Supergirl #40 ( DC – Gates / Ingle / Sibal )
“Who is Superwoman?” part 4! Following last issue, must decide what to do with a shocking piece of information that casts all of “New Krypton” in a new light! Meanwhile, Lois begins putting together clues regarding the body found in Metropolis Harbor and the strange message it was broadcasting.”
This issue is a huge WTF? Superwoman has been in play since the beginning of New Krypton, and the big question has been, “Who is she?”. Especially since DC has made such a big deal about Clark bestowing the “Super” name on anyone. Do you remember the steps that Conner had to go through to be given the name Kon-El? It was no easy task! And now we have this mystery woman taking the sought after moniker. This issue answers the “who” question, but we are left with not only the of “why”, but the giant question of “how?”. In addition to the unknowns of Superwoman, there are the multiple questions surrounding Reactron. Needless to say, these are questions that will have a profound effect on the Superman books as a whole.
Sterling Gates seems to have had the Cinderella story of comic book writers happen to him. At least according to the Wikipedia Entry. It seems I’ve read everything he’s done for DC, but really didn’t notice until now. I honestly didn’t think I was going to be getting Supergirl much past the initial New Krypton crossover. Mr. Gates is made it so that I reject the slightest notion of dropping Supergirl. And trust me, this is a book that I have added to my pullbox and dropped on numerous occasions. I am confidant in saying that as long a Sterling Gates stays on, I will be a subscriber.
Don’t think that the writing is the only great thing about this book. The artistic team of Jamal Ingle and Jon Sibal is a tour de force in the Superman books. These guys are hanging strong with likes of Gary Frank and Eddy Barrows, and dare I say they can keep pace with the likes of Jim Lee and Tony Daniel. They can draw action, convey emotion, and taught us with eye-candy with the best of best.
Bottom line is that this is great stuff that is a must for any modern day Superman fan.
Grade: A
