Here Are the Comics to Read During the ‘Supergirl’ Hiatus

Tonight’s episode of Supergirl, “Both Sides Now,” set up audiences up with a lot to look forward to in the next episode. Unfortunately, that next episode is going to be several weeks away.

Due to a unique schedule swap on The CW, Supergirl is going on a brief hiatus after tonight. Next week in the 8/7c time slot on the network, Legends of Tomorrow will pick back and run for the next nine-or-so weeks to the end of its third season. Supergirl will return after that, on April 16, 2018.

While the switch-up was first announced back in December so that fans would have plenty of time to ready themselves for the Girl of Steel to go away for a bit, not everyone is going to tune into Legends of Tomorrow for a variety of reasons, so what are Supergirl fans to do while the show is on hiatus? Well, we think it’s a perfect opportunity to get a little bit of comic book reading in.

That’s right, much like our previous guide to what Legion of Super-Heroes comics and stories you should read to get caught up on the iconic superhero team, we have a handy guide to some Supergirl stories you might want to catch up on before the show comes back in April. Considering how tonight’s episode ended with some big questions about the Legion and what’s next for Supergirl in the battle with Reign and the other Worldkillers, you might notice a bit of a theme in our selections, but don’t worry: not only will they give you a better understanding of the characters histories, but they’re fun reads too.

“Supergirl: The Last Daughter of Krypton”

The “Supergirl: The Last Daughter of Krypton” arc served to relaunch Supergirl as part of The New 52 reboot in 2011. Collected over seven issues — Supergirl (Volume 6) #1 through Supergirl (Volume 6) #7 — the arc gives Kara a new origin. In this version of the story, Kara’s ship lands in Smallville, but goes right through Earth and ends up in Siberia, where Kara emerges with no memory of Krypton’s destruction. She thinks only three days have passed since her ship launched, and it is Superman who fills her in on the truth of what happened to her home world. The story continues with Kara going to Argo City via wormhole, and she finds it orbiting a blue sun. The city is in ruins, and while there Kara is attacked by a Worldkiller named Reign. Upon discovering that Reign and the Worldkillers plan to enslave Earth, Kara goes back to Earth to stop them.

The story features Kara battling a number of supervillains in addition to the Worldkillers, falling in love with another Kryptonian who turns out to be manipulating her into destroying the Earth, and sees Kara steadily growing into the role of Supergirl as she comes to accept what Superman told her about Krypton is true. The story ends with Reign conceding defeat to Kara, a mystery about another Worldkiller, and a lot of property damage, but ultimately, it gives Supergirl her first victory, even if just for that day. The arc contains nearly all of the appearances of Reign in comics, so it’s an excellent choice if you’re wanting to understand a little bit more about the character.

“Out of the Past” Supergirl (Vol. 6) #23

This issue marks another appearance of Reign, this time as an illusion, but it’s still worth reading because Supergirl dies in the issue — and Cyborg Superman uses her remains to become not-a-cyborg. It’s kind of insane, but the issue is worth it if for no other reason than the kick-in-the-gut payoff of the formerly cyborg man regaining his memories only to reveal himself to be Zor-El; he’s Kara’s father, and he just killed her.

“Red Daughter of Krypton: Part 2: Red Remembrance” Supergirl (Vol. 6) #30

Supergirl as a Red Lantern? Yep, it happened. After an encounter with Lobo leaves Kara really emotionally “not OK” and resulting in the heroine totally embracing her rage, Kara ends up a Red Lantern. Mad with rage, she goes around space destroying things until several Green Lanterns capture her, and realize that while the power ring can’t be destroyed without killing her, she can be changed into something other than a Red Lantern-wielding killing machine. Now one of the good guys again, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers. When the Wordkillers are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor, the leader tries to take Kara as host, but that goes badly. The whole adventure leads to Kara flying into the sun and an interesting reveal about Kara’s true nature that can only be read to be believed.

Supergirl will return with new episodes on April 16th at 8/7c on The CW.