Review: Supergirl Vol. 3- Girl of No Tomorrow

Quick Summary

Pros: The main narrative is one of the most exciting in this series thus far. The changes to the status quo are interesting.

Cons: Many plot points only occur because characters make inorganic or unrealistic decisions.

Overall: This is another mediocre volume for the Supergirl Rebirth series. Though it improves on delivering more excitement than before, logistical problems are more prevalent. Unfortunately, the quality of the story and art is not quite enough to overcome these problems and leave the book feeling a bit lackluster. Readers just looking for a Supergirl story with thrill and excitement might enjoy this one but readers looking for an all-around success might want to look elsewhere.

Story

Supergirl Vol. 3: Girl of No Tomorrow, by Steve Orlando, improves on some elements from its predecessors but disappoints in other regards. The improvements here mostly occur through the quality of the volume’s overarching storytelling. The general narrative here is more dramatic and exciting than before and delivers some interesting developments to the comic’s status quo. However, this is undercut by how often characters made dumb decisions simply to advance the plot. Though this volume is an improvement for the series, it still isn’t great.

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Girl of No Tomorrow mostly centers around a single narrative involving the Fatal Five’s quest to destroy Supergirl. This pits Supergirl against a variety of villains in a variety of different battles. These battles are physically demanding, as many of her enemies are very powerful, and also require some smart maneuvering, as Supergirl is constantly trying to minimize damage to the people around her. I particularly enjoyed the final battle, which showed Supergirl’s tactical side by having her destroy the Emerald Empress’ eye. 

Over the course of these encounters, the Emerald Empress launches a campaign to discredit Supergirl in the public eye. This results in the secret surrounding Supergirl’s father being discovered and, thus, the majority of the public turning on her because of this secret. This establishes an interesting change in the status quo that I am looking forward to seeing explored more, especially since it significantly changes the status of Supergirl’s relation to her secret identity.

Unfortunately, many events forming this entire narrative only happen because of characters making illogical and even out-of-character decisions. The Emerald Empress tries to make Supergirl think Cat Grant is a villain despite the fact that Supergirl can easily see through this deception; Supergirl puts herself and others in danger by delaying treatment for her condition; and the entire public turns on Supergirl so quickly that their reaction almost comes across as comical. Each of these decisions advances a large piece of the story but each of them also feel unnatural and inorganic. This mitigates the highs of the reading experience and generally makes it less appealing.

(spoilers end here)

Art

The artwork in Girl of No Tomorrow is mostly positive but hits some rough points here and there. Robson Rocha’s two chapters are the collection’s highlights. These chapters are dynamic and dramatic in a way that emphasizes the high-stakes nature of the story. Plus, they provide pleasant depictions of the variety of characters seen in this arc. However, Supergirl Annual #1 switches up the artistic team, in between Rocha’s two chapters, for an unfortunate shift in visuals. Though this chapter is still alright visually, the shift from detailed and dramatic, to brighter and stylized pages, then back to detailed and dramatic hurts the reading experience. In the end, the visuals in this book are still aright but are not great.

Continuity

Supergirl Vol. 3: Girl of No Tomorrow continues the story from Supergirl Vol. 2: Escape from the Phantom Zone (Review).

The story here continues in Supergirl Vol. 4: Plain Sight (Review).

This volume also references other comic books, detailed below:

• Emerald Empress was set free during the Justice League vs. Suicide Squad (Review) (Reading Order) event.
• Magog’s family was killed during Darkseid’s invasion during Justice League: Origin (Review). This is explained in Superman/Wonder Woman #15, collected in Superman/Wonder Woman Vol. 3: Casualties of War (Review). 
• The brief mention of Lord Havok’s actions likely refers to the events of Justice League of America #1-4, collected in Justice League of America Vol. 1: The Extremists (Review).
• The mysterious man at the conclusion of Supergirl #13 has been making enigmatic appearances in comics since the Superman: Men of Tomorrow (Review) story arc. More about his identity is revealed in Superman: Action Comics: The Oz Effect.
• Kong Kenan’s history and status in China is mostly explained across New Super-Man Vol. 1: Made in China (Review).
• A reference is made to Supergirl’s ship initially landing in Siberia. This is shown in Supergirl Vol. 1: Last Daughter of Krypton (Review).