Kara Danvers, a.k.a. Supergirl, returns to DC Comics with a brand new creative team and an all-new costume with Supergirl #21 this August.
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According to SYFY Wire, Eisner Award-winning creative team writer Marc Andreyko (Wonder Woman ’77, Manhunter) and artist Kevin Maguire (Action Comics, Justice League International) will partner to helm the title and take Kara in a new direction, including new looks designed by Jorge Jimenez (Superboy, Super Sons).
The four designs will be introduced starting with issue #21 which finds Superman’s cousin on a cosmic quest to uncover more about Rogol Zaar, the cosmic mega-villain introduced by Brian Michael Bendis and Jim Lee in Bendis’ debut story in Action Comics #1000 who claims to be responsible for destroying Krypton, Superman’s homeworld.
This new story arc launched by Supergirl will be directly connected to the storyline running through Bendis’ Man of Steel, a six-issue weekly miniseries launching May 30th.
“It’s really exciting for me to get to write Kara,” Andreyko told SYFY Wire. “Some of my favorite Supergirl stories were obviously things like Crisis On Infinite Earths, the first comic to make me cry as a kid. There was also the great stories that Paul Levitz did with artists Keith Giffen and Steve Lightle back in Legion of Super-Heroes back in the 80s. To get to play with that characters is such a treat.”
“This Supergirl book spins directly out of the events in Man of Steel, so the books are very complementary to each other,” Andreyko explained of the ties to monthly series Action Comics and Superman. “I’m following Brian’s lead and he’s got a lot of epic stuff planned for Superman. And while the books are complementary to each other, you don’t have to read both to enjoy them, but if you do, you’ll enjoy the story more. The first year of the book is definitely tied into things that are revealed during the Man of Steel miniseries.”
Kara’s cosmic adventure and the exploration of Rogol Zaar makes the baseline of the story “very big,” the writer said. “She’s trying to learn why he does what he does, where he comes from, and if there’s anyone else involved with him. It’s a detective story in space. She’s looking for answers to the questions that have been raised by Rogol Zaar. There will be familiar faces, some new faces, all sorts of challenges facing her, and also some potentially new supporting characters who will hopefully be well-received and stick around for awhile.”
Andreyko confirmed some “classic space DC characters that we haven’t seen in awhile” will be involved, but avoided confirming Green Lantern because such a reveal “ventures into really big spoiler territory.”
Supergirl #21 boasts a cover by Terry Dodson which sees Kara clad in a new black, red, and blue costume with a hoodie that “is not a permanent new costume,” according to Andreyko. “She’s traveling in space, so there’s a lot of technical stuff she has to adapt to and be concerned about. Having a costume that can adapt to different environments and planets that might not have access to a yellow sun is important. It’s part of her arsenal now, but it’s not a permanent costume change. It’s a ‘what suit is most effective for where she is and what she has to do’ costume. It’s a practical costume, and the details around it will be revealed in the first few issues.”
“Kara’s new costume is practical that happens to be fashionable,” he said of her new digs. “It’s not couture that you wear to the Met Ball only once, as you walk the red carpet; it’s functional fashion.”
Supergirl #21 hits August 8th.
