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Supergirl Supergirl-
(Kara Zor-El) --1st appearance: Action Comics
#252 (1959). 1st Modern Age appearance:
Superman/Batman #8 (2004) Kara Zor-El,
better known as Supergirl, is the only surviving
woman from the now-dead planet of Krypton. Her
only surviving blood relative is Kal-El, her
first cousin, who is the only surviving man from
Krypton. He is better known throughout the
universe as Superman. "The Girl Who Fell
To Earth", as her foe Darkseid refers to her,
did indeed fall to earth inside of a spacecraft
built by her father, the Kryptonian scientist,
Zor-El. He knew that Krypton was doomed to
explode, as theorized by his brother, Jor-El.
Knowing that Jor-El was sending his infant son
Kal-El to safety on Earth, Zor-El similarly
planned to send his teenage daughter Kara to
Earth as well. Things did not turn out as
planned, however, as Kara's ship was encased in
a fragment of the dead planet, and made a much
slower journey to earth, arriving decades after
her cousin fell to Earth. Her ship splashed
down in Gotham Harbor, attracting the attention
of the Batman, who discovers the ship empty. The
young Kara, naked and alone in a strange, alien
city, believes herself in danger and began
destroying things with her heat vision and
super-strength. Batman disables her with a piece
of Kryptonite, and he and Superman transport her
to the Batcave for examination. Determining that
she is indeed an alien who speaks Kryptonese,
Superman welcomes her as a long-lost cousin.
Kara is soon taken to Themyscira for protection
and training by her Amazon warriors. The island
is soon besieged by the forces of Darkseid, who
kill Kara's new friend, Harbinger, and kidnap
her back to their hellish planet of
Apokolips. There Kara's mind
is controlled by Darkseid, causing her to battle
Superman, nearly killing him. He resorts to
Kryptonite to defeat her. Batman forced Darkseid
to disavow any further efforts to control the
"Girl Who Fell To Earth," and Superman, Batman,
Wonder Woman, and Big Barda return to Earth with
Kara. Supergirl In this origin
tale, as told in Superman/Batman #s 8-13,
Kara is shown as a stranger on a strange planet,
not quite sure what to make of her situation.
Expecting that she would arrive on Earth while
cousin Kal was still a child, and in need of
protection, Kara is taken aback by the role
reversal imposed by the adult Superman. He sees
himself as the older adult authority figure, and
she increasingly resents her subordinate role.
Distrusted by Batman, who sees her arrival as
too convenient, argued over by Superman and
Wonder Woman, who both seek a role in protecting
her, Kara adopts the superhero persona of
Supergirl, wearing a "super-styled" costume
designed by Superman's adoptive mother. She is
now ready to take her place alongside Earth's
other heroes, as she indicates when her cousin
introduces her to the Justice League, the Teen
Titans, and other groups of super-powered
beings. Following
Supergirl's debut, she begins to experience
anxiety and uncontrollable emotions. Not knowing
what is happening to her, she seeks out other
heroes (other than her cousin and his buddy,
Batman), who can give her insight into her
problems. After meeting up with, and fighting
against Superboy and the Teen Titans, Supergirl
flies from one misadventure to another while
seeking answers. Finally, she encounter an
armored and dangerous Lex Luthor, who possesses
several varieties of Kryptonite, the only
substance known to be fatal to Supergirl and
Superman. After mocking Supergirl about her
teen-aged figure (basically saying that her male
cousin has a more impressive chest than she
does), he hits her with the radiation from the
black Kryptonite, causing Supergirl to split
into two versions: the "good" Kara with the
traditional red, blue, and gold costume, and the
black-clad "bad" Kara, who claims that she is
the true manifestation of Kara Zor-El. "Bad
Kara" says that Zor-El sent the teen-aged Kara
to Earth, not to protect baby Kal-El, but to
kill him. She then proceeds to beat up Luthor,
the JLA, and fights "Good Kara." Supergirl
standoff ends when "Good Kara" tricks her evil
twin into following her to Gotham City, where
Batman awaits with green Kryptonite, which
weakens "Bad Kara" and enables the heroes to
reunite the two battling Karas into the original
emotion-plagued Supergirl. Supergirl A new Supergirl television show aired in
2016, with actress Melissa Benoist starring as
Supergirl. One of the stated goals of the new
Supergirl show, and of Benoist, was to serve as
a positive role model for young girls. A
crossover episode with the popular Flash
television show starring Grant Gustin weaves
Supergirl into the existing "Arrow-verse," a
shared universe that began with the popular
(Green) Arrow show, and includes the Flash show
and the Legends of Tomorrow series, and now,
Supergirl. Supergirl
(Melissa Benoist)
Flying "Supergirl" and all fictional characters mentioned on this page are the property of DC Comics. "The History Guy" is a Registered Trademark. |
Family Zor-El
--Father;
deceased Alura
In-Ze --Mother;
deceased Kal-El/Clark
Kent/Superman
--Cousin Jor-El
--Uncle;
deceased Lara
--Aunt;
deceased Associates,
Colleagues, & Opponents Friends Batman Wonder
Woman Big
Barda Harbinger Darkseid The
Female Furies of
Apokolips Links
and Resources on the
[person] Supergirl:
The Maid of
Might--Official
biography from DC
Comics. Kara:
The First
Supergirl--Article
on the history of
Supergirl. Supergirl--Wikipedia
article. Superman/Batman
# 8-13, (2004)--Origin of the
current, Modern Age
Supergirl. Loeb,
Jeph (w), Turner, Michael (a),
Steigerwald, Peter (c), and
Starkings, Richard (l).
Superman/Batman
Vol.
2:Supergirl.Ed.
Anton Kawasaki. NY: DC Comic,
2005. Site
Map--revision
in progress |
