Supergirl #8: I Hate Magic

So if you've been paying attention to S.J. Mitchell's coverage of the SUPERMAN:REBIRTH storyline, you should have had all your questions answered as to how Clark Kent and Suerpman can both be running around together -- particularly after the Superman we've been reading about lo these past several years just died!

And since that Superman died, you'd think Supergirl would be more than a little suspicious about this Superman, whom she welcomes with open arms, begs to speak in Kryptonian with (because Kryptonian doesn't have contractions, except it totally does every time they speak it), and spends family time with like a good cousin-once-removed with Superman's son, Jon. You'd think she would, but yet she's not.

Conveniently, today happens to be a Kryptonian holiday (Kal must have had a copy of Poor Rich-Ard's Almanac tucked into that rocket of his), the "Day of Truth," and so he's vowed to tell Supergirl the truth about what happened to him.

No one remembers another Superman. Not even Kara.

Her reaction? Oh, okay, well, I don't remember anything about you, but you're still my cousin so let's move forward and I'll forget all about that other guy I was close to.

That's all Kara (and the readers) deserve, apparently.

And that doesn't even address why he brings this up to her while playing catch in outer space <i>with his spaceship!</i> What, you couldn't find a passing meteor to use, you've got to go heaving about the family transportation?

So there's only ever been one Superman now. That's all anyone remembers. Has there only ever been one Clark Kent? Did his blog survive? And has there ever only been one Lois -- and was she at any point Superwoman? Is Jimmy Olsen still the Jimmy Olsen we remember, and does he still know Superman's identity, or did reality get fully wiped and reset?

Most importantly: How pissed off is Batman going to be when he finds all this out?

What I think is that the whole storyline since the New 52 began took on a life of its own that the editorial staff lost control over, and it had to be brought to some kind of a close to give the character a soft reboot without overtly rebooting the entire DCU. And this book, nicely covered by Emanuela Lupacchino but cartoonishly rendered inside by Matias Bergara and written by Steve Orlando, was the culmination of a brainstorm session to bring an end to a Frankenstein story arc.

So remember boys and girls, when you're telling a story and find yourself painted into a corner, remind yourself: "It's only a comic book. I can always blame magic."