Supergirl Week: Taking A Look At ‘Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow’
by Tony Thornley
DC Studios hasn’t been shy about the main comic book influence on its new Supergirl feature film — 2021’s Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. So one of our last steps to get ready for the movie is sitting down to re-read the 8-issue DC Comics limited series.
The series from Tom King, Bilquis Everly, Matheus Lopes, and Clayton Cowles was announced as more-or-less another entry in the timeless stories that DC does so well. While the war between Marvel and DC will always swing back and forth with one better than the other, Marvel will never be able to match DC in telling timeless stories that will never fall out of print.
Regardless, there was a lot of hesitation in the comics community at the time. King had just come off the poorly received conclusions to his Batman and Heroes in Crisis and quite a few fans were still frustrated by the out of nowhere “he was dead the whole time” ending of Mister Miracle. Other parts of King’s work were still well regarded — like Superman: Up In The Sky. So feelings for the popular writer ranged from skeptical to cautious optimism to outright hostility.
What came was a science fiction epic about Kara Zor-El helping a young girl take revenge on the warrior who killed her father (and poisoned Kara’s dog). Over the course of the eight issues, we follow Kara and Ruthye as they pursue Krem of the Yellow Hills, a mercenary and murderer, as he cuts a bloody path through the galaxy. While they pursue the killer, they also explore what made Kara Supergirl, from her childhood in Argo City to her moral code, and those around her.
On one hand, this is an absolutely beautiful comic. Everly and Lopes create an amazingly gorgeous series of alien worlds, and craft visually fascinating characters. But no matter what, at the story’s center is their depiction of Supergirl. Kara is bold, eye-catching, and regal. She’s a beacon on every page, whether she’s fighting Krem and his mercenary cohorts or snoring on an alien transport. The line art and color art come together perfectly.
As far as the writing … I’m torn. King’s plot is actually pretty great. The quest is interesting, and the exploration of Kara through different worlds that bring out different aspects of the character — her determination, her loyalty, her trauma — makes for a great structure. Yes, the set-up is pulled about 90% from True Grit, but overall it’s still solid. But I simply don’t like how King writes Kara.
The grawlix swearing is over-bearing. She’s angrier than I’ve typically ever seen her. She’s distant. There’s moments that, sure, King nails it with Kara in a few places. His exploration of her grief and trauma over the slow death of Argo City is better than I’ve ever seen that aspect of the character. But then we get Kara being weirdly angry. It would make more sense if this were a younger Kara, just arrived on Earth, but this is supposedly Prime Earth Kara, with all her experience to go with it.
Overall, though, this is a fantastic read, and I was glad to spend time with it before seeing the movie. Even with its faults, it’s a great Super-family story, and worth every moment.
