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Supergirl (1996) #1-9
Supergirl
Book by David, Peter
224 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1997
5 people are currently reading
164 people want to read
About the author
Peter David
3,568 books1,365 followersaka David Peters
Peter Allen David, often abbreviated PAD, was an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films, and video games. His notable comic book work includes an award-winning 12-year run on The Incredible Hulk, as well as runs on Aquaman, Young Justice, SpyBoy, Supergirl, Fallen Angel, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2099, Captain Marvel, and X-Factor.
His Star Trek work included comic books and novels such as the New Frontier book series. His other novels included film adaptations, media tie-ins, and original works, such as the Apropos of Nothing and Knight Life series. His television work includes series such as Babylon 5, Young Justice, Ben 10: Alien Force and Nickelodeon's Space Cases, which he co-created with Bill Mumy.
David often jokingly described his occupation as "Writer of Stuff", and he was noted for his prolific writing, characterized by its mingling of real-world issues with humor and references to popular culture, as well as elements of metafiction and self-reference.
David earned multiple awards for his work, including a 1992 Eisner Award, a 1993 Wizard Fan Award, a 1996 Haxtur Award, a 2007 Julie Award and a 2011 GLAAD Media Award.
Peter Allen David, often abbreviated PAD, was an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films, and video games. His notable comic book work includes an award-winning 12-year run on The Incredible Hulk, as well as runs on Aquaman, Young Justice, SpyBoy, Supergirl, Fallen Angel, Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2099, Captain Marvel, and X-Factor.
His Star Trek work included comic books and novels such as the New Frontier book series. His other novels included film adaptations, media tie-ins, and original works, such as the Apropos of Nothing and Knight Life series. His television work includes series such as Babylon 5, Young Justice, Ben 10: Alien Force and Nickelodeon's Space Cases, which he co-created with Bill Mumy.
David often jokingly described his occupation as "Writer of Stuff", and he was noted for his prolific writing, characterized by its mingling of real-world issues with humor and references to popular culture, as well as elements of metafiction and self-reference.
David earned multiple awards for his work, including a 1992 Eisner Award, a 1993 Wizard Fan Award, a 1996 Haxtur Award, a 2007 Julie Award and a 2011 GLAAD Media Award.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
October 23, 2018
This was a weird time for Supergirl. John Byrne had reintroduced Supergirl post-Crisis as a shapeshifting, naive alien named Matrix with no personality. Peter David tries to do something interesting with the character by bonding her with Linda Danvers, a corrupted individual who has done some awful things in the past. As their personalities merge, she fights cults and demons in this arc. One of my favorite artists, Gary Frank, lends his clean, detailed pencils to the book and makes it look gorgeous.
June 12, 2017
Peter David takes on the thankless task of a comic book character whose origin requires three pages of text to outline (Lana Lang of the pocket universe Smallville, but actually a creation of the heroic Lex Luthor of that universe, a protoplasmic Matrix, who was then running around as a Supergirl in the normal DCU as the arm candy of Lex Luthor, Jr., who turned out to be actually Lex Luthor in a clone body who was going to build an army of artificial Supergirls ...) and doing something ... different with her.
Which he does, turning it all into a tale of sin, redemption, secrets, and revelations, mostly illustrated in this volume by Gary Frank. It's all more than a bit topsy-turvy, and David sometimes has a bit too much cynical fun, but I enjoy this story a lot, and have read it several times. David's wordplay, his commentary on the human condition, and the effort by the non-human Supergirl and non-heroic Linda Danvers, to be both human and heroic is highly entertaining.
Which he does, turning it all into a tale of sin, redemption, secrets, and revelations, mostly illustrated in this volume by Gary Frank. It's all more than a bit topsy-turvy, and David sometimes has a bit too much cynical fun, but I enjoy this story a lot, and have read it several times. David's wordplay, his commentary on the human condition, and the effort by the non-human Supergirl and non-heroic Linda Danvers, to be both human and heroic is highly entertaining.
March 8, 2020
This is a good if somewhat confusing and convoluted Supergirl book. Set between the Final (sic) Crisis and New 52 re-boot storylines, she's an alien protoplasmic morphing clone bonded to a rebellious young human named Linda Danvers, with a few leftover bits of Lana Lang and Mae and Kara Jor El floating about in the mix; when Lex creates a love slave, things are never simple. Following up on the John Byrne re-introduction of the character twenty-five years ago, David did a very good job of telling a coherent and compelling story with some good moments, considering the hodge-podge he had to work with. The art is quite good, if a little on the side of what would be called exploitive these days. I enjoyed the read.
Apropos of nothing, isn't it a little weird that one of DC's most powerful characters is Kara Danvers and one of Marvel's is Carol Danvers? Is it coincidence, or is there a conspiracy in the mix?
Apropos of nothing, isn't it a little weird that one of DC's most powerful characters is Kara Danvers and one of Marvel's is Carol Danvers? Is it coincidence, or is there a conspiracy in the mix?
January 2, 2013
Less about salvation of the world and more about the inner journey and inner-wrestling, this Supergirl graphic novel is intense in nature. The existential questions regarding what it means to be human and how Supergirl can attain such status pricks the reader to their core. We wrestle alongside our heroine and explore the reality that we all have the potential for good and the potential for evil inside of us. This is a well-crafted piece.
July 4, 2008
Davids turn on the SG title did not really live up to my hopes, but part of my hopes were that they were going to be more like the current, Kara-based, adventures. I guess there is only so much you can do with protean aliens. Make them into fire-winged angels... sure. Why not. It was a dark time across the DC-verse.
February 8, 2016
I really liked this series.Although not kryptonian,this Supergirl feeled really connected to Superman universe,with the crossovers and all the guess stars.But,besides that,it was a series about the journey to discover her own identity.It also had the amount of sci-fy,fantasy and magic I like in a comic.
August 28, 2024
This was my first introduction to Supergirl and to this series in the graphic novel section of my library as a teenager and I absolutely fell in love with the character! I loved the realistic complexity Linda Danvers, the body that Kara had to occupy or "fused" with after Supergirl's death in Crisis on Infinite Earth's which was barely alluded to but instead left as a way to discover through the series. Looking back, it is a bit reminiscent of Jean Grey and her occupying the body with the Dark Phoenix persona but in a very different way also (more positive and doesn't end in death for instance). Also, Linda Danvers' character was just really rad as well as a clear antihero with the way that Supergirl was written in this story! Miss this series. Read this over 10 years ago but its worth a re-read sometime soon.
If looking for a clean and non-complicated story for Supergirl though, it was better to read Geoff John's Supergirl written later & more easier to follow as it depicts an uncomplicated story of Superman & Batman discovering Supergirl upon her crash landing from Krypton and that's the story they continue to keep up. It was a total reboot. (I guess to simplify all the lore of this series, although I really liked this version even now!).
If looking for a clean and non-complicated story for Supergirl though, it was better to read Geoff John's Supergirl written later & more easier to follow as it depicts an uncomplicated story of Superman & Batman discovering Supergirl upon her crash landing from Krypton and that's the story they continue to keep up. It was a total reboot. (I guess to simplify all the lore of this series, although I really liked this version even now!).
January 4, 2022
This has to be one of the most convoluted and confusing versions of a character out there. Such a weird version of Supergirl. And I guess I get why David thought this was a good character to use to explore the concepts of souls but all the religious stuff just feels weird. There's literally a panel of Supergirl with Christ's wounds while in a cross pose. The art was good, though I wish it was more Dodson than Frank but whatever. Debating on if I even wanna seek out the rest of this run.
April 10, 2013
I decided to give some older graphic novels a read and came across this Supergirl title. Perhaps when it was publish in the 1990s it made more sense and was targeted to those who were fully versed in the Supergirl storyline. I wasn't - and had no idea until I read other reviews here that it wasn't even a Supergirl comic (Kara Jor El). I guess it's about a construct by Lex Luthor that takes over the body of a dying woman. Guess one REALLY has to read the opening, small printed, text at the beginning of the book after all.
Since I had no idea this wasn't the real Supergirl, I was really baffled by the way people talked to her, with dialogue constantly and trying to hard to bring up issues of her not being real. It didn't help that since she is not a real person, she talks like an emotionless robot. Really, the writing in this is transparently obvious to push the storyline and create more reasons for the fake Supergirl to mope on about her existential crisis.
The whole novel seems to be, "who am I, woe is me, I am not real." The Linda Danvers story is just silly - demon from another dimension and cultists. Yawn, Buffy did it better.
The artwork is fully entrenched in that period between square jawed 1980s and the emergence of the Top Cow soft porn era. Half the images look like the characters should be wearing a-line dresses in bright shades of pink and shoulder pads - and the other half needing only a trademark long strand of hair over the face and g-string peeking above the jeans. In all, it's really a bit too cliche and all the less interesting for being so firmly grounded in the wasteland of the early 1990s.
Like the art, the story is also in that 1990s neverland. Part attempts at Dark Knight/Daredevil metaphysical ramblings (read: am I real?) and then part fantastical creations (read: demons and cultists).
I had a hard time slogging through this without rolling my eyes. This is one title that definitely didn't stand the test a time and certainly didn't make great use of the conventions of the era in which it was written.
It's a reminder of how far graphic novels have come, especially in the past 4 years.
Since I had no idea this wasn't the real Supergirl, I was really baffled by the way people talked to her, with dialogue constantly and trying to hard to bring up issues of her not being real. It didn't help that since she is not a real person, she talks like an emotionless robot. Really, the writing in this is transparently obvious to push the storyline and create more reasons for the fake Supergirl to mope on about her existential crisis.
The whole novel seems to be, "who am I, woe is me, I am not real." The Linda Danvers story is just silly - demon from another dimension and cultists. Yawn, Buffy did it better.
The artwork is fully entrenched in that period between square jawed 1980s and the emergence of the Top Cow soft porn era. Half the images look like the characters should be wearing a-line dresses in bright shades of pink and shoulder pads - and the other half needing only a trademark long strand of hair over the face and g-string peeking above the jeans. In all, it's really a bit too cliche and all the less interesting for being so firmly grounded in the wasteland of the early 1990s.
Like the art, the story is also in that 1990s neverland. Part attempts at Dark Knight/Daredevil metaphysical ramblings (read: am I real?) and then part fantastical creations (read: demons and cultists).
I had a hard time slogging through this without rolling my eyes. This is one title that definitely didn't stand the test a time and certainly didn't make great use of the conventions of the era in which it was written.
It's a reminder of how far graphic novels have come, especially in the past 4 years.
November 16, 2011
Peter David explores the afterlife with his opening opus on the Girl of Steel. Taking the bio-plasmic Matrix version and merging her with cult victim Linda Danvers opens up a human side that had been lacking in the 1990 DC Universe version of the character. As Supergirl explores her human side - including failings and faults, she must also tackle existential crises that threaten to tear apart her new "soul." While I admire the complexity of David's plan, this volume fails to bring the nuances to light. You would need background information on Final Night, Superman crossovers, and missing issues involving Buzz and his schemes to get the full scope of the story. While the girl power is there, the Super is not in this selected collection.
July 28, 2012
Supergirl's tangled origin stories are frustrating, and this attempt to sort the out seems forced and unsatisfying. The existential angst about her past makes Supergirl more of a victim than a hero, and means that she fails to focus on the job of saving lives. Superman should not have to step in for her. She's too weak, and I'm not interested in reading about weak women.
April 11, 2008
I loved the way Peter David revamped the Matrix character. After Crisis of Infinite Earths, they needed to do something
Read
February 1, 2009The Final Night
October 30, 2016
Leído en los tomitos finitos de Vid que algún día me gustaría completar. O, mejor todavía, conseguir la saga completa en los 4 tomotes de Planeta. Soy más inocente que Matrix...
March 17, 2011
fun to read
January 26, 2015
I wasn't expecting the many twists and turns that this book gave.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews