REVIEW: Supergirl #5

Supergirl #5, “Paws and Effect” takes a step back to some Silver-Aged style Super Pets hijinks. The title also works as a bridge between the last four issues and what’s to come as the cliffhanger leads into less lighthearted fare.

The standard cover is by Sophie Campbell. Literally busting out on their own, the current four Super Pets make their cover debut. It’s a fun teaser for the interior story and their expressions let you know this is meant to be a fun issue.

Chrissie Zullo-Uminga’s variant is all about Streaky. Shown front and center, Streaky poses innocently for her glamour shot. Knowing how she exhibits an elitist attitude most the time makes her appearance here rather amusing.

Keeping with the Super Pet centric theme, Adriana Melo & Guliani Peratelli’s variant is a playful scene with Kara and Krypto. Sitting on a steel beam sharing an ice cream cone on a sunny day can’t help but make you smile. The pure joy on Krypto’s face is infectious and truly invokes happy feelings upon viewing.

All the variants are fantastic this month and made it hard to choose which ones to highlight. Stanley “Artgerm” Lau, Chuma Hull, and Dan Mora all contributed great works of art as to be expected of their talents.

Sophie Campbell takes a break from interior art duties this issue. In her stead we have Artists Paulina Ganucheau and Rosi Kampe along with Colorists Kendall Goode and Marissa Louise. These four do an excellent job capturing the tone Campbell has established while bringing their own styles to the issue. This really is a comedic epilogue to the “Misadventures in Midvale” arc and the art perfectly delivers on those themes.

Sophie Campbell, lettered by Becca Carey, diverges from the silent storytelling of modern animal centric tales by using the classic thought bubbles of the Silver Age to have their voices heard, at least by the readers. Three different stories take place this issue that not only merge well but takes care of a few loose ends from the previous arc. Campbell does a spectacular job of keeping the stories relevant to the series, making the issue lighthearted and comedic, and keeping from being too campy to distract from what’s happening. However, just as things get all nicely wrapped, we’re left with a concerning cliffhanger that’s sure to be essential to the next story arc.

(8/10) Sophie Campbell is masterfully proving an all ages approach to storytelling can be applied to modern superhero comics without feeling “just for kids” in Supergirl #5. The thought bubbles felt classic and nostalgic without loosing the sense of believability that can sometimes accompany their use. All in all, I find I’m genuinely enjoying this series in spite of it not really being my typical style of comic.