Completely honestly, I’ve been in a rut for the past few days and have wanted to do more movie reviews rather than comic book reviews, but naturally, everything has to keep ticking over! There will definitely be more reviews coming soon, but whilst you wait, why not a return to another popular DC series? The first two novels that I read in the Supergirl series were not bad, but not fantastically amazing either. They had done well to introduce us to Kara Zor-El, but I was still finding it difficult to connect to the character!
‘Sanctuary’ is a novel composed of several different stories which aim to introduce us to different aspects of Kara’s life. The first issue in the novel sees Simon Tycho, a megalomaniac Kara has previously faced, returning with new powers. Whilst fighting, he shows her technology which was left to her by her father. This technology allows her to create her own lair, aptly called “Sanctuary”. The next part of the novel, and the most prominent part, sees Kara introduced to H’El, a Kryptonian scientist who was sent by her father to keep Krypton’s legacy alive. Believing himself to be alone, H’El was overjoyed when he came to Earth to find not only one but two Kryptonians alive and well. Whilst we don’t see in this novel how he interacts with Superman, in ‘Sanctuary’ he attempts to bond with Kara and convinces her that there is a way to bring back their planet and go back to the life they once led. Kara agrees to help H’El and although the story skips a little, we see that Superman and the Justice League attempt to stop H’El and his plan. Kara sides with H’El and has to first battle the Flash and then Wonder Woman to make sure their plan is left unchallenged. Although the Flash proves to be a tough opponent, Kara finds her hands full when she goes up against Wonder Woman. In an attempt to help her see sense, Wonder Woman uses her lasso to compel Kara. The final issue of the novel has Kara, in the aftermath of the H’El storyline, meet her Earth-2 counterpart Kara Zor-L, aka, Power Woman. How will the universe stand the two doppelgängers meeting in one singular universe? And just what went down with Kara and H’El? Well, you obviously have to read the novel!
This novel was a bit of a roller coaster in my opinion. The first half of the novel was a tad boring for me. Yes, there is a lot of action, and it’s certainly interesting to see the dynamic between H’El and Kara compared to H’El and Clark, but at the same time, it takes too long for you to feel invested. Kara feels a lot like a child and although there is a considerable about of character development taking place, it feels as if it is the result of other people’s actions rather than Kara’s own desire to grow. That being said, it’s not all negatives. The issues towards the latter half were a lot better and Kara and Diana’s interactions were fun to see! We all love it when heroes fight! The last issue was probably my favourite because it was nice to see the differences between Supergirl and Power Girl even though they’re the same person technically.
The artwork was decent in the majority of the issues and the artist certainly had an excellent ability to draw character expressions. The covers were good, and it was pretty difficult to pick just one for this review. Overall, not a bad novel, but I think a lot more can be done in order to make us like Supergirl a little more!
Favourite Panel:
Coolest page in the entire novel!
Favourite Character:
Why is it that in a Supergirl novel, my favourite character was pretty much everyone else? Ahaha!
Rating:
Story Arc: ★★½
Character Development: ★★★★
Artwork: ★★★
Enjoyability: ★★½
Re-readability: ★★
Level: Advanced