Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow- Revisited

Back in 2021 when Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow was first released as an 8-issue mini series, I happily bought, read and reviewed the series right here for DC Comics News.  So with the Supergirl movie that’s based on this comic right around the corner coming to theaters on June 26, 2026 it shouldn’t be a surprise that like others I’ve gone back and re-read the series for the first time since that original experience.

However, it’s not a simple re-read at this point.  There’s been a lot of discourse around the comic in the four years since its original release.  It’s gotten a lot of critical praise (myself included at the time), and I’ve been able to discuss it with others and read reviews, including some genuine Supergirl fans.  Not fans of Woman of Tomorrow, or Tom King, but rather longtime fans of the character.  I will admit, upon first mention of the subject…I was surprised that others didn’t like it.  I mean…REALLY didn’t like it.  As discussion went on, I began to see that they were seeing something that I wasn’t?  Had I missed something important?

Revisiting My Own Reviews

I went back to my reviews with an open mind.  What had I written?  How much did I remember?  What details had impacted my overall impression…as positive.  I already knew there were a couple of points I had to look out for, and the first was in the first part of the first issue- drunk Supergirl.  The second was a Supergirl “who had fallen into hopelessness and nihilism.”  I thought that I would find these things together in that first issue, because I wasn’t really getting the depression and nihilism vibe from anywhere else in the story…at least in my reading of the story.  

As for drunk Supergirl, I knew what I though about that.  I’ve got two daughters.  People go through lots of things.  There are times when one feels lonely, time when one feels misunderstood.  It’s not a hard jump to imagine a young woman having a moment that would lead her to some self-isolation.  This seemed reasonable on my part.  I’m pretty sure part of it was influenced by it being her 21st birthday.  It’s not like she’s the only person that’s wanted to go drinking on their 21st birthday.  Of course she wants to do it alone.  Or rather, no one wants to celebrate with her.  This doesn’t quite ring true in hindsight.  Why aren’t Clark, Lois and others there for a birthday celebration? 

However, it’s a moment, it’s not her baseline characterization in the series.  It’s the only time she’s seen drinking in the series and certainly the only time she’s drunk.  If there’s anything the story lacks on this point it’s what gets her to this point.  Why at this particular point in her life is she depressed?  Why her 21st birthday?  There’s a missed opportunity here for tying the 21st birthday to some sort of Kryptonian rite of passage.  Perhaps on Krypton at 21 something important happens, like the choosing of a Guild as seen in the Sterling Gates run on the character.  This would have given Kara the impetus to think long and deeply about what she missed because of the destruction of Krypton.  It would be something she’d never be able to experience, a palpable loss.  This would have allowed readers to see why she was particularly upset for her birthday instead of a supposed lasting trauma that she’s not moved beyond and dealt with.

This series seems to both acknowledge and ignore the fact that she’s an established character and has a long history at this point in her life.  Ruthye already knows who she is, other people they meet know her reputation.  So why does her 21st birthday become this moment of loneliness?

The Re-Reading

When I finally reread Woman of Tomorrow, I found something I missed the first time through.  A genuine theme and storytelling technique that is actually pretty important.  As Supergirl and Ruthye travel together in search of Krem of the Yellow Hills, they spend a lot of time talking.  A lot of time.  Parts of Ruthye’s book are also shared through the narration boxes.  And amongst these words we get a parallelism.

King aligns Ruthye’s trauma of her father’s murder with the destruction of Krypton.  I can’t say I recall this being obvious the first time through, so it’s not part of my reviews.  It may be because I’ve never thought of Kara as a “traumatized” character, or rather a character whose trauma continued on with her.  However, it’s pretty clear that King wants the reader to associate these two ideas, because it ends up being critical to the interpretation of the ending of the series.

Something that really becomes apparent in a rereading is how uninteresting the whole series is when you know how it ends.  The series has a couple things that keep the reader going on the first read- 1) Will Krypto be saved? (I mean, you know he will, right?  Wait, this guy killed Alfred, so maybe not!), 2) Will they find Krem (probably)? 3) Will Supergirl be able to convince Ruthye that revenge is wrong (hopefully?) ?  And, that how I read things  the first time…with the knowledge from previous experience with the character that she’s a positive, bright spot.  A character whose story is somewhat different from Superman, but who’s found her own place on Earth and adjusted, and become a daughter to Earthlings.  She’s established as a hero, and as this series shows, her reputation as a formidable hero is known.  

But, when you reread the series and you already know how it ends, the journey becomes a bit tedious because King doesn’t connect the dots very well on how this is supposed to impact Kara.  Furthermore, the narration is overwritten and annoying.  The first time through you almost need all the information King gives, but after you know the ending it has a feeling of “can’t we just get on with it?”  There are still some powerful moments that showcase Supergirl’s compassion and strength of character, and some moments of social commentary that remain impactful, but the main thrust of the story loses its urgency.  You know the Krypto thing is a ruse, and you know Krem’s fate.  The journey isn’t that interesting because you know the end is not that well executed.  Or, perhaps it’s just not clear, or even believable given the knowlege of the character the reader brings to the series.  Oh, wait, are we at the end already?

The Best Part of Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow

I don’t think it should come as a surprise to anyone that the art by Bilquis Evely and Matheus Lopes is the one part of this series that is truly outstanding and is the thing that is really special about this series.  But, that’s sort of how all Tom King DC Comics go isn’t it?  The story/ characterization because it’s just downright bad or polarizing just wastes the art.  Do you really want to reread Strange Adventures just to see Adam Strange as a villain?  Maybe if your a masochist….

It’s nice at least in Woman of Tomorrow there are many pages that can simply be enjoyed for the art.

The Ending

So, with this rereading, I finally “got” the ending.  In my review of issue #8, I use the term “pitch perfect” in reference to Supergirl’s dialogue, especially in reference to how she “convinced” Ruthye that they shouldn’t kill Krem.  As I absorbed those pages on the reread, I realized that the speech that Supergirl gives as she holds Krem at sword point…is supposed to be genuine.  The first time, I took it as hyperbole.  Supergirl wasn’t really tempted to murder Krem ( as a proxy kill against the forces that destroyed Krypton).  Supergirl’s not a killer, she isn’t tempted to kill…she isn’t that type of character. But, actually that’s what King is going for.  It’s a classic King-ism in his comics.  He writes characters out of character on purpose to tell the story he wants to tell whether or not it fits the character or not.  So far from my experience, he’s only gotten Superman right in Up in the Sky, and Guy Gardner in The Human Target.  

As mentioned above, he made Adam Strange the villain in Strange Adventures, Wonder Woman is a complete mess in her monthly series penned by King and the JLI in The Human Target are so unrecognizable that it feels as if they are playing roles in a movie or tv show.  So with Woman of Tomorrow, it turns out that King’s writing of Kara is so far off: it’s nearly impossible to believe that she’s really about to kill Krem and is only stopped by Ruthye’s entreaties because she’s learned the lesson.  There’s also  the sense that she can’t “let” Supergirl kill Krem, not because she herself wants to, but because she can’t allow Kara to damage Supergirl’s inter-galactic reputation .

The end then jumps to many years later when Krem is to be released from the Phantom Zone.  The final page shows Ruthye striking Krem on the head after which he falls to the ground seemingly in pain.  Then Supergirl and Ruthye walk away in opposite directions in silence.  My initial understanding of this was mainly confusion, and it’s reflected in my review of the final issue.  It’s an ending that’s unclear.  Sometimes an open ending can be effective, but in this case it doesn’t work…

The Meaning of the Ending

Let’s say that all Ruthye has done on the final page is to give Krem a little bop on the head, and we can assume that Krem will get up and walk away if there were another panel.  But there’s not.  If this is supposed to be a lighthearted ending, it’s a complete reversal from the tone of the series and completely incongruent with the seriousness of the social commentary and the theme trauma we are supposed to believe Ruthye and Kara are dealing with, trauma that’s brought Supergirl to the brink of murder.  Talk about confusing endings.  This interpretation is also utterly meaningless.

But, if Ruthye DOES kill Krem….  The final page of issue #8 parallels the first page of issue #1 on which Krem kills Ruthye’s father.  Despite what one can find online from King about the ending, it seems obvious that Ruthye kills Krem.  Firstly, the paralleling of the two deaths is a classic technique in filmmaking and comics.  Additionally, you’ve also got the paralleling of Kara and Ruthye’s traumas.  From a craft standpoint, once you see these parallelisms, they work.  I don’t think you can argue successfully against that.

Secondly, if Ruthye doesn’t kill Krem, our main character, Supergirl, hasn’t gone through any change.  Even though it’s not a change I agree with from a characterization standpoint.  When Ruthye kills Krem and Supergirl does and says NOTHING after she’s given the Phantom Zone warden’s report of Krem’s penitence and impeccable behavior as a model prisoner AND his own contrite speech it demonstrates EXACTLY how Supergirl has changed.

When Ruthye kills Krem it again becomes a proxy kill for Kara against the forces that destroyed Krypton.  In this final moment Supergirl acknowledges the fact that revenge was necessary for Ruthye to have closure.  By saying nothing when Ruthye kills Krem, she also acknowledges that she has indeed descended into nihilism and hopelessness and is unable to move beyond the destruction of Krypton and will forever be defined by it.