Supergirl: Rebirth #1

I guess I’m a fairweather Supergirl fan. I’ve written before about how much I like the character and how important I think she is to the Super-mythos, but I haven’t read a comic starring Supergirl in years. It’s only since the fantastic TV show started up that I’ve really gotten back into the character, so I was excited for the start of Supergirl’s post-Rebirth series. As both a standalone story and a launchpad for that series, Supergirl: Rebirth #1 does not disappoint.

Writer Steve Orlando doesn’t waste a page of this issue, resulting in a fast-paced adventure story. After a one-page flashback to pre-destruction Argo City, the issue picks up mid-scene with Kara preparing to rocket to the sun in an effort to kick-start her powers. Things turn south almost immediately after her ship takes off, and the action doesn’t let up from there. Long-time DC fans with incredible memories will recognize the ‘villain’ of the issue from three issues of World’s Finest from the late ‘70s, and it’s such an obscure pull that you have to admire Orlando for making it. He also uses the fight sequence between Supergirl and that ‘villain’ to establish exactly what you need to know about her. It’s a great bit of character work, a strength throughout the issue as Orlando introduces a few new characters and acquaints us with new status quos for existing ones. It sets up the ongoing dynamics well while still functioning as a one-and-done story.

On the art side, Emanuela Lupacchino’s visual storytelling abilities are great. Her style, combined with the inks of Ray McCarthy, is clean and classic, and her page layouts are interesting. She gets a few big moments to shine, which she delivers on powerfully. The fight sequence that makes up the middle portion of the issue in particular is well choreographed and easy to follow, and includes a great bit with Supergirl’s cape that, in the hands of a less-skilled artist, could easily have been either silly-looking or just confusing, but that Lupacchino just nailed. It’s three panels that definitely made me smile. If there’s a complaint about the art, it’s that there are three different blonde female characters in the book, and they all have generally the same hair style, so it was sometimes difficult to differentiate between two of them when they were in the same scene. It’s easier with Supergirl since she looks noticably younger than the others (though I’m not sure she looks the 16 she’s supposed to be, unless her ‘Kara Danvers’ alias is younger than she actually is), but more could be done to differentiate between the three of them. Hopefully this will become less of an issue in future issues as Lupacchino settles in on the book.

Supergirl: Rebirth #1 is an entertaining start for the new series. It serves well as a jumping-on point for new or lapsed readers without feeling overly stuffed with exposition. Bringing in some details from the TV show certainly helps as well in making the issue more accessible to readers who might be coming on due to an affinity for the show, and the divergence from some of the show’s elements makes sure the comic doesn’t feel like a carbon copy of the show. I’m looking forward to seeing where Orlando, Lupacchino, McCarthy, and co. take this series next.

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