Review by Frank Plowright
While there’s not a great sense of spiritualism, there’s certainly a fair amount of spiritual content to Peter David’s Supergirl, with Supergirl now referred to by a second source as an Earth Angel. The opening chapter confirms, if the texts are to be believed, they’re a contact point between Heaven and Earth, three always exist simultaneously, and the conditions for their creation match Supergirl altuistically merging with Linda Danvers.
Spiritual matters have replaced the demonic in Book Three, and more super villains are on the agenda, with David creating new characters rather than relying on the DC back catalogue. Within that he takes a brave step by filtering in racism via a populist speaker who claims African Americans will be the ruination of the USA. It still makes for shocking reading to hear appalling views given an airing, and it probably wouldn’t happen at all now. It’s a wordy section highlighting what free speech means, so including a lengthy rebuttal from African American hero Steel and making good use of a previously under-developed reporter. It’s a brave outing generally for David, as although Christianity is treated with respect as a belief system, he’s not above pointing out Biblical fallacies, while his representation of god is entertaining, but may prove too whimsical for some tastes.
After her late 1950s introduction much of Supergirl’s earliest adventures concerned romance, more of the yearning kind than the actual, and a more modern equivalent has been flirted with in this series from the frankly wet Dick Malverne to the abusive Buzz via Brainiac Five. Here a couple of new choices present themselves. Amy has been hanging around a while and Comet has appeared, but barely seen, and David takes the romance story somewhere unpredictable indeed.
Writers Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, and artist Butch Guice collaborate on a four chapter pairing with their character Resurrection Man, who’s reborn with a new super power every time he dies. Who he is fits well with the subjects David’s investigating, but the tone is altogether darker, partly down to the way artist Butch Guice shades his pages. Leonard Kirk has improved considerably from his first faltering efforts seen in Book Two, now the complete superhero artist, and his layouts continue to improve over these stories.
A take on Supergirl that has been unconvincing over the two previous volumes comes to life here. All supporting characters now make sense, and David throws one mind-bending problem after another at Supergirl, constantly confounding expectations. The biggest curveball is seeing the future version of Supergirl, completely redefined by David and Dusty Abell. Not everything works, and the Space Girls strain a joke to breaking point, but then the same chapters provide a good outing for the Female Furies. Head to Book Four with renewed optimism.
