Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow Review

 

Before Supergirl the movie comes out, it's time to review the comic the film takes influence from.

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is a 2021 eight issue comic book published by DC Comics. It was written by Tom King and drawn by Bilquis Evely.

The story is, Kara Zor-El aka Supergirl is being burned by grief by the fact that during her teenage years she lived through the horrifying experience of seeing Krypton's destruction. Meanwhile, a young alien girl named Ruthye Marye Knoll is seeking vengeance after her father was killed in cold blood by Krem of the Yellow Hills. Soon Kara and Ruthye crosses path during which Krem attacks and shoots a poison arrow at Krypto. Now Kara wants to save Krypto, but she also wants to save Ruthye from being consumed by revenge.

A Few Words

Now going into this I figured this was gonna be my more tougher reviews. Not because I think this comic is super complex, but because Tom King is a very divisive writer. I've seen people either praise him, hate him, and rarely feel just okay with the guy. So I was actually a little scared of what would happen if I either gave King credit where it's due or criticize him. Then I quickly got over it and decided to get it over with regardless of what other people think of my opinions.

• Negatives

I got nothing for this part. So just move to the next.

• Mix

The biggest mix bag is Tom King's writing. Now before any of you Tom King Haters cheer remember this is the mix section and not the negatives section. Anyways, let's get into the good aspect. Many have criticized King's writing for focusing on trauma and such. Now I can understand this criticism, sometimes focusing on trauma doesn't suit every single character. But I actually liked because we get to know more of why Supergirl hasn't moved on from the destruction of Krypton. Exploring the horrors she saw before the planet finally exploded. But a lot of times the story isn't focusing solely on grief and trauma. We also get themes of compassion vs. fury, healing, and mercy. And we also see how Supergirl and Ruthye go from simple mentor and student to friends. But then we have other aspects that aren't that good. For instance, we have an unreliable narrator. Now there's nothing wrong with that, but by the end of the story I was a tad bit confused. So you'll have to do some re-reading and research later. Now I find stuff like that fun, but others might find that frustrating. There was also the swearing. No take a sigh of relief I'm not going politically correct. Superheroes should be allowed to curse, especially if they're in rated T for teen stories or mature stories. But they thing is swearing is an art form in and of itself. You gotta know when to use it correctly. Tom King or at least in this comic I've read isn't using it correctly. So whenever Supergirl swears it can be a little cringe.

Then there's the pacing. Now King to my knowledge isn't a fast pace writer in the vein of Mark Millar, Robert Kirkman, or Geoff Johns. He's best known for taking it slow. Which can work for many cases. And it does work here in some parts, other parts can be slower than they needed to be.

• Positives

The one true praise I'll give is Bilquis Evely's art work. She did an amazing job. The worlds have their own style to them so you're not gonna mix them and there's also some good alien designs too. But what really makes Evely's art pop is the colors done by Mat Lopes. Just look at this.

Regardless how you feel about this story you can't deny that looks sweet. Hell if you remove the text that'd make for one sweet wallpaper.

So if you haven't figured it out by now then you've come to the correct conclusion that I don't hate this story. Do I think it's perfect? No. But at the end of the day I wasn't infuriated by what I read. I actually did enjoy a lot of it. Not all of it, but quite a few parts.

My final rating is, Okay.

So that's all for now. Come back on Saturday, Jun 27th, for my review of Supergirl (2026). Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.