Attention, Kryptonian Shoppers! Super-spoilers below!

I can remember the first time I fell in love with Supergirl, and it’s been over and over again since I first met The Girl from Krypton.

I forever credit my brother, Mark, for introducing comic books to me and giving me a lifelong passion. He would get stacks of used comics from the neighbor down the street for 2 or 3 cents a piece. (The inner, future “condition” snob in me hated the ones without covers or the ones with the price written on with a magic marker.)
     
One of my favorite books had Supergirl going bonkers on the cover and punching the head off of a giant statue of herself. I think it was a Superman Family Digest or annual or some such. It was the same kind of thrill as when Britney shaved her head and had a field day with an umbrella. You’re kind of like, “Wow, that’s messed up,” but you’re also kind of like, “Wow, that so rocks!”
    
Then, we get Helen Slater’s onscreen portrayal of the “maid of steel” and that just adds fuel to the flames of adoration. Tut… Tut… Tut! That movie is white hot! It’s Showgirls good, if you know what I mean. And, Faye Dunaway takes the cake when it comes to over-the-top villainesses, if you catch my drift, Readers Dearest.

And then, we have Headband Supergirl whose lifeless corpse was immortalized in her cousin Kal-El’s arms in George Perez’s iconic cover to Crisis on Infinite Earth’s #7. Though there were no captions, I always imagined Supes shrieking, “No Sweatbands! EVER!!!”
   
Followed by John Byrne’s weird, pink blob, shape-shifting “Matrix” version of Supergirl and Peter David’s grunge, skate boarding flaming angel winged version.

I mean, this chick makes Donna Troy look well balanced in retrospect. Don’t get me wrong, I’m loving every minute of it. And, I’ll always love Donna no matter how cray she is!

So, now we are treated to a new Supergirl television series courtesy of CBS. The best thing this show has is potential.  Melissa Benoist is well cast in the titular role. She looks great in the outfit and plays the character well. Save perhaps some of the scenes of her overacting the awkward bit. It almost becomes “Sue Heck-ish” at times. And, a stark contrast to Calista Flockhart’s seeming inability to move her face or walk convincingly bitchy in high heels. But, I’m still happy to see her in the role of mean boss Cat Grant.

I really dig the special effects. I think the pacing was pretty good. If I had to criticize, I perhaps think the show suffered a little from over-achiever syndrome. They tried to pack an awful lot into one hour, but I suspect the show will find its voice and pace as the characters develop.
  
It was a fanboy thrill to see Dean Cain and Helen Slater cast as Supergirl’s adoptive parents and a different kind of thrill to see Jeremy Jordan cast as a potential love interest. Of course, he’ll have competition as they have laid the groundwork for a love triangle with black Jimmy Olsen which reminded me of black Iris West. It further proves that race means nothing if you cast a good actor in a good role.

Despite a few hiccups, I believe Supergirl had a solid launch with her first episode. And, I’ll watch next week, because it may be a long time since Supergirl knocked the block off her own statue, but I still believe a girl can fly!

Check out Supergirl on Mondays on CBS.