Sorry for that mouthful in the title, but this week I received a special reprint of the 2021 miniseries. It was one of the first things I read completely on my tablet, so it’s funny that I now have a print copy. DC sends out a premium gift each year to its yearly subscribers to the Ultra tier, and this book was this year’s new title.
Word has it that James Gunn is relying heavily on this for inspiration for the Supergirl movie, so if you care about source material it’s worth reading just for that. I find that most books that Tom King has written are worth reading. The art by Bilquis Evely shows a powerful Kara Zor-El without resorting to the boobs-n-butt that so many male artists will, um, accentuate.
The story’s a good one, a bildungsroman for the girl that Kara befriends. This retelling of Krypton and Argo City for Kara is an insight into her character that I can see James Gunn attaching himself to.
The special edition has an exclusive cover (pictured with this post) and welcome material on the inside cover, but otherwise has the features of the “regular” deluxe edition. I enjoy seeing variant covers; generally the art sketches or pencil reproductions don’t do much for me and the reproductions here are very small. If you are a budding artist, though, it is probably a great insight into how a story like this is made. I appreciated the rejected script for issue #6 as that kind of thing is rarely reprinted.
This story has been frequently cited on “best of” lists and with the movie coming you’ll probably see a lot more about it. Check it out from your local library. If there’s a teen girl that’s looking for something ‘meaty’ in the world of the fantastic this is a perfect thing to pass along.
