Synopsis: Kara decides to leave earth in pursuit of answers behind the true cause of the destruction of Krypton. Superman tries to convince her not to leave, but realizes that he is being selfish in wanting her to stay because Lois and Jon went off with Jor-el, leaving him alone. He does send Krypto with her to help on the journey. Kara starts with Rogol Zaar's axe and has Hal Jordan scan it, but the schieves have been sealed, which Hal notes has never happened to him before. Kara sets off for Mogo.
While breaking into the Green Lantern archives, the axe glows with this red energy and Kara is confronted by Green Lanterns. Kara gets sucked into this pocket dimension by the axe and witnesses the recording of a former guardian named Appa Ali Apsa. He confirms the existence of the Circle and gives Kara a stone that will lead her to more of his recordings with the answers she seeks. With the help of Mogo, Kara and Krypto escape the Lanterns.
A member of the Circle named Gandelo sends someone called the Spy after being informed by someone on Mogo that Kara is still in pursuit of the Circle. Kara heads to a dive bar on the outskirts of the galaxy and starts a bar fight when she asks about Zaar. The fight stops when the bar goers realize Kara has Zaar's axe and Kara picks up a Coluan named Z'ndr Kol (think green Han Solo). There's another crystel at the bar and once they're back on the ship, it transports them to Krypton, or what's left of it.
She's attacked by a creature named Splyce and is captured by Harry Hokum, self proclaimed emperor of the Vega System. Hokum intends to clone Kara's Kryptonian cells to make an army to destroy the Omega Men and other insurgents. Kara runs into the Omega Men and gets roped into helping them destroy some kind of undetermined power source. That story ends with them being cornered by Hokum's men. There's a brief story about Z'ndr Kol and we know that he salvaged an old piece of metal from a Kryptonian outpost with the symbol of the Circle on it.
Review: For the most part, I think this is a fun volume, despite the heaviness of the why of Kara's journey. If you're looking for the rest of the follow-up to the Man of Steel, this is the book you want to be reading. It's not totally satisfying on questions around the Circle - we pretty much know as much as we did before, but we have some names. Assuming they're new characters, though, that doesn't tell us much. I just hope that they're the villains the writer is making them out to be.
I thought the way Marc Andreyko wrote Kars was on point and had the right amount of humor and seriousness blended in. This was an important aspect for Andreyko to nail because for a while, Kara is really the only character we have to play off of because Krypto doesn't talk. She carries the story quite well and I liked the misunderstandings she is constantly plagued with. Also, Kara goes through several outfit changes and that was kind of fun - the black and red costume was definitely my favorite though.
I'm not sure I trust K'ndr Kol, but I liked the edition of his character and it didn't go unnoticed that he is Coluan like Brainiac 5. He and Kara don't have much time to interact before they get separated, but I'm looking forward to it in the future because I think they might challenge each other in good ways. It's nice to know someone at DC gives a shit what Krypto is doing, too.
It's ok. I think the art gives it the appearance that it's for the younger readers, but it's not. I wouldn't suggest reading this without reading the Man of Steel and probably the Rebirth Supergirl run to get a grasp on this version of the character. Honestly, if you have some spare time, give it a shot, but it's not going to be for everyone.