Supergirl #22
Written By: Michael Alan Nelson Art By: Dioegenes NevesThis story lacks largely in part because really, Supergirl #22 has two very interesting characters to play with in Kara and Cyborg Superman, but wastes their potential. Both experience a sense of longing and loss of identity, but this issue sets up an extremely tedious scenario that does little to evoke sympathy in the characters or create dimension.
While on I’noxia, Supergirl has the power to create real life creations from her memories. While there, Cyborg Superman manipulates her to create memories of Krypton, with the hope that he can become fully complete as a being.
The situation is frustrating because we are made so aware that everything is fabricated from Kara’s mind, that we feel no sense of gratification in her meeting a fake version of her mother. Her emotional reaction is instant, and no time is set aside for Kara to articulate how she feels seeing her mother, to make the situation engaging.
Cyborg Superman is far more fascinating in the scenes where he speaks with Kara, as it’s already clear that he is manipulating her, but it’s not made obvious. Later, as he actually says his plan aloud when he is so close to her, he comes off as overly cartoonish.
The location drawn by Neves is dull compared to the detailed and striking characters he creates in the foreground. If just a little more detail was put into the background, the issue would be made completely stunning next to Neves’ already incredible character designs.
Supergirl #22 establishes interesting characters but doesn’t dig deeper into their pathos. It instead offers predictable scenarios and cartoonish revelations.
