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A review by dr_matthew_lloyd
Sanctuary by Mike Johnson
2.0
It's a hard decision to make, placing a star rating on this volume of Supergirl. In some ways, it's the best yet, combining Kara's resourcefulness with her desire to be alone and safe, with some well-intentioned comedy and a fun meeting with Power Girl. On the other, it's a jumble of stories which aren't complete, making the impact of what should have been a great emotional arc for Kara hollow and a little pointless.
I wondered, in my reviews of [b:Batman: The Night of the Owls|15784159|Batman The Night of the Owls|Scott Snyder|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1344000972s/15784159.jpg|21501850] and [b:Nightwing, Vol. 2: Night of the Owls|17137617|Nightwing, Vol. 2 Night of the Owls|Kyle Higgins|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1356139939s/17137617.jpg|23539657], if it was fair for a volume to include all of the stories from a cross-over arc if those stories were also going to be published in the individual volumes of each hero. In the case of Batman, this might have worked quite well, although there are a lot of different series which tie together in the Bat-family. With the H'el on Earth storyline, I am fairly certain that it only crosses over with Superman and Superboy, but I don't have access to those comics, so that was frustrating. But, from what I can grasp from the Supergirl portion, this would actually make a perfect emotional arc for Kara. The story as it stands makes it out as if Kara trusts the wrong people, but fails to exploit the obvious counterpoint that Kal-El has done nothing to encourage Kara to trust him. Thus, when Kal-El turns out to be right on this one (was there any chance that he wouldn't?) Kara feels betrayed - but unless he explains why he didn't trust H'el (which he certainly doesn't in what's recorded here) then there is no reason why Kara should have believed him - all it sounds like is that Kal-El, having grown up on Earth and not Krypton, doesn't care about his home planet or the people who lived there. Kara has genuinely lost something Kal-El never had. It would be an opportunity not just for Kara to make a mistake and have to live with the consequences, but for Kal-El to come to understand all the mistakes that he is making with Kara, and to try to repair their relationship. There's plenty to explore for Kara here, but it doesn't seem like that will actually happen in the Superman volumes, which should, really, be focused on him.
I did enjoy the meeting with Power Girl, when the story got back on track with things that were mostly Kara-related. The Supergirl/Power Girl relationship should, by rights, be an interesting one and it's good to see them doing something different with it than in the Crisis-period. Just try not to notice their terrible costumes...
I wondered, in my reviews of [b:Batman: The Night of the Owls|15784159|Batman The Night of the Owls|Scott Snyder|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1344000972s/15784159.jpg|21501850] and [b:Nightwing, Vol. 2: Night of the Owls|17137617|Nightwing, Vol. 2 Night of the Owls|Kyle Higgins|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1356139939s/17137617.jpg|23539657], if it was fair for a volume to include all of the stories from a cross-over arc if those stories were also going to be published in the individual volumes of each hero. In the case of Batman, this might have worked quite well, although there are a lot of different series which tie together in the Bat-family. With the H'el on Earth storyline, I am fairly certain that it only crosses over with Superman and Superboy, but I don't have access to those comics, so that was frustrating. But, from what I can grasp from the Supergirl portion, this would actually make a perfect emotional arc for Kara. The story as it stands makes it out as if Kara trusts the wrong people, but fails to exploit the obvious counterpoint that Kal-El has done nothing to encourage Kara to trust him. Thus, when Kal-El turns out to be right on this one (was there any chance that he wouldn't?) Kara feels betrayed - but unless he explains why he didn't trust H'el (which he certainly doesn't in what's recorded here) then there is no reason why Kara should have believed him - all it sounds like is that Kal-El, having grown up on Earth and not Krypton, doesn't care about his home planet or the people who lived there. Kara has genuinely lost something Kal-El never had. It would be an opportunity not just for Kara to make a mistake and have to live with the consequences, but for Kal-El to come to understand all the mistakes that he is making with Kara, and to try to repair their relationship. There's plenty to explore for Kara here, but it doesn't seem like that will actually happen in the Superman volumes, which should, really, be focused on him.
I did enjoy the meeting with Power Girl, when the story got back on track with things that were mostly Kara-related. The Supergirl/Power Girl relationship should, by rights, be an interesting one and it's good to see them doing something different with it than in the Crisis-period. Just try not to notice their terrible costumes...