Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow #8 // Review
A merciless killer has been captured. His fate hangs somewhere between vengeance and justice as a daughter of a dead planet and the daughter of a dead man consider their actions in Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow #8. Writer Tom King wraps up his story in suitable complexity for a series that explores the nature of morality from numerous different angles. Artist Bilquis Evely captures a series of very tense and dramatic moments with tight precision that is embellished by the coloring of Matheus Lopes. Though there is thoughtful murkiness in the course of the final moments of the series, the closing panels of the final page aren’t quite as satisfying as they could have been.
All Ruthye would have to do is swing the sword hard enough, and she would have revenge. She knows this. She also knows that the one she would kill had killed her own father in a very similar way. So Ruthye knows that she can’t kill the villain blindfolded and tied up. She has to give him a chance to defend himself if she is going to get revenge. Meanwhile, Supergirl is off-world doing what she has to do to defend herself, Ruthye, AND the murderer. Ruthye and Supergirl are forced to consider a single life and the concept of justice on the shores of a distant planet.
Having spent nearly the entirety of seven issues in pursuit, King allows his heroes an opportunity to spend an entire issue considering what to do with the villain in question. As Ruthye opts to give the killer a fighting chance, it’s not ALL tense drama and morality. There IS action that amplifies the complexity of the story. It’s a cleverly-written, multi-layered script right up until the end of the story. Still, King has clearly painted himself into a corner with the complexity, and the darkness at the end of the issue isn’t satisfying...but there really isn’t any way that a story like this could end that would BE satisfying. Any ending all is going to feel too neat and tidy for the twisted convolutions of a smart story.
Evely is as good with the layout as she is delivering drama and aggression to the page. The title page is a stack of panels that ratchet up the opening tension as the eye works its way down the page. Visuals alternate between Supergirl beaten to hell in a huge craft in low orbit and more peaceful aggression on the beach of some alien planet. Lopes’ colors add a very visceral atmosphere to the page. Salt can almost be smelled in the delicate nuances in color between sky and sea. It’s a very potent sensory reality that welcomes the end of the series.
As a story, the eight issues of Supergirl - Woman of Tomorrow make for a deep and weirdly concise look at loss, love, murder, anger, and retribution. There’s one hell of a lot going on in the series, but King’s conclusion almost feels too tidy in the uneasiness of its own ending. It almost feels like the whole thing would have been better-served ending five pages early before its final scene. It poses more problems than it solves. Better to end it on a distant beach with the three central characters and the resolution in the heat of the moment.
