Back Issue Box: Supergirl #52 - Supergirl And Riot Part 2

Today I am reviewing Supergirl #52, the second part of Supergilr (Linda Danvers) scuffle with Riot, a recent villain the current Supergirl fought. I reviewed part one yesterday.

To recap, a recently depowered Supergirl is in Metropolis to let Superman know she is alive. Unfortunately, before she can find him, she runs into Riot and the Prankster. Unsure of her powers, she faces off against these foes.

I have to say rereading these issues, I remember why I loved this series so much. Because it clearly was as much about character growth as it was super-strength.

And much like the Gates/Igle team, the David/Kirk team was a steadying force, a constant.

Despite the fact that Riots are swarming Metropolis, it turn out the original is still in the asylum/prison he was being held in.

And he seems to be taking great satisfaction from abusing his therapist ... physically and mentally. I always thought Riot was more of a goofy character so this level of malevolence made me look at him in a new light. He is pretty creepy.

Back in Metropolis, Supergirl thinks she has run into Steel.

It turns out it's the Prankster operating inside the armor. And he wallops Supergirl with a spring-loaded boxing glove inside a mock-up of Steel's hammer. Ridiculous. But amusing.

The blow sends Supergirl crashing into a nearby building. There, the people don't believe that she is THE Supergirl. Remember, Supergirl is supposed to be dead.

And Linda isn't as tall .... or as busty ... as the Earth Angel Supergirl. I love Linda can't believe she has to defend her cup size to the public. You can feel her sense of indignation. It is a funny little running gag that ran through these earliest issues of this arc.

Riot is working with the Prankster and follows Supergirl into the building and decides it is time to attack.

I love this panel. Supergirl looks just beset by this wave of Riots jumping on her.

It is clear that this Supergirl doesn't have bike shorts. But it was never an issue since there weren't many prurient up-skirt shots. And it is explained that the blond wig is somehow telekinetically attached to Linda's head so it cannot be removed.

I do think that occasionally Peter David tries a little too hard to inject humor into his dialogue. He walks a fine line between what is enough and what is too much. In this issue, it felt like he was trying a little too hard. Riot's dialogue seems forced ... or scripted ... not natural.

Pinned under a mountain of Riots, Supergirl hoists them all and throws them and her into the building's vault.

In an act of quick thinking, she slams the door trapping everyone within and then hits the fire-retardant system. The safe floods with carbon dioxide, in essence suffocating the riots into unconsciousness.

Unfortunately, Supergirl doesn't know her own powers yet. She doesn't have the strength to rip the door off the hinges. Nor does she have the lungs to hold her breath indefinitely. She is about to lose consciousness when the Prankster opens the door to free Riot. Better to be lucky than good, I always say.

She and the Prankster battle out into the flooded streets where Linda hopes to defeat the armored villain by electrocuting him. While it does some damage, the Prankster is still up and is now angry.

Before he can resume his attack, he is chased off by some Team Luthor troops.

And so Supergirl is reunited with Luthor before she is with Superman. Lex doesn't recognize her as the Supergirl he romanced and assumes she is someone trying to pick up the Girl of Steel's mantle.

Linda really has nothing but contempt for Luthor but plays it coy.

After a little investigating, Supergirl realizes that Riot has never been reported as being missing from his prison. Deciding to investigate, she runs into him about to murder his psychiatrist.

Riot is somewhat difficult to defeat. You can't hit him without creating more dupes. Again, showing how smart she is, Supergirl takes a different path. She wraps him up in a sheet and holds him underwater until he gets knocked out. While the end result is perfect, it is interesting that she, in essence, drowns him to win. If he remains underwater a little bit longer, he might be dead.

Just as Riot is choked out, who shows up but Superman.

What a great ending panel. The Matrix/Linda Supergirl had really become family for Superman. You can see how much they mean too each other. This really just conveyed the affection that Superman and Supergirl have for each other. I am sure he might describe Linda as being as close as a cousin.  Her smile and expression are just perfect.

I think I have talked enough about this series for people to know that I loved it. I hadn't read these issues in a while and enjoyed them more than I figured I would. The whole concept of Supergirl having 'died' and needing to convince people she has truly returned was a nice little thread.

And it was also fun to see Linda explore her new power limitation and use her brains to defeat the villains.

And Leonard Kirk really did a great job here, showing us that this was Linda in a costume, a normally-proportioned young woman fighting for what's right.

These are nice little issues and good opening exploration of the new arc this title was building.

Overall grade: B/B+

Back Issue Box: Supergirl #51 - Supergirl And Riot Pt 1

I enjoyed the recent and brief battle between Supergirl and Riot in Supergirl #58. I get the sense that Sterling Gates likes Riot as a villain. We have seen Riot in World's Finest #2 as well. Heck, he was even in Supergirl #42, when Agent Assassin used hallucinogenic gas to free Reactron. Riot is sort of a 'Madrox gone wrong' character, creating dupes and overwhelming his opponents.

But this Supergirl isn't the first Supergirl to fight Riot. So I figured in a slow news week, why not take a look back at when the Linda Danvers Supergirl fought Riot, back in Supergirl #51 and Supergirl #52.

Supergirl #51 was the beginning of a major new story arc in the Peter David run on Supergirl.

Supergirl #50 was the culmination of massive opus looking at religion, redemption, and super-heroics. The holy Earth Angel Supergirl had just battled the demon Carnivore and sacrificed herself to save the world.

David is clearly a big Supergirl fan and put in homages and twists to link this Linda Danvers to the pre-Crisis version. So here, he had the world recognize that Supergirl saved the world but believe that she had died in the battle. Basically, David sort of recreated the immediate post-Crisis #7 world. Supergirl was dead but had saved everyone.

Supergirl was and wasn't dead. The angelic aspect of her had been stripped away from Linda Danvers, leaving her mostly depowered and on a quest to reunite with that part of her she had lost.

The issue starts with us seeing Riot in a Metropolis lab/asylum/prison. He is slowly making progress with his therapy.

But there are evil powers at work in Metropolis ... powers that could use a villain like Riot working for them. And so, the Prankster arrives in the building and frees Riot, asking the duplicate man to join him in creating havoc throughout the city. It is clear that Riot is quite mad. While he might not be the most organized or efficient super-villain, Riot is enough of a nuisance that he would keep the heroes and authorities busy.

I really liked this title page. Linda is ruminating over the fact that she was once in touch with something celestial but now that part of her is gone, is far away. I thought this version of Supergirl as a constellation was a nice way of conveying that.

Linda is unclear of exactly who she is right now. She wants to recapture that aspect of Supergirl that is missing. She feels empty. Her quest involves following the Chaos Stream back to its source, supposedly where the angelic aspect is. And the only person who can sense the Stream is suddenly mortal demon Buzz.

But her first stop is Metropolis to let Superman know that she is alive and well.

This whole second arc, which ran from Supergirl #51-74 could have been called 'Who is Linda Danvers?'

Remember, Linda became Supergirl when her Matrix 'pure soul' sacrificed itself to save Linda's tainted one. Linda was an evil person. She describes herself as angry, bitter, homicidal. The first fifty issues of this run looked at redemption ... could the fused Supergirl overcome all of her prior faults, could she forgive herself ... and more importantly be forgiven. Linda had come a long way from that fallen soul from the early issues.

But here she wonders ... how much of that change was because of Supergirl. Without the angelic Supergirl, will she be 'good'? Will she revert to her flawed ways. It is hard to look in the mirror and wonder just which Linda is looking back.

Luckily, she doesn't have much time to dwell on that. Metropolis is currently flooded from a recent tidal wave. And now, Riot is running roughshod on jet-skis. It's time for Supergirl to jump into action.

But Linda has been de-powered. She can't simply transform into the statuesque Supergirl anymore. She needs a costume. And she knows just where to find it.

Running into a costume/super-hero based clothing store, she cobbles together a new Supergirl uniform including a blond wig.

And so we see the first shot of this version of the Supergirl uniform, based on the Bruce Timm designed DCAU Supergirl. I have to say, this version kind of grew on me.

In another way the David looked back at the past, Supergirl basically had the powers of the earliest Superman issues. She is nearly invulnerable. She can bend steel in her bare hands.

Dropping a lightpost onto the rampaging Riot stops them in their tracks. With their actions halted, the dupes disappear, reabsorbed by the original Riot who is suspiciously absent.

The Prankster turns out to be working for Lord Satanus. Satanus had a brief run-in with the Angelic Supergirl in the first arc. Like everyone else, he thought she had died in the battle with the carnivore.

I loved this description of Linda. There is a 'touch of the divine' here. She is sort of an empty shell. Whatever she is, Satanus doesn't want her in the city he is trying to take control of. He sends the Prankster out to see if this Supergirl is the 'two who are one' and try to split them off from each other.

In another fun scene, Supergirl has to try to explain to the police that she really is Supergirl. The world thinks Supergirl died fighting the Carnivore. So everyone assumes that this smaller Supergirl is a 'wannabe', a replacement Supergirl. Everyone keeps bringing up The Reign of the Supermen, and how they should expect other 'Supergirls' to show up. It ends up being something of a running gag in these early issues.

And she learns the hard way that she can't fly, only jump an eighth of a mile (again an homage to the earliest description of Superman's powers).

With Riot still free, Superman unaware that she is living, and discovering that Lex Luthor (her old lover remember) is ahead in the polls for President, Supergirl has a lot on her plate for her visit in Metropolis.

All that ... and the Prankster is after her. Sounds like this is 'to be continued'! I'll review the ending of this story tomorrow.

I thought the PAD Supergirl was a very original and innovative run. I have said it many times that I absolutely loved the first 50 issues. This second arc seemed to go on a bit too long for my taste. But the underlying theme of 'who is Linda Danvers' was a solid backbone for these issues. In the end, Linda learns that she has been redeemed, that she is good, as she makes a sacrifice of her own. This first part of a new direction was fun and engaging. I wonder if it was too enmeshed with the first arc to be easily accessible to a new reader who might have tried it.

Leonard Kirk's work is wonderful ... synonymous with this title, the way I picture the Linda Danvers Supergirl in my mind. And given that Gary Frank drew the first 9 issues, that is high high praise.

More riotous Riot action coming up tomorrow!

Overall grade: B/B+