Interview: Mariko Tamaki on bringing Supergirl: Being Super to life

Mariko Tamaki brought a fresh perspective to Supergirl’s origin story in Supergirl: Being Super, and she talks with Her Cape about how it all came together.

Young adult author Mariko Tamaki crossed over into the world of comics and changed the way we see Supergirl. In Supergirl: Being Super, Tamaki and artist Joelle Jones gave Kara Danvers an updated origin story that made her more human ever while highlighting the challenges of being an alien teenager.

Tamaki brings a very human story to Supergirl, connecting her to her adoptive earth family and friends like never before. In the story Kara has to navigate the trials and tribulations of being a teenager while exploring the things that make her different. Then again, anyone who has ever been a teenager knows that the teen years can feel like being from another planet, which adds to the charm of Tamaki’s story.

Supergirl: Being Super also dives into complex themes of tragedy and loss, self-exploration and self-discovery. Kara’s world comes alive with strong supporting characters who represent a diverse background, from her supportive family to her friends at school, and even to the visitor from Kypton who claims he understands what it’s like to be her.

We had a chance to talk with Mariko Tamaki about her work on Supergirl: Being Super, covering everything from how the project got started to whether she’d like to continue Kara’s adventures in the future.

Supergirl: Being Super cover. Written by Mariko Tamaki, art by Joelle Jones. Photo: DC Comics

Supergirl: Being Super. Written by Mariko Tamaki, art by Joelle Jones. Photo: DC Comics Supergirl: Being Super. Written by Mariko Tamaki, art by Joelle Jones. Photo: DC Comics

Supergirl: Being Super changed the game in terms of origin stories. Audiences have seen Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent’s stories told many times over, but we haven’t had a chance to dive deep into a character like Supergirl. Your work broke the barriers for those stories to be told. What was it like heading into a project like this?

Mariko Tamaki: I really had no idea what I was walking into when DC contacted me about Supergirl: Being Super (which at that point was still, “Hey what do you think about some sort of Supergirl comic?”). I thought it was a cool opportunity. I was so into all the possible things I could do with this character! I mean, you know, she can FLY. That’s awesome. Plus I had this very Friday Night Lights thing I wanted to write. So. I had amazing editors, Paul Kaminski and Andrew Marino, and I had the most incredible illustrator I could possibly have for this project, Joëlle Jones. I feel like DC gave me everything I needed to make this comic everything I wanted it to be, like we were all on the same page.

Being Super doesn’t shy away from the kinds of tragedy and trauma that often accompany adolescence. Can you talk about the experience of writing some of the more challenging moments Kara dealt with in her story?

Tamaki: I wanted Kara’s impetus for being a superhero, for pursuing her fate as a superhero, to be something significant. And very personal. I wanted it to be a kind of life impacting event that also felt really human. The kind of loss a human can experience, which both connects Kara to the human part of her life, and distinguishes her as a superhero, as someone who is not human, who (normally) has the power to stop this sort of thing from happening. It was SO sad writing that section of the book in particular. It made me really sad, I didn’t even need to listen to sad music to get sad. I kept thinking, “Wow, is this really sad or am I just really sensitive?” (Maybe both. I am really sensitive.)

Were there certain areas you really wanted to hit with this book, or did the story evolve over time?

Tamaki: I had an outline and we stuck to that pretty closely. I think my sense of the relationships in the book and the meaning of those relationships (Kara’s connection to her parents and her friends) evolved as I was writing, which is something that happens a lot.

Was anything left on the chopping block, or were you able to get everything into the story that you wanted in there?

Tamaki: I don’t think we left anything out! I maybe saved a few ideas in case we get to do another book. Maybe.

While the book hits some intense themes, there are also some incredible moments of levity. Like a Kryptonian zit, which is one of the most memorable scenes in all of the DC Universe! Was it important to balance levity in Kara’s story?

Tamaki: I can’t imagine a book that’s just: serious, serious, sad, sad, serious. For me, a story needs to have a balance, a back and forth where one lends significance to the other. Light and dark. And I love writing funny. I am a dork and that is definitely in there. The zit was actually the first thing I knew I wanted to have in the book. I thought it was the perfect metaphor for adolescence. What’s more adolescent than your body making a giant ugly crater on your face.

The ending point was more of a springboard into a new world for Kara. Will there ever be a point to continue her story as a followup to Being Super, or was it important to end the project there?

Tamaki: I think with any comic, you want to leave the reader with something in your protagonist’s story that is complete, and something that is unfinished. By the end of Being Super, Kara well on her way to the next part of her life as a hero. But that next part of the story is not on paper. I mean, that’s part of the joy of fiction, the part where your imagination picks up outside the frame of whatever is in front of you. That said, HOLY COW I would LOVE to write the next chapter of Kara’s story.

We’re very excited that you’re working on DC Ink’s Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass. Can you talk about finding a voice for Harley after working on a character like Kara Danvers? Is there a big shift in finding a voice for someone as boisterous as Harley?

Tamaki: It is a huge shift. Kara is a character who, for a variety of very valid reasons, does a lot of her talking in her head. Harley likes to talk. Out loud. A lot. She’s super expressive and she has a very unique way of looking at the world. It’s SO FUN TO WRITE. It’s like a candy store of possibilities. My walks where I talk out scenes and dialogue just became that much more interesting. Also I am working with Steve Pugh on this and Steve Pugh is awesome. I’m super excited for all the DC Ink and DC Zoom books.

Next: Find out when DC Zoom and DC Ink will fly into stores

Supergirl: Being Super is available in stores now. Look for Tamaki’s Harley Quinn: Breaking Glass in June 2019.

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