Alura Dearest... The Adventures of Supergirl 5 Review

Facet sends Kara to her mother Alura for answers. The mystery of why Supergirl and her associates have been targeted by Rampage, Vril Dox and Psi. Kara and Alex head back to DEO headquarters to interrogate the AI version of Alura. What challenges credibility is that Supergirl - along with Superman - would arrive on Earth with some sort of accompanying program from their parents. It's a convenient trope. A little too convenient. The Superman Family seems overwhelmingly burdened by the past.

Another troubling aspect is Alura's ethics and morality. It's one thing to face a generation gap, and another thing to see a parent as basically evil, unethical and immoral. Kara comes to a point where she questions Alura's sense of right and wrong.

The first half of the issue "Who is Facet?" features art by cover artist Cat Stagg and comes close to the look of the live action series. "Pieces" with art by Emma Vieceli retreats back to the standard comic book style.

Vril manages to commandeer DEO headquarters! Rampage is free and on the loose! The cliffhanger finds Facet at Eliza Danvers' front door!

Sterling Gates' story leans on a couple of troubling tropes. Yes, it's true that the past stays with us. It's never really gone. It catches up to us, haunts us and sometimes traumatizes us. Too often that's somewhat overwhelming. Your mileage may vary on that.

DC seems to be leaning more into digital first, splitting an issue in half for online chapters. It's particularly noticeable here, as the art is so different from one chapter to the next.

The Adventures of Supergirl 5 earns two stars.