This week sees the release of another Supergirl #1. Supergirl’s last ongoing series ended in 2020. With the “Summer of Superman,” DC has turned over the creative reigns on the Girl of Steel to writer/ artist Sophie Campbell. The first issue of this new series sees Supergirl back in a more traditional appearing costume (ie. no biker gang jacket), questioning what name she should go by when she returns to the town of Midvale as well as questioning her own capabilities when comparing her decisions to those of Superman. These “identity” issues play out in an issue that wraps things up with an imposter Supergirl who makes Kara question herself yet again.
Didn’t We Just See This?
For those who were committed and masochistic enough to read the entirety of the recently ended Power Girl run penned by Leah Williams, a lot of this should feel familiar. I suppose that’s to be expected in comics, but the fact that Supergirl and Power Girl are multiversal doppelgangers makes this a special situation. For the longest time (45 years?), Supergirl and Power Girl, despite being multiversal “twins” were distinct in many ways. Not only were their appearances different, but their attitudes, personality and characterization differed greatly. So much so that with Crisis on Infinite Earths, the multiverse shattering event which was designed to eliminate “doubles,” found a way to keep Power Girl and Supergirl because they WERE different. Different enough that unless you knew they were doppelgangers…you wouldn’t know.
When Leah Williams began writing Power Girl back in Lazarus Planet: Assault on Krypton #1, she commenced a long term goal of showing “why” Power Girl mattered. For Williams, who admittedly didn’t know much about the character this seemed like a good idea, despite the fact that Power Girl had mattered for years. It was never a question Power Girl had, and any questions about her history had been cleared up back before The New 52. Williams was oblivious to Power Girl’s personality and characterization as well as her growth and development throughout her history. She approached Power Girl like she was a “just landed on Earth Supergirl.” That’s what Williams saw, and consequently that’s what she tried to write.
Williams tried to shoehorn Power Girl into the main Earth Super-family, not understanding that her “home” was with the Justice Society with whom she’d operated for years. She decided her old life as Karen Starr was “gone.” (Neither Williams or DC has ever explained when this happened, when PG returned to continuity with the rest of the JSA at the end of Doomsday Clock, she would’ve been remembered like the rest of the JSA. If this didn’t happen, THAT’S the story that needs to be told for Williams’ approach to make sense. However, it can’t, because Williams references her past as happening, yet she writes it like it doesn’t inform her characterization of Power Girl). Williams gave her a new name, “Paige Stetler,” a costume with the “S” crest (something PG had NEVER worn for specific reasons- reasons Williams didn’t know or understand-) and an overall lack of confidence and competence, an almost crippling insecurity at times (Lois Lane had to give her advice on how to be a super-hero), and the old “imposter syndrome.” Starting to sound familiar? Essentially, Williams took the “new Supergirl just arrived on Earth” approach for Power Girl- find her place in the Super-family, she’s just a girl version of Superman, she doesn’t have a home anymore, she doesn’t know what her place is on Earth, she doesn’t know how to use her powers to be a hero, she’s got to find her own identity as a teen.
Williams’ approach to Power Girl never made sense to fans of the character, and all along she just felt more and more like “Supergirl” as opposed to a distinct and unique character who acted differently, had a different personality and who was not interested in being part of the Super-family on the main DC Earth. (Power Girl’s Super-family is/ was on a parallel Earth- literally, “not her Superman”).
What Was Up With Supergirl During These Past Few Years?
While Leah Williams was ruining Power Girl, Supergirl got a different treatment, mainly under Joshua Williamson. Williamson showed that she was the #2 hero in the family. If Superman was off world or out of action, Supergirl was the defacto leader of the family. She’s clearly been depicted as more mature and confident. She’s at least close to her mid 20’s, and no longer just out of her teens. The “House of Brainiac” storyline probably demonstrated this the best. With her past relationship with Brainiac 5 of the Legion of Super-Heroes referenced, it was obvious that Supergirl had time to grow and develop and mature and her depiction in action was such. In some ways she’d sort of become more like classic Power Girl while Power Girl had become more like classic Supergirl.
This was the first time we’ve seen Supergirl really appear to have advanced in her development in a while. Regressing happens a lot with Supergirl because of all the continuity resets with the character since 1985. Just before the Crisis, Paul Kupperberg set Supergirl on a new path in The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl. After the Crisis, Supergirl was a totally new character, an artificial being from a pocket universe and she got an exciting new direction under Peter David in the mid to late ’90’s. A new version of Kara Zor-El returned in 2004. The New 52 rebooted everything in 2011 and Rebirth gave a new lease on the character again in 2016. Most recently, the Dawn of DC era had been good to her and unfortunately this first issue of the new Supergirl series appears to go back on that good work.
Will Supergirl Be Allowed to Mature?
Despite referencing lots of past events from different versions of Supergirl, instead of the confident more self assured and competent we’ve seen in recent Superman comics, Supergirl is back to questioning who she is, is she good enough, is she REALLY Supergirl or is she the imposter.
This ends up being so similar to what Williams did with Power Girl it is not only disappointing, but also boring and doesn’t make sense…it makes Power Girl and Supergirl even MORE alike.
Supergirl has been regressed to where she was as a teen all of a sudden. Though it wasn’t right to ignore Power Girl’s past and reinvent her character and damaging her…at least Supergirl was getting a more mature and confident treatment. She’d been allowed to age up naturally enough to feel different. Instead of flip flopping, now they are almost the same. Does DC think there’s only one story for these characters? It’s especially out of place when there are stories that show these characters have already moved beyond this point in their development.
All-focus
It begs the question: Is it really necessary to read this series if it’s going to be so similar to the cancelled Power Girl? It already feels like it’s the same thing all over again. There’s always the possibility that things could go in a different direction, but it already feels redundant if we’ve seen Supergirl characterized in a more mature and confident fashion in the Superman books over the past few years.
Until Leah Williams started her run on Power Girl, this was never a problem. Power Girl and Supergirl were able to co-exist without being confusing or awkward. Their differences made them fun to see together, now it’s doesn’t work at all. What good work that had been done on both characters, DC has discarded and it will take a concerted effort to get it back.
This doesn’t mean making Supergirl weak minded and insecure and unsure of herself. There’s enough room for Power Girl to be her old self and still have a Supergirl that knows what she’s doing and isn’t plagued by the same insecurities from her past. Use the continuity that Campbell has referenced as a way of showing how she’s outgrown and developed beyond that point in her life instead of keeping her there as we are seeing in this first story arc. As for Power Girl, just forget everything Williams has done and jump back to where she was pre-Flashpoint and she’ll be fine.
