If I had to use one word to describe Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, it’d be “unconventional”. Tom King has been writing prose through captions gracing nearly every panel in a book that’s gorgeously rendered by Bilquis Evely and colored by Mat Lopes. It also shows Supergirl with a bit more edge, somebody who isn’t afraid to swear or speak her mind while she navigates a universe filled with killers and genocidal maniacs. In Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow #5, Supergirl and Ruthye’s journey of finding and apprehending Krem takes a dangerous turn.
If there was ever an issue that needed a lot of captions, it’s this one, which you’ll see on page 9. Not to give too much away, but Supergirl and Ruthye are teleported to a world with a green sun that zaps Supergirl’s energy. Supergirl’s powers are so wasted that she’s incapacitated and Ruthye must protect her from the various meat-eating animals. King keeps the reader’s interest up as Ruthye jots down her thoughts in her journal conveyed through captions in an impossible situation that’s super dangerous.
This issue is an important one when it comes to Ruthye and Supergirl’s relationship. Without Ruthye, Supergirl would die, and while she’s been kind enough to her in this journey, she’s never been close. That’ll likely change going forward.
Imagine teleporting somewhere and being stopped to death.
Credit: DC Comics
There are some fun bits too, like Supergirl pointing out Kal-El was under unbearable pain for 45 minutes before rescue on the very same planet. Supergirl must survive many hours, further cementing the fact that she’s a total badass. The overall plot of the book is one-note, but it’s more about the adventurers trying to stay alive just a bit longer as you turn the pages.
With fewer scene changes and dialogue filling the pages, Evely and Lopes supply readers with a lot of entertainment. The alien world comes to life thanks to Lopes’ colors, which give even the ground underneath the characters a fleshy color. The time changing is conveyed well through shadow and the colors in the sky along with where the sun is, which helps create anticipation. The beasts facing Ruthye are similar to dinosaurs with some fun flair. I continue to marvel at Lopes’ coloring of the eyes which always have a bit of a glint in them.
Evely’s art comes to live with Ruthye must protect Supergirl, or when we see Supergirl writhing in pain. You can see the determination on Ruthye’s face in one scene, and the exhaustion in another. Evely is exceptional at showing emotions in different ways.
They just don’t make adventure comics quite like Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow #5 very often anymore. The heavy use of captions and the lack of a superhero punching something may annoy some, but overall this is a rich reading experience.
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