Supergirl #2 (October 1996)

The last time the Maid of Might graced this blog in a solo book was just last April with my look at Supergirl #18 (April 1984). But that version of Supergirl is not the focus of this week, review. In fact, this version of Supergirl is arguably one of the least famous incarnations of the character: Linda Danvers. This version of Supergirl was born back in Supergirl #1 (September 1996), born from the merger of a dying woman named Linda Danvers and the protoplasmic lifeform known as Matrix, who was active as Supergirl at the time. This left the newly combined being with fragmented memories of Linda's life. So, where do we go from here? Let's find out in Supergirl #2! 

The cover is a Gary Frank piece. It's really cool. It's alike a horror movie poster, depicting Linda/Mae trying to fight a massive cat-like demon. This would make one heck of a movie.

"Cat's Paw"
Writer: Peter David
Penciler: Gary Frank
Inker: Cam Smith
Colorists: Gene D'Angelo, Digital Chameleon
Letterer: Patricia Prentice
Editor: Chris Duffy
Executive Editor: Gary Frank

The story begins with the newly combined form of Linda Danvers and the Matrix Supergirl, aka Mae Kent, looking through Linda's old photos, trying to piece together the person they once were. Mae has sensations when she looks at these photos. One photo in particular that get sensations going is one of her and Buzz, the man who tried to kill Linda. 

"Linda realized that she accidentally mismatched her underwear that day."

She's disgusted but at the same time, her skin tingles with desire. Mae realizes that this is the man who knifed Linda. However, she gets interrupted by Mattie Harcourt, who comes into the room with her parents: Fred and Sylvia Danvers. And they are actually pretty happy to see that "Linda" is seemingly alive and well.

"Did you get that thing we sent you?"

They wonder why she was hiding in a closet, and she gives an excuse that she got spooked by the noise. They buy it. After all, from their perspective, Linda survived something very harrowing. It's natural that she'd have some form of scarring and trauma from that whole thing. 

As this is going down, Cutter Sharp witnesses a member of Buzz's cult seemingly kidnapping a child. He follows, muttering there's never a cop around when you need one. He ain't wrong.

Fred tries to convince her to get checked out. After all, "Linda" has no memories of what happened in that warehouse, and it could be a sign of a physical problem. Remember, he is unaware the "Linda" he's talking to is an amalgamation of Linda and Matrix. She tries to convince everyone she is fine, until she sees a giant hand reaching for her. 

"I'M TELLING YOU! I DON'T HAVE YOUR PANTS!"

Her parents think "Linda" is hallucinating. The demonic hand passes through Mae, unable to touch her. This is the hand of the demon Chakat. And he's not a happy camper. He's especially angry at Buzz, as the blond sociopath said Linda's blood would help him fully appear in the material plane. Yet, he still can't touch anything! He still cannot interact with the material plane. Come on, Buzz! That demon wants to go to Vegas! He wants to play some blackjack, see the sights! Be a bro!

Chakat would punish Buzz for this...somehow, but something's got him spooked. The demon claims that he must hide, as "they" are coming closer. Buzz has to hurry. Luckily for him, he spots Cutter, who is pursing the van he spotted earlier. The reporter ends up being surrounded by other vans, and Buzz introduces himself. 

We next look in on a local hospital. Evidently Linda had agreed to get checked out after all. And the doctor thinks she's perfectly fine.

There's no sign of concussion or anything like that. However, there's also no scar from an appendectomy she had four years earlier. Linda was also shot in a mugging last year. There's no physical sign of that, either. Heck, Linda's eyes had changed colors as well. Last issue established that Linda originally had brown eyes, but thanks to the merger with the Matrix Supergirl, they're now blue. The doctor isn't sure what exactly caused all those scars to vanish, but he attributes the eye color change to stress. Yeah, I don't know if that's an actual thing. 

As the doctor and "Linda"'s family talk, Mae herself ponders her current state. Basically, the merger has left the new combined being with some of Linda's looks and fragmented memories. She feels a great amount of love for this family, but at the same time, they are strangers to her. It's here she gets a visit. 

"Hey there, champ! Still on for that human sacrifice next week?"

Yup, Buzz is here. He clearly has some sorcerous power that allows him to pull it off. She insists he's not here, but in a way, he is. He wants to help clear up some of Linda's confusion as to who he is...and what Linda was all about.

Remember the photo of Linda and Buzz from the beginning? Well, Mae now knows how it was taken. Buzz had a camera in hand, asking Linda how she felt. The young woman admitted that she felt a rush.

Buzz hands the camera to a dwarf buddy of his named Humbert, wanting to immortalize this moment on film. He asks Linda to take off her shirt and embrace him. The dwarf takes the photo. So, why did Linda feel a rush? Well, turns out lying nearby...was a corpse with several knives in its back. Yup. Linda helped Buzz kill someone. 

Buzz taunts Mae, revealing that he not only knows she's Supergirl, he also knows that she wanted a soul. Now thanks to the merging with Linda, she's got one. A soul blackened and stained with innocent blood. A soul that happily embraced Buzz's evil. A freaked-out Mae flies out in her Supergirl form, screaming at Buzz to get out of her head. 

Buzz tells her he had fun seducing Linda into his little Chaos Cult, but doing it to Supergirl? Now that will be a true challenge. 

Mae screams that this was Buzz's fault, that Linda wasn't in control. However, Buzz points out she was. And he's...not wrong about that. It is true that Buzz is an evil son of a gun, but again...he's not wrong. Based on what we've seen, he didn't force Linda to follow him. He didn't make Linda help him put knives in that person's back. She willingly went along with it and enjoyed it. She even outright said she got a rush from it. So, yeah. Things are a bit more complicated than Mae thinks. Buzz calls for her. She follows, if only because she wants to put a fist down the punk's throat.

The trail leads to a closed movie theater, where Humbert has stabbed Cutter in front of a projection of the demon Chakat shown to a cheering crowd.

Cutter realized Humbert was not going to help with his appendicitis.

Supergirl bursts in, and Chakat emerges from the screen, much to her horror. Yes, Cutter's blood was what allowed Chakat to finally enter this plane.

She may not have been able to stop Chakat from crossing over, so that means it's time to hand the demon a beating. She goes right up into the demon's face, knocking him back into his own realm, taking her with him as well. She struggles against Chakat, demanding he stay away from Earth. Chakat mocks her by pointing out that Earth's already been invaded. It's been that way for centuries. His people are already there, they're just waiting for him, so they can stay away from other beings that have been pursuing them.

As he talks, Supergirl is able to break his sword, and cut into his shoulder. Outside, Buzz spots some cops outside. He plays the innocent bystander, telling them he thinks a murder is being committed in there. They agree to check it out, much to Buzz's delight. 

Chakat taunts that Supergirl can't defeat him. Only one problem with that. She wasn't trying to do beat him. She had heard Chakat when he said he was being pursued. Remember when she cut the demon's shoulder? She figured that the blood spilled from it was as signal to his pursuers. Her gamble ends up royally paying off, as a pair of large demons with pitbull heads show up. Not the rapper, actual pitbulls, the dogs. In particular, they appear to resemble American Bullies.

These big dog demons tell Chakat the chase is over, as they have finally found him. Chakat screams for Mae to save him, but she's like "Nah", and flies off. She goes through the portal to Earth, grabs Cutter, and flies off as the building explodes.

That theatre went up real good. You know the city's going to want to put up apartment buildings in its place.

Later, Supergirl watches over Cutter in the hospital. She thinks about Buzz's words. As much as she hates to admit it, Buzz was right. Linda Danvers was not a good person. The darkness was already in her. All Buzz did was exploit it. However, maybe the merging between Mae and Linda was meant to happen as a way to redeem her. A way to save her for a higher purpose. And Mae intends to find out what that higher purpose is. 

A crowd gathers around the destroyed old theater. One lady remarks that this town seems to be going straight to Hell. Buzz walks by and tells her it's not the case. The town is not going straight to Hell. After all, there are some detours planned, and isn't half the fun of going to Hell the journey?

This issue is pretty good. It helped set up what would be a couple of the themes of Peter David's Supergirl run, mainly ones of religion, faith, and redemption. Angels and demons would become part of this series, as a way to make her stand out from the pre-Crisis Supergirl. The story is not perfect, but that does not mean it's enjoyable. One of my favorite parts of the story is the revelation that this version of Linda Danvers was not a good person. It's a very good and intriguing twist and helps set up Mae's future adventures trying to not get Linda redeemed but also find out why Linda should be redeemed. I mean, the DC Universe has its fair share of people who are rotten to the core, so what makes Linda so special? Also, it will be neat seeing Mae try to connect with Linda's friends and family. 

I admit, I think Buzz was a bit overly obvious as a villain. However, rereading the story, I think it does make a bit of sense. I got the idea that Buzz revels in his dark nature because he believes he is unstoppable. He thinks he's untouchable, so yeah. Of course he's going to revel in his evil nature. 

I'm more familiar with Gary Frank's art in Superman and the Legion of Super-Heroes, and it looks so different here. I think that may be due to style evolution and different inkers. His work is really good here. It has a clean, almost Silver Age-like quality, which helps juxtapose against the brutality of Buzz. I love his rendition of Buzz. You can see the evil and madness in him.

If you want to read this story for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2016 trade paperback Supergirl by Peter David, Book One. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! If you like what I write and want to give this blog some additional support, please make a donation to my Ko-fi! See you next time!

The Brave and the Bold #2 (May 2007)

Back in August of 2025, I wrote about the first issue of The Brave and the Bold, a team-up comic whose name had a long history. You can learn more about that here. That comic was from the third revival of the title, which lasted until 2010. The title was started by the powerhouse creative team of writer Mark Waid and artist George Perez, and they showed their greatness in that issue. 

We were left in that issue with a bit of a cliffhanger. Batman and the Hal Jordan Green Lantern had been investigating an odd murder which led them to Las Vegas. When there, they discovered that the murder was over the powerful artifact known as the Book of Destiny, a tome that contains all knowledge of the past, the present, and the future. Such a book could not just make for interesting reading, but it would also be devastating in the wrong hands. And last we saw, an alien known as a Venturan had gotten their paws on the book, so that means our heroes are going to need some further help. So, where do we go from here? Let's find out in The Brave and the Bold #2!

The cover is a George Perez and Tom Smith piece. Naturally, it's incredible. It depicts the Hal Jordan Green Lantern and the Kara Zor-El Supergirl in the skies over the planet of Ventura. It's incredibly colorful and detailed. The planet is a casino and gambling world. Think of it as Las Vegas as a planet, and the art shows that well.

"The Lords of Luck (Part II) - Ventura"
Writer: Mrk Waid
Penciler: George Perez
Inker: Bob Wiacek
Colorist: Tom Smith
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Editor: Joey Cavalieri
Executive Editor: Dan DiDio

The story begins with the Girl of Steel, the Maiden of Might, Supergirl. This isn't the same Kara Zor-El that we last met on this blog battling Kraken. That version was erased from history. This is the post-Crisis version of Kara, a chatty teenager. She's flying in space with Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern.

"No, Kara. Superman said Khund coffee makes you crazy."

The two have some banter, and Hal catches her up (as well as us) on the last issue. Basically, an alien has made off with the Book of Souls, a powerful artifact that has all knowledge of past, present, and the future in its pages. Batman and Hal started the investigation, and the Dark Knight is continuing the investigation on Earth. Hal called in Supergirl to help track the alien...and the trail leads to the planet known as Ventura.

Ventura is, in the tradition of the "Planet of Hats" trope, is basically a massive casino. Their economy is based on gambling. Kara spots a man being tossed out a window...

...from a very high floor of a building. The Kryptonian powerhouse swoops down and saves the man's life. He begs her to help him, claiming that the casino swindled him out of his life savings. A cop tells Kara to not get involved and takes her away. It's revealed to be Hal Jordan in disguise, who explains to her that the man wasn't cheated, he was just unlucky.

You see, a planet of gambling has very strict regulations. Which is how it can be sustained. Hal shows her an example in the form of a time-traveler arriving at a casino. Now, he thinks he has an easy advantage, knowing future lottery numbers. Problem for him is...Ventura has regulations for that, too.

"Smithers...release the hounds."

They also are not fond of Green Lanterns, hence why Hal not only needed backup, he also had to go incognito. My guess is Ventura doesn't like Green Lanterns because their rings allow wielders to find ways to get around the various security devices they use to avoid cheating. 

Supergirl and Hal fly off, Hal pointing out that the perp is using the book to stay ahead of them. Hal cannot assume that they're going to fail, and that it's supposed to be that way. Let's look in on Earth, shall we?

On a nice night in the skies over Texas, a charter plane is flying. The pilot is talking with his wife about their anniversary plans. Batman has stowed away on the plane, and one of the beings that attacked Las Vegas in the last issue has a very nasty alien weapon locked on him. However, the Dark Knight has a savior: Jaime Reyes, the new Blue Beetle.

"Batman always has to be in everything, doesn't he?!"

He shows Batman where he took down the alien sniper...only to find that he's vanished.

And to make things worse, they're now both in the crosshairs. Back on Ventura, Hal and Kara continue their search. The book is in the hands of a powerful alien bookmaker. 

"Ladies, my new novel is a New York Times Bestseller! My thanks to you all!"

He's feeling good. With this book, he could make the biggest killing in Venturan history. He sees an image in the book change, and it leads him to wonder if the book...just rewrote itself?

Elsewhere, Kara and Hal are witnessing a fight between some aliens and a pair of gladiators called the Cragg Brothers. Well, it was a less a fight and more a brutal beatdown from said Craggs. When the Craggs fight, you do not pray to win, you pray to live. 

You see, Hal figures that the book thief were here. Most people would not gamble with small stakes if they had a book that knew the future. They'd want the big score. They want big money, and this arena deals with amounts of currency greater than some planets have.

Kara tries to flirt with Hal, but he's had enough of it. He awkwardly tries to get her to knock it off, but she just flies off in a huff, angry that Hal thinks she's a child. And things just got harder.

The announcer...announces that there is a new combatant in the arena tonight, fresh meat for the Craggs to slaughter. 

Kara planned to murder the costume designer.

Hal then realizes the Maid of Might has got a little plan going.

The Cragg Brothers charge at her, but being a Kryptonian, she easily makes the rocky warriors into piles of rubble. Hal grabs a betting robot and looks up who bet on Supergirl to win. After all, thanks to the Book of Destiny, a better would not only know that the Cragg Brothers would fight Supergirl, but that also she would fight them and win. The Lantern ditches his disguise to get the Venturan, but he's gone, his box a wreck. The Gambling Police arrive and start shooting at our man. Thankfully, Supergirl has his back. She spots him with the book thanks to her telescopic vision. Said Venturan looks through the book to see how he escapes, but it only shows him getting shot and killed. Which happens right then and there. And then someone else makes off with the book.

"Oh Zarquon, my horoscope said this would happen!"

Hey, it's that gambler Supergirl saved earlier! He flees, but Hal manages to catch him. It turns out that he's from the planet Rann, which is associated with the space-faring Adam Strange. He has adventures there. He's actually on Ventura because of a mission. He's a member of an underground rebellion. He came to Ventura to get funds for Rann's war against Thanagar. With this book, Rann could not only win the war against Thanagar, the Thanagarians could be destroyed. He tries to escape with a Zeta Beam, which ends up taking Hal as well.

Supergirl tries to rescue Hal but ends up eating arena floor. Her outfit got torn up, revealing that she was wearing her Supergirl outfit...complete with the Superman logo on it. One of the most famous emblems in the DC Universe. Yeah, she's in trouble.

I have to admit, like the first issue, I really enjoyed this one as well. I liked the exploration of Ventura. The idea that they have all these security features against telepaths and time-travelers and the like makes a lot of sense considering its hat is gambling. There are a lot of ways to cheat in the DCU, and for Ventura, a planet whose economy is clearly heavily dependent on gambling, preventing that is paramount. After all, who'd want to gamble at a casino where there's no fair chance to win? It also is a great subtle way to show just how powerful the Book of Destiny is. If it can foil all of these security measures, then it's something truly dangerous. 

I also got some laughs out of Hal's interactions with Kara Zor-El and Batman's with Jaime Reyes. Intergenerational banter is quite amusing. I couldn't help but feel a bit for Hal. After all, a teenage girl making doe-eyes at Hal and his awkwardness when trying to deal with this? Yeah, poor Hal just wanted to be professional about it.

The Venturan using the book to gamble on a disguised Supergirl winning makes a lot of sense. After all, if you had a powerful artifact that could tell you the future, the temptation to change things to make your own life better will come with it. Supergirl using this trope to her advantage is great as it helps show that she's hardly your stereotypical bubble-headed blonde. And of course, we got one exciting pair of cliffhangers, Hal on his way to Rann and Supergirl getting exposed. 

As for George Perez's art here, well...come on. If you're a regular reader of this blog, you all know how much I love his art, and how sad it is that he's no longer with us. The man left behind an incredible body of work, something to admire for any comic book artist. I hope that more budding comic artists discover his work and get inspired by it.  

If you want to read this story for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2024 trade paperback The Brave and the Bold: The Lords of Luck. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! If you like what I write and want to give my blog some additional support, please make a donation to my Ko-fi! See you next time! 

Supergirl #18 (April 1984)

With the Girl of Steel returning to the big screen, this time portrayed by Milly Alcock, I thought it would be a good time to look at a comic starring said Maid of Might. Also, it had been a while since I looked at a DC book here. I am a Marvel head, don't get me wrong, but I also enjoy DC. 

The comic we're looking at here is from the last series the original incarnation of Kara Zor-El had before her death on Crisis on Infinite Earths. I have looked at comics in this series before, most recently back in November of last year with issue #2. I've found the series to be pretty decent. I did enjoy the creators trying to give Supergirl her own life, adventures, and rogues outside of the Man of Steel. So, let's see the Girl of Steel take on the threat of the Kraken in Supergirl #18!

The cover is a Howard Bender and Dick Giordano piece. You may also have noticed that the masthead logo is different from the last issue we looked at. This logo first appeared in issue #13, and I admit...I'm not too fond of it. I preferred the first masthead logo as it had that link to Superman's but also looked distinctive. Yes, she's Kal-El's cousin, but she is still her own person. I think that first masthead logo captured that perfectly. This one looks...a bit more generic. But that's just me.

"Call me--Kraken"
Writer: Paul Kupperberg
Penciler: Carmine Infantino
Inker: Bob Oksner
Letterer: Nansi Hoolahan
Colorist: Ben Oda
Editor: Julius Schwartz
Executive Editor: Dick Giordano

The story begins in Lake Michigan. We look in on an oil tanker going across said Great Lake. The Siren Song flies a Greek flag for the Northstar Oil Company.

"🎵Sailing, sailing, over the bounty main...🎵"

The tanker's sonar picks up something odd under the waves. The ship tries to go around it, as it doesn't want to risk a collision. However, a massive wave seems to prepare to crash into the ship...and it stops. Like someone hit the pause button on it.

The ship also ends up stuck in the water. A voice demands that the owner pay them $1,000,000 for passage. And that's not just this ship. Every ship or plane that goes over this lake must pay this person a million dollars as tribute, or they will destroy them. The head of the company, a Mr. Hogwilder, agrees to pay the mysterious being...while using taxpayer money to do so...and take a little extra for expenses, of course. Yeah, I have no idea how he's going to do that. But then again, I am not a corrupt greedy CEO, so...yeah. Maybe they cover that in the college course for it.

The being also demonstrates their new power by trapping a plane in a thunderstorm. So, where's Supergirl at? Well, she's in Chicago foiling a bank robbery.

"I hope I don't get blasted with antimatter wearing this spiffy new suit..."

Yes, this is the costume she will wear when she meets the Grim Reaper in Crisis on Infinite Earths. The costume itself debuted in issue #13, while the headband was added here. Since Supergirl is a Kryptonian, and these bank robbers are just, well, bank robbers in silly helmets, she is easily able to take care of them. A bystander remarks how Supergirl looks very trendy in her new headband and uniform, but it's actually traditional. Pre-Crisis, male Kryptonians wore headbands. But since Kara's on Earth, she decides she can wear one, too. It also helps keep her hair out of her face. She encounters Lt. Peters of Chicago PD, who is annoyed at her catching the criminals, which he sees as her interfering in police business. Kara reminds him that she was deputized as a police representative by the United Nations all the way back in Action Comics #285. I'm not sure how that works, so we should just assume the bureaucracy for that stuff in the DC Universe. 

As she flies off, a boat takes to the waters, only to be trapped on a waterspout, the voice of the being responsible demanding tribute. Meanwhile, Kara arrives at Symphony Hall in downtown Chicago. 

"People tend to get lost here. And never return."

From what I can look up, this is not a real place. There are actual places called Symphony Hall in some places in the US, most notably in Boston, but there isn't one in Chicago. There are concert halls in the Windy City, but none of them look like this from what I could see.

Anyway, Kara is there to meet Phil Decker, a concert musician. A man there tells her that today is Wednesday, and the musicians are off on Wednesday. This strikes Kara as odd as he told her he always rehearses on that day. She fears that maybe he's seeing someone else behind her back. She heads home, lost in thought about this. Unnoticed by her, a figure is watching her thanks to a security camera hidden in the trees. Good thing it isn't fall yet.

"Oh man, this is better than my soap operas!"

At her apartment, she gets a call from Phil who tells her he's still practicing. Kara is tempted to use her powers to spy on him, but she's never done it before, and has no intention of starting now. She needs to clear her head, so she decides to go fly. She decides to just ask the man about it. After all, better to get more facts before making a judgment. She finally notices the craziness in Lake Michigan and goes to check it out.

You'd think at the very least, the local news would have gone bonkers about this. I get it's the DC Universe, but you'd think they'd still talk about this. Supergirl finds the plane trapped earlier in the issue, having finally run out of fuel. 

"Mom was right. I should've been an accountant."

Kara is able to catch the plane. She ends up getting an energy blast to the back for her trouble.

Because of it, she has to toss the plane to O'Hare International Airport, hoping it can glide there. She tries to dissipate the storm clouds over Lake Michigan with some heat vision but gets an explosion to the mug for it. 

It's here the being responsible for this reveals themselves. 

"I...have been...RELEASED!"

Meet Kraken, a...sorcerer? He babbles about magic in the issue, so I can assume he is. He's obviously not an Earthman. He's not from the Milky Way galaxy. He's not even from Universe-One (this is still pre-Crisis). Many years ago, he came to this dimension to prove his might and power to his gods. As part of that, he figured "I know the best way to do this! I'm going to do some conquering!" And as such, he tried to do so. Key word being try. His first attempt to conquer a city in space resulted in him getting repelled. In fact, he got beaten so badly he nearly died. Not exactly his finest hour. 

He obviously lived, although he spent a lot of time recovering. Presumably in some kind of space traction. His desire for revenge helped keep him going through this. He would return to the city that originally repelled and whupped him...only to find it floating in space and utterly lifeless. It turns out that this was Argo City, Kara's original home. Kraken took this...well.

He could not redeem himself with the Argosians now all gone. Somehow, he learned of Kara's survival and living on Earth. That's really what he's all about. He wants revenge on Kara simply because she's from Argo City. 

Kara dives into the water and knocks Kraken into it. That was a mistake.

His power is greater under water. He claims his magical powers are invincible in the sea, demonstrating by firing water at her. Thing is, Kara may be no more immune to the effects of magic than anyone else but fighting foes who pack magic is nothing new to her at this point. She disperses the waterspout with a whirlpool. She grabs Kraken's wrists, but he's also strong enough to send her flying.

Kraken blasts at her with hard water bubbles, Kara counters with super-breath. He then hits her with some presumably magical lightning.

Kraken could never quite understand how "tag" works.

Kara notes that if it was really a magical blast, it could have easily taken her head off. Kraken follows Kara out of the water and creates a magic fist to crush the Kryptonian heroine. She's able to use her X-Ray vision on Kraken and realizes something. She then hits him with her heat vision. Kraken suddenly goes weaker. He topples to the ground, his watery creations collapsing...but Supergirl has him.

"You owe a lot of people a lot of apologies, fishface."

Supergirl's X-Ray vision allowed her to discover that Kraken wasn't really a magician. He was just using advanced technology that seemed like magic. She not only used her heat vision to dry him out and weaken him (presumably she assumed Kraken was like Aquaman at the time, that keeping moist helped maintain his strength), she used it to fry his devices, making him unable to use his "magic". If Kraken's idea of heaven is taking down Supergirl, then he's going to be stuck in "hell" for a very long time. Somewhere, the Anti-Monitor is laughing, and he does not know why...

I did enjoy this issue. Kraken is shown to be a powerhouse, worthy of being a threat to the Girl of Steel. We also get a little bit of mystery regarding Kara's potential main squeeze and the mysterious being watching her. So, there was something to think over. We don't get any hints that the watcher here is aware that Kara is Supergirl, but that doesn't mean they aren't aware of it. And since Supergirl has no shortage of enemies (considering her own adventures and her being Superman's cousin), it's not surprising that there's someone in the background plotting against her.  

Kraken is your basic "out to conquer and get revenge" villain. He's not really special, but I think if he did ever get more appearances and development, he could have grown into an interesting character. But still, kudos to the creators for trying to give Supergirl her own villains to fight. Also, I think he looks really cool, and his "magic" being advanced technology was a twist that would make Arthur C. Clarke proud. So, yeah. He was a bit basic, but he had potential.

I felt the bit with Hogwilder was unnecessary. I got the impression he was being set up to be a bigger player in things, perhaps becoming Kara's own Lex Luthor. But he gets one appearance and that's it. We don't see him try to enact the plan he seemingly has for embezzlement. 

Dick Giordano's art here hasn't quite reached the form it has later with The Flash, although I wonder if that was because of Ben Oda's inking here. It does the job just fine. 

If you want to read this story for yourself, I recommend tracking down the 2017 trade paperback The Daring Adventures of Supergirl Vol. 2. Thanks for reading this blog entry! If you liked it, show it off! Take care of yourselves and each other! If you like what I write and want to give my blog some additional support, please make a donation to my Ko-Fi! See you next time!