Review: Supergirl Vol. 2- Girl in the World

Quick Summary

Pros: Newly introduced concepts help build some interest in the comic’s future.

Cons: The pacing of the volume is weird throughout the book. Pacing problems weaken both fight scenes and emotional moments.

Overall: After a successful opening volume, the Supergirl series shows some real problems in its second entry. This collection has some interesting characters and challenges but none of them are developed enough. Instead, poor pacing forces the collection to jump from one situation to the next in a way that is not pleasant to read. Readers really intrigued by Supergirl may be interested in some elements of her backstory presented here, but readers just looking for a good comic may want to look elsewhere.

Story

Supergirl Vol. 2: Girl in the World, by Michael Green and Mike Johnson, is a collection with some potential that is, unfortunately, severely damaged by pacing. This book has Supergirl jump from an extreme problem to a relaxed situation so often that the concept becomes boring. The problems pop up so quickly and receive so little development that they never feel that significant before they are dealt with. Meanwhile, the relaxed situations are hard to enjoy because readers have barely had time to get to know the characters in them. The collection builds some interesting intrigue for the future but, besides this, has little to offer.

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The most obvious and immediate problem in Girl in the World is the pacing. Immediately after facing off against powerful enemies and triggering a conflict with the US armed forces, Supergirl is essentially whisked away by a young woman who can magically speak Kryptonian. This leads into a moment or two of relaxation, as Siobhan attempts to acclimate Supergirl to a normal life, but this does not last long. Before the end of a single chapter, Siobhan reveals that she has uncontrollable powers that may pose a threat to the world. This leads to a short but intense battle with Siobhan’s evil father. After this, there are a few more moments of relaxation before a battle against some mysterious assassin. Finally, the collection closes with Supergirl abandoning the life she attempted to make with Siobhan.

These pacing problems leave the entire collection feeling too random, as action and tension are created out of nowhere and then disappear just as quickly. This makes the fights boring since readers never have a chance to gauge the threat posed by a villain. It also weakens the collection’s emotions since readers never have much of a chance to get attached to the supporting characters. This makes for a book that feels like it could have been exciting and emotional but simply is not.

The only real redeeming quality in Girl in the World is that it appears to be building up themes and concepts for the series to work with in the future. This collection has Supergirl discover new ways to focus her power, realize more about the world, and start to establish friendships and relationship. In addition, the resurfacing of additional information about Supergirl’s past gives the writers more material to work with, especially the information revealed in the issue #0. This left me hesitantly excited about the future, even though I didn’t necessarily care for what was going on in the present.

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Art

The artwork in Girl in the World, mostly from Mahmud Asrar, is not as bad as the story but still has some problems of its own. These problems come from places where over-exaggerated expressions make characters look strange or where heavy inks make a lighthearted moment feel somewhat strange. There are also a few panels where the linework simply comes across as a little to chaotic. However, there are also places where the visuals look creative and do a great job in depicting some diverse landscapes. In these moments, the artwork is a great match for the story. This mix of positives and negatives mostly evens out and leaves the visuals in this collection feeling passable but not that remarkable.

Continuity

Supergirl Vol. 2: Girl in the World continues the story from Supergirl Vol. 1: Last Daughter of Krypton (Review).

The story here continues in Supergirl Vol. 3: Sanctuary (Review).