Review by Tim Robins
When an unexpected and ruthless adversary strikes too close to home, Supergirl reluctantly joins forces with an unlikely companion for an interstellar journey of vengeance and justice…
The latest DC Comics-inspired film Supergirl is fine, but it lacks the clarity of Superman’s storytelling, thanks to muddy visuals and an overabundance of fight scenes between characters I couldn’t care less about.
The film is based on Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, an acclaimed eight issue comic book series by writer Tom King and artist Bilquis Evely, collected back in 2022, reviewed here for downthetubes by Steven Lee Sharpe.
The film makes significant changes in supporting characters and, of course, lacks the appeal of Evely’s art who succeeds in elevating King’s story of drunkenness and revenge to something that wouldn’t be out of place in Heavy Metal magazine, but without its reliance on soft core pornography.
The comic book story is told from the perspective of Ruthye, a young woman who witnesses the murder of her father by gangster/sex trafficker, Krem, the ruthless leader of a gang of Brigands. Ruthye vows to kill Krem with a sword of her father’s making.
Milly Alcock is fine as Supergirl. The character has just turned 23 and is celebrating her birthday in the manner we first heard about in Superman – flying to red star systems which, unlike yellow suns, drain her of her invulnerability, allowing her to get drunk. (Don’t even mention the effect of green suns!)
All this is fine, if you enjoy the company of drunks. I don’t. Stage routine drunk can be fun but it’s not something I look for in a character, let alone a superhero. Also, Alcock is let down by a repetitive, inconsistent script that is boorishly repetitive. Longshots of Supergirl rising from the dust clouds to hover menacingly in the sky abound, for example.
Eve Ridley plays Ruthy, the Ronin-like girl with a sword, driven to avenge her family. I was surprised that Ridley is best known for her vocal talents on, of all things, Peppa Pig. Her live action appearances include The 3 Body Problem (2024) and The Witcher (2025). Ridley is entirely convincing as the hard edged young woman of the kind found in Game of Thrones.
Enough about women and girls, albeit of the super kind. What really got fanboys excited about Supergirl was the sight of Lobo in the trailers. I’m not that familiar with the character, beyond his introduction in The Omega Men, the creation of writer Roger Slifer and artist Keith Giffen, back in 1983. But the Lobo readers know today, was fashioned in the 1990s by the late Alan Grant and artist Simon Bisley, who managed to imbue him with the kind of cynicism only us Brits can truly appreciate.
Needless to say, while Lobo was used to satirise the 1990s ludicrous turn towards character design and hyper-masculinity, many male comic book readers saw him as epitomising the kind of man they wanted superheroes, and themselves, to be. In Supergirl, Lobo is played by Jason Momoa, who you may recognise as the former DC Extended Cinematic Universe’s Aquaman. It’s perfect casting, but I wondered why he was in the movie, other than pandering to the fevered aspirations of young men in the audience. His appearances distract from the supposed star of the film.
Krem, the Big Bad of the movie, is entirely without interest. We know he’s evil because he looks particularly ugly and has studs piercing his face. Frankly, that’s an everyday ‘look’ here in Brighton. The film has a potentially interesting subtext around underestimating the abilities of young women and what it means for a girl to wield her father’s phallic sword. But you can breathe a sigh of relief, or disappointment, that this isn’t made explicit.
We get to see Supergirl’s “origin”, escaping Krypton’s explosion in a city beneath a dome of her father’s creation. This sets up the character’s sense of loss and a lack of a place she can feel is genuinely her home, and invites a comparison with Ruthy’s loss of her family. Whereas with Lobo, as per his comic origins, he killed everyone on his home world – which is funny, ironic, but irrelevant. Apparently, the film was intended as a team up between Lobo and Supergirl, but he probably deserved his own movie.
In comics, Supergirl made the inside of newspaper pages when she was killed off in the multi-Earth cross-over, Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985). I was surprised by the convoluted continuity that followed. I’d recommend the timely character history provided by Owen Loves Comics if you want to delve further into this. I honestly can’t identify any through line to her character that would form a basis for a film.
The film’s muddied story telling is reflected in the look of the film – predominantly mud brown with the occasional splash of blue. Nothing really distinguishes one planet from another. There’s an attempt to include pop music into proceedings, but I didn’t recognise these “needle drops” and they had no resonance for me, nor with what was going on the screen.
There is fun to be had here. A fight scene on an intergalactic greyhound bus and its miniature co-pilot (voiced by Seth Rogan) add welcome levity, as does the adorable CGI Krypto, Supergirl’s pet dog. His fur looks more realistic than in Superman, although the dog’s size seems to change from scene to scene. There are a couple of cameos from David Corenswet, who I totally accept as Superman.
I should add that I went to see the film to escape the heat, only to find the cinema’s air conditioning had broken down (Odeon, Brighton, Screens 1 & 5). I realised that was why, over time, I felt like my nose and mouth were being mugged by a facehugger made of damp towelling. By the end of the movie, I was as hot, sweaty and grubby as the characters in the film.
Supergirl held my attention and was entertaining. Alcock is, indeed, as “pixyish” as James Gunn suggests. Director Craig Gillespie has delivered a film which would have worked as a late Eighties straight-to-video schlock. Bafflingly, the search for a three act structure to the graphic novel, has just led to a film that is frantic yet, at the same time, meandering. Personally, I’d have taken a line from the film and used it as its tagline “Supergirl – she has 24 hours to save her dog” and not strayed far from there.
Tim Robins
Supergirl is in cinemas now
Head downthetubes for…
• Summer of Supergirl Special #1 is on sale now, available from Local Comic Shops
A celebratory 48-page one-shot anthology bringing together an all-star roster of writers and artists for a trio of stories honoring Kara Zor-El’s legacy across the DC Universe.
The quiet town of Midvale is shaken to its core when Supergirl finds herself face-to-face with the galactic bounty hunter, Lobo. Can the Maiden of Might stand up to the Main Man? Plus, two bonus stories celebrating Supergirl as she resumes her rightful place as the Heir to El.
The Summer of Supergirl Special one-shot is part of a wide ranging lineup of Summer of Supergirl publishing, including the new DC Elseworlds series Supergirl: Survive, facsimile editions of Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes #23 and Lobo#1, the oversized artbook DC W.I.P.: Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow #1, and Supergirl-themed variant covers across DC’s line.
For more information on DC’s Summer of Supergirl, follow DC on social media and check out the official DC website at dc.com. Readers on the go can find a curated list of titles spotlighting Supergirl, Superman, and the Superman family on the DC Universe Infinite (DCUI) digital subscription platform. For more information and a free trial, visit the DCUI website at dcuniverseinfinite.com. DCUI is not available in all countries and is not intended for children.
• Supergirl – Woman of Tomorrow is available from all good book and comic shops | ISBN: 978-1779515681 | AmazonUK Affiliate Link | Kindle edition available here from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)
It’s Supergirl like you’ve never seen her before, in a character-defining sci-fi/fantasy masterpiece from Mister Miracle writer Tom King and Wonder Woman artist Bilquis Evely.
Kara Zor-El has seen some epic adventures over the years, but she now finds her life without meaning or purpose. Here she is, a young woman who saw her planet destroyed and was sent to Earth to protect a baby cousin who ended up not needing her. What was it all for? Wherever she goes, people only see her through the lens of Superman’s fame.
Just when Supergirl thinks she’s had enough, everything changes. An alien girl seeks her out for a vicious mission. Her world has been destroyed, and the bad guys responsible are still out there. She wants revenge, and if Supergirl doesn’t help her, she’ll do it herself, whatever the cost. Now a Kryptonian, a dog, and an angry, heartbroken child head out into space on a journey that will shake them to their very core.
This volume collects Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow #1-8
• Read Steven Lee Sharpe’s review of Supergirl – Woman of Tomorrow
• Read Tim Robins review of Superman
• A timely character history of Supergirl from Owen Loves Comics
• DC Comics: Get to Know Lobo!
Bounty hunter, Main Man, and all-around bastich, Lobo is the last surviving Czarnian…but only because he killed them all himself! Sometimes a hero, sometimes a villain, Lobo always looks for a paycheque first.
Supergirl Barbie
• Barbie Signature DC Supergirl Fashion Doll (AmazonUK Affiliate Link)
Inspired by the 2026 film, the interstellar Supergirl Barbie fashion doll includes Kara Zor-El iconic Super Hero outfit!
• More Supergirl books and merchandise – Yes, Lobo too! (AmazonUK Affiliate Link)
- About the Author
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Features, Reviews, US Comics
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