Thursday, March 01, 2007

I Think Something Might Be Wrong With Me

I'm going to come right out and say it: I'm really starting to like Supergirl.

I know I'm not supposed to. I'm supposed to hate what's being done. I'm supposed to rail against the injustice perpetrated against sweet, innocent pre-Crisis Kara. And I'm supposed to be pissed that Linda Danvers got the shaft.

But I can't. Joe Kelly (whose work I've always enjoyed) is taking Supergirl in unexpected, intriguing -- and most importantly weird -- directions. And I'm finding that I love it.

After all, this is the guy who did a legendary run on Deadpool, the only comic to ever make me actually like a Marvel character. And now he's taking something else I initially had no real interest in (picked the book up out of curiosity) and making me like it too.

The early issues of Supergirl had a few cool scenes, but seemed largely mired in Mary Sueish team-ups, anger issues, and confusing continuity glitches. But Joe Kelly is taking those things and sort of running with them. So yeah, Kara made out with an evil alternate universe version of her cousin. And that's weird. But you know what? Kara Zor-El is really screwed up kid.

And yes, a lot of kids are screwed up. A lot of kids are angry and confused about where they are in their lives. But there aren't a lot of screwed up kids who also have godlike powers and the world's greatest super-hero as a cousin. And that, my friends, creates drama. And drama = good. At least in my book.

Joe Kelly continues to draw me in. Here he talks about some of the things he's got planned for the book. And I must say that I'm intrigued. The crystal weirdness, the creepy revelations about her father -- even her apparent need to try and kill Superman. All of these are mysteries that I actually want to learn the answers to.

And yes, these are all things that you'd never have seen with the pre-Crisis Kara. But if we'd gotten the exact same Supergirl as before, we would've gotten the exact same stories. And that's no fun. New stories need to be told. And that's What Joe Kelly is giving us. And despite myself, I'm actually enjoying the ride.

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3 Comments:

At 4:20 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Supergirl has a story?

The plot is so incomprhensible to me (and I can make sense out Grant Morrison comics) that I feel its an excuse for cheescake.

Read Manhunter again.

 
At 11:42 AM, Blogger kalinara said...

Just because you don't comprehend the plot doesn't mean it's not there, Matthew, and I say this as someone who's not a terribly big fan of the character/comic in question. (Though, like Diamondrock, I'm finding it intriguing)

There's nothing wrong with liking both Manhunter and Supergirl.

 
At 6:24 PM, Blogger Barry said...

Count me in on the liking Supergirl Kelly is trying to create. He did take all the weird stuff and run with it instead of away from it. I really loved Linda Danvers, but she is gone (for now). Kara is here and I want the direction Kelly is going to continue because I think it is growing into a better title.

 

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