Future State: Kara Zor-El, Superwoman #2: Calm, Growth

The second and last issue of Kara Zor-El, Superwoman opens up kind of abruptly, picking up on the tail of a somehow-plot-twist to deliver a lot of exposition around Lynari and her traumatic background and instantly move towards strongly packaged action (as teased by an amazingly effulgent cover by Paulina Ganucheau), with the always textured and detailed art by Sauvage helping get the punch get across. The blue and red motion lines, battle-ready body positions and defiant face expressions are delightfully crafted till arriving at a two-page splash that is, again, almost a piece of art by how it composes and delivers the scene. The only detail I didn’t particularly like about the art of these few pages is the coloring is (intentionally) more pale and two-toned, but, as soon as we get back on track from the fight, vivid warm colors and gorgeous detailed shadowing comes back to the scene, as does the beautiful conclusion of this emotional journey for Kara.

Although the first pages of the book and the “resolution of the conflict” per se didn’t convince me as much as the spectacular start of the first issue, when the action stops, everything gets calmer, and Lynari starts a reflection of Kara’s character and her life in this future, I couldn’t help but smile and even have some few tears run off. Bennett concludes her character exploration in embracing the kindness, empathy and “love for the craft” that Kara brings to her Superwoman role. She’s flawed, but she’s always growing, learning, questioning, and that’s an incredibly beautiful part of the character. The thought of Kara as a flawed teacher that learns while she teaches, that works on actively helping others without trying to be above them, is a precious way to explore her character and what she can bring to others. And the watercolor, expressionist, flower-filled art that accompanies the end of this miniseries moves across that willingness to grow, thrive and learn.