Heroine Rehab

The Incredible Hulk wasn’t always the debonair man-about-town we know and love today. When he was first created, it appeared that Stan Lee & Jack Kirby had little clue of what to do with the character.

Nearly issue of the Hulk’s short-lived series featured a startling new direction for the character, who was further saddled with an undistinguished rogues gallery that featured the likes of the Metal Master and Toad Men.

The book only lasted six issues, but Marvel took the hit and regrouped. Lee made sure the Hulk remained in fans’ consciousness through a series of memorable guest-shots in other titles.

The Hulk landed a solo series in Tales To Astonish, where he shared top billing with Giant Man and later the Sub-Mariner. Lee, aided initially by Steve Ditko’s soap opera-tight plots, found the Hulk’s voice and the rest - as they say - is history.

So what does this have to do with Supergirl, you may ask?

The Keeper believes DC should adopt a similar strategy regarding the Maid of Might. Although we have high hopes for the incoming creative team - writer Tony Bedard and artist Renato Guides - we hope Kara’s series will be shelved if the pair move on after their scheduled three-issue stint.

The character - at least in her own book - is a complete mess. After the first five issues of the heavily-hyped (and delayed) Jeph Loeb and Ian Churchill run, Kara decided to accept her destiny as Supergirl even though certain aspects of her past remain unclear.

(Was she really sent to kill Superman, or were her memories distortions created by the trauma of witnessing Krypton’s destruction?)

At the conclusion of Supergirl #19, which wraps up writer Joe Kelly’s controversial tenure on the book, Kara decides to accept her destiny as Supergirl even though certain aspects of her past remain unclear.

(What was the deal with those crystal-thingies? Just how much of Kara’s reality was manipulated by The Monitor and Dark Angel?)

Is this supposed to be progress? Doesn’t Kara Zor-El present better opportunities for character arcs than the whole “Lost Daughter of Krypton” shtick? Must Kara be so unlikable that even a longtime fan like the Keeper finds some grim enjoyment in this …

It doesn’t help that DC ramrods Supergirl into other titles, such as the Teen Titans, Brave & The Bold, Amazons Attack, and the Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes. The Kara in those books bears little resemblance to Kelly’s Supergirl, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but does create its share of confusion.

At this point, Kara would benefit from less exposure (no pun intended) and a bit more focus on her character. If sales on her monthly title continue to bottom out, DC should consider confining her appearances to Legion of Super-Heroes and maybe a supporting slot in Superman or Action.

Give Kara the opportunity to develop as a character, rather than saddling her with a set of cliches that purport to convey realism. She doesn’t have to be picture-perfect, but portraying Supergirl as an essentially heroic figure would be a good start.

Supergirl can be a popular character once again, but DC needs to do more with the Maid of Might than shove her into crossovers and publish stories dissing online critics. After all, nobody wants to see Kara’s stock drop low enough to warrant yet another death scene in yet another company-wide crossover.

Once was enough of that.