Warning: contains preview pages for Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow #6!

Unlike her cousin Superman, Supergirl actually experienced the destruction of Krypton, and in Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow #6, on sale in print and digital December 21, Kara explains just how thoroughly this experience shaped her as a person. As Supergirl continues to track the tyrant Krem across space, seeking a cure for the gravely poisoned Krypto, readers are reminded of how her experiences give her a different outlook to Kal-El.

Supergirl is Kara Zor-El, the cousin of Superman, first appearing in 1959’s Action Comics #252, where she was created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino. She grew up in the city of Argo and, like her cousin, eventually found her way to Earth, but had not aged due to being placed in suspended animation. Adopting the name “Supergirl,” she went on to have a heroic career much like Superman’s. Recently, writer Tom King has teamed with artist Bilquis Evely for a new eight-issue miniseries that reconsiders Supergirl outside of Kal-El's shadow, having Kara embark on a quest for revenge against Krem - a petty criminal (and later genocidal pirate) who shot Krypto with a poisoned arrow and killed the father of her traveling companion Ruthye. Now, Supergirl has caught up with Krem, and he is about to learn that her horrifying past might mean a bad future for him. The issue is from King and Evely, with colors by Mat Lopes and letters by Clayton Cowles.

Related: Superman's Escape from Krypton is Explained by Real-Life Kessler Syndrome

In a preview shared by AIPT, Ruthye, the comic's narrator, recounts how Supergirl told her about actually experiencing the death of Krypton. In a flashback sequence, readers see Supergirl, as a girl, walking through ruins. Ruthye points out that Supergirl watched her world die. In the present, Supergirl has caught up with Krem, and is ready to dispense justice for Krypto. She attacks Krem and his goons, displaying her awesome powers by picking them off one at a time. But is Kara here for the sample of poison she needs to save Krypto, or to exact revenge for the villain's crimes, which have only grown in his efforts to escape her?

Supergirl 6 Preview cover
Supergirl 6 Preview page
Supergirl 6 Preview page
Supergirl 6 Preview page
Supergirl 6 Preview page

Most discussions of Supergirl’s past tend to downplay the fact she watched her home world die, glossing over the trauma she experienced in what is, to Kara, incredibly recent memory. Her chipper demeanor generally undermines the horrors that she witnessed. There has been a tendency over the past decade to depict a harder-edged Supergirl; she even joined the Red Lanterns at one point. The common explanation for this new attitude is her resentment over constantly being compared to her cousin, but what if it truly stems from the trauma of watching Krypton die? Witnessing such an event created scars in Supergirl that will never heal. Instead, she can harness those emotions in the present, and use them against Krem. What remains to be seen is whether Kara is chasing justice or revenge.

Having allowed the executions of Krem's allies on the planets they ravaged, it's entirely possible Supergirl intends to kill the villain - the job for which Ruthye originally tried to hire her. Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow continues to be a study of heroism in the face of trauma, but the story has stressed again and again that Kara is no Superman, and that the experience of seeing her planet collapse around her means that alongside her cousin's optimism and heroism, Kara also has an inner darkness that just might win out December 21.

Next: Supergirl's Sultry DC vs. Vampires Cover Art Sees Kara Break Bad

Source: AIPT