Supergirl Seeks New Ideas . . . Please?

Supergirl #34 is rather disappointing. The total lack of ingenuity was mildly tempered by the well-handled art of Leonard Kirk and Robin Riggs, but the entire comic is a patchwork quilt of borrowed material.

The opening scene is classic science fiction. The team of scientist, whose suits signify they¹re hunting Something Dangerous, encounter some clue to the Something Dangerous¹s destructive powers, then they encounter a horrifying scene, and then they encounter the Something Dangerous that caused the horrifying scene, and then something horrifying happens to the team of scientists.

The Something Dangerous of this piece is Parasite, who is neither new nor innovative. Previously featured in Superman, Parasite is the typical drain-the-powers-of-everyone-else bad guy. He probably can steal superpowers, is generally destructive without any clear motivation, and generally hates superheroes.

While this tactic may save writer Peter David the trouble of inventing a new character, the creativity is not expended elsewhere. The only true stab at imagination is the occasionally punerful¹ dialog. Even the cheap crack about critics, lawyers and politicians, while momentarily amusing, is on a topic too overused to be truly humorous.

As for the characters, Linda and Mattie indulge in what is considered typical female chatter. Cutter learns about the cons of public relations. Mild mannered Dick shows some spunk--reminding me amusingly of the romantic interest¹ females in movies who are required to occasionally bash the bad guy over the head with a heavy object just to prove the director doesn¹t believe all females are helpless, even if he really does believe all females are helpless.

Meanwhile, the frenetic day of Supergirl pulls echoes of sympathy. We¹ve all had days where we needed to be in two places at once and in scrambling around nearly got hit by a car (just not usually a flying car), only to find a huge disaster when we finally arrive at our destination. Of course, someday Linda is going to have to have a better excuse to run off than a weak stomach.

The ending has potential, but it is clearly another set-up for the mental struggle leading to self-discovery theme that Supergirl has been running for a while. Hopefully there will be a few, just a few, surprises in the next issue, possibly provided by the fact that Parasite has acquired a voice in his head which he addresses as Doc Freeman.