Supergirl (Kara Zor El)

Early life

Although Kara Zor-El was the first character to use the name "Supergirl," DC Comics tested three different female versions of Superman prior to her debut.

The first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was "Lois Lane – Superwoman," which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943). In the story, a hospitalized Lois Lane dreams she has gained superpowers thanks to a blood transfusion from the Man of Steel. She begins her own career as "Superwoman", complete with a version of Superman's costume.

In the Superboy #78 story entitled "Claire Kent, Alias Super-Sister", Superboy saves the life of an alien woman named Shar-La, who turns Superboy into a girl, in retaliation for his disparaging thoughts about women drivers which she picked up telepathically. In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents. When in costume, he appears as Superboy's sister, Super-Sister, and claims the two have exchanged places. Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind.

In Superman #123 (August 1958), Jimmy Olsen uses a magic totem to wish a "Super-Girl" into existence as a companion and aid to Superman; however, the two frequently get in each other's way until she is fatally injured protecting Superman from a Kryptonite meteor. At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence. DC used this story to gauge public response to the concept of a completely new super-powered female counterpart to Superman.

The Kara Zor-El version of Supergirl finally appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959). Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction. When the city is doomed by a meteor shower, Kara is sent to Earth by her parents, Zor-El and Alura (unnamed until later issues), to be raised by her cousin Kal-El, known as Superman. Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan "Linda Lee", and made Midvale Orphanage her home. Supergirl promised Superman that she would keep her existence on Earth a secret, so that he may use her as a "secret weapon", but that didn't stop Supergirl from exploring her new powers covertly. Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction.

Supergirl, from her début onwards, became a regular backup strip in Action Comics. She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming "Linda Lee Danvers". Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, until she was at last introduced by her super-powered cousin to an unsuspecting world in Action Comics #285 (February 1962).

During her first quarter of a century Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student, to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator. She shared Action Comics with Superman until transferring to the lead in Adventure Comics at the end of the 1960s. In 1972 she finally moved to her own short-lived eponymous magazine, before DC merged its Supergirl, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen titles into a single anthology title named Superman Family. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine.

Death during Crisis on Infinite Earths

In 1985, the maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths was conceived as a way to reduce DC Comic continuity to a single universe in which all characters maintained a single history. Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the "Superman Family", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis. According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths:

Before Crisis it seemed that half of Krypton had survived the explosion. We had Superman, Supergirl, Krypto, the Phantom Zone criminals, the bottle city of Kandor, and many others. Our goal was to make Superman unique. We went back to his origin and made Kal-El the only survivor of Krypton. That, sadly, was why Supergirl had to die. However, we were thrilled by all the letters we received saying Supergirl's death in Crisis was the best Supergirl story they ever read. Thank you. By the way, I miss Kara, too.

The idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers. He later said he has never had any regrets about this, explaining, "Supergirl was created initially to take advantage of the high Superman sales and not much thought was put into her creation. She was created essentially as a female Superman. With time, writers and artists improved upon her execution, but she never did really add anything to the Superman mythos—at least not for me." The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources.

The Supergirl film however gained popularity on VHS, eventually becoming a near cult classic.

In 1989, in the tale "Christmas with the Super-Heroes" the soul of Kara appears to Boston "Deadman" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below).

Several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix, Linda Danvers, and Cir-El.

A hero resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper.

Two Supergirls meet

Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns. The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series. In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states:

In the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 48 and 49 in 2001, the original dead Kara appears as Linda's "guardian angel". Then in issues 75 to 80, "Many Happy Returns", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis. The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where "no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean." This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey (comics) which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads.

Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl. This story arc is usually cited as one of the best Supergirl stories ever written. The series ended with issue 80.

Revival

After the launch of the Superman/Batman comic book series, Executive Editor Dan DiDio had been looking for a way to simplify the Supergirl character from her convoluted post-crisis history; the simplest version of course, was Superman's cousin. Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman. Loeb states:

The modern version of Kara Zor-El made her debut in Superman/Batman #8 (2004). Kara takes the mantle of Supergirl at the conclusion of the storyline. The Supergirl comic book series would later be relaunched, now starring Kara Zor-El as "The Girl of Steel". The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill. Loeb would later describe the appeal of writing for Supergirl:

As the character continued to be reinvented, steps towards regarding the iconic character were some of the most prominent changes. Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and "more respectable."

Silver Age

In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton. Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal.

In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart. She disguises herself by hiding her blonde hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as "Superman's Secret Weapon," saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly.

While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna. In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called "The World's Greatest Heroine".

When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the "Survival Zone" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments. Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after "Crisis" for burial.

Graduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971. During this era, she is helped by her pet cat Streaky, her Super-Horse pet Comet, and befriends Lena Thorul, who had first appeared in the Lois Lane series. Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5. In addition, Linda has boyfriends from the orphanage (Richard "Dick" Malverne) and from Atlantis (Jerro the merboy).

In 1967, Supergirl meets Batgirl for the first time in World's Finest Comics. Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381. In 1969, Supergirl left Action Comics and became a featured character in Adventure Comics beginning with issue #381 (June 1969).

During the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life. In her secret identity as Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Zor-El took a variety of jobs including graduate student in acting, television reporter, and student counselor, and finally became an actress on the TV soap Secret Hearts.

Bronze Age

After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky. Wearing a series of new outfits, leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator and develops a crush on her boss, Geoffrey Anderson. These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity.

Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story. Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts.

In 1982 Supergirl received a second monthly solo series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, relocating the character to Chicago as Linda became a mature student of Psychology. Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the pencilled art (Bob Oksner inked). With issue 13 the title was revamped, with a new costume design (sporting a red headband) and the title shortened to just Supergirl. The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater.

In the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985) the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X join forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Dr. Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. A public memorial service for Supergirl takes place in Chicago, where Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) delivers the eulogy. In her remarks she states "Kara is a hero. She will not be forgotten." Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Allura. A Superman issue the next month reveals that Kara had experienced a premonition about her own passing. However, when the universe is rebooted, the timeline is altered. Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence.

Echoes

After these events, the soul of Kara Zor-El made another appearance in continuity three years later in a story titled "Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot" in Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2 (1989). Within the story, Boston "Deadman" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies. Feeling guilty upon the realization that he has been stealing others' Christmases, he flies off feeling sorry for himself for being denied a reward after a year of helping people. A warmly-dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him. Somehow seeing the normally invisible Brand, she converses with him, reminding him,

She reminds Brand that even though he is dead, he is still human, and he should rejoice because it means his spirit is still alive. As the woman leaves, Brand asks her who she is, to which she replies, "My name is Kara. Though I doubt that will mean anything to you." The story, written by Alan Brennert and penciled by Dick Giordano, is dedicated to Otto Binder and Jim Mooney, adding: "We still remember."

Finally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her. Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: "I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!"

Modern Age

In 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman. She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey. DC Comics relaunched the Supergirl, the first story arc of which was written by Loeb. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. Along her journey, she encounters Power Girl (Kara Zor-El's counterpart from another universe), the Teen Titans, the Outsiders, the Justice League of America, and arch-villain Lex Luthor.

During the company wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes. DC Comics renamed the monthly series Legion of Super-Heroes to Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Beginning with issue #16. In the limited series 52, which chronicles the events that took place during the missing year after the end of Infinite Crisis, Donna Troy recalls the original Kara Zor-El and her sacrifice to save the universe. Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52. After briefly filling in for a temporarily depowered Superman as guardian of Metropolis, she assumes the identity of Flamebird to fight crime in the bottle city of Kandor with Power Girl as Nightwing in Greg Rucka's arc Supergirl: Kandor.

In 2007, Supergirl appeared in the miniseries Amazons Attack! That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues.

Conversations with other heroes who maintain secret identities lead Kara to the conclusion that she needs to make a deeper connection with human beings. She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as "Linda Lang", Lana's teenaged niece.

In the 2008 -2009 "New Krypton" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Allura, though Zor-Rel is killed by the villain Reactron. When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild.

Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline "Blackest Night". The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the "World of New Krypton", "Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton", "War of the Supermen" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people.

Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 "Brightest Day" storyline, the follow up to "Blackest Night".

The New 52

In September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it cancelled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process. One of the new titles was a Supergirl series that featured a new origin for Kara. In this continuity, Kara's ship lands in Smallville, Kansas but hurtles through the Earth and emerges in Siberia. Kara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched. She learns the truth about Krypton's destruction from Superman, and later journeys through a wormhole to Argo City, which she finds in orbit around a blue sun. She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun. When Reign and her fellow Worldkiller plan to enslave the Earth, Supergirl returns there to defeat them, and thus adopts Earth as her new home.

After several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief. Her desire to restore Krypton results in her being manipulated into nearly destroying the Earth by another Kryptonian whom she falls in love with. Upon realizing his manipulation, she kills him by driving Kryptonite through his heart, and succumbs to Kryptonite poisoning.

Following her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone. While adrift in interstellar space, she encounters a planet under attack by monsters, and quickly intervenes to save them, unaware that the entire planet is a trap by Brainiac. She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman. Returning to Earth, she is sent into the past by the Oracle alongside Superman and Superboy, where she ensures that a resurrected H'el cannot save Krypton, and sacrifices the planet and her family in order to save the universe.

Back in Earth, she is attacked by the assassin Lobo, and in the ensuing battle, kills him, while unleashing her rage. A Red Lantern power ring finds her and attaches to her, transforming her into a Red Lantern. Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan. Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity. After some time under Guy's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor. He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body. However, Kara is revealed to be immortal while in the Sun's core, and is restored to life without the power ring or any Kryptonite poisoning, immediately destroying the Worldkiller. She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group.

Convergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version

During the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos. At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence. Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned.

A few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event). After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so. Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed.

DC Rebirth

The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the setting and some characters) from the television series based on the character. After the events that led to the death of the New 52 version of Superman, 16-year-old Kara lives in National City with her adoptive parents, D.E.O. agents Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers, where she attends high school and works with the agency as led by Cameron Chase. Kara also goes on an internship with Cat Grant. In her opening arc "The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning the take over Earth.

Powers and abilities

Like all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses vast superhuman strength, speed, and stamina; invulnerability; flight; super breath; x-ray vision; telescopic and microscopic vision; freeze breath; heat vision; and super hearing.

Continued exposure to a yellow sun will slowly increase abilities. Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears at times to be even more powerful than Superman himself; however, as Superman explains, she may appear so because he has spent a lifetime subconsciously suppressing his powers to avoid harming others while Kara, without such experience, recklessly uses her powers to the fullest.

Other versions

There are numerous alternate versions of Supergirl. The most notable is Power Girl (real name Kara Zor-L, also known as Karen Starr) who first appeared in All Star Comics #58 (January/February 1976).

Power Girl is the Earth-Two counterpart of Supergirl and the first cousin of Kal-L, Superman of the pre-Crisis Earth-Two. The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton. Although she left the planet at the same time that Superman did, her ship took much longer to reach Earth-Two.

She has superhuman strength and the ability to fly and is the first chairwoman of the Justice Society of America. She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style. Throughout her early appearances in All Star Comics, she is often at odds with Wildcat because his penchant for talking to her as if she were an ordinary human female rather than a superpowered Kryptonian annoys her.

She also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe.

The 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths eliminated Earth-Two, causing her origin to change; she became the granddaughter of the Atlantean sorcerer Arion. However, story events culminating in the 2005-2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe.

Like the original Kara's Streaky, Power Girl has a cat, featured in a story by Amanda Conner in Wonder Woman #600.

Reception

This version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine.

IGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th greatest comic book hero, stating "for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on." In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th greatest DC comic hero, stating "she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right", and "Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against."

Pre-Crisis

Kara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985.

Post-Crisis

Kara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl. She has also appeared in many issues of Superman, Action Comics, and Superman New Krypton starting with the World Without Superman event in 2009, and continuing with the World Against Superman event going into 2010.

Collected editions

Listed in chronological order. All ages titles are not in continuity with the original or modern Kara.

Television

Superman film series

DC Extended Universe

Animation

Video games