Supergirl #40 // Review
Kara Zor-El continues to spiral out of control due to infection brought about by The Batman Who Laughs. Her intentions are pure, but there’s a darkness that clouds her judgment. Wonder Woman is trying her best to show Kara that her current situation isn’t helping matters in the 40th issue of Supergirl. Writer Jody Houser gives Supergirl a massive emotional hit that leads further into the Year of the Villain crossover. Rachael Stott’s art gives a powerful beating to emotion and aggression in a final showdown between Supergirl and Wonder Woman. There isn’t a whole lot actually going on in the issue, but the drama that asserts itself through page and panel makes an impact.
Supergirl tries to fight the infection that’s turning her into an evil semi-Joker version of herself, but the presence of kryptonite is suppressing her immune system. Wonder Woman is all too aware of this. If she’s going to get Kara to come to her senses, she’s going to need to appeal to compassion that rests at the heart of the desires for justice lurking beneath all the nightmare clown that seems to have taken over her. Wonder Woman seems to be getting through. Kara’s learning that something’s wrong, but will she be able to do anything about it in time?
Houser stretches a pretty taut story into this issue. There’s very little actual plot filtering through the pages. It’s admirable that Houser is giving Wonder Woman the meticulous task of leading Kara to a revelation without having to pound it into her. Diana could really hurt Kara, but she’s trying not to. It IS cool to see her trying to maintain a compassionate distance from the young Kryptonian, but the central lesson that Kara’s learning here really SHOULD be more obvious to her. The central conflict raging within Kara doesn’t have a compelling enough dynamic to serve as the central motivating factor of an entire issue.
Stott manages a few moments of genuine emotional revelation in the face of the evil Supergirl, which is kind of an accomplishment given the fact that she looks like a cartoony Allister Fiend in superhero drag. The more compelling end of the drama can be seen in the face of Wonder Woman, who has a very sophisticated sense of compassion and strategy etched into her face and body language. Without much in the way of anything other than monstrous menace from Supergirl, Stott does a really good job of delivering the tension in the actions and reactions of Wonder Woman.
As an evil Supergirl, Kara isn’t really exploring terribly new ground here, and there isn’t a whole lot of depth to what she’s doing here. It’s too bad as a more intricate and sophisticated conflict between Wonder Woman, and a dark Supergirl could have been interesting if it had been cast in greater complexity. Without an engrossing emotional journey for Supergirl, Wonder Woman doesn’t have a whole lot to work with. She carries so much of the emotional weight of the issue, but she shouldn’t have to do so.
