Steve Long 
Steve detours to Metropolis to get to grips with SUPERGIRL: BEING SUPER – a classic from the DC archives!
It’s time to dig into DC’s archive with SUPERGIRL: BEING SUPER. But does this classic title still hold up in today’s contemporary literature? Let’s find out.
SYNOPSIS
Kara Danvers isn’t any different than any other teenager in her hometown. Problems with school. Problems with boys. Problems with friends. But while growing pains shake up Kara’s world, a series of earth-shaking events hits her hometown, leaving her with the choice of blending in with the crowd or being different. Being an outcast. Being super. This reimagining of Supergirl will appeal to fans of all ages and readers new and old, as the Girl of Steel flies face-first into the struggles that every teenager faces.
REVIEW
I was first introduced to the writings of Mariko Tamaki with the 2021 comic book series Future State: Dark Detective. It’s fair to say I was immediately impressed with the way she handled Batman and was looking forward to more of her writing. I will have to confess that, as far as comic books go, I am not an avid reader of Supergirl. Thankfully, I have read a few stories about her here and there. Enough to where I know the backstory. I quite enjoyed the CW TV series. I spotted a book while at my local library and decided to give it a try based on my noticing that Tamaki had written it.
THE GIRL OF STEEL
Supergirl: Being Super, originally published in 2018, is an origin story for the most part. Not to the extent that it goes deep into her appearance on Earth, followed by her being adopted by the Danvers family. It touches on that. And not to the extent that it shows her discovering her powers. This story takes place around her 16th birthday and is, for lack of a better way to describe it, a coming-of-age story. It shows her dealing with the normal life of a teenager. Dealing with her parents, dealing with school, grief over the loss of a friend, etc.
As the story progresses, we find out that one of her teachers, her track & field coach specifically, is a scientist who has been doing experiments on Kara for quite some time. So, later in the story, we do get Kara dealing with her powers. As well as discovering another Kryptonian and coming to grips with the decision to join him in his not-so-moral quest or stop him from his nefarious plans against the people of Earth.
While I’m not a member of the target audience of this book, I found reading it to be fun and refreshing.
KARA CRITICISM
My only real criticism is that the story took too long to get to the antagonist. But then again, I don’t think the antagonist was the point of the story. I think the point of it is that we get to see how Kara deals with life. The other criticism that I had with this story, if you want to call it a criticism, is that it was only a mini-series and did not continue after issue #4. That was a bummer. I wanted more of this story. While it has been several years since this book was published, I sincerely hope that DC gets Tamaki back to continue this story.
Much like her work on Dark Detective, Tamaki has a great grasp of the character. She fleshed out not only the main character but the supporting cast as well. Plus she does an incredible job of world/town building. She helps the reader get an insight into the characters’ motivations, and ambitions, and at the same time remembers to give them all personalities. Tamaki makes you care about these characters. She is a New York Times best-selling author and an Eisner Award winner and I can see why. I also really enjoyed the artwork laid out by Joelle Jones. Her art style is alive and breathtaking. Her artwork pairs perfectly with Tamaki’s story.
VERDICT
This book is a new favorite of mine. It deals with tragedy, and life, and takes us on a journey from an average teenage girl to a future superhero. For fans of Supergirl, or comic book fans in general, I truly recommend this wonderful book.
Supergirl: Being Super is published by DC Comics and is available to order now.
Steve is a fan of Star Wars, punk rock, comic books, and cats. In addition to writing for Future of the Force, he also sings for punk band Get Fired and hosts the podcast Rebel Rock Radio!
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