and the US military just added Kryptonite to the battlefield. This leads to a tense and ironic outcome that might just make all the work Wonder Woman’s done for nothing. Every one of the Infected stories has had its own story so far, and this might be the best of them.
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Disclaimer: GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
