Supergirl, Volume 4: Out of the Past

Supergirl (2011)

by Michael Alan Nelson (Writer), Scott Lobdell (Writer), Justin Jordan (Writer)

In the aftermath of H'EL ON EARTH, Supergirl's world has been shattered in every way possible. Kara Zor-El searches the stars for a new home, but in doing so, encounters one of Superman's deadliest enemies in his New 52 debut: Cyborg Superman!

New writer Michael Alan Nelson takes over the Girl of Steel in SUPERGIRL VOL. 4.

Collecting: Supergirl #21-25, Superman #25 and Superman – Action Comics #23.1.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Dc Comics, Superheroes, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction

142 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 18, 2014

About the author

Michael Alan Nelson grew up in a small Indiana farming community before moving to Los Angeles in 2002. He is the winner of the 2004 New Times 55 Fiction contest for his short-short "The Conspirators" and was awarded the 2011 Glyph Comics Award for Best Female Character for the character Selena from his series "28 Days Later." Michael is the author of the critically acclaimed comic series "Hexed," "Dingo," and "Fall of Cthulhu." His current ongoing titles include "Day Men" and the relaunch of the fan-favorite series "Hexed." His first prose novel, "Hexed: the Sisters of Witchdown" arrives May 5th, 2015. He lives in Los Angeles.

Reviews

[Jayson · Rating 2 out of 5]

(B-) 71% | Satisfactory
Notes: Mostly mediocre, flat and flawed but fine enough, its final third just lays a turd, and stinks the place up pretty rough.

*Progress updates: Preamble ◦ Issues #21-22 ◦ Issue #23 and Action Comics #23.1

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

Pink Taco Buddy Read with my fellow Shallow Readers!
Criteria for this one? Anything with a female lead.



The problem with this volume isn't the actual Supergirl issues. They're ok.
Not great, just ok.
Supergirl has Kryptonite poisoning from her run in with H'el, so she takes off into space to 'die alone'...or something. She runs into a planet that can become any other planet, and it needs her memories to become Krypton...because that's the purpose of the planet.
But.
Not all is as it seems!
Duh.
Cyborg Superman is the one behind luring Kara to this place, and he has nefarious plans, yadda, yadda, yadda. To be honest, it didn't make much of an impression on me one way or another. There's a BIG REVEAL at the end, but since it has to do with all that 'Let's revive even more fucking people from Krypton' bullshit, that I'm not a super-duper fan of, I didn't care as much as maybe I should have.
Still, it seems like there may be forward movement in Kara's maturity level, and I consider that a good thing.
Inch by precious inch...

It was the need to add in all the confusing time travel shit that really killed this one for me. You're basically dumped into an entirely unexplained storyline with Kara, Superman, and Superboy that somehow involves going back in time to stop H'el from wreaking havoc.
Except didn't they just finish stopping H'el?
M'kay.
H'el is somehow pinging around the timeline, including alternate timelines, trying to save Krypton.
Wait for it...
So that he can then DESTROY Krypton!
What the actual fuck is going on here?!
I don't' even know when or where this story is taking place in all of these titles. I just finished Superman: Psi War which is volume 4 of that one, and there was no mention of any timey-wimey stuff in there.
You know what would help?
If these 'crossover' events would kinda-sorta match up with the corresponding volumes. Like, say for example, if I were to read something in Supergirl volume 4 that had to do with an event happening with Superman, the missing information could then be (I'm just spit-balling here) found in Superman volume 4.
Are they trying to get people to purchase more comics than necessary to finish out stories like this?
Oh, DC, you wily beast!

Only recommended for Super-fans of Supergirl.

Get this review and more at:

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was getting kind of tired of Supergirl being sick, so thankfully that arc is now over. Some neat ideas storywise but it's tied into the Superman comics too much so that's not as enjoyable for me. Hopefully Supergirl gets a new story to tell instead of piggy-backing on Supes.

Issue #22 has a really cool cover:

(spoiler only because the image is large)


I wrote a separate review for issue #23.1 on the off-chance someone skipped it when this series was being released. I think it's important enough not to miss it.

Also, it has this which I chuckled at:



which then made me think of this:



Heh.

[Lost Planet Airman]

Transition form last volume to this one was pretty rocky -- a dropped into the middle of the action sort of way. The plot for the next half of the book hangs together well, but then we get to a crossover of some kind between Superboy, Supergirl, and Superman, with time-streams crossing and alternate histories, and the lack of crossover hints really messes with any clear understanding of what is going on.
on the plus side, we get a thorough coverage of Cyborg Superman's history in the New 52. The writers did well, but it is not as satisfying as the original C.S. (although much more believable), calling into question the reasonableness of the classic Death of Superman fallout that C.S. was involved in."

[Kyle · Rating 2 out of 5]

As part of the grand New 52 Supergirl arc, this collection was pretty good. We got to see Kara evolve quite a bit, she has become more mature, grown more comfortable in her identity, found a larger purpose in life... but as a stand-alone collection, it wasn't that great. The main plot involving Cyborg Superman (or Cy for short, apparently) is kinda lack-lustre, and not very compelling since so much time is dedicated to explaining-away a strange, alien collective entity. By the time Braniac got involved in the story, I simply stopped caring.

What truly dragged this collection down was the Return of Krypton crossover issues. Yeesh. It would have been wiser to just leave those issues out of this book and collect them elsewhere with the rest of the storyline. Just awful, convoluted, stuff. Aggravating to push through, in fact.

Personally, I enjoy the Super-family when they are pitted against Earthly conflicts. It makes them more relatable and sympathetic.
2.5/5

[Mimi.Y · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ohmygosh !! Whew.. I had to spell it out...because as you see the start date was like the beginning of the year. Jada & I are on vacation NOW so can catch up on reading . Luckily my brain is in vacation mode so I'm able to comprehend all the darn timelines that's was created. Mind you my daughter loved it . 😒 yep thats my face buttt she entitled to her own opinion. Will I torture myself and try to think positive and pick up another one...ahhh NOPE.

[John Yelverton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book series cannot decide if it wants to be awesome or awful. Teenage angst is cranked up to eleven; tragedy is served up with a thick layer of melodrama; followed by a brat lashing out at the world around her; and then there's a shocking ending only compounded by its heart wrenching nature. I just hope this roller coaster ride doesn't make me throw up.

[Jesse A · Rating 3 out of 5]

A step down in quality. (Due almost entirely to the involvement of Butthole Scott Lobdell, no doubt.) After a strong start this one is settling into the top rung of the B-list of New 52 titles.

[Stephen Abell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again the Supergirl Universe gets bigger and stronger. After the fatal conclusion to H'El On Earth Supergirl is afraid and turns to her one true friend Siobhan. Unfortunately, for her, Siobahn is having a bad day too and rips into Kara. Kara takes off and runs away from Earth after stealing a space scooter from Dr Veritas. It's not long before she comes across a city, on another planet (I'Noxia), that's under attack... except everything isn't quite what it appears.

Writer, Michael Alan Nixon is great at weaving a tale full of action and twists that will keep you guessing what's going to happen next. Artist, Diogenes Neves' style compliments the story and the Supergirl character superbly.

There's a lot to like about this story and I would highly recommend fans to buy this volume, even though it does compromises of two chapters of Krypton Returns - Chapter 3 and 4. Since these aren't part of the whole story it makes the chapters pointless - the curse of the Cross-over arc.

I could go into depth on the Out Of The Past storyline but I don't want to spoil it for you by giving too much away.

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Supergirl Vol. 4: Out of the Past

Weakened by kryptonite poisoning, Kara ends up on I'Noxia, where thought and memory can become reality. This new reality comes at a cost, as Cyborg Superman will teach her. The final battle with H'El changes how Kara feels about Kal-El and Kon-El.

An exceptionally well presented collection, where the art and the plot combine to push Kara to new heights.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this better than the earlier books in the series. I am not a big Supergirl fan, and I hate her over-sexualized costume, but this one was an improvement over the others because it wasn't just about rage. There was more depth here even though I still think Supergirl is a brat.

[Jenny Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was pretty good, but still suffered from some crossoveritis. Not near as bad as the previous volume, but still some. I do like that most of Kara's internal monologue is gone by this point. Far reaching consequences and good action.

[Molly · Rating 2 out of 5]

(2.5) I’m losing the plot the plot

[Keegan Schueler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting take by New 52 on Cyborg Superman.

[Michael Church · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book just can't get it together ever since the first volume. The art from Mahmad Asrar is long gone and the writing by Michael Nelson has gone really far downhill. It switches back and forth between a juvenile pout-fest and a pathetic attempt at sounding self-important. What's worse is how disjointed the story is. The whole Cyborg Superman story goes fine. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the new origin for the villain, and it seems like the whole situation's logic is terribly, terribly flawed, but I'm no scientist. The beginning is still a bit abrupt, though. It tries to make it all tie back to H'El on Earth, but there are still some gaps and it's not as explained as I would have liked. It's not that I like things being spelled out, but I also don't like having to make jumps in logic. Also, there are some moments where Kara's powers really don't make sense. It's more like she's a Dragonball Z fighter than a Kryptonian.

The Cyborg Superman origin issue is alright. I don't really like how a certain character was involved...plus there was an editorial mishap with the timing of everything from what I could tell. And why put it as one of the Action Comics villains month issues? Why not just give it to Supergirl? She didn't have a single villains month comic and Superman already had like 6, plus it would have made NO sense t be pulled into an Action Comics collected edition. It's little editorial things like this that just grate on me.

Then there is the secondary story with "Krypton Returns." Again, it only included half of the whole story (parts 3 and 4 of 4), so it really didn't make any sense. It brings in Oracle, and a character is already being brought back from the dead with ridiculous powers that, at least with the content provided here, make absolutely no sense. Time travel is tough to do in the best of circumstances, but now it's being thrown around willy-nilly in what seems like very single comic book on the shelves. And the whole crossover aspect of it. Even the two issues here are from two separate books. It's just pitiful and frustrating. There are books everywhere that pull characters into story lines as a secondary lead without having to hijack their book (look at Batwoman's World's Finest arc with Wonder Woman). Having a whole line of books put their individual stories on hold every time something is happening just slows down the process and makes all of the books suffer.

Anyway, off of my soap box. The bottom line is that I'm disappointed again by another title that is too preoccupied with making things happen for the sake of happening, rather than pacing it out and making sure it all feels natural and that readers care about the characters. If Kara had died in this volume, it would've just been a relief that I didn't need to worry about whether or not to buy Volume 5. Unless you are a die-hard Supergirl fan, or maybe even if you are, I would steer clear of this series and not get yourself invested.

[Ricky Ganci · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let's say 3.5 stars--because, like some of the earlier New 52 Supergirl collections, there were some truly great moments in which Kara confronts her anger and the sense of loss at the destruction of Krypton and the life she knew. The issue that tracked Zor-El's conflict with Jor-El about how best to save Krypton from destruction was outstanding. The absolute beating she hands to an adversary during the final confrontation of the Krypton Returns storyline was perhaps the first time in the New 52 where Kara took control of a situation without much self-doubt or emotional pandering. That is where I hope the story of Supergirl goes between now and the end of her New 52 run.

But the rest of the book is status quo--Kara is angry that Krypton is gone. She mistrusts the right people, trusts the wrong people, and makes rash decisions that the writers really don't clarify. There's a lot--still--of weeping and self-pity about Krypton, and that has become tiresome and does disservice to the character. In her history, she has struggled (as would anybody) with having of the powers of a Kryptonian and living up to her father's legacy across time and space. Jeph Loeb handled that expertly back in 2005, as did the pre-Crisis writers of the early 1980's.

This time around, however, the character has become somewhat stale in the weepiness, and for the first four collections of the New 52 run, there has been little to no character development. Kara is still upset, and for all of the struggles she has faced, the writers seem hesitant to allow her grow as the inheritor of her father's legacy. In Out of the Past, things stall with the Super-team writers' decision to focus too much on the possibility of bringing Krypton back, and though there's a lot of great looks back at Kara's last days on Krypton, her character does not move forward very much, and that makes for a disappointing collection of comic books. It's still worth a read for the ways in which it advances the story, but it's far short of the potential that the character holds.

[karenbee · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a blurb on the front of Out of the Past that says "Supergirl feels like we really can't have any expectations, because anything is possible." Oh, blurb-writer, how correct you are. Anything is possible, because I can make up half of the story IN MY HEAD since everything everywhere is effing crossovers.

I had a hard time warming up to this volume because I don't get along with Diogenes Neves's artwork. I can't draw so Neves shouldn't take this personally. (I know, artists love to troll Goodreads reviews looking for criticism to fuel their creativity.) Anyway, Neves penciled most of the first storyline. I couldn't really get a good handle on Kara's personality in this story, either, but I couldn't tell how much of that was because I was distracted by the art.

The last story in the collection is ANOTHER GD CROSSOVER and this volume only collects the two final issues (I think) of "Krypton Returns." Superman and Superboy are in there so I assume the other issues are somewhere in their TPBs. It seemed like an interesting story, especially after I made up the first half in my head. H'el is in there to remind me how irritated I was about THAT crossover, which is nice.

If I were buying these, and I hadn't stopped after the last volume, I would most def be done now. Supergirl has so much potential as a character but everything seems sort of slapped together in these comics. I feel like it could all be so much better.


(two-and-a-half stars)

[Emmett Spain · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm still not convinced we'll ever get a great Supergirl book. This isn't cynicism so much as exhaustion--I'm invested in the Superman family and hold out hope of Kara's potential as a character being realised, but once again the story seems to focus on one aspect of Kara--she misses Krypton--and builds stories around it. Enough is enough--it's time to let Kara be more interesting than this.

That said, this is certainly a step up from previous collections. Michael Alan Nelson writes well for a younger audience, and is adept with humour. The art, as always for these New 52 Supergirl collections, is really strong. Still, it can't help but feel that the direction of this title means it will never be great. Good is the best we can hope for.

Warning: 2 issues of the trade relate to an event, collected in full in Krypton Returns, which is one of the weakest bunches of **** collected in some time. Frustrating.

[Daniel Butcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is likely my favorite DC cosmic offering to date. I like what happened here with Cyborg Superman and the space background to the story.

The buts are...Villains month, why was Cyborg Superman a Action Comics offering not Supergirl like it should have been and it is good that it is included here. I think that DC really poorly labeled the Villains month...Black Manta and Oceanmaster still not published (I have a grudge).

We get dropped into part 3 of 4 of the story arc Krypton Returns...so it is a little off putting and why I did not give the volume a 4. They do conclude the arc, but I have no idea how it started.

[Tomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would call this book a prequel. There are some answers here but mostly it is here to illustrate the reason Supergirl belongs to Red Lanterns. The frustration of Kara reaches critical point from which there is no turning back (except for Saint Walker on Mogo..you think that we forgot about him?). I especially enjoyed the origin story of Cyborg Superman which has a really nice possible consequences. But overall this book is just waiting for the great things to happen. Can be skipped but it was not bad reading anyway..but H'el lost his edge..it is just another deranged being who needs to be stopped.

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Check out my online review! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B49V2s...

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very inconsistent title. When its good its really good. When its not, it is a confusing mess. The fact they they add parts of other stories here does not help at all.

[Robert · Rating 1 out of 5]

Needlessly, pointlessly, stupidly confusing time travel story arc. Avoid at all costs.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked some of it but definetly not the best Supergirl trade out there.

[Lea · Rating 3 out of 5]

That was SO FREAKING CONFUSING.

[Elinor · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,75
La fin de l'histoire avec H'el était un peu confusante (comme je n'ai pas lu le reste du cross-over) mais c'était sympa, globalement.

[Jade · Rating 2 out of 5]

the deja vu was strong with this one.

[Batgirl_ALT_21 · Rating 3 out of 5]

The majority of this volume felt like a weird dream sequence, while the remainder felt like a 'Call to Arms'. This series has been a real hit or miss, so to say this was probably the best that Supergirl has to offer in the New 52 is kinda sad 😒.

We begin with Kara zipping through through the universe on a K-1 cruiser, aka space bike that she stole from Dr. Veritas, which is followed by a major planet explosion. The timeline then shifts to 2 days past in NYC when Supergirl pays Siobhan a visit who is cleaning up a closet full of crud from her upstairs neighbor's sewage issue...lovely 🙄. The 2 argue as Kara reveals that she will be leaving Earth, and Siobhan retorted with harsh remarks that life isn't perfect and we all have a rough deal. Kara leaves, and before doing so, tell Siobhan that she is dying.

Kara is then once more flying through the universe and arrives on a planet named I'NOXIA as buildings crash down made of heavy organic self-repairing materials. 2 men are revealed to be plating the welcome of Supergirl as they command the people to cheer for their hero, Supergirl. An old man arrives, claiming to be their leader and share the world of I'NOXIA with Supergirl, revealing that this world can bring to life memories, language, and even some of her culture from Krypton back to life by using a past gladiator warrior Val-Ro and her beast as an example. Kara then meets a Cyborg Superman who further shares the wonders that this world could provide to Supergirl by having her memories of her childhood home reconstituted and the ability to see replicas of her past friends & family. For a moment, Supergirl feels nothing but immense joy until Cyborg Superman learns that she is dying of Kryptonite poison and offers a deal. Cyborg Superman proposes that in exchange for Kara's body, he will give her immortality as a joined part of I'NOXIA. Kara refuses and flies off only to be chased by a sea of past memories of all whom she's ever fought from Wonder Woman to Mr. Tsycho, as well as an army of her own manifested rage. Kara is eventually subdued and trapped as Cyborg Superman initiates the body transfer, which turns Supergirl's energy into the planet and Cyborg Superman into his true form as Zor-El

In the following issues, we learn of Zor-El & Jor-El's differences, which led to their fallout, the final day of Krypton as the City of Argo was temporarily saved as well as how Zor-El survived and was later changed into Cyborg Superman by Brainaic. Brainiac approved of Zor-El's form as Cyborg Superman then sent out his 'perfect' minion to bring forth other perfect specimens. This leads us on a senseless side quest that reveals more about Cyborg Superman's distorted morality then we see how Brainiac wishes to study the Kryptonite poisoning of Kara when Zor-El reverses the process which then grants Kara back her body, explodes Brainiac's ship, and reverts him back to a memory-less Cyborg Superman while the consciousness of I'NOXIA & Supergirl Escape.

What follows is a brief explanation of how Supergirl was thrust into the past as we once again return to the events of H'el as Kara leads a Clone army to victory. The main ending of H'el or 'The Return of Krypton' plays out. Supergirl & Superman return to earth as Superboy sacrifices himself, and apparently, the universe is restored thanks to the approval of the Oracle 🤨.

Yeah, all in all, this was a rather confusing and poorly written space side quest story for Supergirl that does our hero no justice whatsoever 🙄. I swear that the dream sequice memory thing was dumb because we didn't even get the shared grand reveal that Cyborg Superman was Zor-El because he let it remain a secret from his daughter and the whole H'el on Earth thing has been played out at least 4 times during this run. High key, the whole body swap thing between Kara & Zor- El, her literal father, was F-ing creepy 🫥. Hopefully, Vol 5 is better because this series is really testing my patience 😤😒👎. 6.0/10 🌟.

[Krzysztof Grabowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nowe przygody Kary możemy tym razem podzielić na dwie części. W pierwszej, całkiem fajnej zresztą(miejscami myślałem nawet o daniu czwartej gwiazdki) widzimy dziewczynę, która po kłótni z współlokatorką ucieka w kosmos w jakimś ścigaczu, jednocześnie wiedząc, że prawdopodobnie zginie, bo po pierwszym starciu z H'el w jej żyłach płynie kryptonit, który ją powoli zabija. W swojej ostatniej podróży trafia na planetę, gdzie formy życia mogą przyjąć taką formę, jaką ona sobie wymarzy, po udostępnieniu swoich wspomnień. Wraca zatem część Kryptonu. Druga, dużo gorsza partia tomu, to crossover z Supermanem i Superboy'em, gdzie ponownie wraca H'el, ale miesza on w kontinuum czasoprzestrzennym, co nasi bohaterowie muszą odkręcać. Te dwa zeszyty popsuły mi całkowicie finalny odbiór nowych przygód Supergirl, więc skupię się na tej lepszej stronie.

Przy okazji zaznajamiania się z opasłym tomiszczem jakim był New 52 Villains Omnibus miałem przyjemność czytać historię poświęconą niejakiemu Cyborg Superman. Była to jedna z lepszych opowiadań, które tutaj zresztą zawarto. Rzeczony przeciwnik się tutaj pojawia i ma jeden cel: osłabić Karę, przejąć jej ciało, wprowadzić świadomość Kary do świadomości zbiorowej lokalnej obcej inteligencji(I'Noxia) i stać się dzięki temu "kompletnym". Zaskoczyło mnie to, że mu się w ogóle udało i to kim się stał.

Jakby tego było mało w tym dziwacznym świecie pojawia się konstruktor Cyborg Supermana, który miał co do Kary własne plany i ma teraz zadrę z robotem, niszcząc co popadnie. Jedynym ratunkiem wydaje się odwrócenie całego procesu, gdyż ma to wymiar nie tylko praktyczny, bo Kara broi jak może w tej zbiorowej świadomości, ale i emocjonalny. To się naprawdę udało. Supergirl nadal wygląda też naprawdę bajecznie i przyjemnie czyta mi się jej nieco naiwne, ale szczere pojmowanie świata. I te sekwencje, gdy mieszkańcy I'Noxia przyjmują formy postaci, które w pewien sposób są powiązane z jej co prawda chwilowymi, ale negatywnymi uczuciami.

Myślę, że kreska z całej trójki bohaterów z przedrostkiem Super w przypadku Kary jest najlepsza i nie ma się co dziwić. Liczę na więcej, choć wolałbym aby skończyli już te crossovery, bo są one wyjątkowo słabe, aby nie rzec tandetne i zbędne.

[Rick Hunter · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume contains Supergirl #21-25, Action Comics #23.1, and Superman #25. Issues #21-24 of Supergirl pick up not long after the events of the H'el on Earth crossover event between the Supergirl, Superman, and Superboy comics. Kara is dying of Kryptonite poisoning and has fled Earth. While in space, she comes across this planet that has the purpose of keeping dead planets alive through memory. Any knowledge gained about the deceased planet can be made to make this new planet look exactly like the dead one. The matter this weird planet is made allows it to be shaped by a person's memories. Those memories just have to be added to this collective mind that serves as a database.

While on this planet, Cyborg Superman makes his first New 52 appearance. He has pretty dastardly plan that will leave Supergirl dead and him made whole again. Amidst all of the other chaos going on, Brainiac shows up. Can't really say what he's doing there without this review being completely laden with spoilers. Between issues #23 and #24 of Supergirl, issue #23.1 of Action Comics is inserted. This issue tells the New 52 origin of Cyborg Superman. Due to the way things unfold in the previous issues, that origin story organically fits in that particular spot. The fact that it is also written by the same guy that wrote the Supergirl issues has something to do with how it was laid out that way.

That writer is Michael Alan Nelson. He's the 3rd series writer out of the 4 volumes so far. (The other 2 writers were Michael Greene and Mike Johnson. So, I'm wondering if DC thought that only someone named Michael or one of that names derivatives could write this series.) Anyways, Nelson didn't really miss a beat taking over from the last 2 guys. Kara is still an extremely angry person that has lost everything she ever cared about. Each of the last 2 villains she has come across have used that anger and her longing for Krypton to get to her.

This story was going along pretty well, seeming like it was about to come to a completion with the next issue, and blam, I turn the page and have absolutely no idea what is going. I actually stopped reading and had to peruse the internet to find out what was going on. It turns out that the final 2 issues in the book, Supergirl #25 and Superman #25, are parts 3 and 4 of a crossover event called "Krypton Returns". This book should have either ended with Supergirl #24 or it should have also included Action Comics Annual #2 and Superboy #25, which are parts 1 and 2 of "Krypton Returns". Whoever decided to put the second half of a crossover event in this book without including the first half should be taken outside and publicly flogged. Now I have to track down those other 2 issues just so I can know how what happened to even set into motion the things that happen in the last 2 issues of this book.

The whole Krypton story is plotted by Scott Lobdell so I have no doubt that it'll be good. I liked what happed in those final issues of this book. I just have no idea how the hell we got to that point and it's irritating me. Lobdell writes the Superman issue alone and plotted out what happened in Supergirl #25. Then, he helped Nelson and Justin Jordan write the dialogue for that issue. I'm having a hard time coming up with a score for the writing on this book because there are chunks of the story missing. The first 5 issues are pretty complete, but the last 2 issues are part of something larger. Neither story is perfect and I'm going to take off a whole point due to the fragmented story. So, I think my final score for the writing will be 3 stars.

There are 4 different artists on this book. Diogenes Neves illustrates all of the Supergirl issues except #25 which is drawn by Paulo Siqueira. Mike Hawthorne draws Action Comics #23.1 and Kenneth Rocafort draws Superman #25. That issue of Supeman is easily the best looking issue of the entire book. Rocafort's art looks like an art instructor drew for the their class to draw and make their own. Siqueira would be that instructor's ace student as he's the best of the rest. Hawthorne is the one making good enough grades to get by. Neves is the classes MR student that is in the corner eating paste and licking the windows. Neves' art pisses me off. One panel will look pretty decent. The next will be blah. The one after that will be straight garbage that no effort whatsoever was put into. The single issue by Rocafort is 5 stars. Siqueira's lone issue gets 4 stars. Hawthorne's issue gets 3 stars. I give Neves' 4 issues 2 stars each. that averaged out to 2.85 stars which I rounded up to 3 stars.

Both the writing and art getting 3 stars makes the overall rating 3 stars as well. That's a full star lower than any of the 3 previous volumes got. I've been rather pleased with the series until now. The series only has 2 more volumes to go so I'll definitely stick around to the end. I just hope it gets better than this. If you've read the other volumes, you might as well get this one. Just stop after issue #24 and go find Annual #2 for Action Comics and Superboy #25 to read before continuing the book. that way you won't be as confused as I was.