“I envy you. No responsibilities. Sleeping all day.”
With a new team up arc on the horizon, Leah Williams and guest artist David Baldeon decide to have some fun amidst Power Girl’s messy life. As everyone’s favorite Kryptonian heals from her wounds, Williams and Baldeon ditch the usual heroics to focus on fan-favorite superpet Streaky the Supercat in this art oriented display of Supergirl’s former pet as the team asks: what does he do when no one is watching?
After having a missing pets case brought to his attention by a group of local stray cats, Streaky uncovers a criminal conspiracy and makes it his goal to take down a sinister group of pet nappers once and for all. The issue is, to put it simply, straightforward and very cute. The story provides breathing room after Paige’s run in with the Symbioship, and gives us a fun little side adventure to boot.
Streaky as a protagonist leans into the side of animal themed superhero comics such as Lucky the Pizza Dog’s classic story Pizza is my Business in Matt Fraction and David Aja’s Hawkeye run. Streaky has always been a more ridiculous addition to the Superfamily, having been a product of the Silver Age’s more comically outlandish sensibilities. The reincorporation of those appropriately silly elements make for a pleasantly nostalgic experience with a modern goofy edge that suits the creative well.
What helps this issue function is the fact that, as a filler issue, Williams adopts a method employed by Fraction and Aja for Hawkeye where the writer takes a bit of a backseat in the narrative structuring. It is a beloved style that allows for the abilities of the artists in question to flourish, and Baldeon and Romulo Fajardo Jr.’s work follows that as they fill Streaky’s perspective tale with scenes both touching and visually comical.
The book’s artistic deep dive acts functionally as a vacation for the readers and writer. And while that is definitely prevalent in the issue, the more scripted section that does appear in the issue is brief yet less-than-stellar as we are given a somewhat shoehorned tease for the upcoming crossover story with Supergirl. While the scene itself is not inherently bad, to have Baldeon and Fajardo take the reins with an almost fully wordless story and then end it with a cliffhanger that should’ve been touched on in the previous issue felt abrupt and tacked on.
Kara’s character development since Supergirl Special #1 helps make the casual visit to Paige’s apartment work, but in context it feels too out of place. If Williams wanted to really lean into the nature of this teaser, it probably could’ve been done in a way that was more in line with the rest of the book, such as keeping that brief ending subplot still from Streaky’s perspective. Regardless, all creatives involved crafted a very charming and fun filler issue, and I’m still very excited to see where the teaser goes.
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