Helen Of Wyndhorn: A Coming-Of-Age Sword And Sorcery

Written by Tom King. Art by Bilquis Evely. Coloured by Matheus Lopes. Lettered by Clayton Cowles. Published by Dark Horse Comics.

This week marks the release of the Supergirl (2026) movie in cinemas. The new entry in the James Gunn and Peter Safran-run cinematic universe is primarily based on the 2021-2022 Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow limited series by Tom King, Bilquis Evely, Matheus Lopes, and Clayton Cowles. You may have read it in the lead-up to the film. However, you might not be aware that there’s a spiritual successor in the form of the fantasy comic Helen of Wyndhorn.

The full creative team returns for this original idea, planting their flag at Dark Horse Comics this time around. Set in the latter half of the 1930s, Helen of Wyndhorn is a coming-of-age story of a teenage girl, Helen, who goes to live with her wealthy but distant grandfather. Her recently deceased father was a struggling pulp writer, a fictional parallel to Robert E. Howard, whose tales of a Conan-like barbarian are more appreciated decades after his death. But what if father’s stories were not works of fiction but had an element of truth within the family?

So, what makes Helen of Wyndhorn the spiritual successor to Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow? Both comics share the same visual language. Looking at them side-by-side, they share many of the same qualities. Yes, they have the exact same creative teams. However, intentional choices are made to make both comics uniform. Bilquis Evely lays out the pages the same, prioritising wide panels with illustrations drawn in delicate, thin lines, accompanied by blacks and whites that provide contrast. This is accompanied by Matheus Lopes’ colours that match the story’s temperature. When events are going well for the characters, there are more warm yellows. Inversely, the colours can be cold blues when things are more dire. Letterer Clayton Cowles doesn’t skip a beat and follows the same lettering conventions as before, presenting narration in the same style as before.

There are also scripting choices that partner these stories together. This won’t be surprising if you’ve read enough Tom King. He’s a writer with a certain bag of storytelling mechanics that are implemented across various titles he’s written. Helen of Wyndhorn and Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow share some of those methods. They both have an old lady narrating the story, relaying events of their younger selves as the point-of-view character, but not the focal character. For Helen of Wyndhorn, this is the governess in charge of Helen’s education. Having her as the point-of-view character creates some distance that makes the fantasy elements more fantastical – more astonishing and less matter-of-fact as some characters treat them. It also means we don’t know what’s going on inside Helen’s head, making her self-destructive behaviour unexplainable until later in the narrative.

Additionally, both comics feature a life-changing journey. For the Supergirl title, this consisted of the entire series. Helen of Wyndhorn, there are more stationary elements, with the journey making a smaller portion of the narrative, but it’s no less life-changing. Bilquis Evely swaps out science fiction environments for sword and sorcery. She renders detailed scenes of rocky terrain, jagged rocks, sharp mountains, billowing snow, sinister caves, festering swamps, and so much more. These are presented more often in a montage format, flashes of insight into this fantasy world, which may only consist of a single panel. Matheus Lopes colour codes each of the environments so that when multiple are shown on a single page, they emphasise how varied the fantasy world is.

However, it’s not essential to understand the similarities between the two titles to enjoy Helen of Wyndhorn. They may share many things, making them a terrific pairing, but Helen of Wyndhorn is its own thing. This allows it to explore its own themes of connection and communication. The characters are all emotionally distant from one another, often hurting deep inside and projecting that hurt in self-destructive ways. It’s not until they find true connections and connect with each other that they can begin to heal.

Helen of Wyndhorn makes for a great pairing with Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. As its spiritual successor, the creative team carries across much of the latter’s identity and uses it to create something completely new. The coming-of-age elements blend naturally with sword and sorcery to explore themes of connection and communication. It’s definitely worth the attention.

Helen of Wyndhorn can be found in all good comic book shops, online retailers, eBay, your local library, and Amazon/Kindle.