Writer: Jody Houser, Steve Orlando / Artist: Robson Rocha / DC Comics
If there’s anything to say about consistency this series, it must be how these covers are dependably raw. Kara is always seen at her most intense self, a perfect capture of the height of emotion you may find in the issue. Often it isn’t even found and only exists in the cover. Kudos to Robson Rosha with the cover of Supergirl #15, a depiction so simple in its savagery. On the inside though, this issue fares as a setup for Kara’s new life after the events of “The Girl of No Tomorrow” and launches the “Plain Sight” arc on firm emotional grounds: with National City’s hatred and mistrust, Kara is lost on who she should be and what she should do.
After protecting her father and losing the faith of National City, Supergirl is considered as much a threat as a hero, causing Kara to don the cape sparingly if at all. She questions what to do with her strength, whether to use it to save lives and be hated, or whether Supergirl does more public harm than good now that she is so loathed.
Her parents’ role in supporting her bring extra oomph to her inner conflict as their lives have also changed to protect Kara. No more special agent parents, no more D.E.O. ties – when Kara goes Supergirl she is going full rogue. And being shot at for it.
Artistically, the settings capture the emotional tone of the issue well, exceptional in the case of Jeremiah and Eliza, Kara’s earth parents, talking on the porch on how best to support her. They don’t have the answers but their love and sacrifice for Kara shines through the dialogue and is matched, trumped even, by close-ups of Eliza’s pain and a backlit panel of a young married couple on the porch, the husband’s head laid in his wife’s lap. The issue suffers in quite a few overdrawn expressions – exaggerated near the point of goofiness – that become distracting, but alas that is nothing new to this series.
Overall, Supergirl #15 is a solid start to “Plain Sight” that has emotionally high stakes if not clear-and-present-danger ones yet. As the plot builds we will learn more about the external threat to National City, but for now the conflict lives within Supergirl, and that’s a fine place to be.
Reading Supergirl? Catch up on previous reviews here. Watching the TV show? Enjoy our Supergirl recaps after every episode.
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