REVIEW: ‘Supergirl,’ Issue #28

Supergirl #28, published by DC Comics, continues the hunt for the true destroyers of the planet Krypton. This month’s battle royale is brought to you by writer Marc Andreyko, with pencils by Eduardo Pansica, Julio Ferreira on inks, FCO Plascencia and Chris Sotomayor providing colors, and Tom Napolitano on letters.

I say battle royale because, since Supergirl began her quest back in issue #21 (which brought the series back from cancellation), our heroine has suffered repeated distractions at the hands of the enigmatic Circle, a cadre responsible for eliminating Krypton. The largest of these distractions is being captured by an old and rather goofy DC villain called Hokum. I kid you not. A guy straight out of World War One with military regalia, monocle, the whole works. In the last few issues, Supergirl freed herself from Hokum’s grasp with an assist from another DC blast from the past, the Omega Men. Cosmic shenanigans ensued. By this, I mean superheroes in big fights.

And Supergirl #28 delivers. Big. Hokum managed to use misaligned Kryptonian tech to usher forth an army of Supergirl clones. Sure, they were flawed, monstrous and in a frenzy, but the powers were there. From page one on, the twenty-eighth issue is a slam bang knuckleduster.

The creative team on Supergirl #28 don’t hold back. Supergirl’s rage, power set, and ability to take on multiple foes is clearly visible for all. Clean artwork. Brutal maneuvers. The clones and Supergirl alike are chaos storms of power and menace, a rare thing to see from a character with an “S” shield on their chest.  But our girl is pissed, and it shows.

Andreyko made me like the Omega Men as well. I had heard of this team of spacefarers back in the day, but never read their book. Now, I’m very interested in seeing a new series with them to expand upon DC’s cosmic map. Members like Primus, Kalista and Ryand’r, to name a few, are critical to helping Supergirl in her struggle against zombified versions of herself.

Also, there’s a brief ‘B’-story in this issue involving Z’ndr and Krypto. Supergirl encountered the Coluan archaeologist back in #25, and I liked him right away for being a sort of space Indiana Jones. His and Krypto’s search for Kara doesn’t really add much to his character this time around, but it’s good to see him here and I hope he has more to do in future issues. And I hope that more so for poor Krypto, who gets even less to do.

By the end, both Supergirl and the Circle have upped their respective games. Andreyko has done an excellent job of making Supergirl a force to be reckoned with, while showing us a character who is continually seesawing between self control and being a weapon of mass destruction. Pansica’s art is vivid, powerful and crammed full of action shots, great multiple character visuals crammed into each panel, and potent heroic stances.  Ferreira lays down a lot of fine ink this issue, and the rich coloring by Plascencia and Sotomayor compliments this. A superhero slugfest isn’t complete without expressive onomatopoeia lettering, courtesy of Tom Napolitano.

This issue brought forth all of the joys of the classic comic book. A huge battle. Kooky villains. A hero being tested. And all of it served the overall plot of getting Supergirl closer to a face-to-face confrontation with the elusive Circle, and finding out just why they handed Krypton a death certificate. Supergirl has fast become my favorite superheroine, and cosmic-level book to read. Well worth it, month after month.