Supergirl Special was a Supergirl one-shot comic by Mariko Tamaki and Skylar Patridge, published by DC Comics in October, 2023.
Kara has moved to Metropolis and started working more closely with the rest of the Super-Family. However, she is having difficulty working alongside her alternate self Power Girl, whose presence reminds Kara that she used to feel unable to be the best at something, no matter how hard she tried.
Tropes:
- Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene: The story starts with a battle scene, continues with Kara talking to her family and feeling introspective, introduces another scene where the Super Family has to rescue people from a burning building, and ends up with Kara having heart-to-heart talks with Lois and Power Girl.
- Adaptational Wimp: Kara almost gets killed by a falling chunk of building. In any other comic, she would have not gotten one single scratch even if the whole building had collapsed onto her head. Also, a flashback shows her staying in her rocket until Superman showed up to get her out of there, ignoring that Kara was resourceful and bold enough to leave her pod on her own without waiting to be rescued in the original "The Supergirl From Krypton (1959)".
- Aerith and Bob: Kara's memories show one Kryptonian girl called Elsa, an English-sounding name. It fits the "two syllables ending in '-a'" pattern of most female Kryptonian names, but it still looks odd because it's so familiar.
- Always Someone Better: Kara resents Power Girl because, despite her status as one of the world's strongest heroes, PG looks much more mature than her.
- Can't Catch Up: While talking to Lois, Kara confides that she feels like she cannot improve and become the best at something, no matter how much she tries.
- Catapult Nightmare: Kara is dreaming about her old life in Argo City when meteors start raining down on the city. Kara wakes abruptly, lurching herself into a seated position, dropping her bedsheet and putting one hand on her chest to slow her heart rate.
- Comfort Food: Lois bakes a batch of cupcakes, thinking they will help Kara get over her depression. Apparently, Lois' mom was "a big fan of feeding depression".
- Covers Always Lie: The cover features a bruised and tattered but confident Kara, facing some unseen attacker with a "Bring it!" smirk as laser beams are raining around her. In the story Kara never fights someone, cannot even stop a building from falling, and spends the whole time moping and displaying a surly expression.
- Crystal Spires and Togas: Kara describes her hometown Argo City as a city made of liquid glass and polished steel where everyone wore Roman-style robes.Jon: "Tell me about Argo City. What do you remember?"
Kara: "The sound of it. The noise of all the people. It was around you all the time. Buildings like liquid glass and steel." - Death from Above: Kara's nightmare ends with Kara looking up and seeing a shower of meteors raining down on Argo City.
- Delirious Misidentification: As Power Girl is putting an injured security guard in an ambulance, the old man tells her "Thanks, Supergirl. You're my favorite".
- Flaming Meteor: The meteors crashing through Argo City's protective dome are featured as flaming rocks.
- Fleeting Demographic Rule:
- "Kara is suffering from post-traumatic stress and survivor guilt which she needs to overcome" is a very recurring Post-Crisis Supergirl plotline. You can find it in "Girl Power" (2005), "Last Daughter of Krypton" (2011), "Red Daughter of Krypton" (2014), "The Killers of Krypton" (2018) ...
- "Supergirl and Power Girl are at odds with each other" has been another constantly recycled plotline since the late 90's.
- Identical Twin Mistake: A security guard mistakes Power Girl for her alternate self when he is rescued by the former.
- Innocently Insensitive: The twins Otho-Ra and Osul-Ra ask Kara what she did do back in Krypton, unaware that it is a sensitive subject for her, since she cannot remember her old life right now.
- Loafing in Full Costume: Kara wears her hero suit the whole time, not bothering to change clothes when she leaves or returns to her apartment.
- No Antagonist: The story deals with Kara's feelings of inadequacy and survivor trauma, featuring no villains (other than Toyman in the first page's flashback).
- Other Me Annoys Me: Kara sometimes feels like PG's presence implies a rival who is outshining her and making her look superfluous and inferior. It does not help that social media argues the nature of their relationship, or come up with “Who would win” scenarios.
- Series Continuity Error: Kara barely remembers her life back in Krypton, contradicting one of her more firmly established character traits which was constantly remarked upon in the Superman comics published in 2023. She also resents Power Girl's existence, even though the Power Girl Special published four months before revealed that she regards her alternate self as beyond family, and she does not understand why PG considers her "rival".
- Single Tear: Kara admits she feels upset about arriving in Earth too late to help her cousin baby, who had grown up and no longer needed caretakers. She then sheds a single tear when Lois says she couldn't have done anything to change that while floating in space.
- Trespassing to Talk: Kara returns home after a nocturne mission and finds out Lois is sitting in her kitchen, wanting to talk about her current depression. And she has baked a batch of cupcakes while waiting for Kara.
- Troubled Fetal Position: In a flashback, teen Kara is sitting curled up at her school's steps, feeling depressed and upset because she lost a race due to a silly mistake.
- Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny: Discussed by a news site's article titled "Battle of the Blondes", referring to Supergirl and Power Girl. Likewise, a social media user states he would pay good money to see them fighting each other.
- Unreliable Illustrator: Kara's narration tells us how "[she] left [her] planet as it was turning to dust" while the art clearly shows her being rocketed from Argo City, a floating space city which got destroyed some time after Krypton's demise.
