Supergirl Introduces the Viking Judge to the DC Universe

WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Supergirl, by Steve Orlando, Jody Houser, Robson Rocha, and Daniel Henriques, on sale now.

They say whenever one door closes, another door opens. That's what happened in this week's Supergirl #20. With the series coming to an end, Steve Orlando, Jody Houser, Robson Rocha and Daniel Henriques brought this chapter of Supergirl's life to a close, while also teasing what's to come in Orlando's next ongoing series, The Unexpected.

In the closing pages of Dark Nights: Metal, DC Comics teased its numerous New Age of DC Heroes series. Though the team that makes up the cast of The Unexpected never took part in the battle to save the DC Multiverse, they were briefly glimpsed in a hologram within the book's epilogue. Supergirl #20 gave one of them, the Viking Judge, a proper introduction into the DCU.

The Viking Judge Stands Revealed

Orlando's introduction of the Viking Judge here is a surprise, but it also organically serves the story. Her arrival gave everyone the opening to finally take down Director Bones once and for all. Fans who have been following the New Age of DC Heroes initiative know what is coming in Orlando and Ryan Sook's June-launching The Unexpected ongoing, but this issue gave some insight into one of its featured characters.

On a rudimentary level, Viking Judge operates something like Marvel's Thor. She is a powerful entity who is bonded to the body of a host and wields a powerful weapon that has a connection to Norse mythology. Turid Goldenaxe is a descendant of Jon Haraldson of Valoric, who some eagle-eyed comic book fans might recognize as Joe Kubert's Viking Prince. Her current body, however, is that of a teenage girl named Agnes.

Turid has a special connection to her axe, Bright Marshall, which she has previously been imprisoned within. The axe has the power to show a person's crimes in its reflection, an ability she uses when handing down her sentencing of primordial law. This feature gives Supergirl a moment to shine when the axe is unable to reflect her past crimes, because she is pure of heart.

The Viking Judge's direct connection to Norse mythology is also revealed to be based around her weapon. Bright Marshall is the reforged axe of Forseti, the Norse god of justice and reconciliation. In the mythology, Forseti is the son of Baldr, who has his own counterpart in Marvel Comics. Despite his link to the Aesir, he has never been incorporated into the Marvel mythology.

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A Fight Between Superheroes

Despite Viking Judge clearly meaning well, Supergirl sees her brand of justice to be outdated. As a superhero, Supergirl does not like the idea of serving as judge, jury, and executioner against criminals, no matter what they do. The two battle over the lives of Director Bones and Mokkari, even though neither one is exactly what Supergirl would call a good person.

Despite their very different power sets and origins, both heroes prove to be relative equals in a fight. Turid's magical axe is actually able to injure Supergirl, however, it is clear that the Kryptonian is physically stronger. Viking Judge puts Kara in a rather precarious position, where she must choose to either break Turid's arms or fall victim to the axe. Thankfully, another member of Orlando's band of travelers debuts and manages to break the two up.

Neon the Unknown, a classic hero originating at Quality Comics in 1940, makes his grand entrance, demanding that Turid stop what she's doing. The blind magician asks her to listen to Agnes, who seems to be a voice of reason within her. He then makes reference to a deal they made to find someone, and her fight here is getting in the way of that. Neon then whisks her away to places unknown.

The Fall of Director Bones

Director Bones, formerly Mr. Bones, has the records of the Justice Incarnate team.

Even with the appearance of the Viking Judge, Supergirl still has a plot that needs to be concluded. It turns out that Turid's attack on Bones provides the good guys with just the opening they need to make their final move against him. D.E.O. headquarters is infiltrated and Bones is exposed to the media, bringing the skeletal adversary to his knees in one smooth operation.

With Bones away from the office, Cameron Chase and Lar-On infiltrate DEO headquarters to free Shay Veritas, Strange Visitor, and Insight. Ben Rubel then sends out all the evidence of secret crimes that the D.E.O. has been involved with since Bones took over. Now that his crimes have been made public, he no longer has the resources to target Supergirl anymore.

It's hard to say how this operation would have been pulled off without the timely, and unexpected, intervention of the Viking Judge, but the good thing is that our heroes don't have to worry about it anymore. This run on Supergirl has ended as DC Comics waits for Brian Michael Bendis to reestablish the Superman franchise, including Supergirl.