Supergirl #40 Review

SUPERGIRL #40
Written by Sterling Gates
Art by Jamal Igle and Jon Sibal

I'm jumped on this title last month during a lull in the releases that saw room for additions to my pull list and was quite happy with what gates and Igle did with the book. So much so that I was back again this month and contemplating making the book a regular purchase. It's odd how things change over the course of a month.

Similar to how the last issue was good, but not perfect, this issue is on the other end of the spectrum, but never outright terrible either. This was the culmination of the "Who Is Superwoman?" storyline and focused mostly on the rematch between Supergirl and Reactron, the villain responsible for killing Kara's father.

The fight between Supergirl and Reactron is actually quite good - or at least when Gates isn't forcing exposition down our throat to explain every little action or attempting to address certain retcons. One such instance was Reactron trying to explain his first match up pre-gold kryptonite heart that came out of nowhere and ruined the momentum of the fight scene with a wasted attempt at addressing / retconning something that was not even a part of this story.

However, the worst part of this issue comes from what was also a reference to one of the few moments from Supergirl that managed to have in the past that made it into my Moments of the Week - her short lived training from Batman. Supergirl has been depowered by gold kryptonite and is recalling her training with Batman and him telling her to use any tools available to her. The problem? She's freefalling and about to go pavement diving when her brilliant idea is to simply grab her cape and use it to glide to a nearby rooftop. It's actually worse reading/seeing than my description makes it sound and had me literally face palming at how this made it to print.

The final nail in the coffin for this issue came from the big reveal of just who Superwoman really is - Lois Lane's sister, Major Lane. Yes, it's a Jeph Loeb-ian red herring mystery with all kinds of hints and swerves that never add up to the actual reveal, similar to his Hush, Hulk and Long Halloween reveals.

Verdict - Avoid It. There are moments I liked this issue, but the absurdity of the reveal and some heavy handed writing really knock the wind out my sails in regards to my enthusiasm for this title.

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