Issue #5 header
Supergirl (Wednesday Comics) was a Supergirl short story published in Wednesday Comics #1-12 (July-September, 2009) by Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner.
Supergirl is on Superpet-sitting duty. Not an easy task per se, Kara's job suddenly becomes more strenous than usual when something starts driving Krypto and Streaky into a mad rampage.
After managing to put both animals under -relative- control, Kara looks for experts who can tell her what is wrong with Krypto and Streaky. Finally, she learns that Krypto and Streaky's weirdly aggressive behavior is caused by an unusual solar flare. An unknown alien vessel is dumping something in the Sun, and it is not only altering the Superpets' mood but also endangering the Earth's atmosphere.
Tropes:
- Actually, That's My Assistant: Subverted. An race of dog-like and cat-like aliens meet Supergirl, Krypto and Streaky and assume that cats and dogs must also be the Earth's dominant species. Therefore, Krypto and Streaky must be the Earth's rulers and Kara their pet. However, Kara cannot understand their idiom, so she cannot tell them that Krypto and Streaky are her and his cousin's pets, and Earth is ruled by humanoids like herself.
- Animal Jingoism: The story begins with the Super-Pets causing a disturbance because Krypto (dog) is chasing after Streaky (cat), without realizing that their rampage is tearing up the Metropolis' streets. Supergirl manages to get Krypto after he has scared several mailmen out of their wits, but then Streaky chases after a plane because she has seen a cartoon mouse's head painted on the tail fin.
- Aside Glance: When her conversation with Aquaman gets interrupted because someone wants to talk to Arthur about the hurt feelings of the mackerel, Supergirl glances at the Fourth Wall in exasperation.
- Big Bad: An unnamed alien race is causing radioactive solar flares that are affecting Krypto and Streaky badly. It turns out that the aliens were simply dumping their radioactive waste into the Sun because they didn't realize it would affect anyone.
- Books vs. Screens: Since Kara is getting bored while he runs tests on Krypto and Streaky, Dr. Mid-Nite says she is welcome to pick any book from his library. Kara right away asks if he's got a tv. Dr. Mid-Nite introduces Kara to his multi-screen TV setup, hoping that she will find something interesting. After flipping through over 900 channels, though, Kara finds all of them are unbearably boring.
- Butt Biter: One poor Metropolis mailman ends up bitten in the butt by Superman's dog Krypto during the Super-Pets' crazy rampage.
- Catch a Falling Star: When a plane full of people gets its back wing torn off and starts plummeting down, Supergirl manages to push it up and back to a horizontal position and steer it safely to the nearest airport.
- Clip Its Wings: While rampaging, Streaky bites a plane's back wing off, causing it fall down.
- Comedic Underwear Exposure: During the Super-Pets' rampage, one mailman is seen running away after Krypto has bitten his pants off and exposed his heart-printed boxers.First Mailman: "Barn door's open."
Second Mailman: "What? My zipper is zipped."
First Mailman: "Uh...The other barn door." - "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: While investigating a spaceship which is dumping radioactive waste into the Sun, Supergirl greets the alien crew to introduce herself, and gets shoot into unconsciousness. When Kara comes around, Krypto and Streaky have explained the situation to the aliens, who are really sorry: they were unaware that they were damaging the Earth's environment by destroying their nuclear weaponry, but they will go somewhere else now. Kara wishes them good luck and advises that they ask questions before shooting the next time.Alien: "We are sorry that we mistook your actions as an attack.[...]They have explained your situation and the effects from our disposal of radioactive waste on your planet. We apologize for this.[...]Part of our planetwide treaty was for us to work together and dispose of all the weapons of destruction left on the planet."
Supergirl: "I get it...and dump it into our Sun. Well... Thanks for taking it elsewhere. I wish you all good luck with everything...and when you guys are visiting Earth, look me up. But in the future ask questions first, then shoot." - Cutting the Electronic Leash: Aquaman is trying to talk with Supergirl, but their conversation gets interrupted by a caller who wants Aquaman deal with literally every problem under the sea at once: the whining of the shoals of mackerel...an oil spill off the coast of Spain...a tsunami somewhere else...after hanging up the call, Aquaman angrily tosses his phone over his shoulder and into the ocean.
- Female Feline, Male Mutt: Krypto is still male, but Streaky is gender-flipped into being a female cat (and is actually mistaken by the Earth's queen by catlike aliens).
- Funny Background Event: As Supergirl and Aquaman have a talk, Krypto and Streaky are quarrelling with crabs and other marine creatures, and an octopus is seen retrieving Aquaman clam-phone -which Arthur had previously dumped into the water angrily- and getting him to pocket it back. Since Aquaman refuses to acknowledge it, the octopus slides Aquaman's phone into his belt as the man is distracted.
- Goofy Print Underwear: One mailman who gets his pants ripped off by Krypto wears white boxer shorts with little read hearts.
- Hero Insurance: It is mentioned that the Super-Pets' rampage through Metropolis cost the city thousands of dollars worth of damage. How the city was restored is left unexplained.
- Hurl It into the Sun: An alien race decides to dump their weapons into the sun as a symbol of peace, after ending a civil war.
- Intelligent Gerbil: Two aliens wearing body-obscuring space suits take off their helmets at the end, revealing that they are an anthropomorphic dog and cat. Humorously, they consider humans primitive creatures who are pets to animals, rather than the other way around.
- Lighter and Softer: This story is more humorous, heartwarming, and less intense than the others published in Wednesday Comics. The Super Pets' antics cause a lot of destruction, but it's played for laughs, nobody gets seriously hurt or killed and, as it turns out, the story's "villains" have totally benign intentions, and Supergirl is ultimately able to communicate with them and resolve the conflict peacefully.
- Look Ma, No Plane!: When an airliner pilot asks why the radar is picking up a foreign object on the back wing, the stewardess informs that -believe it or not-, it is a flying cat who is about to tear the fin off.
- Mailman vs. Dog: Krypto tears Metropolis Post Office up and rips off one mailman's pants during his rampage.
- Mistaken for Servant: An alien race of talking animals mistake Krypto and Streaky for the Earth's King and Queen, and Kara for their (weird and scary) retainer.
- Mistook the Dominant Lifeform: Supergirl, Krypto and Streaky run into an alien race who are intelligent, bipedal dogs and cats. Naturally, they think the humanoid Kara is Krypto and Streaky's pet, and find surprising that the rulers of the planet take such a primitive, frightening creatures -who don't even have tails- as pets.
- My God, What Have I Done?: When Supergirl asks if he can find out what is wrong with Krypto and Streaky since he speaks to animals, Aquaman, sick of people getting his powers wrong, goes on rant about him not being able to speak to animals, let alone terrestrial ones. He then realizes he has made Kara very upset, feels guilty and apologises for taking his frustrations on her.
- Newhart Phonecall: Supergirl is talking to Aquaman when Arthur suddenly has to take a call from someone who apparently wants him to deal with all sea-related emergencies at once.Aquaman: "What else?...What?!?...Okay, how big an oil tanker is it?...That big?...Spain is a good distance from where I am, do you realize that...Is it leaking? No? That's more of a job for the coast guard, actually...Listen, I gotta...What? A tsunami?!?"
- Not Evil, Just Misunderstood: Dr. Mid-Nite discovers that a race of aliens are causing radioactive solar flares. Supergirl tries to communicate with the aliens, but fails and accidentally starts a fight with them. However, Krypto and Streaky are able to communicate with the aliens, who then figure out how to communicate with Supergirl and explain themselves. It turns out that the aliens had just peacefully ended a war between themselves, and they were dumping their weapons into the sun as a symbol of peace. However, they didn't realize that the sun was near an inhabited planet. Once they realize their mistake, they agree to dump their waste at another star far away from any inhabited planets.
- Poor Communication Kills: Supergirl tries to communicate with an alien race to stop them from dumping their radioactive waste into the Sun, but she gets shot instead and loses consciousness. When she comes around, the aliens -who are now using a translator device- apologise: they don't speak English and misttok her attempts to explain that their waste disposal method is causing for troubles for Earth as an attack. Fortunately, Krypto and Streaky managed to explain everything to them.
- Puppy-Dog Eyes: In the first page, a little child begs her father to buy her one puppy. Immediately her eyes become bigger, rounder and shinier as her blue irises and black pupils expand and dilate. Her father has no option but to give in and let her pick one.
- Repeating So the Audience Can Hear: As taking a call, Aquaman is kind enough to inform readers that he is being badgered about.
- Shoe Phone: Aquaman carries a clam-shaped phone hidden in his belt.
- Sir Cameos-a-Lot: Aquaman shows up in one scene, and he is mentioned or appears in other stories to assist the titular heroes, but he does not get his own story in this collection.
- Solar Flare Disaster: An extremely unusual solar flare is driving Krypto and Streaky mad and endangering the Earth's atmosphere. As Supergirl and Mid-Nite point out, the Sun is constantly releasing solar flares, but this one is unusually dangerous because it is being caused by an alien vessel dumping dangerous materials into the Sun.
- Surveillance as the Plot Demands: Dr. Mid-Nite's monitors are able to spot a tiny alien vessel randomly hovering around the Sun.
- There Was a Door: The story starts with Streaky crashing through one window, Krypto smashing his way through the same window, and Kara demolishing the last remnants of said window when she flies through the hole in pursuit of both super-pets.
- This Is Gonna Suck: When Streaky tears a plane's back wing off, causing the aircraft to plummet down, Supergirl stares in horror and mutters "Great...Just great!" before rocketing towards the falling plane.
- This Is My Human: The canine and feline aliens assume that Supergirl must be Kyrpto and Streaky's pet, and the Superpets pointedly don't dissuade them from their "mistake".
- Translator Microbes: Supergirl manages to communicate with the aliens when they use a device simply known as "translator".
