DC Super Hero Girls, Graphic Novel No. 5 - Date with Disaster

Writer Shea Fontana takes the DC Super Hero Girls on a brand new adventures in the latest graphic novel in DC's series about the girls in the DC Universe as teenagers at Super Hero High.  The last two stories have been less than stellar, and I was worried that perhaps the books were being pushed out too fast for Fontana to provide well-written, fun tales.  This most recent book, however, proved me wrong.

Date with Disaster brings back not only a fun-filled story with a dastardly villain for the heroes to stop, but it's also filled with fun and some surprise appearances (including my favorite character, Captain Carrot, albeit as a screen-saver and poster, not an actual character in the story).  I won't say who, but let's just say that Fontana manages to weave them into the story pretty subtly and surprise the reader when they appear.

The main story is true super-hero fare - an explosion at Star Labs has the heroes investigating, but the Mayor insists there is nothing wrong, and to move on.  Poison Ivy becomes more than curious, as it turns out she has a secret connection to Star Labs, as well as Dr. Faulkner, who tells Supergirl to not tell Ivy as she is rushed to the hospital.  The super hero girls are on the case, alongside aspiring reporter Lois Lane, who smells a story herself.  But their investigation hits a pause when Batgirl discovers her father - - on a date!

Batgirl sets about to find her father a real date, while at the same time, the girls unexpectedly find their principal is also out on the dating scene.  Through an online dating ap, Batgirl finds who she believes could be the perfect match for her father - sadly, though, she couldn't be farther from the truth.

With big super hero vs. super villain battles, plenty of humor, lots of match-making (I mean, c'mon, there is the dance that Harley is putting together that has to be considered - who at Super Hero High will be taking who to the dance?), and several well-threaded plot lines all equal a great story.

Yancey Labat's is back on full art chores for this book, and his art remains consistent.  I could easily see him doing art for cartoons on a regular basis.  He provides exaggerated expressions without making them too much so, and he knows how to create a fantastic action sequence that jumps right of the page at you.

Overall, this fifth graphic novel in the series definitely reminds me why I enjoy these characters so much, and it definitely proves DC can have an all-ages series without dumbing it down to pre-school level antics.

RATING:  9 fist-fulls of electric sting out of 10 for good, clean, dramatic super-hero fun without all the unnecessary darkness and continuity!