"Way of the World" (part 2)

This issue of Supergirl is symbolic of the way comic books are now amping up villains to outshine the heroes. The difference is that Kelley Puckett suggests in the story that no matter how powerful or malevolent you make the villain, the hero is always going to shut him down. That’s the hero’s reason for existence, and Supergirl is a prime example.

Kara-El wishes to cure cancer. She has been inspired to do so after making a promise to a boy named Thomas. He suffers from an inoperable brain tumor. Supergirl has already examined a few avenues including one involving the Resurrection Man, who gains a new power each time he is killed. Last issue, Kara had a plan but she could not follow through. She’s Supergirl. She cannot kill in cold blood, even if it may potentially save a small boy’s life and countless others afflicted, even if the man she kills will bounce back as good as new. Kara’s next step was to break out the madman involved in creating the nanites that give the Resurrection Man his self-healing factor.

Puckett shows Kara to be no dummy. She spends some of this issue preparing for Superman, who she has predicted will show up to stop her -- not necessarily from curing cancer but from making herself a fugitive thanks to the breakout. The rest of the book focuses on Kara’s battle with the screwball who naturally betrays her.

Instead of using the nanites on the dying boy, "the genius" uses them on himself to mutate into what he thinks will match the Maid of Might. How wrong he is. Supergirl dances with the madman only until she discovers that he hasn’t worked to cure cancer at all. If Kara-El seems naïve, her real personality is encapsulated in her dialogue:

"I know he's not a nice guy. I just need him to build those machines. And who knows? Maybe...Maybe he's never had a chance to do something good."

Kara wants to believe that there is good in everybody. She knew that the fruitcake might in the end betray her, but she sincerely believed that he just might have helped her find the cure for cancer before he betrayed her. When she discovers that he did not meet her expectations, she ends him decisively in a move that humiliates him in the process. Perhaps he even feels some shame.

Ron Randall handles the bulk of the art, and Randall as far as I’m concerned doesn’t get enough work. His art smoothly gels with Drew Johnson’s and Ray Snyder’s pages, and he conveys Kara’s amazing abilities in panel after panel detailing a battle that can only go one way, despite the delusion of the maniac who believes that he is an equal to the gods.

Puckett continues to make Supergirl a pleasurable, thoughtful read. He exhibits a deep understanding of Kara’s multi-faceted personality, and he once again gives ample evidence why Kara-El deserves to wear the Big Red S. The presence of Ron Randall merely adds to the quality of the book.

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