DCU Comic Book Reviews

SUPERGIRL #2

Power - Chapter Two:  Teen Titans

November 2005

Written by Jeph Loeb

Pencils by Ian Churchill

Inks by Norm Rapmund

Cover by Ian Churchill

Synopsis

Supergirl is hovering over the Kent farm in Smallville along with Superboy who is telling her to leave.  All she wants to do is talk, but Superboy attacks her, wrapping her up in her cape.  She gets annoyed and breaks his jaw.  She is able to reset it and it looks as if they might actually talk when suddenly the Teen Titans arrive at the farm.  Wonder Girl attacks Supergirl while the other Titans attack Superboy to find out why he did what he did to them.  Supergirl defeats Wonder Girl, but is then engulfed by Raven.  Once more Supergirl does not like be trapped in small places and she escapes.  Supergirl then comes between Superboy and the Titans and tells them to stop.  She is about to leave when Robin appears along with Starfire, who might have some answers for her.  Meanwhile, Lex Luthor explains to Calculator what all of the different Kryptonite can do, except for the black which he refuses to reveal.

Review

When it comes to comics, and to other forms of stories, but this seems to be a trait more common to comics, I have a pet peeve:  I do not like it when characters resort to fisticuffs to express themselves it they should really just sit down and talk.  Essentially, this entire issue was a bunch of teenagers with problems and their solution is to attack each other.  I suppose one could argue that all teenagers are like this regardless if they were super heroes or not, but that does not mean it resulted in a good reading experience.  Take for instance the opening scene.  Wouldn’t it have been simpler if Superboy just told her:  “I don’t wanna talk” and then walk away?  Or better yet, lock yourself in your room with your headphones on as most teenagers do?  The rest of the story was more of the some, people with problems suing force to deal with them.  To me, it was all just a huge mess and not very enjoyable.  Usually when I do reviews, I read the story twice.  I don’t think I got halfway before I put it down; I couldn’t read anymore.  The real problem with this issue and with the preceding one is the once more we get next to little information or knowledge of who Supergirl is (such as a little more examination of her feelings of claustrophobia).  For a book in which she is the title character, this is starting to get annoying.  Rather than getting to know her, we get pointless fighting. 

I should also point out that if someone read this who doesn’t read Teen Titans (which admittedly is unlikely, but still) they would be so completely lost.  The issue talks about something Superboy did to the Titans, but it never explains what that was.  I read Teen Titans, so it is not a problem with me, but for someone who doesn’t, it would’ve been helpful to give the reader a clue.-- MRB