Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow #5-8

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow #5-8

Originally released in 2021

Written by Tom King

Art by Bilquis Evely

Picking up where issue 4 left off, issue 5 begins with Supergirl and Ruthye tracking down the target of Ruthye's vengeance, Krem of the Yellow Hills.  They quickly discover that Krem is in possession of a magical orb that can send someone halfway across the universe, and Supergirl and Ruthye wind up on a planet where the sun is green and poisonous to Kryptonians.  Now they have to struggle to survive until sunset, get off the planet, and finish this once and for all.

The story still shifts focus from one world to another as we go from issue to issue, though issues 7 and 8 both take place on the same planet.  Bilquis Evely's art is still fantastic, with a highlight being a point where Supergirl rides Comet the Super-Horse to the edges of the universe in order to escape a second magical orb. (Comet the Super-Horse is a man who is turned into a horse thanks to a magical curse, and he's in love with Supergirl - the Silver Age was weird)

The writing holds up throughout, and the story has a satisfying conclusion.  There was a mention early on of Supergirl being the one responsible for killing Krem, though that doesn't happen in the end; I'm not sure if someone at DC got cold feet about the idea of Supergirl killing someone, or if it was always meant to be in a metaphorical sense.  The story's theme/moral is predictable given the plot, but it's handled beautifully with both the writing and the art.

The sixth issue goes into Supergirl's backstory, describing how Argo City flew through space after the destruction of Krypton, barely holding together through a shield that kept the atmosphere in as the ground that they were sitting on turned radioactive, though no mention is made of Superman almost immediately shipping Supergirl off to an orphanage after she lands on Earth. (I figured she'd be annoyed at Clark about that, to say the least, though it seemed like it happened six or seven years ago in-universe so maybe that's long enough for her to come to terms with it)

Compared to the other Tom King works that I've read, Mister Miracle and The Vision, this one was more upbeat and positive, even if it still had its darker or tragic elements.  I went into it knowing very little about it, and I greatly enjoyed my time with reading it.  I feel like some elements might have to be changed for the movie (Supergirl gets targeted at points because of her connection to Superman, whereas the DCU Superman is fairly new and likely hasn't been off-world), but for the most part, I could see it making the transition from a comic to a movie almost seamlessly, and I'm much more excited to see these visuals on the big screen now that I've read these issues.