Comic Reviews by Walt

New Krypton part five

Writer: Sterling Gates
Penciller: Jamal Igle
Inker: Keith Champagne
Colorist: Nel Ruffino
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher
Asst. Editor: Wil Moss
Editor: Matt Idelson
Cover: Alex Ross (variant by Stephane Roux)
Publisher: DC Comics

This issue largely focuses on Kara and the fact that she suddenly has a family–her parents–back in her life. They want her to give up her human life (including “Linda Lang”), while she argues for her independence, that she’s just begun to make a new life for herself on earth, amidst the humans. During their conversing, Zor-El realizes something horrible about his daughter which explains her mood swings and other issues…Kryptonite Poisoning. While this is being dealt with, Kara regains some memories, and through flashbacks we, the readers, are filled in on her past as well. Sprinkled throughout we also see General Lane and Codename: Assassin reacting to the Kryptonians’ presence, and even a bit of Reactron and his possible future role. The cliffhanger promises more challenge for Kara and begins to raise a question about the place she and her cousin might have in this “New Krypton” world.

The story in this issue is quite believable. It’s a nice touch seeing a sort of “typical” parents/daughter dynamic–it humanizes Zor and Alura, and shows a further range of feelings with their daughter–going beyond simple joy at her being alive & reunited with them. We also get to see that there’s been growth on Kara’s side as well–she has actually invested herself in earth, and we get a feel for that conflict in her as these two parts of her life clash.

Igle’s art comes across a lot better to me this issue than the previous–I get the feeling my enjoyment of the visuals for this series will increase as he gets more familiar with the characters and gets to cut loose. While there is a noticeable difference in style from the Action Comics issue to this, the characters remain visually consistent enough that I have no real issue–artists are not clones with 100% identical styles; as such, there will be that difference in stle.

On the whole, I enjoyed this issue. I did not feel we got much forward advancement on the main New Krypton aspect of the story, but we did get a peek into Kara’s past, and a rather plausible explanation that deals with her personality the last few years since her introduction and a bit of slate-wiping that clears the way for future stories to come.

Well worth getting if you’re following New Kryptong, and if you’re only following this series, you really only need to know that there is an entire city of Kryptonians on Earth right now and go from there.

Story: 7.5/10
Art: 7.5/10
Whole: 7.5/10

Filed under: Comic Reviews 2008, DC, Supergirl, Superman: New Krypton (Event) | Tagged: Alex Ross, Comic Reviews 2008, DC Comics, Jamal Igle, Jared K. Fletcher, Keith Champagne, Matt Idelson, Nel Ruffino, New Krypton, Sterling Gates, Supergirl, Wil Moss |