Supergirl Week: A Supergirl Primer
by Tony Thornley
She’s one of the world’s most popular female superheroes. She stands next to her cousin as one of the greatest heroes of the DC Universe. And this Friday, she gets her second big screen outing — her first in over forty years. It’s Supergirl and this week Comicon.com is bringing an emphasis on the Woman of Tomorrow for all fans.
Supergirl is one of the greatest and most well known heroines in pop culture. She’s been a mainstay of comic books since her debut in 1959’s Action Comics #252. But, thanks to editorial decisions in the 1980s, she’s also had a variety of versions. So who is Supergirl anyways?
(For the sake of this piece, I’m really only going to be talking about long-term versions set in the primary comics continuity, so no Power Girl, Cir-El or Elseworlds. Otherwise, it would get novel-length.)
The Original
The original, and default, version of Supergirl is Kara Zor-El, the cousin of Superman from Argo City. It survived the destruction of Krypton, blasting into space in the midst of the planet’s destruction (exactly how that worked varies based on continuity). The reason she was sent to Earth also varies, ranging from Argo dying to sending her as baby Kal-El’s intended guardian.
For one reason or another, she ends up on Earth decades too late, finding an adult Kal-El, and a completely alien Earth culture she must now learn to exist within. She would adopt the name Linda Danvers and went on to have a superheroic career like Kal-El.
This original version of Kara was one of the two biggest heroic sacrifices in 1985’s mega event Crisis on Infinite Earths. Behind the scenes, it was to narrow down the surviving Kryptonians to just Kal-El, making Superman more special. But on page, it was one of the most heroic and moving moments of the epic tale. As the Anti-Monitor was on the cusp of victory, Kara pushed ahead of her cousin, destroyed the Anti-Monitor’s devices, and won a victory for the heroes, but was struck down and murdered by the villain, dying in Superman’s arms.
It’s one of the greatest moments in comics, and one of the most iconic covers in the DC canon, a fitting way to go for such a legend.
Post-Crisis “Matrix”
One of the main editorial edicts after Crisis set Superman as the only survivor of Krypton. That didn’t mean the Superman family wouldn’t eventually be rebuilt though. It just meant writers and artists would need to get more creative.
In a pocket universe (not another Earth, like Crisis worked so hard to eliminate), Superman never arrived on Earth. That meant the heroic age never started, which was compounded when three Kryptonian criminals escaped from the Phantom Zone and took over the planet.
That world’s Lex Luthor created a protoplasmic organism called Matrix to face the criminals, and led her to become Supergirl based on his visions into the prime DC universe. Superman eventually traveled to the pocket universe, stopped the Phantom Zone criminals, and brought Matrix back with him.
She used her shape-shifting and psychokinetic powers to become the Supergirl of the post-Crisis DCU. She was present for the fight with Doomsday that claimed Superman’s life. She served as a hero in his place and continued afterwards. She even fell in love with Lex Luthor Jr. (actually the original Lex’s brain transplanted in a clone body, it was a whole thing).
Matrix continued as Supergirl, until a new series began a few years later…
Earth Born Angel
When Matrix encountered demonic shenanigans in the town of Leesburg, she ended up merging with a fatally wounded young woman named Linda Danvers. The gestalt entity continued Matrix’s career as Supergirl, now equal parts Matrix and Linda.
The merger also awakened fiery angelic powers in Supergirl. She gradually came into her own with these powers, and this role as an Earth Born Angel — a supernatural being born when two Earth-born entities merged at the point of death. She was given a heavenly mission, and continued to adventure for several years.
At one point, the two separated, but Linda was left with some of Matrix’s powers. She continued as Supergirl, with a new costume, for a few more years past that. This version faded back into character limbo once her series ended in 2003’s Supergirl #80.
Return From Krypton
About a year later, in 2004’s Superman/Batman #8, a new version of the classic Supergirl made her debut. This Kara Zor-El was also a survivor of Argo City, though she had a much more difficult time acclimating to Earth and also had a dark streak.
This take of Kara would be the default Supergirl for the next seven years. Her journey was adapting to Earth culture, embracing her Kryptonian heritage, and learning to become a hero as she got used to her new powers. She eventually became as well-loved and embraced as her past incarnations.
The New 52
2011’s New 52 reboot went back to Supergirl’s earliest days, having her arrive on Earth just five years after Kal-El debuted as Superman. This version of the heroine was much angrier, to the point that she became a rage-fueled Red Lantern, and also saw her father, Zor-El, become the Cyborg Superman.
Rebirth
Technically, the same Supergirl as the New 52 — but thanks to the timeline shenanigans revealed in DC Rebirth, her entire history was woven together, from pre-Crisis through New 52 (even with a period where she may have died and return, with Matrix wearing the blue-and-red in her place for a short time). This is the current version of Kara Zor-El in the DC Universe today.
At this point, she’s adventuring in the pages of Sophie Campbell’s Supergirl, while appearing alongside the rest of the Superman family in the pages of Superman and Superman Unlimited.
