For me it was nerve-wracking.
It was mostly just nervousness at that.
So thats why I completely disguised my personality!
© Bilquis Evely and Matheus Lopes/DC Comics
A little joke but its based on truth, King continued.
I was very nervous to meet [Tom], Evely added.
I feel like Im your friend.
© Bilquis Evely and Matheus Lopes/DC Comics
To finally see you here, in this moment, to visit to the set.
Its a special moment.
Lopes, meanwhile, came somewhat prepared.
© Bilquis Evely/DC Comics
I felt like I knew him, besides from the scripts… it felt good.
Woman of Tomorrowwas an unlikely creative process for the trio.
I feel this is so beautiful and distinctive, and I have one superpower.
© Bilquis Evely/DC Comics
I do so many things poorly, but I can do one thing well, King jokingly reflected.
Which is I can I can picture in my head what a comic book is going to look like.
It comes from wasting your youth reading too many comic books, and I definitely wasted my youth away.
© Bilquis Evely and Matheus Lopes/DC Comics
And I was right.
I mean it went above and beyond what I thought.
And thats why we are so good together, Evely added.
© Warner Bros.
Were together because he wrote what needs to be wrote, and I do my part.
Its a good match.
So it began with an editor I had worked onMr.
© Bilquis Evely and Matheus Lopes/DC Comics
MiracleandStrange Adventureswith, and Im saying, Is there something there that we can do anotherMr.
Iwouldstart trying to do anotherMr.
And they said Supergirl was available, so I said yeah, obviously incredible potential with her.
And I think the next thing they said is the artists available to draw it.
They had a list and the first one was Bilquis.
I didnt read another name after her.
I thought they were joking.Sheswilling to do Supergirl?
And so I think it started with the artist, before the idea.
I talked to Steve Orlando, who was writing Supergirl, and I was said Shes kind of generic.
I dont really know.
She has the same values as Superman,' King continued.
She was alive on Krypton, she was 14.
She saw her planet destroyed.
She lived through a horrible event.
She lived through three other horrible events, to watch her asteroid destroyed, and her parents die.
And Superman was just a baby.
He arrived into optimism and she arrived… she had been through something.
She arrived having seen something destroyed.
But Kara wasnt the only star ofWoman of Tomorrow.
Arguably, in some ways, she isnt eventhestar.
I wanted to sort of [do] anOdyssey-like plot.
I wanted this to complement that book, King added.
note: who will now appear in the cinematic version in some capacity, played byformerAquamanstar Jason Momoa].
So then I invented Ruthye, and we were off to the races.
I venture to create lines that evoke some good sensibility for the comics.
Its an interesting contrast to Evelys approach to designing Kara for the series.
She is young, but at the same time I feel like she was very mature.
you could identify yourself in her.
Dreamingwas a book where we could explore everything.
It was kind of a fun way to explore the creativity and the imagination of what we could create.
I made sure that little things would always stand out from what we have here in Earth.
For a small example… there are no blue skies until the last issue.
I made sure of that.
Theres always some shade of green, or something like that, or a yellow.
Its pink eyes for Ruthye, purple eyes for Krem.
Whatever project Bilquis was choosing [afterDreaming], I would go with her.
It was just really exciting, when she pickedSupergirl, Lopes continued.
It was a rough time, for me and for the whole world.
I was trying to do some more colorful work.
I dont know why, but it was me trying to bring some color into a dark time.
And it fits perfectly.
I think thats a little of the magic of the art.
Tom was in a headspace.
Bilquis and I were in a headspace.
And that combined, in that moment of time, was what createdSupergirl.
It was really something out of chance.
I just wanted to compliment the page.
But that headspace also informedWoman of Tomorrows darker bent, too.
I was like everyone at the time, very stressed.
WithSupergirlI was in the middle of understanding what it is I wanted to do.
I always loved to work on comics.
Because I was so stressed.
But the book, and the image we were creating, was so special.
He created two characters as a dedication to herKara and Ms. Marvel from the Captain Marvel family.
But soon after he created Supergirl, his daughter tragically died, King said.
I dont know, some transference, like that character has a little bit of that ghost in it.
That little bit of haunting, a little bit of her thats not like Superman.
Theres something there because shes been through tragedy.
Shes been through Krypton, her actual origins come from tragedy and how that changes a person.
But also a little stronger.
A little more powerful and compassionate, because theyve actually seen the other side of it.
Theyve seen the pain that theyre saving people from.
That was the idea that I wanted to push.
That cool, rebel character that I always loved growing up.
For the team behind the bookespecially as trade collectionsbegan selling outjust from Gunns mentionthe news came out of nowhere.
That the announcement happened was very shocking.
We were in Brazil, figuring out the next steps, Lopes added.
After a while, it becomes so distant.
Now its finally becoming real to us, visiting the set.
Things are as real as they can get.
It was something so far away, and now its really close, I love it.
Its real but its still surreal.
Because its so crazy, Evely continued.
But that didnt change how seeingWoman of Tomorrowbe part of that vision felt.
When they first showed us the scope of it, I literally… tears in my eyes.
Bilquis and Matheus are there.
So Id subtly wipe away my tears.
If anyone asks: I was cool and chill.
Not to name drop, but to defer to someone who understands this better than I do.
And I felt like every time he turned to me he was just like Miles is just a gift.
Its like walking around with a gift all day.
Thats how Supergirl feels.
Its just like a gift, its wonderful.
They dont own Supergirl, of course, butWoman of TomorrowistheirSupergirl.
I feel like the way she presents herself is something we created, Evely reflected.
The way she conducts, and, speaks, and looks, I feel this is from us.
I like to think that maybe the other people remember her like that.
We created that comic book and that is ours.
I gave Kara a lighter tone of blue [inWoman of Tomorrow].
Theres a lot of light in that book, and it shines more.
Kara has a ton of meaning to me.
We didnt have access to a lot of comics, Evely concluded.
It was a real job, and done by a Brazilian?
I can do that too?'
I could draw more fantasy, and starscapes that I love.
Like I said, I was in a very stressful moment working on it at first.
I discovered my future job through her.
I didnt start reading comics until I was a little older, Lopes added.
I hadnt ready any Supergirl comics before working with Tom and Bilquis.
Thats my favorite DC character ever.
Again, this book was written during the pandemic.
My children were home with me 24 hours while it was being written.
And in making the book, I didnt intend to do this, but I ended up wanting… As she grows older, Ill still have this book.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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