It has been a long six issues leading to the capture of the homicidal brigand known as Krem. Justice isn’t going to be as easy as dropping him off with the local intergalactic police in Supergirl—Woman of Tomorrow #7. Writer Tom King explores the rarely-analyzed end of superheroing in the mini-series penultimate issue. The story is nearly brought to a close in page and panel by artist Bilquis Evely. Color comes to the page courtesy of Mat Lopes. A well-told story by King continues to resonate in charmingly novel ways that engage the cosmic-level superhero from a novel perspective.

Supergirl has finally captured the murderous brigand known as Krem. She has done so with the aid of Ruthye—a girl whose parents were killed by the man. Now she is forced to leave Ruthye alone with the captive criminal—a man she has vowed to kill. It’s not all a matter of trust, though. Supergirl has left her horse there to protect Ruthye from any dangers that might befall her. The super-horse isn’t just there to protect Ruthye, though, as she is quick to find out in the process of dealing with her burning need for revenge on the shores of a distant planet.

Tom King takes a long, hard look at the nature of revenge, crime, and punishment on a distant planet in a story that dissects a great many emotional complexities. That he is able to do so in a way that hits the page with a graphic appeal is quite an accomplishment. Through it all, the revenge-seeking Ruthye is given a very profound and thoughtful emotional depth that makes for a profoundly moving depiction of a girl who may not realize what she’s really looking for. The issue may not focus-in as much on the title character as one might hope for, but the story King is telling is not without substantial merit.

Evely Does a great job of modulating the visual scope of the panels. Establishing shots that show the immense city of an ocean on a beautiful desert beach contrast beautifully against deeply complicated emotional close-ups on individual characters. The occasional shot of deep space and the action going on there provides a powerful counterpoint to The relative peace and comfort of a girl, her horse, and her captive. Lopes’ color adds a rich sense of aesthetic resonance to the proceedings.

King has accomplished quite a lot with Evely in the course of what has been, to this point, a very, very satisfying mini-series. It will remain to be seen whether or not the final issue manages to wrap up her everything in a way that will meet a final and truly satisfactory conclusion to the whole plot. There have been some extremely powerful moments in the series thus far. King has done some remarkable things in his time with Kara. She has achieved a kind of breathtaking complexity in very sparse moments that have rendered quite an impact.

Grade: B+