Supergirl: Universe End

by Mariko Tamaki, Skylar Patridge (Illustrator)

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels, Superheroes

176 pages, Paperback

First published September 23, 2025

About the author

Mariko Tamaki is a Toronto writer, playwright, activist and performer. She works and performs with fat activists Pretty Porky and Pissed Off and the theatre troupe TOA, whose recent play, A vs. B, was staged at the 2004 Rhubarb Festival at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. Her well-received novel, Cover Me (McGilligan Books) was followed by a short fiction collection, True Lies: The Book of Bad Advice (Women's Press). Mariko's third book, FAKE ID, is due out in spring 2005.

Mariko Tamaki has performed her work across Canada and through the States, recently appearing at the Calgary Folkfest 2004, Vancouver Writer's Festival 2003, Spatial III, and the Perpetual Motion/Girls Bite Back Tour, which circled though Ottawa, Montreal, Brooklyn and Chicago. She has appeared widely on radio and television including First Person Singular on CBC radio and Imprint on TVO. Mariko Tamaki is currently attending York University working a master's degree in women's studies.

[MacMIllan Books]

Reviews

[Hannah Effinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

woman of tomorrow is better but jesus let the girl have a break

[Ams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t think I’ll ever find a comic about Kara that doesn’t make me cry

[Stephen Ede-Borrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

For anyone who thinks graphic novels/comics are simply bash/crash/zap with little storyline then I would suggest that you read the joyous complexity of Tamaki's work which would do justice to a more traditional novel. As you might gather I REALLY enjoyed this and have no hesitation in recommending to any fan of Supergirl, Superman, or the 'Super Family'.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume collects the Supergirl back-up stories from Action Comics while the big 11 part weekly Phantoms story was running in the main story, as well as the Supergirl Special that preceded it, by the same creative team of Mariko Tamaki and Skylar Patridge.

First off? The art's gorgeous. Patridge is || this close to being Marguerite Sauvage in some panels, it just looks beautiful. There are a lot of splash pages, which are lovely to look at, and the galaxy-scapes are pretty as hell.

The story's...less so. I think it gets a bit muddled as to what the actual moral of the story is meant to be - we start off with Supergirl and Power Girl trying to sort out who they are and what role they play in the Superfamily given that they're so similar, but by the time the story ends, it's all about how two people can actually be the same person? So I'm not really sure what Kara learns by the end of things.

It also cuts weirdly - because each part of the story is 8 or 10 pages, there are some jumps in time, but there are no divides in the way the story's collected, so things just jump between pages with no warning, so it can be a bit jarring to read at times.

Pretty, but a bit murky at the same time?

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was thrilled to see some Action Comic stories that didn't try to fit the whole Superman family in. And, this looked like it was trying to work in the same milieu as Woman of Tomorrow.

But it's a story that's controlled by its plots and a writer who feels like they're trying way too hard to be clever (or "deep"), to the deficit of character or believable story. The huge pages breeze by in seconds. Yes, the art is nice, but there's almost nothing to support it. Everything else is very forgettable.

[Jacob Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is it as good as Woman of Tomorrow? No, but that’s not really a reasonable bar - WoT is one of the best stories I’ve ever read. What I can say about it is that it recreates and executes on the vibe of WoT very well, creating a comic that is not only quite good, but that I could unreservedly recommend to people based solely on whether or not they liked WoT (which is not true of most Supergirl comics).

Great artwork, great story, excellent vibes, all around.

[JD · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes Woman of Tomorrow is the goat story, but this right here, ain't far off. its gorgeous, compelling, heartbreaking, and everything I want from a Kara book. The writing is top tier and the art is just amazing. I'd give it 6 stars if I could.

[Vibeke Hiatt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this more than Woman of Tomorrow. Universe End has more action and less narration. But since I'm not a reader of Action Comics, I was a little confused by the beginning. I always like seeing Supergirl in the starting role and I'm glad this adventure didn't leave me disappointed.

[Kamiab Ghorbanpour · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting premise, but sadly the compliments end there.

[liana · Rating 4 out of 5]

love the art style and supergirl talking about krypton

[Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sharp art and even sharper dialogue. Tamaki writes so well that it even translates to superhero comics.

[e · Rating 5 out of 5]

'but i see you. inside of you.. is a little girl'
holy shit.

[Tia · Rating 3 out of 5]

“I was too late. To be the one thing I was sent to be. His protector.”

🫩🔫 I want to wrap Kara up in a blanket and coddle her.

[Will Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

I believe these are the back stories of Action Comics and I like Supergirl!