Supergirl #9

Murderous mercy? What the fuck does that mean? He kills to be kind?

Supergirl has once again found herself in the middle of a battle. Siobhan's father has crashed their night on the town and decided his daughter needs to die. Siobhan is the Silver Banshee and I might be spelling her name incorrectly. For once, I think Supergirl would have done well to punch someone in the face when she first met them because if she'd knocked Siobhan's teeth out, Supergirl wouldn't be in this mess now.

Why do super heroes from other nations tend to have names that reflect on the culture of that nation? But American super heroes don't have to be called Freedom Guys or Democritical or The Capitalist Pugilist. Maybe they should have identities tied directly to the state they're from. That would make more sense. This question come to mind because both Siobhan and her father are named The Banshee. I know that it's probably familial tradition (or perhaps a curse), but couldn't the daughter come up with something different? I bet if Siobhan had been born just across the channel in Scotland, she'd be calling herself The Argyle Bagpipe.

This issue begins with a flashback to 13 years ago in Ireland where Siobhan, her mother, and her brother Tommy are fleeing from their Da'.

Oh look! It's an Irish curse! "May your daughters and sons be blessed with all of your strongest traits!"

Somehow, Tommy declares his father must take him and this ends the curse. Tommy and his father, The Black Banshee, disappear. I guess he could have done this earlier but he probably wanted to get laid before defeating his father by taking on the curse. Also, maybe they had successfully avoided him up until this moment. But if this happened, why is The Black Banshee back? How did he return and what does he want? It's a mystery to discover!

Back in New York, Supergirl lies on the floor of the coffee shop contemplating her current situation in life.

Yeah! I thought you might get a chance to relax as well! Stupid jerk writers!

Are the writers addressing my criticism that Supergirl needs to stop going from conflict to conflict? And if they are, they've just declared that it isn't ever going to happen! Supergirl is such a pessimist. Or maybe she's never going to get a moment of peace because she loves smashing people in the face with her fist as an initial greeting.

Siobhan and Kara speak a bit in Kryptonese and The Black Banshee responds in English. Part of the family curse must be their power with languages. I'm surprised Banshees are good with any language at all. Usually they just say, "AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" and then you lose a level. Or lose statistics. Or maybe just fail your Saving Throw versus Death and just die.

Siobhan, The Silver Banshee, does exactly what I just said Banshees do on the next page!

See? He failed his Saving Throw!

Whatever is after her isn't her father at all, at least that's what she believes. If her brother Tommy did take on the curse, might this not be him? Or maybe he just incorporated his personality into The Black Banshee which means it has a little bit of goodness tucked away inside it somewhere. But if her father and brother truly did die years ago, then this must simply be The Curse manifesting itself because it can't let go of its host family. It needs Siobhan to exist.

Or maybe it's just a third rate villain from Scotland stealing an Irish Super Villain's identity. Jerk!

The Black Banshee isn't even close to being dead even with his brains splattered all over the coffee shop. He breaks through a wall (New York's walls are just like Gotham's) and knocks Supergirl loopy with his Banshee Wail. Some bystanders try to help her and, well, you know how much Supergirl likes meeting new people!

I'm beginning to think a right cross is a standard Kryptonian greeting.

While Kara is dazed and The Black Banshee is distracted by Supergirl's ass, The Silver Banshee shows that she can levitate cars by screaming.

She can also extend the length of a silent "e"! That's an interesting power!

Using her powers to this extent causes The Silver Banshee to be taken over by the magic. She threatens Kara but quickly comes to her senses and blames the magic. That Dark Side sure takes hold fast. She promises that she'll explain the concept of magic to Supergirl once they get away from The Black Banshee. But he's not going to make that easy! He's already been killed twice and that hasn't stopped him.

Black Banshee has caused Supergirl's powers to spin out of control until she finally does that super nova thing she does that I don't think Superman knows how to do. Maybe this heat flash power is tied to her uterus. I think I did point out early that she had an exploding vagina just like Dove. Well, it explodes again.

FWAAAASH is now the official sound of a vagina exploding.

Supergirl's vagina explosion seems to a steam release valve that keeps her from exploding but it sets some trees on fire and explodes some cars. Except the vaginal steam release can't keep up and it looks like Supergirl is going to nuke New York. She can only think of one way to save herself. She flies into Black Banshee's chest. I'm not exactly sure how she knew she could do that. He mentioned that she could offer her soul up to him since he was having trouble stealing it. But he didn't say, "Enter into my chest cavity because that's where I store all of the stolen souls!" Oh well, I guess we'll chalk it up to female Kryptonian intuition. The comic ends with Black Banshee's chest glowing from the power of sucking Supergirl's soul. He's also choking his daughter to death because she doesn't seem to want to join him in ruling the world.

Supergirl #9 Rating: No change. The comic might be getting a little better in its pacing. But I still don't find it intriguing enough to gain any ranks. And next issue, the story will probably deal with Supergirl inside some spectral world where she'll meet Siobhan's brother Tommy and they'll figure out a way to defeat The Black Banshee from the inside.