While Supergirl and Lobo don’t necessarily have a storied past together, they have shown up together a handful of times together. Fairly early on in the development of the 2026 Supergirl film, Jason Momoa was cast as Lobo in the movie and while the movie is mostly based on Woman of Tomorrow, Lobo doesn’t appear in the comic at all. So given the fact that Lobo is going to be in the movie, I’ve been planning on covering the times that Lobo and Supergirl appeared together. In addition to that, recently it was announced that there will be a Supergirl and Lobo story in the June comic Summer of Supergirl Special #1, as well as that same story being told from Lobo’s perspective in Lobo #4 that same month so now seems like a better time than ever to talk about The Brave and the Bold (vol. 3) #4 and Supergirl (vol. 6) #26.
This iteration of The Brave and the Bold tells an overarching narrative throughout the first dozen issues where the heroes of the DC Universe are tracking down the Book of Destiny and I think it sort of resolves itself with the Challengers of the Unknown but it has been a bit since I’ve read the series so I don’t totally remember. Because of this, the story does not immediately open with Supergirl and Lobo and instead has a splash page of Batman merged with Fearsome Five member Tharok and 4 additional pages of Batrok and Blue Beetle (the 3rd one) fighting the Fearsome Five. By no means is this section of the book bad, it’s just not why we’re here. Before we get into the cover feature, the creative team on this book is pretty great on all accounts. Mark Waid and George Perez as storytellers, Bob Wiacek inks, Tom Smith colors, and Rob Leigh lettering.
Supergirl and Lobo actually meet up first in the issue prior where Supergirl tracks him down across 3 pages so that he can lead her to Rann to meet back up with Green Lantern who she got separated from in issue 2. Lobo agrees to work with Supergirl, and after seeing her S agrees to take payment after job completion. We get to see Lobo being absoutely despicable in these 3 pages but don’t worry theres a whole lot more of that to come. Supergirl is also wearing a leather jacket, a choker and some sunglasses to hide her Kryptonian identity but it creates a great look for her that is sadly limited to this Supergirl/Lobo story.
Getting into issue 4 proper now, the Supergirl/Lobo story opens with the pair arm wrestling which Supergirl only agreed to so they would get back on track to getting to Rann and finding Green Lantern. Lobo wins and they continue on their way before soon getting lost in some hedge maze that doesn’t make sense in physical space. Lobo uses his expert tracking super power to find their way out and meet Destiny who gives them some plot which Lobo doesn’t care about so he goes off to find his bike. Supergirl has a bit more knowledge on what’s going on and how to fix whatever overarching plot is happening and the Main Man picks her up and they go back into space, have a little heart to heart, and Lobo drops her on Rann and proceeds to split without getting proper payment since Supergirl assures him the payment was her letting him win the arm wrestle earlier in the story.
We get some absolute banger bits of dialogue throughout this story which I’m going to run down here starting with; “Take y’r x-ray vision off my package f’r one minute and see what you can see.” “That was my microscopic vision.” which points to Supergirl having quick wit as one of her super powers. Supergirl will later ask Lobo “why do you always lead with your face” with the response from the main man of course being “It’s my best feature.” Supergirl absolutely pummels Lobo screaming “Stop calling be “blondie” “babe” or especially “toots” got that?”
I mentioned briefly in the synopsis that the pair have a heart to heart on their final stretch to Rann. Here Lobo sheds just the smallest amount of his tough guy persona letting Kara know that Supergirl has nothing to worry about in regards to her future but he makes sure to not get too sappy at the end by gassing himself up asking Supergirl if she’s just trying to be like him.
There’s a really nice dynamic presented in this issue between the Main Man and the Maid of Might that really works. Lobo is convinced he’s the center of the universe and makes sure Supergirl knows it. Supergirl is in her rebellious teen era but she’s still trying her darndest to be a great hero nonetheless. These competing egos are constantly getting pushed over the edge by Lobo hitting on Supergirl (who is 16 at this time) and Supergirl thinking he’s the most vile piece of work she’s ever seen. All in all a great read and the Supergirl/Lobo moments work perfectly fine in isolation even if some of the larger plot gets lost reading this issue by itself.
Moving onto “Survivors” from Supergirl (vol. 6) #26, presented by Tony Bedard writing, Yildiray Cinar penciling, Ray McCarthy inkng, and Rob Leigh lettering. It seems like Lobo (which yes this story features the New 52 twink version of the character) has landed on earth where he is tracking what seems to be the standard Lobo but I haven’t read any New 52 Lobo comics so I can’t really confirm what his story line was going through. What I can say however is that his informant points him towards Shay Veritas.
Supergirl has also gone to find Dr. Veritas in the Block but as a friend seeking answers to her absolutely bonkers set of circumstances she had been through in the previous few issues which is actually explained pretty well across a 2 page splash. After telling her whole life story while getting some tests run, Shay gets a call from Lobo’s informant who we saw earlier and she seems to be double timing Lobo since she gives Dr. Veritas warning about the incoming intruder. Veritas sends Supergirl to take him on and very quickly the battle seems to end in favor of Supergirl who seems to have killed Twink Lobo.
Against all odds however Lobo does get better and this story continues on for the next couple issues before leading into the Red Daughter arc. Much like the earlier story, I do mostly want to take this story on by itself and look at how Supergirl and Lobo interact here. Supergirl herself is in a pretty rough state going into this story and her emotions seem to be a bit on edge and she doesn’t seem to have a full grasp on her powers leading to her supposed murder of Lobo. Lobo on the other hand seems much more driven and formal about his bounty hunting than his former counterpart which is definitely a change of pace from what I’m used to in regards to Lobo.
It does seem there is a bit of the writer trying to insert some of that Lobo hitting on Supergirl flair that we got in The Brave and the Bold, but it doesn’t really land for me. We’ve got Lobo referring to Supergirl as “Honey” and calling her cute, but it doesn’t really read as flirtation. We do get Lobo at one point thinking to himself “blondie’s coming. Leading with her chin.” which does have a nice parallel to the other story with Supergirl asking why Lobo always leads with his face. Lobo in Supergirl #26 being driven also has a bit of inverse similarity to Supergirl being so driven while her partner has his own thing going on in Brave and the Bold #4.
These 2 stories are by no means the only comics where Supergirl and Lobo meet up, but they are the most direct interactions between the two. The fight from Supergirl 26 does get referenced later on in Justice League United when Lobo shows up to fight the team while Supergirl is a member. On the other hand I don’t think there is much more Supergirl/Lobo action in the Pre-Flashpoint era, although there does seem to be a bit of an overlap with Lobo and Matrix, but nothing quite resembling a team up. The Young Justice series was running concurrently with the Supergirl title in the 90s and with both being written by Peter David, there were crossovers a couple times and Lobo (in his Slobo phase) was part of that team for a bit and it’s possible they saw each other then. Both Supergirl and Lobo were present during the Sins of Youth story so once again it’s possible there was some interaction. My research does point to Superman the Man of Steel #20 being the first comic where they are both present but I wouldn’t call it their first meeting seeing as they’re on separate planets. More recently I do they were both a part of House of Brainiac from a couple years back but no major interactions from what I remember.
I think Lobo can fit quite nicely into the Woman of Tomorrow story, he’s got the grimy sort of style to him that can fit into that story without too much changing. I think if anything specific from these comics were to show up in the movie, it would be the arm wrestling scene which I feel could translate quite well into live action. Lobo is not a character I particularly care for, and I don’t think I’ve ever read one of his solo books but I do like him as a supporting/antagonistic character to the Superman family and don’t mind him showing up from time to time.
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