Supergirl #9 – Sophie Campbell, Writer; Joe Quinones, Artist
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: Over the course of this series, Kara has been building up a new found family of eccentric allies, including the renegade Kandorian Lesla-Lar and Lex Luthor’s erstwhile daughter Lena. But this issue, with the new year looming, it all comes crashing down. The friends are all invited to an acquaintance’s New Year’s party, along with local sorceress Luna, and Lena is less than amused to discover it’s a dry party. She’s underaged, but that’s not stopping her. And Lesla, who is now invulnerable on Earth, has found herself curious about the process of intoxication. Kara tries to rein them both in, but it’s clear that she’s found herself in the unwanted position of having to try to wrangle her friends, and it’s not a job she’s very good at. Sure enough, Lena decides to spice up the party with a mystery compound, and the next thing everyone knows, things are spiraling completely out of control.
In lesser hands, this issue could have felt like an after-school special, but Campbell is so good at fusing human emotions with out-there superhero plotlines. Lena’s scheme works a little too well, and she’s left to stare in horror as things go south. Lesla gets the chance to live her dreams, but an unexpected condition strikes her at the worst possible time. And Kara, affected herself by the tonic, struggles to save the day while frustrated at just about everyone. It leads to an explosion that’s all too realistic, and leaves many of Kara’s hard-fought relationships broken. It also seems to possibly write one character out completely, as everything they worked for is reset. Kara’s kind of been suppressing a lot for a while, and the character could only hold on for so long. I’ll be rooting for her to put things back together, but I’m guessing a lot of characters might be in for some more challenges before that can happen.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
