Supergirl #2 (December 1982)

Back in August 2017, I took a look at Supergirl #1 (November 1982), Kara Zor-El's last series before her death in the Crisis on Infinite Earths. I found it to be a rather okay issue. Not great, but it was not terrible, either. I think it did do a good job everything a first issue should do, set up the status quo, introduce some supporting cast and start some storylines, etc. A first issue's problems can be because a new creative team hasn't really been able to settle in yet. As such, I thought I'd take a look at the next issue. See if things settled in a bit. This is Supergirl #2!

The cover is a Rich Buckler and Dick Giordano piece. I do like it, it's more dynamic than the first issue's cover, showing Supergirl and Psi facing off in the skies over the Windy City. The cover promises a Crisis in Chicago. Oh, I think they'll be experiencing a real crisis soon... 😈The comic also promises a backup tale starring Lois Lane as she encounters Humphrey Bogart-I man, the Bogie-Man. He's different from the Boogieman. You see, instead of the Boogeyman scaring kids, the Bogie-Man starts quoting Humphrey Bogart films. I enjoyed when he quoted African Queen myself. 

"Crisis over Chicago"
Writer: Paul Kupperberg
Penciler: Carmine Infantino
Inker: Bob Oksner
Colorist: Tom Ziuko
Letterer: Ben Oda
Editor: Julius Schwartz
Executive Editor: Joe Orlando

The story begins with the reluctant villainess known as Psi attacking Chicago. Her mysterious mentor, Mr. Pendergast, encourages her to keep taking it to the Girl of Steel. Considering she seems to be tossing around Chicago's newest guardian like a ragdoll, I don't think she needs that much encouragement. Psi is also an empath, and it allows her to feel the pain that Supergirl is going through right now. Pendergast mocks this, saying her empathy is a weakness. Supergirl and Chicago must be destroyed, or else the "Decay" will continue to spread. Note that I capitalized the word "decay". 

Supergirl notices the pandemonium that the battle has been kicking up.

Page 3, Panel 2

The sight of the carnage re-energizes the Maid of Might and she renews her struggles against the mental power of Psi and Pendergast. The latter taunts her, saying the typical supervillain spiel about how she cannot match him in power. But Supergirl's like, "Watch me", and breaks out of Psi's mental hold. She confronts Psi about the carnage she's causing. Psi admits she knows she's hurting people, but Pendergast uses her to blast Supergirl. Through Psi, Pendergast rants about humanity's moral rot, its "decay". Supergirl isn't in the mood for it, and blasts at Psi with her heat vision...only for it to do no good. 

Through Psi, Pendergast rants about how "Decay" has to be destroyed, and a new race of "mutants" that will cleanse the world will rise in the aftermath of the destruction of Chicago. Again, Supergirl is not interested in hearing this stuff, and decides that Psi needs a few Mighty Punches. Psi screams, and she seemingly vanishes.

However, Kara is bushed after all of this. She just wants to head back to her apartment and enjoy a nice long nap.

She doesn't have her furniture yet, but it still will be nice to be home. She notices her door is ajar, but it's thankfully nothing nefarious. Turns out that while she was brawling with Psi, her furniture had arrived. It gave her neighbor Joan Raymond an idea.

She recruited her roommate Cheryl DeLarye, Cheryl's boyfriend Daryll Simmons, and Johnny Ostrander to help her move Kara's stuff in so her new apartment will be ready for her. Well, that's nice. 

Page 9, Panel 1

Kara is grateful for this, as she was not looking forward to getting her stuff in alone. After all, it's more fun using super strength to fight supervillains than move furniture. Joan assures Kara that the gang got it handled, so she can just relax. It's here we learn a bit about Ms. DeLarye. She's 33 years old, and like Kara and Joan, a student at Lake Shore University. I think it's really neat that we see this in a comic book. When I was in college, I saw people of a variety of ages studying there. 

Kara is grateful for the help. Since her apartment is now fully furnished, including her bed, it means she can now catch up on some much-desired sleep. After all, a sleep-deprived cranky Kryptonian is not the best thing to be around. 

In another apartment building, Pendergast is berating Psi over her failure to destroy Supergirl. He thinks she has shown herself to be too "weak" to fight the "Decay". Thing is, Psi still thinks Pendergast is right about the "Decay" needing to be stopped. But she also thinks Supergirl is right about there being a better way to stop it than death and destruction. This enrages Pendergast, and he continues to berate the superhuman. He then pulls out a gun, clearly intending to give the young lady some hot lead. Psi blasts him with psychokinetic force, and it...somehow causes Pendergast to transform into some sort of monster, screaming "DECAY LIVES". 

I admit, I am somewhat confused about the relationship between Pendergast and Decay. Did Psi turn him into the monster? Was the monster always part of Pendergast? Pendergast's dialogue seemed to imply that the monster was inside of him all along. Maybe that could have been why he was so aggressive? I don't know, a little clarification would have been nice. 

My favorite part of the issue was the scene where the gang help Kara move furniture into her new apartment. It was nice seeing their interplay. 

Funny enough, Psi would go on to appear in the 2015 Supergirl live-action series. Well, there were two Psis. One was this version, who was a regular person who just "snapped" one day and started robbing banks, and the other appeared in the Adventures of Supergirl tie-in comic, this second version being a Kryptonian psychic mental health worker. Not bad for an obscure villainess. 

If you want to read this yourself, I recommend you track down the 2016 trade paperback Daring New Adventures of Supergirl Vol. 1.