She's a menace! A menace to society!

A select few of you - okay, fine - most of you may not know it, but today's the debut of the new creative team for Supergirl. I follow the title on and off, and heck, I even bought the Superman/Batman trade that introduced Kara Zor-El.

(I kinda have a crush on her too)

The title never really did well. There were so many creative teams that it felt bi-polar: is she supposed to be an insecure kryptonian new to the ways of Earth? Sweet, innocent and naive? If so, how long can that even last? Is 33 issues too much? If not, is she supposed to be its antithesis? A teenage Paris Hilton who smoked and partied in the nightlife? And how about that skimpy skirt; it's gotta mean something right?

Who can say. The last creative team started off nicely, but it just got so
darn confusing and inconsistent in the middle, that I didn't bother sticking around for the end. 

Now, there's another new creative team, and this time they're getting a lot of fanfare. They're gonna be the architects for Supergirl's role in the "New Krypton" event, so let's check it out. Let's review. . . 

Supergirl #34

by Sterling Gates and Jamal Igle

Cat Grant's (of the Daily Planet) article on Why the World Doesn't Need Supergirl kicks off the issue, and at the same time, Supergirl is fighting the Banshee in the middle of a baseball field. 

The baseball field fight was perfect. It demonstrated how people can be such jerks to new people (Supergirl), and some of her quick-thinking around the situation (she drops a guy off

in the city to save him from the Banshee's cry: "stayrightthereyou'llbesafesorry!").

Later, she finds the day's Daily Planet, and Cat's article, so she gets sad about it. Sappy, but: I identify with that. Sometimes it's just really hard to fit in and please everyone. There's even more grief when you're an outsider, and you don't know your place in society! Who wouldn't feel weak at times like these right? 

It's this feeling that makes the title unique. See, Superman doesn't even have to worry about that; he was the first superhero after all! Who's gonna throw Clark Bars at him? No one! And it's NOT just because Clark Bars are so damn good!

This difference is why the title of the comic is "Supergirl" and not "female adolescent Superman." I wanna know that Supergirl is a good person, but I also wanna know she's not perfect either. That's what Gates and Igle deliver!

So Superman consoles her in the best possible way he can:

With coffee and a grin. If there's a better method, then you can just butter my butt and call me a biscuit.

The rest of the issue is Supergirl trying to figure out her identity (literally and not-literally). Wonder Woman comes in; the Teen Titans appear, even Ma and Pa Kent get in the action, but the crucial part here is the re-intro of Lana Lang. I don't know her backstory, but she has some kind of past with the Daily Planet, and she's gonna go back there as a reporter. . . with LINDA LANG as her "niece." Aherm. Notice the reference to Peter David's Supergirl. Aherm. 

It looks like Lana will be Linda's mentor, which could start something interesting. Who knows.

All in all, I liked the issue. Supergirl is sweet but naive, fragile but strong at the same time. Now, as you might note, this is pretty much what I said in the first issue of the previous creative team, so I'm certainly carrying some cautious c-optimism here. But then again, the previous creative team didn't work this into their issue. . . 

So who knows! Anything could happen! 

Now I'm off to the internet, to find out what they think of this issue. Feel free to speak up if you have something to say!