Scout Attacks! Supergirl #20

So, I've decided to change the way I do things and just review a couple of comics that I really have something to say about. I've just gotten so far behind and have realized that I have no real desire to catch up. I'm going to start this new era of Scout Attacks! with Supergirl #20.

I have never had much interest in Supergirl, so it's a surprise even to me that I picked this up, let a lone was actually excited about its release. Admittedly, that excitement was pretty much based entirely based on my love for Renato Guedes' art and the pact that the character sketches that had been released a while back looked absolutely gorgeous. However, after reading numerous interviews with writer Tony Bedard, I became really interested in reading his take on the character. It's not secret that Kara's been getting a lot of bad press, and frankly, everything I had seen or heard about the title was a really big turn off. Between Bedard and Guedes, I was getting the idea that Supergirl might be on the road to becoming the kind of superheroine I would like to read about. Then Amazons Attack #4 came out and I got really pessimistic again.

This issue directly ties in to the events of Amazons Attack #4, and that's really a huge drawback. It's not a good event. Furthermore, Supergirl's actions in that issue - she and Wonder Girl hijacked Air Force One and tried to forceably take the President to meet with Hippolyta to end the war - seemed irredeemably and criminally stupid. I really did not believe that any writer would be able to pull the character out of that in any believable way. The fact that Bedard not only manages to do that, but is able to present the story in such a way that it is not completely necessary to have read Amazons Attack #4, is a huge credit to him as a writer. Also, he manages to do it while having Kara fight a huge freaking cyclops. That's just cool.

As much as I enjoyed Bedard's take on the character, what really made this issue worthwhile was Renato Guedes' art. I know I've mentioned my dislike for photorealism before, but he uses it to beautiful effect, without ever being distracting. (I don't look at his work and think of it as some famous actor playing the character. His characters look like themselves first and foremost.) Also, unlike the previous versions of Supergirl that I have seen, this version looks powerful and real. She's still beautiful and a little sexy, but there's a bit of awkwardness too. It's her strength that stands out - strength of character as well as physical strength - like in this image:

It would have been nice if the issue had a Guedes cover too, but that cover is a fairly good representation of the content. Kara screwed up and has to make it better. It's really a bit of a redemption story. This isn't a perfect issue, but it's a good superhero story with both action and character development. It's really a shame that this creative team is only doing three issues, and that they had to be event tie-ins (especially considering how uninteresting the events are), but if Kara continues to be a strong and heroic yet vulnerable character, who is a bit confused but is trying to do the right thing, even if it turns out all wrong, I might continue reading even without Guedes' art.