The other day I wrote a little article recapping the first dozen episodes of “Supergirl,” and why you should be watching it. Yesterday we got one more reason: Grant Gustin’s Flash is going to be visiting Supergirl in National City. Here’s the official announcement:

Actor Grant Gustin, who plays Barry Allen/The Flash in the CW’s The Flash, will make his way into National City alongside Melissa Benoist, who stars as Kara Danvers/Supergirl, on the specialSupergirl episode slated for Monday, March 28 at 8/7c on CBS.

“We are so incredibly excited to announce something that we have dreamed of happening since we starting making Supergirl,” said The Flash and Supergirl Executive Producers Greg Berlanti and Andrew Kreisberg. “We want to thank Grant Gustin for making the time to come visit (on top of his already immense workload) and all of the folks at CBS, The CW, Warner Bros. and DC for working this out.”

The producers also took the opportunity to thank the many fans and journalists who “kept asking” for a crossover special.

“It is our pleasure and hope to create an episode worthy of everyone’s enthusiasm and support,” said Berlanti and Kreisberg.

How will the two superheroes work together? Be sure to watch Supergirl Mondays at 8/7c on CBS to find out.

That’s really all we know at this point. 

It’s something we’ve been hoping for since they announced that Supergirl was getting her own series, but then when CW passed on it and she headed over to CBS, it seemed like it wasn’t going to pan out. Crossing heroes is one thing, crossing networks is another. And yet, the producer of both shows, Greg Berlanti, said that they were going to keep writing the two series so they wouldn’t conflict with each other storywise. Like…they could be in the same universe, even if that crossover never happened. Even if it’s just Barry Allen meeting Kara Danvers, they’re both so adorably dorky that it make for a fun episode. 

I don’t think this will result in crossovers as frequently as we get on “The Flash,” “Arrow,” and “Legends of Tomorrow,” but it would make that universe that much bigger. My son was geeking out on the idea of Cisco meeting Winn, and them having over-the-top geeky conversations. Or Diggle’s reaction when he finds out there aren’t just superpowered heroes, but aliens too. Or an inevitable race between Flash and Supergirl, that will somehow end in a tie. This means that Superman exists in the Arrowverse. It means that we’re that much closer to some kind of Justice League forming up. Which I don’t necessarily need or want. Each series is already chock-full of heroes and villains. Which I love. DC Comics on television is getting everything right. And with the (other) news that the Teen Titans series that TNT dropped out of may still have a life “elsewhere” (possibly CW?), that could potentially expand that Arrowverse one more time. 

Wow. This is a good week. 

With twelve episodes under the cape, “Supergirl” has a lot to be proud of. And here, halfway through the first season, it might be good to step back and see how far the series has come. 

I started the series with high hopes. Not just for myself — I’m a hardcore DC Comics geek, I would watch it no matter what. But I want it to be a series that my sons enjoy. That my wife would watch. And for the last twelve episodes, we gather together every Monday to watch it as a family. There aren’t many shows we do that for. “Supergirl” is working for all four of us in different ways. 

A lot of people (including geeky friends) who watched the first two or three episodes and thought “you know, it’s a bit too weepy, a bit too much domesticity, a bit too much sisterly squabbling.” Some of that has gone by the wayside as the writers have figured out the voices of the characters, the actors have settled in, but also that the character of Kara Danvers (AKA Supergirl) has grown in confidence and in her abilities. I’ve liked Melissa Benoist as Kara from day one, and the series hinges on her–and she’s been great in the role. Playing a combination of hero and nerd and strong and feminine is a thankless task, but she (and the writers and directors) is finding that sweet spot. A balance that makes Kara a hero, but also very human. 

Some of the characters who I didn’t like at first (almost everybody BUT Supergirl) have evened out to where I like their characters and their storylines. Callista Flockhart’s Cat Grant — a character who I’ve never liked in the comics and who I didn’t think would work on this series — has become a great character. Funny (in a scathing way), but over the course of the last three episodes also more complex and layered than she ever should have been. Alex Danvers (Kara’s adopted sister and a Department of Extraterrestrial Operations agent) has become more interesting, and the relationship between Alex and Kara has gotten easier to swallow. Alex’s boss Hank Henshaw has had some secrets of his own exposed, and become more exciting and less dickish as a result. I still like Winn Schott, and recent episodes have highlighted his character; James “Jimmy” Olsen is still just bland handsomeness to me. He’s cool. But so cool that he’s irrelevant. He started out as a tenuous link to Superman, and able to tell Kara “this is what your cousin would do”…but he himself isn’t much of a character. 

As a lifelong DC Comics fan, I love the roster of villains we’ve seen already in the first half of the first season. It’s reminiscent of the way “The Flash” ran (hahaha! sorry) their first season. Most of the villains are taken from Superman comics, but there are a few wild cards in there. So far we’ve seen:

• Vartox
• Astra (Kara’s Kryptonian aunt, pissed because Astra’s twin sister locked her up)
• Non (Astra’s wife, not nearly as cool as the mute Non from the Christopher Reeve Superman movies)
• Reactron
• Livewire (she’s awesome and I want her back)
• General Sam Lane
• Red Tornado (as a villain, I’d love to see him return as an ally)
• Jemm, Son of Saturn
• White Martian
• Maxwell Lord
• Toyman
• Bizarro Supergirl
• Black Mercy

Next Monday’s episode “For the Girl Who Has Everything” is a take on a classic Alan Moore Superman story from 1985 — Superman’s infected by a plant that puts the psychic images into his head that Krypton never exploded, and he’s been there and happy all his life. In the story (and the “Justice League Unlimited’ episode) the Black Mercy plant was a gift from Mongul the Conqueror. I’m assuming that’s not the case here, but wow. That would be cool. If

I were to pick a single episode to have you watch, it would be episode six, “Red Faced.” It’s the one with Red Tornado, but it’s possibly the best one of this season to look at Supergirl’s character, and how society doesn’t want women to express any negative emotions. To be a strong woman is to be seen as a “bitch.” They draw a parallel between Kara needing to bottle up her frustration and rage with James Olsen (an African American) needing to suppress his own anger — because if anything’s more threatening to “people” than a powerful angry woman, it’s a powerful angry black man. It’s an interesting social commentary, some strong action, great geek moments (I seriously love Red Tornado you guys), and helps us to understand what it’s like to be a superhero, and to be human. I can’t ask for more. 

We haven’t seen many “super” allies for Supergirl yet, beyond the DEO people that she’s working with now. We also met Cameron Chase a few weeks ago, a government agent who shows in the comics, and who’s played by “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” veteran Emma Caulfield. I’d like to see more of her. The biggest and most unexpected ally? Martian Manhunter. J’onn Fr’igging J’onnz. Cornerstone of the Justice League. Last survivor of Mars. Eater of Oreos. It’s a pretty big deal. The character showed up on “Smallville” a few times per season in the later part of that series, but not quite like this. We’re seeing him in the open, seeing all of his “Martian powers” on display, we’ve seen some of the holocaust that befell his civilization. We’re learning more about him than we did about the “Smallville” version more quickly. I’m hoping he becomes a regular part of the series. 

If for some reason, you’re not watching “Supergirl,” you should give it a shot. If you’re a fan of DC Comics in general, but not the character of Supergirl, you should give it a shot. There’s a lot of “Justice League” and “The Flash” in this series’ DNA, and I love the unapologetic way they’re doing comic book stuff. Toyman was using oversized ABC blocks in a trap (and explosive dolls). Livewire can transport via electrical wiring. Bizarro Supergirl has freeze vision and fire breath. Whether as Supergirl or Kara, this is a hero who’s mostly optimistic. She’s not tortured, she’s not thinking the worst about her friends or her enemies. She believes in redemption, not punishment. She’s Supergirl. This is a fun show that’s not as weepy as the first few episodes made it look. It’s not the same as “The Flash.” But it’s inspired my sons to think of Supergirl the way I thought of Wonder Woman growing up in the 1970s — that she’s every bit the hero that Superman is, and she just might be able to kick his ass. 

She wouldn’t. Because they’re cousins and friendly and all.

But she totally could. 

This was bound to happen this week, so I’m glad it came through legitimate channels instead of a fuzzy set pic. Entertainment Weekly just posted a photo of Melissa Benoist in her costume for “Supergirl,” which started filming its pilot for CBS yesterday. 

And there it is. 

Personally, I love it. I was worried they’d go too far off-base, although costume designer Colleen Atwood hasn’t let us down yet with her costumes for Green Arrow, the Flash, and the other heroes and villains on DC Comics’ television lineup. They could have followed the comic book route and exposed a lot more skin — I’m relieved they didn’t. 

While not part of the cinematic universe, this looks like it would fit in alongside Henry Cavill’s Superman costume in “Man of Steel,” but seems to have a little more color in it. Until we see her in action, it’s hard to say. Still. It looks like they’ve taken Helen Slater’s costume and updated it, upgraded it a little. Don’t mess with a classic. 

Yeah, I don’t know who she is either. Melissa Benoist is best known for the role of Marley Rose on “Glee,” but also had a role in “Whiplash.” I still don’t know who she is. I will soon, because she’s been cast as Supergirl in the upcoming CBS series of the same name.

The official description of the series: “Born on the planet Krypton, Kara Zor-El escaped amid its destruction years ago. Since arriving on Earth, she’s been hiding the powers she shares with her famous cousin. But now at age 24, she decides to embrace her superhuman abilities and be the hero she was always meant to be.” 

There are some things in there that I like — it’s not a “Smallville” take on the character, where she’s discovering her powers piece by piece, and in high school, and…it’s beyond that. Superman is an established hero, she’s done with school, she’s in a career. Interviews with producers and showrunners have said that Jimmy Olsen, Cat Grant and other established Superman characters will be in the series. I don’t know yet if it will be set in Metropolis, but there’s a good chance it will be. Can they do that without having Superman/Clark Kent and Lois Lane in the series? We’ll see. They’re moving forward, they’re using the title “Supergirl,” and it’s an actual superhero. They’re piloting now, with the intent of a fall series, and CBS already has a “series commitment.” Yay!

In any case. CBS has its Supergirl. Does she look the part? I don’t know yet. We’ve heard there is a costume, it’s made by the same designer who did the Flash and Green Arrow costumes for CW. If they take inspiration from the most recent look in the comic books, it’ll be along these lines. Which I like…for about ten years she was all-midriff all the time, until it got ridiculous. This look could probably use a skirt or pants or whatever women these days use to cover some leggy bits. Still. Nice legs. 

More importantly, Greg Berlanti, the producer for “The Flash” and “Arrow” is also a producer for “Supergirl,” alongside Ali Adler and Sarah Schechter. They promise to deliver a character who’s strong and intellectual and tell a female-empowerment story, in a crime procedural setting. I’m fine with all of that. But she still needs to be Supergirl. Kryptonian, flying, with a damn cape Supergirl. They’ve made “The Flash” and “Arrow” must-see TV for me, while “Gotham” has slid off my DVR and “Constantine” never made it there in the first place. Where “The Flash,” “Arrow,” and “Supergirl” all have the same production teams, there’s the potential of crossovers between all three series. It depends on the day and who’s being interviewed as to whether that can happen or not. Even if “Supergirl” flies solo, I’m hoping the same team that made the CW series hits can do the same for the Maid of Might.

They really call her that, you know. “The Maid of Might.”

Wow.