Supergirl as a Red Lantern Reading Order

Overview

Supergirl spent a period of time, during the New 52 era, serving as a member of the Red Lantern Corps. Her time with the Corps occurred after a number of troubling events in her own life and occurred when Guy Gardner was the Corps' leader.

Supergirl's appearances as a Red Lantern are mostly confined to issues of the Supergirl and Red Lanterns series. These issues tell stories that directly relate to Supergirl's personal enemies and stories that related to enemies of the entire Red Lantern Corps. Outside of this, her appearances in other comics are pretty brief.

Extra

1. These issues mostly focus on Superman and place much less emphasis on Supergirl. However, they still relate to Supergirl's time as a Red Lantern.
2. These issues take place after Supergirl's time as a Red Lantern. However, they directly relate to the narrative of the Red Lantern Corps and somewhat serve as an epilogue to Supergirl's association with them.

Before Reading

Supergirl's involvement with the Red Lantern Corps builds upon her entire New 52 journey, which began with her appearance on Earth in Supergirl: Last Daughter of Krypton (Review). This journey saw numerous frustrations for Supergirl, as she was used, lied to, and betrayed by the people around her. All of this provided fuel for the rage that would allow her to become a member of the Red Lantern Corps.

Though reading this journey helps with understanding why Kara became a Red Lantern, it is not necessary to directly understanding her time as a Red Lantern. Anyone familiar with Supergirl as a character can jump into this story without too much confusion.

After Reading

Supergirl's time as a Red Lantern is immediately followed by her involvement with the Superman: Doomed (Reading Order) event. Her journey then proceeds through the rest of her solo series. However, these appearances do not dwell on Supergirl's time as a Red Lantern and mostly just progress her character beyond that point.

Instead, Supergirl's appearances in a few issues of the Red Lanterns series serve as an epilogue to her time as a Red Lantern. They bring her association with the Corps to a close in a story arc directly related to the existence of the Red Lanterns. These issues are marked with a 2 on this reading order.