Broken Frontier

Most people would think being Superman’s cousin was cool. But Kara Zor-El is the one that gets to find out on her own.

In her search for some answers about who she is and what she’s supposed to do, the new Supergirl begins her search at someone she is told is just like her, the JSA’s Power Girl. Power Girl has already been accepted in the DC Universe as Superman’s cousin, something Supergirl definitely wants to know about. So she searches out the JSA, only to find them fighting against Solomon Grundy. But instead of getting to join in the fun, Supergirl ends up on the sidelines, watching with Stargirl.

Based on reading the recent Supergirl stories in Batman/Superman, one could get the idea that it was Superman who was her guardian. That it was Superman who saw it as his duty to watch over her and make sure that Supergirl is always okay. But you’d be wrong. Because that’s Jeph Loeb’s job (at least for the present). Loeb treats Supergirl with practically the same respect he gives to both Batman and Superman. He takes extra care with her inner monologue and dialogue with other characters to always make it believable. You can tell these are the right words whether she’s talking to Stargirl, Power Girl, or Mr. Terrific. The dialogue with Stargirl is especially fun, and there is a great line towards the end of the fight with Grundy. The resolution to this issue’s conflict seemed a little too simple, but the issue quickly moves onto what is to come next.

When a company introduces a new female character in a storyline illustrated by Michael Turner, it’s evident they want her to be pretty. So taking over the task of illustrating her from Turner is quite the task. In this issue, Ian Churchill gives some glimpse that he is up to the task. When he is asked to draw a larger panel, he puts forth a lot of effort and energy in capturing the details and getting the lines just right and it shows. However, since he possesses a naturally more stylized look than Turner, his close-ups sometimes look inconsistent with the rest of his artwork. This isn’t to say that it looks bad, just off when compared to the rest of the work. Churchill draws a great action scene and does some fun stuff with panel design, but I do have one odd complaint. Now this may stem from the inconsistencies in the artwork, and I am normally not one to complain about this and I know that Power Girl is supposed to be ahem…endowed, but really, if for no other reason, she needs her super strength just to keep her back straight the way Churchill draws her.

In the end though, this is a great introductory issue. We get a great glimpse of not only how Supergirl sees the world, but also how the others are starting to view her. There is a lot set up here in this issue and one could be fearful that Loeb, having recently gone exclusive with Marvel, will jump ship in the middle and leave things unanswered, but he has promised that he will not leave his bed unmade. And with the love he has already treated Supergirl with, it is impossible to doubt him.