Comic Book / Way of the World

Way of the World is a 2008 Supergirl storyline written by Kelley Puckett, originally published in Supergirl (2005) #28-33.

Supergirl protects a child called Thomas Price during one super-villain's rampage, promising she will not let him die. In the aftermath of the battle, Supergirl returns to check on the child, and finds Superman berating her for making such an irresponsible promise: Thomas is suffering from inoperable brain cancer.

Supergirl was not aware of Thomas' condition, but nonetheless she replies she meant what she said: she vows to save his life.

Unfortunately, she's about to learn a harsh lesson about her powers' limits.

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Tropes:

• Alien Sky: At a parallel future, Supergirl visits planet Krall, whose sky is orange colored.
• Aliens Speaking English: Krallian aliens, as well as an alien conqueror called Dolok, use English to communicate with other extra-terrestrial species.
• Alternate Timeline: After Thomas Price's death, the story shows an alternate future where Supergirl defeats an alien conqueror and considers using his time-travelling gadget to save Thomas.
• Anti-True Sight: Supergirl breaks into a federal detention center, makes off with an inmate who might help her save Thomas and takes him to a secret facility. Then she lines the ceiling with lead sheets so Superman cannot find them while the carries his task out.
• Badass Boast: Even though she is suffering from the first stages of Kryptonite poisoning, Supergirl is still able to deliver one to Dolok.
  Supergirl: You'd better jump back real far this time, Dolok. Give yourself some time to contemplate your defeat.
• Bank Robbery: The story opens with Supergirl and Wonder Woman foiling a bank robbery.
• Beware the Nice Ones: When Clayface manages to piss her off, Supergirl flies him up to the edge of the atmosphere and then drops him. When Clayface protests Superman would never do that, Kara simply replies "I know".
• Bizarre Alien Senses: Supergirl can see the signature energy given off by the swarms of nanomachines flooding Resurrection Man's blood. Apparently, it is purple-hued.
  Supergirl: That nanotech you've got in you gives off a strange energy signature. It would look purple, if you could see it.
• Breaking the Bonds: Dolok's Selenite bindings can depower a Krallian, but they cannot turn off a Green Lantern Ring. The Krallian Green Lantern easily shatters his shackles, forcing Dolok to run away.
• Bullying a Dragon: Batman's villain Clayface taunts Supergirl when they fight until Kara reveals she was just toying with him and shows him exactly why he should have not picked a fight with her.
• Buried Alive: After Thomas' death, Kara has a nightmare in where she has been buried alive.
• Calling Your Nausea: After Supergirl flies him to the hospital at super-speed, Resurrection Man mutters he feels like throwing up.
• Came Back Wrong: Discussed. Supergirl believes she can bring Thomas back using a blood transfusion of Resurrection Man's nanite-laced blood. Superman tries to dissuade her, stating that "the transfusion might bring Thomas back as something inhuman... a blazing skull, a monster, or worse."
  Superman: There's a dead child inside that room. Nobody is injecting anything into anyone.
  Supergirl: It could save him.
  Superman: It could turn him into a monster.
  Supergirl: It could bring him back to life!
  Superman: What kind of life? Not the life he knew before. Whatever gets up from that bed, if it gets up... It won't be human.
• Casual Danger Dialogue: Supergirl is asking Wonder Woman advice on how to help a little boy as both heroines are stopping a gang of bank robbers (whom they barely pay some attention to).
• Catapult Nightmare: Kara jolts up in her bed, screaming, after dreaming she has been buried alive.
• Combat Pragmatist: When she runs into Clayface, Kara lets him have a couple of blows before dropping any pretense of giving him a fair fight: Clayface is frozen solid, dragged skywards and dropped from the edge of the atmosphere.
  Supergirl: I'm sorry, but you seem confused. Just 'cuz I let you land a few easy blows— that doesn't mean we're having a fair fight!
• Coming of Age Story: Kara promises to save a little boy with brain cancer. Her more experienced peers warn she is over her head, but Kara dismisses her warnings and counters that super-heroes should be more proactive. At the end, she fails to save little Thomas, she fails to bring him back to life, and she even considers time travel to set things right. At the end, though, she must accept her powers cannot do everything, and she should move on and learn from her mistakes and focus on what she can do instead of fighting against the inevitabilities of life.
• CPR: Clean, Pretty, Reliable: Subverted. Superman performs CPR on Thomas Price as a last resort, but it fails to save his life.
• Cue the Sun: In an alternate future, Supergirl is paying a night visit to the graves of Thomas' parents, as wondering whether she should use time-travel to sort everything out. Nonetheless, she decides she should finally move on, and flies away as the Sun rises behind her.
• Curb-Stomp Battle:
  • The story opens with Supergirl and Wonder Woman fighting a gang of bank robbers. The gang has clearly no chance to even harm both heroines, and they are defeated as Kara and Diana are having a casual conversation.
  • Supergirl runs into Clayface right when she needs to let off steam after Thomas's death. Kara lets him land some few blows and then she grabs the villain and drops him from the outer edge from the atmosphere.
• Cynicism Catalyst: Eddie Rose, "Aftermath", stops believing in heroes and becomes a villain when the first battle between Superman and Doomsday costs him his legs.
  Aftermath: Once upon a time the world was simple. There were heroes and there were villains and bad things only happened to bad people. And then Doomsday came. "Luckily", I survived the attack, but by then I'd come to realize— that sometimes the bad can even afflict the good. And that while we may believe in heroes, there really is no such thing.
• Department of Redundancy Department: When Supergirl states her intention to inject Thomas with Resurrection Man's blood, on grounds that it previously brought another person back, Resurrection Man points out that "Yeah, but now he's a living skull and insane. And a living skull."
  Supergirl: I'm going to inject Thomas with Resurrection Man's blood.
  Resurrection Man: What?
  Superman: What?
  Supergirl: You said that worked before. That doctor...
  Resurrection Man: Hooker? Yeah, but now he's a living skull and insane. And a living skull.
• Domino Mask: Krallian Rangers wear tiny, pointy brown face masks.
• Downer Ending: Supergirl attempts to save a little boy who is dying of cancer. Ultimately, five-year-old Thomas Price passes away, and Supergirl cannot do anything about it other than accepting her powers cannot do everything, and death is a part of life.
• Dramatically Missing the Point: Supergirl asks Wonder Woman how to cure cancer because she promised an ill kid that she would save his life. Wonder Woman asks why, and Kara wrongly thinks Diana is asking "Why did you go to me specifically?" instead of "Why did you make such a reckless promise?".
  Supergirl: I promised a kid that I'd cure his cancer, and I'd like your help.
  Wonder Woman: Why?
  Supergirl: "Why?" Well, you've got a lot more experience than me, and I haven't really tried anything like this before...
  Wonder Woman: No. I mean why would you make that promise? To a child.
• Due to the Dead: Thomas Price's funeral is attended by his whole family, as well as Superman and Supergirl.
• Easily Forgiven: Although Aftermath lured Supergirl into a trap and put her under his mind-control, intending to force her to commit crimes to ruin the Earth's heroes' reputation, Kara does not want to hold a grudge against an obviously damaged individual. When Empress asks how Kara can forgive him so easily, Kara simply replies she also forgave Empress for baiting her into Aftermath's trap.
  Supergirl: Rose is sick. But he's that way because people like us weren't there to catch him.
  Empress: What...You're forgiving him?
  Supergirl: I forgave you.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Defied. Supergirl breaks super-villain Alphonse Luzano out of jail, hoping he will be willing to help her develop a cure for cancer since a little boy's life depends on it. It turns out that Luzano is rotten to the core and cares for nobody other than himself.
• Evil Cripple: Eddie Rose, a.k.a. "Aftermath", ended up wheelchair-bound due to a battle between Superman and Doomsday, and decided to become a villain to show the public that heroes could not be trusted.
• Evil Gloating: After apparently taking down Supergirl and her allies, Dolok rants about the impossibility of defeating someone who has mastered time instead of killing his enemies. Supergirl cuts off his rambling by calling him an idiot and having one of her allies to break her Kryptonite collar.
• The Farmer and the Viper: Supergirl breaks a mad scientist called Alphonse Luzano out of jail, hoping he will be grateful enough to help her save Thomas' life. Luzano repays Supergirl by using the lab she provided him with to give himself powers, and then attacking her.
• Foreshadowing: A Krallian Ranger grumbles about Dolok conquering twelve planets in his sector. Now, who does split the universe into sectors? The Green Lantern Corps. Shortly later, it is revealed that ranger is a Green Lantern.
• Fight Off the Kryptonite: Although Supergirl is visibly hurt and weakened when Dolok places a Kryptonite collar on her, Kara still manages to keep herself conscious for long enough to smugly tell Dolok he has fallen into her trap.
• Frictionless Reentry: Supergirl plunges into the Krall's atmosphere at top speed when she realizes that Dolok is about to escape to the past. Her body becomes fully wreathed in bright orange flames, but she does not even notice the heat.
• Get Out!: At the behest of his cousin, Superman tries to explain Supergirl's plan to revive Thomas to Mr. and Mrs. Price. However, Mr. Price feels freaked out by their proposal to inject nanomachines into their deceased son's blood, and angrily tells them to go away.
  Henry Price: You need to leave. You need to leave right now.
• Grave-Marking Scene: In an alternate future, Supergirl visits the graves of the parents of Thomas, as wondering whether she should use time travel to save them.
• "Groundhog Day" Loop: Supergirl intends to hand Dolok's time-travelling device over to Thomas' parents, reasoning that they can relive their time together over and again.
• Hard Truth Aesop: You can't save everybody no matter how hard you try and there are limits to what you can do to help people. Supergirl is determined to save Thomas from dying to terminal cancer, but the narrative makes it clear she's in over her head. When Thomas does die, Supergirl is forced to accept that even her powers can't do everything.
• Healing Shiv: Supergirl considers using the Amazons' healing ray to cure Thomas, but Diana warns the Purple Ray can heal injuries and bruises, but it cannot cure cancer.
  Wonder Woman: Amazon, alien, human— the ray can heal almost any wound for any of us in seconds.
• He Who Fights Monsters: Discussed. After seizing a time-machine from an alien conqueror called Dolok, Supergirl considers going back to the very beginning of her career, start over and undo all her mistakes. However, she guesses she would eventually become another tyrant like Dolok, using time-travel to do and undo as she pleases without accountability, and crushes the device.
• Human Aliens: Dolok is an alien overlord. He is virtually indistinguishable from an Earth human.
• I'm a Humanitarian: When he is dissed by Kara, Dolok swears he'll eat her himself. It is unknown whether he was declaring his literal intent or merely expressing his anger via a figure of speech.
• Implacable Man: Dolok jumps into the timestream to run away from Supergirl and a Green Lantern, only to find that Supergirl will follow him to literally everywhere and everywhen, she will not give him the slightest break, and she will not ever stop chasing him until he has been beaten down to her satisfaction and his time-travelling device has been taken away.
• I Gave My Word: When a super-hero questions Supergirl's plan to cure cancer, Kara replies she promised she would save Thomas.
• "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: When Aftermath commands Supergirl to kill Empress, the latter hero tries to make Kara snap out of his mind-control. But it turns out Kara's conscience has not yet been completely subsumed, so she whispers Empress to cancel Aftermath's spell out before it is too late.
• I Let Gwen Stacy Die: Kara remains haunted for years by her total failure to save Thomas. Rubbing Thomas' death on her face will become a sure way to piss her off.
• Just Toying with Them: When Kara runs into Clayface, she lets the mud monster hit her for a bit before disabusing him of any notion that he's a match for her: Kara freezes him solid, flies him way, WAY up and lets him drop).
  Supergirl: I'm sorry, but you seem confused. Just 'cuz I let you land a few easy blows— that doesn't mean we're having a fair fight!
  Clayface: Wh— What are you... d-doing...?
  Supergirl: To call you "lame" and "ever so slightly beneath me" would be the understatement of the century. But it's been a bad few weeks. A shame you just happened to be the whipping boy I was looking for.
• Killed Off for Real: Thomas Price dies and no super-advanced science can bring him back.
• Kryptonite Factor: Krallian aliens are depowered by a mineral called Selenite.
• Kryptonite Ring: Dolok has a Kryptonite collar in case that he needs to subdue a Kryptonian.
• Law Of A Lien Names: At one alternate timeline, Supergirl battles an alien conqueror called Dolok.
• Littlest Cancer Patient: Thomas Price is five-year-old little boy who suffers from terminal cancer. Kara swears that she will not let him die, but she is incapable of saving him.
• Mind-Control Eyes: Kara's eyes give off a purple glow as she's under Aftermath's mind-control.
• Mook Horror Show: Dolok time-travels once and again to escape from Supergirl; however, every time he believes he is finally safe, she shows up out of nowhere and starts hitting him.
• Mythology Gag: Kara puts a finger to her lips while pondering some conundrum, right like her Pre-Crisis counterpart.
• Neck Lift: When she is mind-controlled into attacking Empress, Kara lifts her upwards as grabbing Empress' neck with both hands.
• New Powers as the Plot Demands: Parodied when Alphonse Luzano brags about his new powers:
  Luzano: The same technology that merely repairs Shelley's body is capable of so much more! Hyper-Strength! Hyper-Speed! Plasmagenesis! Yes, that's a word! Hyper-sensual perception!
  Supergirl: (mockingly) Hyper-sensual?
• No Man Should Have This Power: A Green Lantern wants to destroy Dolok's time-travelling device since he cannot trust anybody to not be corrupted by that kind of powerful, dangerous technology. Supergirl privately disagrees, but she eventually decides he is right and destroys the device.
  Green Lantern: That device is evil. That kind of power...should never be used. Whatever it takes, I'll help you destroy it.
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Aftermath claims to want to turn the public against super-humans because decent normal people always gets screwed by their battles. However, his scheme -kidnapping a couple to blackmail their daughter into putting a mind-control hex on Supergirl, intending to force Kara to cause mayhem until everybody hates her and super-heroes-, hint that he is merely self-justifying a personal vendetta.
  Aftermath: NO!!! I only did this to make them understand— to make the world better.
  Supergirl: I know. But that doesn't mean you're right.
• Offscreen Inertia: After knocking Dolok out, Supergirl rips his time-travelling device from his armor suit and flies off, apparently leaving him stranded in space. Since that alternate future was not revisited again, it is entirely possible that he remained floating in the void of space.
• Oh, Crap!: Dolok reacts in fear when he learns Supergirl is backed by a Green Lantern, to the point he decides to hightail it out of the battlefield.
• Older Than They Look: In a scene set in an alternate future, Kara is a sexagenarian who looks like she is in her late twenties, at most.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: Supergirl's failure to save Thomas will be brought up over and again during her career. Cat Grant's slander pieces particularly enjoy rubbing on Supergirl's face her failure to save a poor kid's life.
• Pedestrian Crushes Car: As stopping some bank robbers, Supergirl hoists their getaway car before slamming it into the asphalt.
• Percussive Therapy: Kara runs into Clayface as she is dwelling on depression because of Thomas' death, and decides he is exactly the punching bag she needs right now.
• A Planet Named Zok: Supergirl must free a planet named Krall from an alien overlord.
• Powerful and Helpless: Supergirl fails to save a young cancer patient, and she must accept her incredible powers can't fix everything.
  Supergirl: "Some days, people wake up and think they can change the world. Last week that was me. Me, when I decided to try and cure a boy named Thomas of inoperable cancer. But I failed...and Thomas died."
• Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: Kara gets sick of Alphonse Luzano when the villain proves to be a selfish asshole, so she declares she's done with him before crushing him.
  Alphonse Luzano: You're boring me.
  Supergirl: You're right. I've wasted enough time on you already.
• The Promise: Supergirl promises a boy who is dying from cancer she will not let him die. She moves Heaven and Earth to find a cure in time but at the end, she fails.
• Put on a Bus: The final issue features the final appearance of Young Justice member Anita Fite "Empress" and her parents.
• Put on a Prison Bus: After being defeated, Aftermath is taken to a padded cell and never seen again.
• Ramming Always Works: Supergirl's punches damage Dolok but they don't seem to be strong enough to knock him out. It is only when Kara rams herself into him, hitting him with both fists simultaneously, that she is able to finish him off.
• Reed Richards Is Useless: Supergirl attempts to find a cure for cancer to save a little child's life. She refuses to listen when other heroes warn her that she is over her head and even their powers have their limits, arguing they should be more proactive. Unfortunately, she finds out they are right.
  Wonder Woman: Amazon, alien, human— the ray can heal almost any wound for any of us in seconds. It's an amazing, world-changing technology... and it can't cure cancer, Kara. You're in above your head.
  Supergirl: I'll find a way. I know I can do it. [...] What if we've all been wrong? What if we've all been fighting crime and saving dozens— when we could have been saving billions? Saving everyone?
• Resurrective Immortality: Resurrection Man's power to coming back to life each time he's killed becomes a plot point when Supergirl thinks it might be used to save a boy who was dying from cancer.
• Rise from Your Grave: The cover◊ for issue #28 shows Kara bursting out of her grave. Later, Kara has a nightmare where she has been buried alive and has to dig her way out of her coffin.
• Rubber-Forehead Aliens: Krallians look right like blue-skinned, blank-eyed humanoids.
• Set Right What Once Went Wrong:
  • Subverted when Kara gets a time-travelling device and feels tempted by the opportunity to fix all her mistakes. Upon reflection, though she decides that the past is the past and she must accept this and move on.
    Supergirl: I can go back. I can go back and give them the device before they die. They can still use it. They can still go back and be with him. Or I could go back. Go back even further. With enough time...maybe I could save him. Or even...I could save them all. Do it all over again. All my mistakes— So many mistakes. I could do it right this time. I would know everything. I would be perfect.
  • Played straight when Kara encounters some humans from a future where she succeeded in using Resurrection Man's nanites to save Thomas' life. This opened the door to using them to grant every human immortality and superpowers, but somewhere that Went Horribly Wrong and they came back to avert it.
• Shooting Superman: At the start, Supergirl and Wonder Woman are taking down several bank robbers who liberally fire their machine guns at them like they had the slightest chance to hurt them.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: Supergirl cuts off Dolok's arrogant rants by insulting him.
  Dolok: And as for you lot... Haven't I killed you all already? How many of you are there, anyway? Which brings me, once again, to the question— the eternal question. The one I continue to ask, waiting, waiting for a good answer. Why? Why do you try to stand against me? I've mastered time. I rewrite your fate with the touch of a button. How can you possibly hope—
  Supergirl: Because you're stupid.
  Dolok: What?
  Supergirl: Where did you find it? How did an idiot like you find a device of such power?
  Dolok: Your stupid cow! I'll eat you myself!
  Supergirl: You'd better jump back real far this time, Dolok. Give yourself some time to contemplate your defeat.
• Small Steps Hero: Kara tries to help an ill kid after dealing with super-villain Reactron.
• Smug Snake: Dolok talks a big game about being an undefeatable and unstoppable space conqueror, and he has a decent powerset -flight, capability to survive in space...- but as soon as he comes across a Green Lantern who can counteract his powers, his only recourse is to run away using his time-travelling device. And when Supergirl shows she has figured out a way to counteract his runaway tactics, his only strategy is attempting to flee over and again because he cannot fight her.
• Stunned Silence: Wonder Woman remains silent for several instants after Supergirl tells she promised a little boy she would cure his cancer.
• Supernaturally Young Parent: Kara meets Young Justice member Empress, a teenager hero whose deceased parents were magically resurrected as little children.
  Supergirl: Your parents... are WHAT?!?
  Empress: It's a long story. But all you need to know is that they were brought back to life.
  Supergirl: But as kids...?!?
• Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: Kara meets a little cancer patient and vows to save his life. Despite her best efforts, Thomas Price dies and Kara is forced to acknowledge that being a physical god does not mean you can fix mundane problems or save everyone.
• Survivor Guilt: Kara reveals that she often wishes her parents had let her die with them rather than save her life.
• Time Travel: Space tyrant Dolok owns a time-travelling device which he uses to escape from his enemies or forestall their plans.
• Took a Level in Cynic: Aftermath went from being an optimistic man who thought bad things only happened to bad people to an embittered villain who refused to consider the existence of good people.
• Villain: Exit, Stage Left: Dolok jumps back in time to try to escape from Supergirl and a Green Lantern.
• Villainous Face Hold: After putting a Kryptonite collar on Supergirl, Dolok grabs her chin as she is on her knees and forces her to look straight to him while he gloats.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Once he gives a blood sample for attempting to cure Thomas, Resurrection Man is completely dropped from the story with no explanation.
• You All Meet in an Inn: In an alternate future, Supergirl meets a Krallian Green Lantern in the terrace of an alien tavern. Together, they begin planning Dolok's downfall.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Aftermath does not need Empress anymore after she has used her magic to put Supergirl under his control, so he orders Kara kill her.

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