Supergirl deals with loss, mystery in ‘Super Hero High’ novel
Supergirl is enjoying a high-profile year, with a new comic book series from DC Comics and the second series of her TV show preparing to air on The CW.
But she’s also a star of “DC Super Hero Girls,” a multimedia property from Warner Bros. featuring strong superhero girls going through their high school years together. The property can be found in graphic novels, toys, animated programming and novels, with about 70 product lines in total planned.
Author Lisa Yee is crafting the novels featuring these characters, set in Super Hero High. The second novel, “Supergirl at Super Hero High,” was recently released.
In the DC Super Hero Girls line, many of DC Comics’ heroes and villains are young women and men learning to use their powers at Super Hero High. Officially, it’s an “alternate universe.” But it’s clearly also an effort to reach young girls where they are, watching webisodes and reading chapter books and graphic novels.
Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy are among the high-schoolers grappling with questions about their powers and themselves in the series.
Friends and foes
In the latest novel, Supergirl has made a new home on Earth after losing her home planet of Krypton. But she’s not sure Super Hero High is the right place for her.
“When I was writing her story, I thought of the word ‘loss,’ ” Yee said. “Because she had come from this planet that exploded, she had lost everyone she knew and everything she loved.”
Despite feeling alone, she makes the decision to attend Super Hero High. But before long, she’s caught up in a mystery, as someone is using alien technology to attack the school.
“As the mystery goes on, Supergirl has to discover who are friends and who are foes,” Yee said. “And that’s hard for her to discern, because she’s just such a welcoming and loving person.”
One friend Supergirl does make is Barbara Gordon. In the comics, especially in the ’70s and early 1980s, Supergirl and Gordon, aka Batgirl, have a long friendship.
In the novel, “they connected, because they both were kind of outsiders,” Yee said.
“The way Barbara is, she’s very cerebral, she thinks things through, and in the book she’s this tech whiz,” Yee said. “Supergirl is the new girl, she’s kind of casting about. And when the two find each other, an instant friendship is struck.”
More to come
Those who enjoy Barbara Gordon’s appearance in “Supergirl at Super Hero High” won’t have long to wait for more of the character. The next “Super Hero High” novel on the docket stars Batgirl and is set for a January release.
Characters from the comics, including Miss Martian, Katana and Bumblebee, also get a chance to shine in the novels, though they have yet to headline their own books.
“The hard thing about writing these books is that the DC universe is so rich,” Yee said. “I can’t write about all of them.”