Review – Adventures of Supergirl #1 (DC Comics)

Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Sterling Gates
Artist: Bengal
Release Date: 25th January, 2016

Spinning out of the CBS series starring Melissa Benoist, the first chapter of Sterling Gates’ new digital-first ADVENTURES OF SUPERGIRL goes on sale today, and manages to set the tone beautifully for the series to come. Unfortunately, the fact that this first digital chapter is only nine pages long makes it fairly difficult to review in any significant way, but being the kind of guy I am, I’m going to give it a go anyway…

Essentially what we have here is a recapping of Kara Zor-El’s origin story via an extended flashback as she battles a colourful adversary called “Rampage” on a National City football field. Sterling Gates is a writer who is no stranger to the title character, having penned DC’s ongoing Supergirl title for a little over three years from 2008 to 2011, and his familiarity with Kara makes this a wonderfully comfortable introduction.

Thankfully, the fact that this series is going to exist in the same universe as the CBS television series isn’t laboured on too heavily, and while familiar cameos are promised (and indeed delivered over the course of this first chapter) I’m confident that Gates won’t less this marketing necessity detract from the story too much. Don’t get me wrong, tie-ins have the potential to be entertaining, but when they become bogged down with an over-reliance on referencing the source material, it never ends well. Like I said though, I have complete faith that Sterling will steer us right.

The series is set to run bi-weekly with a rotating roster of artists, with the likes of Emanuela Lupacchino, Emma Vieceli and cover artist Cat Staggs (who puts together the practically photo-realistic cover for this particular chapter) set to come. French artist Bengal is up first, and his impressively vibrant and energetic style works perfectly with the lighthearted tone of the story. The combat is satisfyingly crunchy, but never overly violent, and the sheer wide-eyed enthusiasm that he injects into his depiction of Kara makes her an easy character to like, even for relative Supergirl newcomers.

Fun, lively and colourful, this first chapter is definitely going to appeal to fans of the CBS series, even if it is painfully slight. This is a title that’s going to read a lot better a few chapters at a time, but as a quick introduction to the character with some eye-catching visuals and a snappy cliffhanger, I don’t think you could do much better in this limited page count. Clearly a title to keen an eye out for, especially if you’re a fan of the show.

Rating: 3.5/5.

The first chapter of ADVENTURES OF SUPERGIRL is available from ComiXology now, priced just $0.99 (or 69p in real money).

The writer of this piece was: Craig Neilson-Adams (aka Ceej)
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