Accompanied by some great art that would do well to replace regular penciler Jamal Igle, (should he decide to move to other projects), Supergirl Annual #1 is what you should do with a setup story in terms of delivery and expectations. The co-feature is a quality piece of work. I look at the first story as nothing more than extra material that makes me think of future stories. Stories where Kara can come away from New Krypton and deal with some of the supporting characters and plot promises that Gates revealed all the way back in issue #34. It’s definitely a book to get if you’re a Superman family fan. Read Full Review

Artist Fernando Dagnino handles the art for both stories, and although he does a capable job for the most part, he also falls into one unforgivable trap: drawing Supergirl as if she were an anorexic supermodel. If only more artists would follow the lead of regular artist Jamal Igle and draw Kara as a healthy looking teenager… Read Full Review

The first story is mostly fluff and the second story is far too heavyhanded for my tastes. The two make for an interesting comic that is helped by a solid effort from the art team, but it is by no means an essential read as the issues most interesting concepts are likely to be explored with more depth and precision in the regular issues of the series. Read Full Review

In the end, I feel bad for Gates because I think a stronger artist on board this comic might have boosted my overall feeling towards the Annual. Instead, though, it's an unpleasant looking book that is a little embarrassing to read. Maybe in the future Dagnino can draw a book with robots instead, where there won't be the urge to try and sex things up? What could have been great instead feels like a misfire, here. Read Full Review