SUPERGIRL #50

Queen

April 2010

Written by Sterling Gates

Pencils by Fernando Dagnino

Inks by Raul Fernandez

Cover by Joshua Middleton

Synopsis

Then…Lucy Lane (aka Superwoman) is discovered alive and well by her father.  As the medical team examines her, Lucy displays impenetrable skin and heat blasts from her eyes.  Her father tells they will need to run some tests to determine if she has become Kryptonian.  Now…Gangbuster rescues Supergirl from the Insect Queen.  Later, Dr. Light tells Supergirl that she had been held captive by the insect Queen for two days.  In that time, the Queen’s hive has grown.  Dr. Light has determined thje insects are some sort of hybrid, but not sure of what.  Supergirl tells her the insects are mixed with human.  Supergirl and Gangbuster re-enter the hive.  They are attacked and taken out.  When Supergirl awakens, she is confronted by the Insect Queen, who looks exactly like Lana Lang.  Supergirl breaks free of bonds.  She informs Dr. Light via communicator to release tiny bombs, which destroys enough of the hive to allow Dr. Light entry.  Supergirl then finds the Queen and brings her to Dr. Light, who attempts to draw out the insect poison.  It works, saving Lana.  Later, Supergirl tells Lana that she is leaving Lana’s life.  Supergirl is upset that Lana lied about her condition and doesn’t think family she lie to each other.  Lana tries to tell her that she was protecting her, but Supergirl refuses to hear it.  Elsewhere, General Lane is disheartened to learn his daughter has the abilities of a Kryptonian.  However, Lucy tells her father the she is fit for duty and is ready for her next assignment.

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

I don’t quite understand this story.  We spend a good portion of this comic with Supergirl telling the Queen to release Lana because you fight for family and that family sticks together.  She even refers to herself as Then at the end she tells Lana that she wants no part of her family.  Huh?  Make up your mind, Supergirl.  Either she is or she isn’t.  Now, I disagree with Supergirl’s opinion about Lana lying and I think her decision to leave is an overreaction on her part, but then Kara is supposed to be a teenager, so maybe her reaction is apt.  What bothers me is the way the fight completely contradicts what Kara tells Lana later. 

Beyond that, this story was pretty bad.  Not bad in the sense that it was poorly written, because I think Gates did a good job with the plot and the structure and putting together a decent story, despite the contradictions at the end.  No, it is bad because the leaps of logic and plot points just don’t quite make sense to me, the biggest of which I pointed out above, but here are a few more

The other big one, of course, is that no one could figure out the other DNA was human.  Or that Supergirl was the one to figure out how to cure Lana of the infection caused by the Insect Queen (after all, the machine was built to her specifications).  When did she develop the know how to do that?  Did they build the MRI-looking machine near or in the hive or did Supergirl take the Queen to STAR Labs? One would think they built it right there, otherwise there is no reason for Dr. Light to be near the hive.  But, man, if they built it there (or re-built it), STAR Lab techies are pretty damn quick. 

Why, after 2 days, were there no other heroes at the site of the hive?  Only Dr. Light and Gangbuster thought they should take a look.  I mean, Dr. Light is a member of the Justice League, why wouldn’t she call them in.  Or even that only Dr. Light was examining the evidence scientifically.  What about Mr. Terrific or Dr. Mid-Nite or any other science based heroes.  You don’t need to go overboard with bringing in other characters but in the context of the DC universe, going 2 days without help seems a little odd. 

Why does the Insect need to insert Kyrptonian DNA into her insect drones in order to make them more powerful.  I mean, without Kara’s DNA they managed to take down and knock out a Kryptonian.  Seems like they are already powerful enough.  I am not sure what Kryptonian DNA can add to what they already can do. 

Is it just me or does the Michael Turner cover make Supergirl look a little bit like an elf?  Just look at the eyes and the pointy ears.  Did Turner ever work on a book with an elf character?  Is this a drawing of Supergirl that he did before he is death or is it a drawing of some other character he did before his death that an inker and colorist turned into Supergirl?

A Hero’s Journey

Written by Jake Black and Helen Slater

Art by Cliff Chiang

Synopsis

On “Greet The Press” Ron Troupe discusses the impact of Supergirl with Daily Planet reporter Cat Grant, Professor Joseph Cartwright, and people on the street.  Ron sums up and says that while people should be wary of Supergirl, she is still young and learning and trying to do good. 

Review

You know what is more interesting than this story?  How did DC get Helen Slater involved, what exactly did she write, how much did Black contribute, and what kind of input did editorial have into the final script.  Let’s face it, this story is part a look at the character of Supergirl, but it is done so with the prism of recent events of events in the DC universe.  I can’t imagine Slater would be up-to-date on recent events. But I don’t know Black so I can’t tell if he filled in the gaps or was more involved with giving Slater’s script structure and format (or how much Chiang did of that).  Anyway, this was a decent story that recapped Supergirl’s history while looking to the future.  A nice inclusion for the 50th issue. 

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