Red Lantern Supergirl Unleashed!
DC Comics took complete advantage of the re-boot to reinvent certain characters. One of them was Supergirl. Since the beginning she has had an inner rage that has constantly been bubbling underneath the surface, breaking out every now again. Many, I have discovered on my weekly trips to my favorite comic shop, have grown rather fed up with her. It’s the lack of character development that hinders her attachment to readers. While initially her rage was understandable compared to original Supergirl, it has grown increasingly tiresome.
In the re-boot, she is not accepting of anything. Sure, she is a strong character, but she is also a static character. Twenty-nine issues later, her character is still raging on, whining and blocking out all types of help making everything about her. Moreover, in last issue of Red Lantern when Superman told her off, he told her the facts she’s been ignoring: that she’s been choosing anger over acceptance.
Talk about re-inventive!
Now her rage has finally caught up to her.
Back in issue 28 of Supergirl, Supergirl #28, her rage explodes out of her during her battle with Lobo, finally alerting a Red Lantern ring to a new host. According to Newsarama.com, Tony Bedard has said that this going to evolve her character, allowing her to grow from the “angry, resentful Kryptonian teenager into a grown-up, heroic woman of Earth”. As a fan of Tony Bedard’s writing, I trust him with this task.
The fact that Kara is now a Red Lantern should allow her character to explore the rage inside her and come to terms with it. Now the trouble there is this exploration may push some readers away. That’s mainly due to the fact that readers have been seeing her character rage on since the beginning, the difference now is she has a new costume.
Someone has some issues to work on…
While the costume change is pretty amazing readers have yet to really see anything new about Kara as Red Lantern. Granted it’s early on in the story arc, but overall her character has yet to grow up and change. Do I have hope? Yes, but only Tony Bedard knows how to write and warp character (proved by his Flashpoint Aquaman). He knows how to explore rage and let it change characters for the better. As for Supergirl, all I hope is that she grows up, it’s one thing to be angry at the world, but she shuts out everyone who tries to help her find acceptance with what is. That really has to change.
Really hoping this Red Lantern Supergirl evolves her character beyond the angst-filled teenager.
Source: DC Comics, Comic Vine, Newsarama
