Broken Frontier

Kara reaches a turning point, as she’s forced to confront her demons while the Countdown clock ticks on ominously in the background…

After the trials and tribulations of the last few months, Kara finds herself face to face with Pariah, the character from the original Crisis on Infinite Earths series who is doomed to roam from universe to universe warning them of their impending doom. Plenty more Countdown hints and teasers about the bigger DCU picture, and Supergirl’s role in it, are provided before the Maid of Might realizes just how much she still has to atone for on Earth.

Writer Joe Kelly’s time on Supergirl reaches a conclusion with this touching finale to his run. There’s much tying up of loose plot threads as Kara visits all those characters she still needs to make amends to. Some, like Captain Boomerang Junior, are conciliatory while others, like Power Girl, are less inviting. And, of course, the real question is how will the guy with the big red "S" on his chest react to her return?

There’s been a certain amount of discontent expressed online of late about the personality of this incarnation of Supergirl that has had me scratching my head a little. Did we really want a character indistinguishable from the original Kara Zor-El? Wouldn’t that have completely cheapened her Crisis death?

Re-reading the last few issues in one sitting you get far more of an idea of what Kelly was trying to achieve with this book. Kelly’s Kara is flawed and gets things wrong as much as she gets them right, but rather than detracting from her as a character, her willingness to try and overcome her darker past only emphasizes her inherent heroism all the more. I was rooting for her all the way this month and, without wanting to say too much about the book’s finale, I thought this was a very satisfying end to Supergirl’s journey over the last few months.

Alé Garza’s pencils have really grown on me of late, despite his art being of a style I would not normally have fully embraced. There’s some strong storytelling here visually and, perhaps surprisingly, the fact that a small army of inkers is needed to complete the issue doesn’t actually detract from the proceedings.

It may be a cliché, but Supergirl #19 marks both an ending and a beginning for Kara Zor-El. Joe Kelly’s take on the character may not have been to every fan’s liking but his swansong on the book underlines the complex and fragile humanity of the heroine he has helped to shape.