Mild Mannered Reviews – Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow #7

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow #7

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Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow #7 [of 8]

Scheduled to arrive in stores: January 18, 2022
Cover date: March 2022

“Chapter Seven: Hope, Help and Compassion”

Writer: Tom King
Artist: Bilquis Evely
Cover: Bilquis Evely and Matheus Lopes
Variant Cover: Nicola Scott and Annette Kwok

Reviewed by: Tony Parker



Kara battles the Brigand’s fleet, The “Bonnie Prince Charlie”, while Comet the Super Horse guards a torn Ruthye, faced with the tantalizing chance of killing Krem.

With Kara losing the battle and about to die, Comet ends up rushing to her aid, Ruthye lying about not trying to kill Krem, and she begins to approach him…

To Be Continued…

3Story – 3: Once more, Tom King delivers a mixed bag issue, in a mixed bag series.

I would much rather tell you how awesome this was, Supergirl, fighting space pirates to save the soul of a little girl thirsting for revenge. And yes, some of that is great (at the very least, Kara is desperate to stop Ruthye from killing Krem, that is finally a point in this book’s credit after all the damn cynicism).

But, dear readers, I am just at a loss for words on how to describe my feelings for this mini-series. It tosses and turns its quality, one page to the next could send my feelings on it on a wild goose chase for some sort of answer. I just want an answer. What is this trying to say? Is this just a riff on “True Grit”? Is this a reconstruction of superheroes, and the virtue of not killing? Is this just an opportunity for Tom King to wax poetical? Absolutely the last one.

All right, I’m being harsh, I know. Look, the point I’m trying to make is, is that we’re in the penultimate issue. Our hero is fighting an insurmountable last stand, ruthless pirates with not a shred of humanity for anyone but their compatriots, aiming a kryptonite pistol at our trapped heroine, her final wish for Ruthye not to lose her soul, lose what she could be.

Compelling stuff!

And yet, there are problems. Ruthye has shown kindness to Supergirl, and she has shown elements of good, but Ruthye isn’t that well written. Issues and issues have passed where she showed no real character besides “Supergirl is so neat”, and that is because Tom King loves his tangents, loves to go on and on and on about some metaphor he’s really interested in. Ruthye has felt like a main character and a passenger in this plot so often, that her part of the issue, I am not too proud to admit was good, but was also not right. I am left with conflicting emotions. Ruthye speaks like she’s a Shakespeare character trapped in a Zack Snyder movie, she spouts nothing but purple prose for most of the issue, and it’s a coin flip on each word balloon on whether it actually works or not. Krem’s big reveal that his murder of her father was simply because he objected to a joke he made, and he felt like the farmer saw himself as bigger than her works on one level, but it feels like I am supposed to be shocked that the worst man ever according to this series (and to be fair, King isn’t exaggerating) killed someone for such a petty reason. Ruthye lying to Comet feels less like a big betrayal and more like a “oh, yeah, what a surprise”, and once more, a majority of the narration is spent praising Supergirl, instead of showing me her heroism (especially when it seems like what keeps her going is to keep the memory of her father alive?), only to show me the truest depiction of her so far in the end!

In short, I don’t know what to think. I don’t hate this run, I know in my heart it is trying its best, and it HAS had good things.

But it is riddled with flaws too.

I can only hope that the final issue clears the smoke, and maybe, just maybe, ties things up in a way that will leave a sweet taste.


5Art – 5: As if it has to be said anymore, yes, the art is brilliant, striking. Ruthye’s new look is really good, and it’s just all so engaging. Nothing more to say, perfect stuff.


2Cover Art – 2: Again, nothing much to say. Decent, does give the impression of Supergirl being overpowered.


3Variant Cover Art – 3: Pretty decent cover! Kara looks nice, and the art is pretty cool!


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Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow #7
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Superbearcub
Superbearcub
January 23, 2022 3:31 pm

It seems to me painfully obvious how this will end. Comet saves Supergirl. Supergirl gets back just as Ruthye is about to kill Krem. Supergirl stops Ruthye by killing him herself, thus sacrificing any chance she might have had to save Krypto. (Which, to my mind, is an incredibly illogical action. She hasn’t taught Ruthye anything by this. It’s like “Killing your defeated opponent is okay unless you do it for vengeance.”) So, at the end, Krypto dies, Kara kills and they all live morosely despondent ever after. What drek. In a way this is even worse than Supergirl killing… Read more »