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Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow #1-8

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow

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It’s Supergirl like you’ve never seen her before, in a character-defining sci-fi/fantasy masterpiece from Mister Miracle writer Tom King and Wonder Woman artist Bilquis Evely!

Kara Zor-El has seen some epic adventures over the years, but she now finds her life without meaning or purpose. Here she is, a young woman who saw her planet destroyed and was sent to Earth to protect a baby cousin who ended up not needing her. What was it all for? Wherever she goes, people only see her through the lens of Superman’s fame.

Just when Supergirl thinks she’s had enough, everything changes. An alien girl seeks her out for a vicious mission. Her world has been destroyed, and the bad guys responsible are still out there. She wants revenge, and if Supergirl doesn’t help her, she’ll do it herself, whatever the cost. Now a Kryptonian, a dog, and an angry, heartbroken child head out into space on a journey that will shake them to their very core.

This volume collects Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow #1-8.

224 pages, Paperback

First published July 26, 2022

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3410 people want to read

About the author

Tom King

1,057 books2,115 followers

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,510 reviews
Profile Image for Anne.
4,677 reviews70.9k followers
August 18, 2023
Might have been a better story without the hillbilly alien girl narrating the entire thing.

description

The elephant in the room really is King's tendency to use 40 words instead of 5.
It was ok for the first few issues because you're setting the scene for everything. But beyond that?
Oh. Oh my. That's a lot of goddamn word bubbles there, sir. And the story just went on forever.
Swear to god, I thought everything was wrapping up around issue 5 (I was reading it as single issues on DC Infinite), so you can imagine my utter shock when I get to the end and realize I have THREE MORE of these long-ass issues to go.

description

And Ruthye Marye Knoll was just the worst way to have to get your information. Some kind of weird speech pattern that was a cross between old-timey mountain man, and the alien version of what someone who isn't from the South thinks the southern dialect sounds like.
Just fucking awful.
In small doses, she could have been a quaint addition to the story, but with nothing but walls upon walls of text with her as the narrator it was torture.
Then again, one of King's big claims to fame is having once been in the CIA. Perhaps they used to let him tell long rambly tales and "do annoying voices" to break the prisoners' will at Guantanamo?

description

The ENDING.
What? That was the weirdest most dogshit ending ever. Maybe I didn't understand what happened but I read it several times trying to see if I had missed something.
And it turns out that I did.
Finding out the real ending made me lower my rating because if you have such a confusing ending that Screen Rant has to explain it to, then fuck you.

But.
Pretend this had been edited and condensed, anyone besides Ruthye narrated it, and the ending was different?
I actually liked the core of Supergirl's story. Show me what this badass bitch can do!

description

I also liked the art style. It may not be everyone's jam but was one of the best things about this one in my personal opinion.
Everything else? I don't know. I'm sure this will have a lot of fans but it was a bit too long & tedious for me.
Profile Image for A.J..
603 reviews84 followers
August 8, 2022
“For that day I learned the truth of all things. Just as every man has two faces, so does every place. And you can spend your days knowing just where you are and still be hopelessly lost.”

Kara Zor-El has seen many adventures and battles over the years, but recently she has found her life without any meaning or purpose. After traveling to a red sun planet with Krypto to celebrate her birthday, Kara encounters an alien girl who seeks her out for a vicious mission. Supergirl may think she can help this angry, heartbroken child, but that may be easier said than done, especially after their journey into space begins to change all involved, for better or worse...

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is one of the most impressive superhero comics I have read in a while. Maybe it was mostly due to my expectations of Tom King, as the only thing consistent about his writing is how inconsistent it is, but this really impressed me. King & artist Bilquis Evely managed to hook me in after just one incredible issue, and continued to deliver month after month with amazing issue after amazing issue. King’s writing is better and even wordier than it usually is, while Evely’s art pops and elevates the script, rather than highlighting its flaws.

It should also be stated that I did not give a shit about Supergirl one bit before reading this, but now I kinda wish King was doing more with her. I also usually read King’s work in trades, but this was the first one I read month-to-month as it came out since his Batman in 2016. Totally worth it though, because while it probably does still read better in the trade, this was a book that I always looked forward to reading every month when I saw it in my pull list.

Now with all this praise I’m giving this book, there is one HUGE downside that isn’t going to change my star rating, but may impact others’ enjoyment of this: The fact there are so many fucking captions in this book. It’s kinda insane how wordy our main character’s narrations are, but holy shit, it can be a bit daunting getting through it all.

I obviously loved this to death, but I’m not going to act like the pacing of it wasn’t affected for the worse by the long-ass captions. It’s a shame too because that’s honestly the only thing that is holding this book down. Everything else is nearly perfect and firing on all cylinders, but the pacing is going to work differently depending on who is reading it. It worked for me enough that this is still a 5-star book, but man I totally get if someone just didn’t jive with this. It can be a bit much at times.

If you can get past that part though, I think there is a classic Supergirl story in here that mostly anyone can enjoy. If you already hate King’s work, this probably won’t change your opinion on it, but I think this is easily the strongest and most consistent of all his projects. He also stuck the landing, which is where King’s stories usually fall apart for me. Buy this as soon as you can if you are interested, totally worth at least giving a chance. I will be double dipping whenever the inevitable OHC comes out since Evely's art really does deserve it. No idea why DC is printing a tpb first, but whatever, still check this out.
Profile Image for Khurram.
2,294 reviews6,685 followers
September 10, 2025
I had been hearing great things about this series before the TPB came out. I am glad it held up to my expectations. I wanted to give this 4.5 stars. The book definitely deserves a round-up.

The book has a dark fairytale vibe to it. Though my first impression of the artwork was not my favourite, the artwork fits the story perfectly.

A young girl finds her father's dead body and begins a quest for vengeance against the king's agent who did the deed. She is aided in her quest by the legendary Supergirl.

This book is a great balance of sci-fi, fairytale, magic, action, story, and character development. One of my favourite things about this book is that it does not focus on Supergirl's powers but her toughness (she is definitely not the soft cousin) and empathy. I think the toughness with a bit of a mean streak really distinguishes the two super cousins.

If I had one complaint about the story it is that it's a little slower pace, but I understand why this was the same as it gives a chance to tell both characters' stories and a bit of development. I especially liked the difference between Supergirl's perception of Krypton and its destruction compared to Superman having very little real connection to his birth planet. The book finishes with a variant cover gallery and sketchbook.
Profile Image for Sam Quixote.
4,764 reviews13.4k followers
August 19, 2022
One-dimensional bad guy kills man giving man’s daughter reason to hunt down bad guy. Supergirl’s involved because bad guy also kills Krypto, her dog. Hey, wasn’t the latter the plot for John Wick…?

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is the worst Tom King comic I’ve read yet. Unfortunately, he’s been on a bit of a downwards spiral since wrapping Batman (though Strange Adventures wasn’t bad) and he’s managed to hit a new low with his latest attempt at reviving an obscure/unpopular DC character with Supergirl.

Revenge stories are a dime a dozen so I won’t critique that, but the way he told his revenge story? That was dire. Our narrator is an alien girl called Ruthye Marye Knoll (the superfluous “e”s in her name makes her alien), a supremely verbose narrator whose extended prattling was never once entertaining nor did much to make a bland story the least bit livelier. I’ll spare you any example quotes (and I just can’t be bothered to type reams of bloated text) but, if you do pick up this book, expect blocks and blocks of useless words crammed onto nearly every page that’ll do your head in long before the end (assuming you get there).

The bad guy - Krem of the Yellow Hills - is a space pirate who kills and loots because he’s a space pirate and who’s a challenge (the usual culprits when it comes to Super-characters: Kryptonite and magic) until he doesn’t need to be, ie. the page count is reached.

King utilises that laziest of unimaginative sci-fi tropes by having Supergirl and Ruthye take in a bunch of alien worlds that are simply thinly-veiled versions of our world and its many features. Some dinosaurs fill up one issue, an obvious racism story takes up another, you get the idea pretty quickly: this is all filler for a very linear and unimpressive tale.

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow is awful. Frustratingly overwritten and slow-moving, it is an absolutely tedious and forgettable comic that’ll do nothing to make readers want to pick up anything further with Supergirl in the title. Even if you’re a Tom King fan, I’d recommend skipping it and sparing yourself the boredom of struggling through this unrewarding comic.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Darren.
160 reviews72 followers
July 31, 2025
Read this in preparation for the film which comes out next summer. I loved how dark this was and it was nice to see a very damaged Supergirl rather than the usual character we get to see.

Highly recommended
Profile Image for Jim Ef.
415 reviews104 followers
March 29, 2025
7.7/10
I'm going to start with the art, which is what made the most positive impact to me.
I haven't heard of Bilquis Evely before but i immediately liked her style. Her art is beautiful and unique, detailed yet easy to the eye and she is really good in making the characters show their feelings through facial expressions.
The colours by Mat Lopes are very nice.

When it comes to the writing, i think King does a very decent job. The story overall is good and i really liked Supergirl. She has such a tragic origin and you can really tell here how she still carries the sad memories with her.
Profile Image for Subham.
3,032 reviews98 followers
January 2, 2023
This is one of those books that really changes your perception of a character for good and King brings it home here again and makes you love Kara here.

So the plot of the story is Supergirl meets this girl Ruthye whose on a quest to find this man called Krem who killed her father and they go on this epic cosmic odyssey to find this killer and bring him to justice and in the midst of it, her view changes and Justice, not vengeance is shown here and how this girl learns that important lesson and also how Kara may have learned some things about herself in the process and finally moving on from the loss of Krypton.

This book has loads of great moments like visiting different planets and there were two instances I really loved like on the planet Maypole where they encounter strange inhabitants and how ruthless they are and the deep and dark secret and by the end just makes you sad and horrified and connects to real world history and you will identify what it is, and yeah hard to say more about it. But King does it really well and showing the horror and carnage of it.

Then on the planet Barenton and its a classic homage to one of those classic Superman stories where he gets trapped on this planet and how he survives it and here its Supergirl and how Ruthye saves her while she is depowered and weak and it was a good way to develop her character also and I think it was that chapter that really made me love her even more.

Then as for the villains, Krem is so well defined and explored, he is a complicated villain for sure but its through bits and pieces you learn about him and his philosophy and when he encounters Ruthye towards the end you get an insight into his mind and its just so messed up and King really does well to give him complications and make him a well rounded villain and he works well for the series and by the end, some surprising things happen that bring this story full circle. The Brigands are okayish villain and mostly filler for the plot!

But as for the main character Kara she is so well explored here and its one of those stories that will be one of her top stories showing how she grew as a character and like moved on from girl to woman and becoming Super just like her cousin. I liked her relation with Ruthye and that stuff with Cosmo (super-horse) okay that was so amazingly done here and my god King did some amazing twists with them but it was the art which had Supergirl flying the horse that was beautiful!

So yeah overall its a book with a story thats just majestic largely its the art and it has some great moments and shows you why she is Supergirl and this epic cosmic odyssey and just filled with great moments and some amazing characterization and yes it has familiar sci-fi tropes but those are just to use it to progress the story forward in great ways and its one of the best DC books from the Infinite frontier era!! So MUST READ!
Profile Image for Molly™☺.
943 reviews105 followers
August 15, 2022
WARNING: CONTROVERSIAL OPINION AHEAD Right, with that out of the way, let's dive in. King's take on Supergirl differs from much of what's come before as it shares many similarities to the space opera genre . The space travel allows for King to explore the character that lies beneath the powers. There are moments when the particular planet's sun leaves her powerless and she shows true mental strength in order to overcome the challenges. Who she is at her core is portrayed very well here. The visuals also lend very well to the space fantasy aesthetic. Unfortunately, what really lets this down is the boring prose that litters every single spread. It's a mixture of bumbling, repetitive filler that contains words which seem to have been added in because Word generated a synonym that King thought sounded more impressive. It's skim-worthy at best and absolutely dire at worst. It's a shame as the potential is there, but the execution is so poor in places that it's hard to look the other way.
Profile Image for Ray.
Author 19 books430 followers
September 13, 2023
While I've found Tom King something of a hit-or-miss writer, there's no denying he is a unique voice in the mainstream comics field today. I was a fan of both the Vision and Mr. Miracle, which were about superheroes in the suburbs, and I've also heard bad things about the DC event Heroes in Crisis.

What I didn't realize was the range of this author, as Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow explores an surprisingly fresh fantasy space epic. Superman, and Supergirl as well, often suffers from a storytelling perspective by being too powerful and hence too boring. The answer to this, it seems to me, is to focus on the outer space cosmic element. Enough of mad scientist robots and more going to other planets, am I right?

Tom King's Supergirl does this so right. And it works as a self-contained graphic novel that anyone can enjoy without continuity baggage. She's Kal-El's cousin, that's all you need to know. There is the point-of-view character, a young girl exploring the universe for revenge against the evil villain, as each chapter goes to strange worlds of tragedy and wonderment. It's almost like a European scifi comics, ala Moebius and Heavy Metal, with limitless imagination.

In today's media environment, I can't help thinking about adaptations. Yes, this would make a great movie. With no cinematic universe world-building necessary, just fantastical settings and deep human (alien) drama. Why, I must wonder, can't superhero stories these days be more like this...
Profile Image for Sean Gibson.
Author 7 books6,097 followers
November 30, 2023
This rating predicated on my interpretation of the ending. If I'm wrong and that arm isn't lifting up on the last page, then it goes down to 4 stars.

This message brought to you by vague statements intended not to spoil anything.
Profile Image for HapJulka.
416 reviews372 followers
Read
September 2, 2025
Jeśli usłyszycie; że ktoś płacze w poznańskim kinie na "Supergirl", to jak coś - to pewnie bedę ja 😭
Nie mogę się doczekać, żeby zobaczyć jak wykorzystają ten komiks 😩
Profile Image for Diz.
1,840 reviews128 followers
October 3, 2022
This trippy story follows Supergirl as she help a young woman get revenge on the man that killed her father. The story itself is told through the eyes of this young woman, so she narrates most of the action from a future perspective. The sci-fi worlds here are fascinating and have a real alien quality to them. The art is amazing. Every page is beautiful to look at.
Profile Image for M. J. .
147 reviews7 followers
May 2, 2023
The art was superb, the story was ok, the writing though, to simply put it, was a loquacious, overly verbose, circumlocutory prolix chore and it saddens me to say that I could not wait to get it over with. On top of that this overabundant amount of words would rarely complement the beautiful art, but rather compete with it for your attention on the page. A frustrating thing to happen when reading comics (when it's not a picture book or an experiment with the comic book form). Admittedly I've never read a modern Supergirl adventure, so I didn't know much of her current story and personal background and I still feel pretty much the same, even after reading the 8 issues that comprises this book. I'm still curious about Kara Zor-El, but that's probably because I learned so little about her reading this, is that all there is to her? No! I won't let Tom King mess with my head once more, I won't blame the character this time. I'll keep looking for good modern Supergirl stories out there, and some day I might just find one.

All that being said, I must add that this book features Comet, the super-horse, so that's always appreciated.
Profile Image for mel.
197 reviews13 followers
March 16, 2022
very lyrical story, which i actually really enjoyed in a comic book form. i believe king really understands kara's character, and it shows. I really appreciated ruthye and how we saw the story through her eyes. 10/10 read i will def read it again

*read the issues as they came out*
Profile Image for Corey Allen.
217 reviews14 followers
August 16, 2022
Supergirl is always willing to help. And good thing, because an alien girl (I can't remember her name lol) seeks the help of super girl to track down the killer of her father. Little do they know, the killer is Krem. Krem is apart of a group of people who leave a trail of destruction everywhere they go. SO, Supergirl and the alien girl team up and track down this killer, and hopefully stop all this destruction.

As much, as that may sound like a simple plot, it has a lot of depth, because of the characters. I really think that this story is a journey of self discovery and learning to cope with tragedy. And for that, I loved every second of it.

Except from a few episodes from the tv show. I don't really know much about the character. And, Tom King was able to create a story that fit for people who don't know much about the character, and (from what I've heard) ones that do.



Now the one complaint that I've heard a lot about, is that there is too much narration. Personally it didn't bother me. One, I prepared myself for it, since it's a Tom King book. Two, I liked how Tom King made it felt like the alien girl was reflecting fondly over the time she had with Supergirl which I liked a lot.

Anyways, I enjoyed this a lot, it's probably not for everyone, but I suggest giving it a try.

Profile Image for Michael.
263 reviews6 followers
June 7, 2025
This is the first time I’ve read a Supergirl book and I really liked the character!

The story here was really good and I had really good time following the story and I think not only shows who Supergirl is really well but is also a good character arc for Ruthye as well. However the narration was way too much and she didn’t speak normally? Not sure if it’s because I just had to read so much of her babbling on but for me it was almost getting in the way of the story. The ending was a bit confusing at first as well and I think it could’ve been made clearer what actually happens there.

Overall though despite the issues I had the story itself was amazing and makes me want to check out more Supergirl.
Profile Image for Rod Brown.
7,114 reviews267 followers
October 12, 2022
What little I knew about this book going in were repeated references to its similarities to True Grit. And the debt owed to Charles Portis is indeed huge. But the comparison does make this book seem tiny, with its silly, ponderous, and tiring narration and just-okay art that makes Supergirl look like Taylor Swift cosplaying as Pearl from Steven Universe.

This is also very obviously a sequel to Tom King's Superman: Up in the Sky. Or it may be more accurate to say it is a complete retread of that as once again a hero quests for months through the depths of space across dozens of planets with the goal of helping a child. But there King was able to play off the iconic and unchanging reputation and personality of Superman, whereas this iteration of Supergirl is the latest of many twists and turns she has taken since the classic version was killed off in the 1980s. She's not the Supergirl I grew up with, and it is hard to appreciate tweaks to her mythology when the character herself is a bit of a cipher to me at this point.

There is one nice scene with a gravedigger and an interesting attempt to lay out the amount of trauma her traditional Argo City origin would entail, but the through story is a bit ludicrous with its paper-thin nothing of a villain. And again, it is a slog to read thanks to the overwritten narration.

Also, if you are going to have a story that is an allegory about racism between blue people and purple people, perhaps that's a stupid chapter to mute the color palette so much that the blue of the people's skin and Supergirl's uniform usually appears like an off shade of green.

Disappointing.
Profile Image for ✔️ JAVI ®️.
197 reviews17 followers
October 8, 2023
7/10 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

description

“Veréis, lo que no se entiende bien sobre la hija de Krypton es que su poder no consistía en la acción, sino en la contención, la resistencia y la pasión.
Ella no elegía disparar un rayo con los ojos, o tener aliento ártico, o correr más rápido que una bala.
O cualquiera de sus otros bien documentados milagros.
No, ella contenía su visión calorífica para mirarte a la cara.
Templaba su aliento para conversar contigo.
Relantizaba su paso para caminar a tu lado.
Cada momento de cada día, contenía las fuerzas que se agitaban en su interior.
[...]
Creo que este esfuerzo la dañaba.
Creo que ella vivía su vida con dolor.
[...]
Si le hubierais preguntado, no dudo de que habría afirmado que tal aseveración era absurda.
Ella habría dicho que se sentía bien y luego os habría preguntado si necesitabais ayuda.”


description

Tom King (guión) recurre a la fantasía, tanto por argumento como por estilo de narración, para contar la historia de Ruthie. Cuando el padre de esta es asesinado por Krem de las colinas amarillas, Ruthie intentará contratar a alguien que le ayude con su venganza. Siendo Supergirl la que se cruce en su camino y acabe siendo su compañera de viaje. Las espadas, aunque no decisivas, estarán presentes en la aventura. Incluso un dragón espacial, contribuyendo a esa ambientación de fantasía. No es un argumento que haga explotar la cabeza, pero es que algo mediocre de King sigue siendo bueno.
Sobre el dibujo de Bilquis Evely, una vez acostumbrado a las marcadas pestañas de los personajes, me gusta y me parece muy acertado para un cómic de Supergirl. Es un dibujo trabajado, que llena por completo con trazos y contenido las viñetas. Difícil ver un espacio vacío.
Combinado con el color de Matheus Lopes, y la amplísima gama y tonos de colores que usa, dan paso a una psicodelia espacial para recrearse la vista. Viñetas que hipnotizan los sentidos relantizando el avance de las páginas. Una combinación perfecta de arte entre dibujo y color. Sin duda, lo mejor de este volumen, autoconclusivo, donde se recopilan los ocho números que componen la serie.

description
Profile Image for Matty Dub.
663 reviews10 followers
August 13, 2022
There is a pretty good story here but it’s a lot of work to get to it. The book is constantly bogged down by walls of narration from the book’s POV character, Ruthye. Here King goes full Bendis and professes his love for the sound of his own voice and it’s very cringe, even a little awkward. Despite his best attempt at ruining his own book, there are some very touching and meaningful moments and I do believe he understands and writes Kara extremely well. This book however isn’t Supergirl’s, it’s Ruthye’s.

The art by Bilquis Evely and her usual partner on colours Mat Lopes is beautiful, evocative and lyrical. It suits the story perfectly, wether it’s a touching moment or King just jerking himself off. It really works either way. She was literally the best choice to illustrate this book.
Profile Image for Marcos GM.
414 reviews274 followers
February 29, 2024
[ESP/ENG]

Esta es la segunda lectura que hago de esta historia. La primera fue con las grapas según salían, no quise reseñarlo entonces porque no sabia muy bien qué decir. Ahora sabiendo qué derroteros iba a tomar esto y cual era el carácter del cómic, creo que puedo decir que me ha parecido brillante. Tom King hace un gran trabajo profundizando en la psique de Supergirl, en su historia, y consigue darle un toque único y distintivo. Acompañado al dibujo por Bilquis Evely, que también está sensacional, consiguen una obra que funciona tanto para los fans del personaje como para recién llegados, ya que no está en continuidad.

description

Dicho todo esto, contaré un poquito sobre la obra. Tenemos aquí una trinidad de personajes que son el motor de la historia. Ruthie es una chica que ha encontrado muerto a su padre a manos de Krem de las colinas amarillas. Este es el enemigo a batir, un desgraciado que no tiene redención posible (¿o sí?) Cuando Ruthie va en busca de su venganza se topa con Kara Zor-El, mas conocida como Supergirl. Así, estos tres tendrán un viaje de persecuciones y enfrentamientos por todo el universo. En cierto modo me recuerda a esto:

description

Como decía más arriba, el guionista juega mucho con lo que es el carácter de Supergirl, pero no la representa como la niña buena que no ha roto un plato. Esta versión es compleja, tiene mucha oscuridad dentro, pero no se deja arrastrar por ello. Ah, y jura hasta en arameo, eso me ha hecho bastante gracia. En su periplo, descubriremos qué es lo que hay en el fondo del personaje, su recuerdo de Krypton que aún le pesa. Hay un pasaje que me parece magistral:

Veréis, lo que no se entiende bien sobra la hija de Krypton es que su poder no consistía en la acción, sino en la contención, la resistencia y la pasión. Ella no elegía disparar un rayo con los ojos, o tener aliento ártico, o correr más rápido que una bala. O cualquiera de sus otros bien documentados milagros.
No, ella contenía su visión calorífica para mirarte a la cara. Templaba su aliento para conversar contigo. Ralentizaba su paso para caminar a tu lado. Cada momento de cada día, contenía las fuerzas que se agitaban en su interior.


El arte es muy bueno también. Dibujante y colorista hacen un trabajo que está a la altura del guión, usando unos tonos siempre tirando a pastel, que le dan un toque especial, y el dibujo en sí es francamente bueno, sin ser realista pero muy logrado. Hay algunas paginas que son para quedarse mirando. Además hay mucho juego de luces y sombras que funcionan como metáforas de las protagonistas.

description


🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️


This is my second reading of this story. The first was with the staples as they came out, I didn't want to review it then because I didn't really know what to say. Now knowing what direction this was going to take and what the character of the comic was, I think I can say that I thought it was brilliant. Tom King does a great job delving into Supergirl's psyche, her story, and manages to give it a unique and distinctive touch. Accompanied in the drawing by Bilquis Evely, who is also sensational, they achieve a story that works for both fans of the character and newcomers, since it is not in continuity.

description

Having said all this, I will tell a little about the work. We have here a trinity of characters who are the driving force of the story. Ruthie is a girl who has found her father dead at the hands of Krem of the Yellow Hills. This is the enemy to beat, a very bad man who has no possible redemption (or does he?) When Ruthie goes in search of her revenge, she runs into Kara Zor-El, better known as Supergirl. Thus, these three will have a journey of chases and confrontations throughout the universe. In a way it reminds me of this:

description

As I said above, the writer plays a lot with Supergirl's character, but he does not represent her as the good girl who has never broken a plate. This version is complex, she has a lot of darkness inside, but she doesn't get carried away by it. Oh, and she swears a lot, that made me quite funny. In her journey, we will discover what is deep inside the character, her memory of Krypton that still weighs on her. There is a passage that seems masterful to me:

You see, what is not well understood about the daughter of Krypton is that her power was not one of action but one of restrain, endurance and passion.
She did not choose to fire a beam from her eyes, or have breath of ice, or run faster than a speeding bullet. Or any of her other well-documented miracles.
No, she held back her heat vision to look you in the face. She warmed her breath to converse with you. She slowed herself to walk by your side. Every moment of every day she suppressed the forces churning inside of her.


The art is very good too. The illustrator and colorist do a job that lives up to the script, using pastel tones that give it a special touch, and the drawing itself is really good, without being realistic but very successful. There are some pages that are worth looking at again and again. In addition, there is a lot of play of lights and shadows that function as metaphors for the protagonists.

description
Profile Image for Chris Lemmerman.
Author 7 books119 followers
August 15, 2022
Supergirl gets involved when a bounty hunter kills a little girl's father and also manages to mortally wound Krypto, leading to a galaxy spanning epic quest for vengeance.

The idea of this mini-series is great. It's Supergirl through the lens of someone literally finding out who Supergirl is, across eight issues. It's mostly self-contained stories with a through line of the journey towards a final confrontation, with each issue teaching the little girl something, be it about vengeance, Supergirl herself, or just life in general. It all culminates very well, with all of the morals and stories contributing to the final, Killing Joke-esque conclusion.

My issue is that it's just so god damn wordy. That's what put me off reading this in single issues, and it's still a pain in the ass for the trade too. The POV character talks around and around the point in almost every issue, and you could cut out like 50% of the words and you'd still get the same lesson, and it'd still have the same impact. It's like Tom King was being paid by the word, and he was going to wring DC for all they were worth. I'm hardly the last person who should complain about purple prose or overly flowery writing, but jeez.

Bilquis Evely's artwork however, I have no complaints about. It's beautiful from cover to cover, ethereal while packing a punch where needed, and bends itself to all the alien locales that Supergirl visits wonderfully. The fact that she draws all eight issues with no assistance is also a boon, because it allows for a visually cohesive experience even when every issue is different.

Supergirl's latest solo adventure has a good heart to it, but it's surrounded by so much unnecessary fluff. Once you drill through all that, it's a solid story, but it'll definitely test your patience.
Profile Image for Frédéric.
1,850 reviews80 followers
May 14, 2023
This was my first Supergirl book ever. If I’m totally honest I read it because it was a Tom King book and in my prime reading subscription. I’m sure glad I did.

Some people didn’t like this book because it is wordy. And it is wordy as hell, no two ways about it. But I actually found the foppish overblown language used by Ruthye mostly funny. In style as well as in contrast with what happens on the page- a writing trick that can arguably be regarded as one of King’s trademarks.
Many issues are also regarded as fillers. I see the point- it’s not totally untrue for 1 or 2 probably- but on the whole I think they add complexity to this journey into the horrors of violence and the feeling of loss and to Supergirl’s good-natured apparent personality. She is much more than that.

So this discovery of a character I’ve never been interested with was an excellent surprise as far as I’m concerned.

All the more considering Bilquis Evely’s superb art. I had never heard of her before- a quick check showed she sadly doesn’t illustrate any series I intend to follow- but she does a hell of a wonderful job.
Add Mat Lopes beautiful colors and voilà.
Profile Image for Shaun Stanley.
1,242 reviews
August 11, 2022
Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow collects issues 1-8 of the DC Comics series written by Tom King with art by Bilquis Evely.

Ruthye is a young alien girl who is seeking the murderer of her father. While tracking the man down, Ruthye encounters Supergirl and convinces Supergirl to aid her in a journey to bring the murderer to justice.

I have never really got into any Supergirl comic runs so I wasn’t expecting much with this book but I will read anything by Tom King. The sisterly and mentor relationship between Ruthye and Supergirl is fantastic. Supergirl really gets a chance to shine without her cousin being present. The book explores the differences and similarities between Kal and Kara and Kara forever being compared to Superman, buall the while trying to forge her own destiny. The ending of the book dragged a bit and I believe it could have been told in 6-issues, but I do like King’s character development. Evely’s art is fantastic throughout and perfectly encapsulates the universe hopping fantasy/sci-if tale. The is definitely one of the best collected DC books released this year.
Profile Image for Dakota Morgan.
3,275 reviews49 followers
October 12, 2022
Tom King read Saga and thought, "I could do something like that." On a far distant world, a young woman's father is killed by a cruel bandit. In her quest for vengeance, the young woman encounters Supergirl, who joins the quest when the bandit injures her dog and steals her starship. Across worlds and galaxies and eight densely narrated issues, the pair chase down Krem of the Yellow Hills.

Where the Saga comparison comes in, I think, is in the narration and the fact that Supergirl and Ruthye's journey is relentlessly bleak for much of the book. Krem is an unrepentant murderer who joins a band of even more unrepentant murderers. Despite Supergirl being, y'know, Supergirl, the action occurs at Ruthye's non-superhero pace (thus the eight densely narrated issues). If you're attuned to the slow storytelling and intrigued by Becky Chambers-style cozy sci-fi mixed with moments of determined bleakness and triumphal superheroics - yeah, you might dig Woman of Tomorrow.

Obviously, that's a lot to handle. I can see some readers being turned off pretty quickly or being turned off by the conclusion (). For whatever reason, I was deeply invested. Maybe it was Bilquis Everly's gorgeous art? Or maybe I've read enough fast-paced zip-dang Marvel and DC comics that when a dense, weird Tom King books rolls around, my body is ready.

My only real complaint is that Ruthye, after being extremely verbose for the first six issues, abruptly affects a country/southern accent in the final two issues. Where did the "ain't's" come from? Come on, editors.
Profile Image for Wes Benchoff.
212 reviews10 followers
January 23, 2025
Tom King is a writer I have a lot of issues with (ha) but when he hits, he hits.
Profile Image for Billy Jepma.
483 reviews10 followers
March 13, 2022
Being a fan of Tom King has proven to be one of my hotter takes, so saying I enjoyed this shouldn't surprise anyone. What is a surprise, at least to me, is how much I enjoyed it. He and Bilquis Evely have constructed a beautiful, angry, and ultimately compassionate story of revenge and catharsis that had my heart in his fist from the first issue to the last. It doesn't quite stick the landing, a common occurrence for King's stories. However, the journey to get there is so richly realized that it still ranks as one of my favorite titles in his repertoire and deserves to catapult Evely into the upper echelons of artists in the medium.

The story makes the almost always wise choice of casting its titular character in a more supportive role, as Woman of Tomorrow is chiefly the story of Ruthye, a young girl who swears vengeance on the killer of her beloved father. Ruthye narrates the series, and while her narration is flowery and literary—another common trend in King's writing—it works incredibly well here. It gives Ruthye a voice she doesn't always have in action, considering her age and stature, and shades her motivation with dimensions that lend it more complexity than a simple revenge tale usually would.

Seeing Supergirl through her eyes is the key to the story's success, too, as we see a younger (she turns 21 at the start of the series) Kara, who is still very much grappling with the death of her planet and family. While Supergirl is a supporting character, this is still very much her story, too. The parallels between Ruthye and Kara are obvious but never sketched so explicitly that they feel forced or trite. Instead, King paces the story so that we see the two young women go on almost opposing character arcs that both, ultimately, are bound to lead to some form of reconciliation. Whether that resolution comes via bloodshed or not is one of the crucial questions of the series, but it's also not an important one, as the story is far more interested in the journey someone has to go on to arrive at that place. It won't be for everyone, especially if you're unwilling to indulge King in his anachronisms. But it's very much for me.

What catapults the series from "great" to "sensational" is Evely's artwork, though, as she, with Matheus Lopes on colors, gives Woman of Tomorrow a distinctive visual identity that easily stands apart from anything else on shelves. The series' visuals remind me of a cover of those old-school sci-fi pulp novels, except unlike those titles, this one lives up to the promise found in those wildly colorful and adventurous covers. Evely's compositions are cinematic and personal, and her splash pages are so outrageously stunning I wish I could hang them on my wall. Lopes' colors give it a grimy vibrancy I love, too, as the artwork expertly mirrors (and contradicts, as needed) the darkness found in the story's themes of grief and rage. It's a stunning visual odyssey through the cosmos, and I hope it gives Evely and Lopes' the spotlight they so obviously deserve. I love this comic a lot if you can't tell. I can't wait to revisit it over and over.

Oh, and if you have any lingering doubts about this being a stellar summation of Supergirl as a character, I leave you with the following.

"Every moment of every day, she suppressed the forces churning inside of her. All the energy of a dead world that strained against her many barriers, eternally demanding to be released. I believe this effort hurt her. I believe she lived her life in pain. If you would have asked her, I have little doubt she would have claimed that such an assertion was absurd. She would say she felt fine, and then she'd ask you if you needed any help."
Profile Image for sam banach.
62 reviews3 followers
August 5, 2025
“and everywhere girls will be born with their eyes open to the hate ahead of them, and they will wonder if their voice will be heard above the screams”
Profile Image for Guilherme Smee.
Author 27 books181 followers
November 9, 2022
Nossa, fazia tempo em que eu não imergia em um quadrinho como esse. Todos os dias, depois de muito trabalho enquanto o Sol estava no céu, de noite eu me refugiava nas páginas desse gibi, para viajar para mundos alienígenas na companhia da Supergirl e sua protegida, Ruth, em busca da vingança do pai da menina. Poucos quadrinhos tem esse dom de nos fazer entrar tão dentro de suas palavras, imagens e universo. Tom King se superou, na minha opinião, já que eu andava meio cabreiro com seus trabalhos ultimamente. Os brasileiros Bilquis Evely e Mat Lopes, então, nos proporcionam uma contrução de personagens e de mundos que poucos artífices das artes visuais conseguem, sempre numa virtuose de detalhes gráficos. A cada noite eu era levado a um mundo diferente na companhia de Ruthye e Supergirl, em cada edição da minissérie, seus autores vislumbravam uma nova realidade e uma nova trama sob as quais me entretinham. Poderia continuar lendo essas aventuras por 1001 noites, contudo a forma como King encerra a minissérie também é muito boa e condizente com o tom empolado com que Ruthye narra a história em quadrinhos de sua aventura com a Supergirl. Adorei muito muito mesmo! Não é à toa que ganhou o prêmio Eisner. Cinco estrelas douradas e a vontade de dar mais chances para outros trabalhos de King.
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