If you've seen the animated special on Cartoon Network, you know the basic plot of this book. Supergirl is new at school, clumsy with her powers, but with some help from Batgirl, saves the day at the end. This is the same.
I found Supergirl to be a much more enjoyable character than Wonder Woman. Wondy is great in the show, but in the book, she was played so out of touch with basic life that she came across as alien. Supergirl, on the other hand, actually IS an alien, but she's not played that way at all. It's a fairly odd choice really and I'll never understand why they did Wonder Woman that disservice.
The book gets more in depth with Supergirl. She's a very conflicted person. She watched everything she knew destroyed in the blink of an eye, somehow ended up on Earth decades later than her cousin, and is struggling with these newfound powers she never had before. She's got a lot on her shoulders and she tries to be friendly and happy, but she has nightmares and struggles with being too happy when she also feels she should almost perpetually be in mourning.
Barbara Gordon is as great a presence in the book as she was in the cartoon. I'm looking forward to the third book, which is hers. I'm wondering if the plotline will be the Hero of the Year DVD's story.
This book does better at showcasing a wider array of characters. Cheetah, Frost and Star Sapphire take an instant mean girl dislike to Supergirl. Cheetah's even worse than she is during the cartoon and she doesn't have that moment with Barbara where Babs' tech saved her. The other two aren't as big a presence. I'm hoping these three get some better development down the line.
Bumblebee, Hawkgirl and Flash are focused on a bit, as the detective squad. And Ivy, because she helps them. Harley gets a little attention, including an amusing scene where both she and Mad Harriet are videoing a fight.
Katana and Beast Boy have a lot of scenes together.
Miss Martian is the main one that's developed more than what we've seen of her in the show. She's barely in the show and all we know is that she's shy and turns invisible. Well, she actually can read minds and pops into Kara's a few times. She's got a lot of potential as an awesome character.
There's also quite a bit of content that wasn't in the cartoon version, like several of the Supers joining the Kents for Thanksgiving dinner, and the battle against the Furies is lengthened a lot. The Supers actually fight them before they get mind-controlled, then again after.
Overall, this is a really fun book. It takes what was already a great animated episode and lengthens it into something that's, for the most part, even better. The treatment of Cheetah is really the only thing worse in the book.
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