Superman / Batman: Supergirl Review by Fleur, 15/02 Superman / Batman: Supergirl (Loeb / Turner) "This vessel contains my daughter, Kara Zor-El from the now dead planet Krypton. Treat her as you would your own child, for you will see the treasure she will be for your own world." Let me start this by saying that I'm usually a Marvel reader. And by "usually", I mean "exclusively, aside from brief flirtations with Vertigo, Wildstorm and Image". I can draw you the Summers family tree in two minutes flat, but ask me to explain Supergirl and my reaction is "Linda Danvers who? Bonded with an angel what? Is Wolverine going to be in this book?" That said, in a completely voluntary attempt at expanding my horizons, I, again completely voluntarily, picked up the Loeb / Turner "Superman/Batman: Supergirl". It looked accessible enough - it had Superman and Batman on the cover, and I know who they are. It had Supergirl on the cover, and I know she's cute, which is a start. How bad could it be? Turns out, not bad at all. Believe me when I say I only have a working knowledge to start with here - I can tell you public identities and origins but quiz me any further and I'll end up cowering in a corner wanting my Ultimate Fantastic X-Avengers back. This was an introduction to the DCU, for me, and it worked. "Supergirl" was billed as a great jumping on point to the DC universe. As a jump-on point, it most definitely works. It ticks off everything on the "You can start here!" checklist, namely: well-known characters (Superman, Batman and Wonder-Woman), accessible art (despite being criticised for the 'supertorso', Turner's pencils are sharp and pleasant on the eye), a fast-paced plot (although it does lag a little in the middle for those without a history of reading about Darkseid, and as the plot focuses on the older characters), character cameos (appearances at the end by the Teen Titans, the Outsiders, the JSA and the JLA), and most of all, a cute girl in a skimpy costume to keep everyone interested. A lot of fans seem to dislike this trade, and the new Supergirl. They resent the new Supergirl for not being the old - and that's nothing more than a usual fan resentment of replacement characters, or of new characters with convenient ties to popular ones. To cite a Marvel example - oh, the familiarity! - Wolverine clone (literally) X-23 went through the same treatment at first. That said, and though I obviously didn't come into this storyline with any great enduring love of the old Supergirl, I found Kara to be quite reasonable. She's got an obvious Silver Age innocence, a perfectly acceptable origin story, and her behaviour and decisions feel realistic. She also manages to polarise Batman and Superman in regards to how they should treat her - which is a nice way to show the differences between the two heroes, and apparently a refreshing change, as Loeb has been criticised for showing the differences between them by sacrificing Superman's characterisation. Loeb's writing and Turner's art are very complementary - which is amazing when you consider the number of artists that Loeb's worked with on this title. The writing and art work especially well together when we first see Kara - her wide-eyed innocence and shock as a car bears down on her when she first emerges in Gotham City. There's a great synchronicity here that really sells the story. This book is a good example of the characters being more important than the plot - comics, as everyone knows, tend to be predominantly plot driven. It's also a good look at characters being more than Superheroes - the importance of family to Superman, and the lovely moment of the Justice League repairing the Kents' farm. Though it gets a little bit emotional at the end, it's necessary for what's happened during the book. Overall, "Supergirl" is a good read - and an easy one for those not quite as familiar with DC.