Tag Cat Grant

A Supergirl S1E3 Review – Calling in the Cousin

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Melissa Benoist, SupergirlBy Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

This week I stumbled across a story in USA Today about Supergirl‘s audience thus far. The article cites Nielsen statistics which say Supergirl draws a 51 percent male audience. Naturally, the other 49 percent is female. That’s huge for a superhero show. Granted, it’s not that far ahead of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which draws a 53/47 ratio, or Gotham, which does 57/43.

Long story short, Supergirl seems to be doing exactly what people hoped it would: Bringing in female viewers. Needless to say, that’s a great thing.

Now, on to this week’s episode…

Cat Grant, Kara, Supergirl, S1E3Cat Grant conducts a brief interview with Supergirl. I liked that Supergirl kept her distance from Cat here, which almost helps with my suspension of disbelief about the whole glasses disguise. Much like Superman and Clark Kent, it seems that’s one of those things fans are just going to have to live with.

The newspeg she went with was that Supergirl and Superman are cousins. I’m not sure why that’s such a big deal, quite frankly. It seems like common sense that they’d be related somehow.

Alex calls Kara out about liking Jimmy Olsen. At the risk of coming off like Jeb “Supergirl is pretty hot” Bush, Melissa Benoist’s awkward giggle is adorable. There’s that girl-next-door appeal we’ve talked about.

Winn sets up a secret office for Supergirl-related activities in the office. I call BS on this one. In an office full of reporters, nobody notices all that tech is there? And nobody ever goes into that room? C’mon, now.

Supergirl, ReactronReactron makes Supergirl a pawn in his quest for vengeance against Superman. Reactron came off pretty well in this episode. The suit looked cool, and Chris Browning did a hell of a job when the mask was off. I’d love to see more of Reactron as the series progresses.

Superman saves Kara in her second fight with Reactron. Thus far, we’re striking a very delicate balance with Superman’s presence on this show. He’s obviously impacting the proceedings, and in this episode Winn even found out the Clark Kent secret. But we’ve never seen his face, and he has yet to actually become a full-fledged character on the show. So where do you draw the line? He saved Kara in the episode, and apparently they can instant message. But can she somehow talk to him on camera? Will they ever team up somehow?

We get our first look inside Maxwell Lord’s tech empire. It must be nice having people call you “Mr. Lord.” The guy already has a huge ego, but they you throw that in…

Lucy Lane, Supergirl, S1E3Lucy Lane, Jimmy Olson’s ex, appears on the show, played by Jenna Dewan-Tatum. Lucy Lane, Lois’ sister, tends to complicate things when she shows up. In the comics she did indeed date Jimmy Olsen, and for a time was actually the unstable Superwoman. In Lois and Clark, she dated John Corben before he became Metallo.

I expect more of the same here, especially with her coming between this odd Kara/Jimmy romance. I buy Jimmy more as Kara’s big brother than her love interest. Hopefully they’ll give this a little more time to develop, so it actually has some meat to it.

Image 1 from designtrend.com. Image 2 from superherohype.com. Images 3 and 4 from comicbook.com.

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A Supergirl: Death and the Family Review – I Was A Teenage Supergirl

Rob Siebert 2 Comments

Supergirl: Death and the FamilyTITLE: Supergirl: Death and the Family
AUTHORS: Sterling Gates, Jake Black, Helen Slater
PENCILLERS: Fernando Dagnino, Jamal Igle, Cliff Chiang. Cover by Renato Guedes.
COLLECTS: Supergirl #48-50, Supergirl Annual #1
FORMAT: Softcover
PUBLISHER: DC Comics
PRICE: $17.99
RELEASE DATE: September 15, 2010

By Rob Siebert
Editor, Fanboy Wonder

The most notable thing about Supergirl: Death and the Family, is that it has Helen Slater’s name on it. Slater played the Girl of Steel in the 1984 Supergirl film. But don’t get too excited, folks. Her contribution here isn’t that notable.

The book is a little scattered in terms of it’s story. The Supergirl Annual portion kicks off with Kara trying to save two wayward Kryptonians who are stranded in a bank by the Science Police (who have been ordered to capture all Kryptonians in the wake of Codename Patriot). Kara has good intentions, but ultimately ends up making what seems to be a mistake. Then, we see the secret origin of the evil Superwoman, and her connection to Lois Lane.

Supergirl #48, Lana Lang, sicknessThe main plot thread revolves around Lana Lang’s mysteriously unidentifiable sickness, which Supergirl discovered in Friends and Fugitives. After a surprisingly well done story involving Silver Banshee and Inspector Henderson (Supergirl’s answer to Commissioner Gordon), we find out what is actually ailing our old friend Lana. And it’s…not what you’d expect. All I’m going to say is it involves insects.

Finally, we get a six-page story by Jake Black and Helen Slater, which focuses on the public’s perception of Supergirl. It features a talk show host chatting with Cat Grant, an “arts and entertainment” writer whose public distaste for Supergirl has been well documented. No offense to Slater, but my guess is Jake Black handled most of the actual writing. Black has worked on Smallville, and has a number of books for younger readers to his credit. Considering it’s only six pages long, it’s got a hefty message regarding the character. But it’s nothing overly memorable.

Supergirl #50, Helen SlaterThough Slater’s name may prompt fans to pick up the book, Sterling Gates is its real star. One thing he’s always done very well is definitively making Supergirl a teenager. Some writers tend to overlook that incredibly important element when they’re writing young hero characters (pick up any issue of Teen Titans from the past year or so and you’ll see what I mean). Kara is emotional and vulnerable, despite being able to bend steel with her bare hands. This comes off especially well in the Annual bank story. You may as well call Gates “Mr. Supergirl.”

As for the art, it’s consistently done well, but I feel prompted to praise Fernando Dagnino in particular, perhaps because he did the art on the bank story. But I can’t say anything bad about Jamal Igle or Cliff Chiang either.

In the end, though it lacks a distinct beginning-to-end plot, and the story with the most riding on it is actually kind of silly, in terms of characterization, I consider this to be good Supergirl material. In a sense, this book is like Helen Slater in Supergirl. Not incredibly memorable, and not going to win any awards. But it’s fun to look at.

No offense, Helen.

RATING: 6/10

Images 1 and 2 from comicboxcommentary.com.

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