Cover Art from Supergirl: Survive #1
Written by Ethan S. Parker and Griffin Sheridan
Art and Colors by Rod Reis
Letters by Lucas Gattoni
Cover Art by Rod Reis
The Summer of Supergirl officially kicks off this month and DC has been feeding fans well with a huge dose of Supergirl both in the comics and of course, in the movies. Beginning the last week of June moviegoers and comic fans will flock to screenings of Supergirl, starring Milly Alcock and Jason Momoa, but today I’m excited to discuss Supergirl: Survive #1. Survive takes the classic Superman and Supergirl origin story and flips it on its head with a brand new take that felt fresh, exciting and left me with lots of questions about where this story is going to go. Long story short, I loved it. Let’s get into it. Spoiler Warning Now In Effect for Supergirl: Survive #1
A Brief Recap
We all know the classic story. Krypton is on the verge of destruction and on the day everything comes crashing down baby Kal-El is strapped into a rocket and sent on a journey across the stars to the Planet Earth. He’s followed by his cousin, Kara Zor-El, who ultimately gets knocked off course and arrives on Earth much later than her cousin. The two Kryptonians defend the Earth as two of the greatest heroes the DC Universe has ever had: Superman and Supergirl. This is not that story.
The first half of the issue deals with a typical day in Kara Zor-El’s daily life on Krypton. She’s just your typical teenager. She goes to high school, she has crushes and she just wants to have fun with her friends, even if it means cutting some classes. The most meaningful event of her day though? Meeting baby Kal-El for the first time and beginning to develop a bond that the two of them will share for the rest of their lives. They are far from the Superman and Supergirl that they could be one day but Kara still has that urge to protect his little cousin no matter what. In the background of this day though… Something sinister is going on right beneath the surface and it doesn’t take long to reveal its ugly head.
The signs are there in the issue before we get the full reveal. Kara and Kal’s parents having an argument about political issues on Krypton, and a full on atom bomb attack safety drill at Kara’s school interrupt her typical day. It’s clear something isn’t totally right on the planet Krypton and about half way through the issue we found out what that is. General Zod, an older and somehow even more radical version of the one we typically know, is at the center of a massive ideological battle on Krypton and he wants to stamp out any who oppose him and those who support him. Soon after Zod gives a horrifying speech on television, the missiles and bombs begin to go off and this time, Krypton meets its end not from a destabilized planet core but because of a full on atomic attack that consumes the entire planet.
Kara and Kal are put in a rocket by both sets of their parents and launched off the planet after a depressing and tear-filled goodbye. They look like they’re home free until an errant rocket hits their ship and the pair crash land on one of Krypton’s moons as Kara watches the destruction of their planet in real time. The issue closes with a monster about to attack Kara and Kal with Kara aiming a weapon at it to defend them both.
Thoughts On The Issue
Over the past few years, we’ve gotten some really good Supergirl books with the now famous Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow leading that charge and It’s great to see Kara get to have her day in the sun. I can’t say enough good things about this debut issue of Supergirl: Survive. If you want to tell the origin story of Kara, Kal and Krypton again you better have a good angle and the writers do a great job of making this now timeless tale compelling. We haven’t seen this version of the story where both cousins leave the planet in the same pod and seeing if they eventually end up on Earth and what trials and tribulations it's going to take them to get there is gonna be very fun to read over the next few months.
I like that this issue gave a look into the normal daily life of Kara even if it wasn’t for a long period of time. This issue also establishes why she’s such a different person than her cousin. She experienced the loss of Krypton in a much different way than Kal did. She had friends, she experienced love and loss, the first huge chunk of her life and memories began on Krypton and she had it all taken from her in the blink of an eye. Kal and Kara both lost their people but Kal never truly experienced life on Krypton like Kara did. He can never fully understand the loss like she can. She’s a very compelling character and I’m very happy that Survive is off to such a great start.
I think one of the most interesting things about this version of the story we are getting is that Kara and Kal are not super powered beings. Krypton orbits a red son named Rao (which is also the name of the god of their main religion) so that means no solar powered abilities for the El’s. Kara is only just a teenager and now she's tasked with taking care of her little cousin after their shop crash landed on the moon of their now destroyed planet with no guidebook for how to move forward. This would be a daunting situation for any of us, let alone someone who only had the next day's homework to worry about. On the final page of the issue we already see some sort of monster getting ready to attack Kara and Kal so from the jump this is not going to be an easy journey.
This book also manages to feel very timely. Zod’s rhetoric that he uses in this issue and the way he’s presented come off like some world leaders do today. We don’t get too much information about what's going on behind the scenes of Krypton but it's very clear that there is massive social unrest occurring in many different parts of the planet. Rather than try to bring his people together in peace, he stokes the flames of hatred and dissention. This time, Zod isn’t the massive, brawny terrifying general. He’s a calculated man who spreads hatred throughout his planet, poisons his people’s minds and ultimately leads them to their ruin. I feel like there's a message in there somewhere… Props on the Ra's Al Ghoul inspired though, Zod. It was a cool look for you
Before I get to the art I want to end my thoughts on the issue's opening scene. As Jor-El, Lara, Zor and Alura argue about their planet, Lara hands baby Kal-El to Kara. As she holds her little cousin for the first time she becomes overwhelmed with emotion calling him “the most magical thing I have ever seen.” She promises to protect him with her life and a bond is formed that will last the test of time. Just a very emotional scene that kickstarted this great issue and set the tone that these cousins are going to mean everything to each other.
Now for the spectacular art of Rod Reis. This was one of the most gorgeous issues I’ve read all year and there are a bunch of highlights I can’t wait to get into. Overall though, Reis’ art style and colors fit the tone of this story really well. There's an ethereal quality to his art and the feeling I got when I looked at the art in this story gave me a sort of dreamlike feel. I really dug it and I can't wait to see what other stuff Reis has cooking up for us with his work for this series.
The first big highlight of Reis’ I want to go over is the issues’ very first scene. What starts as something as simple as Kara sitting on a couch turns into one of the most beautiful pieces of storytelling through art I’ve seen this year. As Kara continues to hold Kal, the background of the room and the couch slowly fade away until they are the only two things left in a room full of white. It’s as if everything else in the universe doesn’t matter at that moment except these two initially forming their bond. Even if this part had no words, you would be able to see the connection build between these two characters. Just a brilliant example of how art can elevate an already fantastic narrative.
Reis’ cyberpunk-ish inspired Krypton was a really cool choice for this book. We’ve seen Krypton take many forms over the years from massive cities built of crystal to alien skyscrapers soaring to huge heights. This take on Krypton has dark and moody colors with an ominous blood red glow from the son that seems to seep into the city in some panels. It’s as if the son isn’t just providing light to Krypton but infecting it with a sickly light. Almost a harbinger of what's to shortly come. A really cool take on a planet we’ve seen look very different in the past.
When Zod is done giving his speech to his supporters, before the missiles start exploding, the bright green moon of Krypton hangs in the air as Kara looks on. It’s Kara’s last peaceful moment on Krypton, the last time she will ever text her friends and the last moment of solace she’s going to have for what we can assume is a very long time. Reis’ art during Kara and Kal’s last scene with their families is beautiful but extremely heartbreaking. You can see the pain on everyone's faces as the impossible choice to send the kids away fully sets in. Alura doesn’t want to give up her only daughter. Jor-E and Lara never got to know their baby boy. Zor never gets to see his daughter truly grow up. You can feel the emotion on every panel.
Finally, the last scene of the story contains one of the most heartbreaking splash panels I’ve seen in a long time. After Kara and Kal crash land on Krypton’s moon, she falls out of the pod and wakes up as the planet is consumed in hellfire. Kara’s hand reaching out towards a planet she can never go back to and a life that was painfully ripped away from her. Parker and Sheridan crafted an awesome narrative and Reis’ art was the icing on the cake.
Rating
Supergirl: Survive #1 kicks off the Summer of Supergirl with an emotional bang. Kara Zor-El’s journey to protect her cousin in an unforgiving universe has the potential to be one of the best stories in the House of El’s history. A killer narrative combined with Reis’ ethereal art style makes for a great debut issue. This was a great new take on Krypton’s destruction and the journey of Kara and Kal is something I will be looking forward to each month as this run progresses.
RATING: 9.5/10