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Supergirl is a lovely blond super-heroine generally considered to be the female counterpart of Superman published by DC Comics. We can read several different versions of Supergirl in comic books throughout the years, due to the fact that DC loves reinterpreting this super-heroine. The first appeared in Superman #123 (1958), and was created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino. Because of the disunited continuity, different personifications of this superhero have begun; from Kara Zor-El, Matrix to the present known Supergirl. However, the most long-familiar embodiment of Supergirl is Kara Zor-El, as Superman’s cousin from planet Krypton. She acquired superpowers identical to superman. As you read below, different chronicles of various supergirls will be encountered.
Supergirl History
Super-Girl (1958)
“Super-Girl” is the first Supergirl in the history of her various incarnations. She is also alternatively referred as “The Girl of Steel”. Super-Girl is not to be confused with Supergirl. She was first introduced in Superman #123 (August 1958, a complete 14 years after DC trademarked the name). Super-Girl’s existence is created magically by Jimmy Olsen (Superman’s friend) in response to his wish on a magic Indian totem, as a companion and to support the Man of Steel – Superman.
Unfortunately, the two mighty heroes came out to be incompatible due to getting in each other’s way, up to a time Super-girl faded back into Olsen’s mind as he wished for her extinction.
The newly arrived super-heroine was greatly inexperienced in the use of her super-powers. In her last act of heroism, she courageously overexposed herself to Kryptonite while saving the life of Superman. Mortally weakened, she prevailed upon Jimmy Olsen to use his magic totem to dispatch her back into the mysterious limbo from where she came. The death of Super-girl is DC’s way to measure open reaction of the public to the idea of a new super-powered female counterpart to Superman.
Super-Girl’s Super Power
Super-Girl is the counterpart of Superman. She is just an equivalent part of the Man of Steel, which is why she is also called, “The Girl of Steel”. She acquired super-powers identical to Superman. The super-powers of the Man of Steel are legendary - the whole world marvels at his invulnerability, super-speed, super-strength, and other super-skills! Superman’s super-powers are the same with Super-Girl.
The Girl of Steel’s super-power is by and large, extraordinary magnifications of ordinary human abilities like the following:
Super speed. Super-Girl possessed superhuman speed, she moved from place to place by running or by executing gigantic leaps. She can leap 1/8th of a mile, hurdle a twenty-story building, and run faster than an express train.
Power of flight. Super-Girl can fly like a bird. She has series of past events by flying into outer space with Superman.
Super-strength. There have been many strong men and women in the world, but none of them with an amazing power like Superman and Super-Girl. The Girl of Steel can raise tremendous weights, lifts an automobile over his head with one hand, shakes its hoodlum occupants out on the ground, and then smashes the car to bits against the base of a cliff.
Super-Girl’s Costume
Super-Girl’s costume is colored red and blue similar to the Man of Steel. She also has a big red letter “S” on a yellow field emblazoned on her chest, an initial letter for her name, Super-Girl. She is wearing a red cape, a miniskirt with a yellow belt, and a red high-heeled boots.
Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El (1959-1985)
Kara Zor-El, the most well-known incarnation of Supergirl, was first introduced in Action Comics #252 (May 1959). She is Superman’s first cousin, and the first daughter of Zor-El and Alura In-Ze. She grew up on Argo City in Planet Krypton, and the last and sole survivor of Krypton’s explosion. Kara was sent to Earth by her scientist father, Zor-El to be raised by Kal-El, known as Superman. Allura created a costume patterned after Superman's so that the Man of Steel will recognize his cousin.
History of Planet Krypton’s Extinction
Centuries ago, there was a perfect planet known as Krypton. But time comes with its bitter destiny, a misfortune that set to cause harm to the planet and to its inhabitants, explosive bursts of solar radiation shifted unstably in its planet’s orbit. The planet’s leading scientist, Jor-El predicted that it would explode within 30 days. He told his brother, Zor-El, a Kryptonian scientist also about the future of their planet. Zor-El worked frantically to try and protect his home of Argo City from destruction.
Argo City erected a force-wall dome around the city, and stockpiled food, water, and other supplies for emergency. They placed strategic charges all around the perimeter of the city, which were designed to explode at the moment the planet came apart at the seams. When Krypton was finally torn apart, Argo City was saved.
In the months that followed, Zor-El and his wife Allura had their first child, a daughter they named Kara, and she grew up happy, at least as much as one could be on Argo City, as it floated through space. She never knew a life outside of the domed city. To her it was all normal. Its people experienced low-G forces, which was inconvenient, and they had to limit everything. The time came, their fear came to existence, the city's orbit took it into the asteroid belt of Krypton's system, and fatal damage was done to their force-wall dome. The asteroid crashed into the city, and Kara's home of 15 years began to split apart. At that time the city was doomed!
The Sole Survivor – Kara, the Supergirl
No one survived except for Kara Zor-El. Her father anticipated on what will be the future of Argo City, so he had secretly developed a small space craft in his underground laboratory. His limited resources had forced him to make it small; only one person could fit in it. As the city crumbled around them, he made his teenage daughter Kara get into the space craft, and after a tearful good-bye, he sent her away, to Earth. He chose Earth because it was the nearest planet that was even remotely similar to Krypton and he knew Superman is there to help his cousin. Allura, Kara’s mother created a costume patterned after Superman's and dressed Kara in it. She was then sent to Earth.
Kara Zor-El, the sole survivor of the doomed planetoid, which has hurtled away from an exploding Krypton. Supergirl crashed and safely landed on Earth, just as her famous cousin originally had, after Argo City itself fallen prey to deadly green-kryptonite radiation. Supergirl was 15 when she first landed on Earth and was discovered by Superman. She introduced herself to him as his cousin and called herself Supergirl. Superman decided that she should have a secret identity and dubbed her as Linda Lee. Superman began to train her to use her powers during this time and Supergirl had her own adventures.
Kara’s Alter-ego
Kara adopted the secret identity of Linda Lee, a mild-mannered orphan at the Midvale Orphanage, concealing her blond hair beneath a brown wig and functioning as Supergirl only in secret, at Superman’s existence until 1962. Linda’s super-human powers manifested themselves shortly after her arrival. While playing softball with a few other girls in the orphanage play-ground, Linda saw a thug trying to mug someone. She ran to the aid of the victim, and the mugger attempted to stab her. His knife bent against her Kryptonian-hard skin. She was able to handle the mugger like a rag doll. Fortunately things happened quickly enough that her friends didn't realize quite what had happened.
Linda was adopted by the Danver’s family; Fred and Edna Danvers. She attended Midvale High School as Linda Lee Danvers, graduated in 1964 and left home to attend Stanhope College on a scholarship. She graduated college in 1971 and held down a number of jobs, including actress and news reporter. During this time, she was constantly in awe of her older cousin. Supergirl is fully aware that her cousin Superman is secretly Clark Kent. Like all Kryptonian survivors, Supergirl is also vulnerable to Kryptonite.
Supergirl’s alternate identity is closely held secret, but it is known to Superman, to her foster parents, the Danverses, and to the Legion of Super-Heroes, of which she was a member until resigning at the age of twenty one. She had a brief romance with Brainiac 5, and juggled several beaus like Jerro and Dick Malverne, a former fellow orphan. Comet, the Super-Horse is Supergirl’s pet and an equine companion. Streaky, is Linda’s orange pet act that acquires temporary super-powers as a result of its exposure to ‘X-kryptonite’.
Kara’s Super Powers
Action Comics No. 285 (February 1962) describes Superman and Supergirl as "the two mightiest crusaders in the entire universe." Superman, who has dedicated a room to Supergirl in his ‘Fortress of Solitude’ (Superman's headquarters and retreat), has described his cousin this way: “Physically, she's the mightiest female of all time! But at heart, she's as gentle and sweet and is as quick to tears as any ordinary girl! I guess that's why everyone who meets her loves her!”
Supergirl acquires super-powers similar to Superman. She has a typical Kryptonian super-skill. She can fly, fire beams of heat from her eyes, lift immense amount of mass, use her super-breath to blow heavy things around as if they were leaves, and possesses superhuman speed, strength, invulnerability and abilities. She decided to use her powers for good - the values of the Sanctity of Life, the duty to help others who cannot help themselves, and never tell lies, were instilled on her as a child in Argo City. She would live up to them on Earth, and use her powers to stop crime and defend the innocent.
Supergirl’s Heroic Death
Supergirl definitely died, Kara Zor-El story came to an end in Crisis on Infinite Earths #7 (October 1985), in one of the 12-issues of the limited series. Supergirl, in one of the most memorable moments of the series, as she bravely sacrifices her life heroically to save her cousin, Superman and the multiverse, during a cosmic battle against an unstoppable evil. Her death was mourned through the DC Universe for several months, before all of reality came to an end, clearing the way for DC Comics’ complete reboot of continuity in 1986.
When DC continuity was rebooted following the Crisis on Infinite Earths, DC editorial felt that Superman should be the sole survivor of Krypton. Kara was thus erased from the new history of the DC universe.
Supergirl’s various changes of costumes
Kara's parents provided a costume based closely on the Man of Steel's own, and almost identical to Super-Girl's. This uniform served as her crime-fighting attire for the first decade of her adventures in print.
It is a one-piece, short, blue dress with a yellow belt, a red "S" emblem on the chest, and a red cape. The boots are a girl's version of Superman's and have low heels. Since the entire costume is made out of Kryptonian fabric, it is completely indestructible while under Earth's yellow sun.
Supergirl used this costume continuously in her super-adventures commencing with her arrival on Earth in 1959. It served her faithfully in her years at Midvale Orphanage and afterwards, when she was adopted by the Danvers family. As Supergirl, she wore it through high school and continued using it until 1970, part-way through her years at college.
Supergirl mirroring the fashions of the times began to experiment with a wide variety of costume and hairstyle changes. Near the end of 1970, Supergirl discontinues using her original costume as seen above. She tried different costumes and sometimes tries one for a few issues.
Matrix
A new Supergirl made a surprise, debuting in Superman, Volume II #16 (April 1988). After the reboot of Superman in the late 1980s, Supergirl's origin was completely rewritten as another character after the Crisis. No longer would she be Superman's cousin, or even a Kryptonian.
Supergirl has a long blond hair resembling with the pre-crisis Supergirl. Superman learned that the strange girl - who for a time called herself “Matrix”, was actually a protoplasmic shape shifter from an alternate dimension in the series of Superman #21. Lex Luthor who was then married to Lana Lang created this Supergirl. He also artificially created the "pocket universe", which in that reality was a benevolent scientist, unlike his counterpart in the real world, had a full head of red hair. Lana Lang was killed, and Luthor used his scientific genius to recreate his wife using a protoplasm substance of his own design, based upon her genetic code. He then sent this being who called itself Matrix, attired in a costume like Superman's to Superman's world in hopes of getting him to return and help fight the Kryptonians.
When Supergirl came to Earth, she lived with Jonathan and Martha Kent in Smallville, as she recovered and learned the ways of Earth for a time. The Kent’s treated Matrix like their own daughter, and gave her the name "Mae" as short for "Matrix". Eventually, she resumed her identity as Supergirl. She became involved with Lex Luthor II who was actually Lex Luthor in a cloned body. Believing him to be like the Lex Luthor of her world who was selfless and kind, Supergirl worked with him for a number of months until she discovered a plot by Luthor to clone her. Soon after she broke all ties with him and find her own way in the world, serving for a time as a member of the Teen Titans.
Supergirl wandered aimlessly until she discovered a young woman named Linda Danvers, dying from a knife wound. Supergirl gave her own life, merging with Danvers and the two became one person. Linda Danvers was now Supergirl. Of late, Supergirl's career has taken an odd turn; taking up the mantle of an angel with wings of fire and flaming eyes creating an “Earth Born Angel” that continued the legacy of Supergirl.
Matrix Super Powers
Matrix did not have Superman's powers, but she had a number of super-abilities like shape-changing powers, psychokinetic powers that let her fly, send out blasts, and protect herself with a force field. She also had telekinesis which, she could use to increase her strength and speed to super-human levels, make herself invisible, and she also had a high degree of invulnerability.
The Earth-Born Angel of Fire Supergirl
A new Supergirl title once again incarnate in September 1996. Writer Peter David merged the protoplasmic Supergirl with a troubled young Virginia woman named Linda Danvers (not to be confused with the original Supergirl), together becoming an "Earth-Born Angel". Linda was an ordinary teenager living in the small town of Leesburg, while the superhero Supergirl, and became known as Matrix was a shape-shifting artificial being with the memories of another world's Lana Lang, endowed with superpowers both similar to and very different from Superman's. Both Linda and the alternate universe Supergirl found what they had been searching for, within the other: Supergirl felt she lacked a soul and a human identity and Linda lacked a sense of hope and purpose.
The merging of two bodies
Through a convergence of supernatural events, Linda Danvers and Supergirl were brought together in a merging of physical form and consciousness that brought a new meaning to both their lives. A new, two-in-one, Supergirl was born. Supergirl now has a past as Linda Danvers and a human family, with all that entails, and Linda Danvers is now endowed with superpowers of flight, super-strength, and the ability to transform into Supergirl whenever the world needs saving. This event has had far-reaching repercussions: Supergirl is now more powerful than ever, for the act of giving her life for another caused her to become an earth-born angel. The Girl of Steel found herself with wings of flame and an even greater role as the Angel of Fire.
The Earth-Born Angel is Lost
There were three of these Earth-Born Angels: the Angel of Fire (Supergirl); The Angel of Love (a super-being named Comet based in Linda's hometown of Leesburg, Virginia); and the Angel of Light (a super-being named Blithe).
After teaming with the other Earth-Born angels to defeat the villain Carnivore, Linda fell from grace and was separated from the angelic part of herself. She lost her Earth Angel aspect and attending angelic powers. Amazed that she had survived, but realizing that her "Supergirl" half had been separated from Linda Danvers, she found herself with reduced superpowers and thus began a quest to find the "missing" spirit of Supergirl, the Earth Angel. Linda retained some of Supergirl's super-strength and invulnerabilty, and while she could no longer fly, she just could leap 1/8th of a mile. This ended her "Angel of Fire" phase. The Earth Angel-Supergirl was captured and imprisoned in the Garden of Eden by Lilith, the "mother of demons". This left Linda-Supergirl with the problem of convincing everyone who had seen Supergirl "die" that she was, indeed, Supergirl. She acquired a new costume which she keeps to this day, but she now looks physically like Linda Danvers but shorter, smaller features and blond wig.
Linda acted as Supergirl for a while, attempting to locate her angelic aspect with the help of a demon trapped in human form named Buzz. Her Earth Angel aspect merged with the super-being Twilight, who became the new Earth-born Angel of Fire. Twilight used her healing powers to increase Linda's strength back to her 'Supergirl' levels, and restore her powers of flight and telekinesis.
In Supergirl #75 (December 2002), the original Supergirl arrived in Linda's town. She had apparently been detoured into the post-Crisis universe on her way to the pre-Crisis Earth. Learning Kara was destined to die, Linda traveled to the pre-Crisis universe in her place, where she married Superman and had a daughter, Ariella. However, in the end Linda had to allow history to unfold as it should have, with Kara assuming her rightful place, including dying during the Crisis in order to ensure one universe would survive.
Angel of Fire’s characteristics
Linda Danvers was born in Leesburg, Virginia. She is a natural brunette with brown eyes, but after she merged with Supergirl her eye color changed to blue. In her Supergirl form she is blond and blue-eyed and also physically taller and more muscular. Since Linda has exhibited super-strength, super-speed, and flying it appears she retains her superpowers in both forms, the only differences being in appearance and voice. In between superheroics, Linda has turned her love of sculpting into a lucrative career, and when a mysterious new Supergirl appeared she took up a position as art teacher at her old high school.
Superpowers
Supergirl's powers have evolved over time, some disappearing when Matrix merged with Linda, and some appearing while she was the Earth-born Angel of Fire. Linda still proves that she was still a superhero even with less grand superpowers due to their fight with villain Carnivore, she kicked unnerving butt while searching for the Earth Angel half of Supergirl in issues #51-74. At the end of this story Linda sacrificed her life to defeat Lilith, mother of all demons, but her Earth Angel aspect merged with Twilight, who had the power to bring the dead back to life. The new Earth-born Angel Twilight was able to restore her natural Supergirl powers while reviving Linda. Linda/Supergirl has all her old Supergirl powers back: flight, psi-blasts, invulnerability, super-strength and super-speed.
Psi-blasts. It is also known as telekinetic blasts. She is able to project brief telekinetic bursts of energy to impact her chosen target. Not used very often, usually just when she's in a tight bind and needs to blast away her opponent.
Shapeshifting - as Matrix, she had been able to shift into almost any form, but she lost most of her shape-shifting ability when she merged with Linda Danvers in Supergirl #1 (1996). She was able to morph between her physically distinct Linda Danvers and Supergirl Matrix forms. This solved the problem of preventing people from recognizing her; she literally did not look like Supergirl in her human identity, although this power did not extend to clothing so she still had to hide her costume under her street clothes. Now that Linda is not joined with Matrix, she no longer has any shape-shifting ability.
Invulnerability - Supergirl's invulnerability is due to her telekinetic shielding, but under certain circumstances, if she is distracted, she can be hurt. However, she does not have a Kryptonian's vulnerability to kryptonite, as she is not from Superman's home world.
Angelic Powers
Flame Vision. Similar to Superman's heat vision but much more powerful. The introduction of flame vision came in Supergirl #15 as the first manifestation of her mysterious new powers as an "earth-born angel", but was foreshadowed as early as issue #9. She no longer has this power.
Wings of Fire. These first appeared in Supergirl #17 as one of her special powers as an earth-born angel of fire. Capable of inflicting great damage upon the most stubborn of opponents, they also enable her to "shunt" or teleport to distant locations instantly.
Shunt Power. The ability to "shunt" or teleport to locations she had already seen or visited.
Modern Supergirl Costume
Supergirl wears the same spandex uniform day in and day out, something a little more fitting. Supergirl has a history of changing her uniform especially in the 70’s. When the Earth-Born aspects of Supergirl merged with Twilight in issue #74, the classic blue-and-red uniform disappeared with her. Linda has not chosen to take back this uniform by the author’s decision as seen below.
Cir-El (2003-2004)
Cir-El is the next Supergirl to arrive in the comics. She was a young woman from the future, a new hero who debuted in Metropolis. She first appeared in Superman: The 10 Cent Adventure created by Steven Seagle and Scott McDaniel. Cir-El believed herself to be the daughter of Superman and Lois Lane, brought to this time period from the future by the Futuresmiths. She who lived a dual life as a street person named Mia and was later found to be a human girl, altered on a genetic level to seem Kryptonian or partly Kryptonian. She died in an effort to prevent the ascent of Brainiac 13; Cir-El gave her life, ending her brief career. Superman Vol. 2 #200 heavily implied that when the timeline realigned itself, Cir-El or Mia was no longer in continuity.
Cir-El’s Costume
Cir-El’s costume was the biggest variant from the traditional pattern, being a black leotard with a stylized “S”, long gloves and a grey/blue cape.
Cir-El Super Powers:
A hybrid of human/Kryptonian origin, Cir-El absorbs yellow sunlight to gain superhuman strength and speed, super-hearing, and invulnerability. Cir-El can leap vast distances but could not fly. But her trademark power is the ability to release her stored solar energy from her hands as Red Sunbursts, blasts of red solar radiation (the very wavelength of sunlight that Superman loses his powers under) that strike an enemy with intense heat and force. Like Superman, she is vulnerable to Kryptonite.
Post-Crisis Supergirl from Krypton (2004-present)
In 2004, Kara Zor-El was reintroduced into DC continuity in the Superman/Batman series. Twenty years after the original Supergirl died in Crisis on Infinite Earths, and less than a year after Linda Danvers retired from being Supergirl, Kara from Krypton reappeared in the March 2004 Superman/Batman #8, discovered by Batman after she escaped from her downed escape shuttle which had crashed to Earth in a meteor from Krypton.
"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.
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 heros, as she indicates when her cousin introduces her to the Justice League, the Teen Titans, and other groups of super-powered beings.
Other Media of Supergirl
Film
Helen Slater (1984)
Supergirl hit the big screen in 1984 by Producer Ilya Salkind and director Jeannot Szwarc and was almost universally panned by critics and fans alike. While Slater provided a decent performance, she was unable to overcome the many flaws of this project. The first major problem was a silly script involving magic, sorcery, the Phantom Zone and two of the most powerful women in the world fighting over the love of a gardener. Adding to this were problems with poor editing, painful overacting from Dunnaway, a limited release and a Japanese video version of the movie hitting the shelves within weeks of the premiere.
Animation
Kara In-Ze (1998-present)
In the episode of Superman: The Animated Series titled another version of Supergirl was introduced. The sole survivor of Krypton. Kara arrived on Earth and was discovered by Superman. Under the care of Superman, Kara adopted a costume, a diaphragm revealing white shirt with “S-shield,” red mini skirt, boots and gloves, a costume that was also adopted by the Linda Danvers Supergirl in the comics. She became the Mightiest Girl on Earth. The character, in addition appears in several episodes of the Superman animated series, has also been a semi-regular character on the Justice League Unlimited cartoon.
Live-action Television
Smallville
A girl named Kara appeared in an episode of the Smallville TV series: Covenant, claiming to be from Krypton. This Kara did not claim to be Kal-El's cousin, though, and she seemed to be interested in him in a sexual way. She was not, however, an actual Kryptonian, but an innocent girl kidnapped, brainwashed, and given superpowers by Jor-El. She was recruited by Jor-El to bring the teenage Clark Kent face to face with his Kryptonian heritage and to persuade him to follow his destiny, which is as yet not disclosed. She took Kal-El to an ancient Indian cave which contained Kryptonian technology and was in the end dragged into one of the cracks of the cave. It is not known whether she survived this or whether she will ever return in the series.
Music
"Supergirl" is also a 1966 hit by British singer Graham Bonney (born 1943).
The song "That's Really Super, Supergirl" appears on the alt rock/psychedelic band XTC's album Skylarking (1986, Geffen Records).
Pop singer Krystal Harris sings a song "Supergirl" that appears on the soundtrack of the Disney movie The Princess Diaries.
Pop singer Jessica Simpson's song "With You" includes the lyrics, "I wish I could save the world, like I was Supergirl!"
The song "Supergirl" is written by Robbie Gennet.
Hilary Duff has also recorded a song called "Supergirl."
Reamonn has also recorded a song called "Supergirl."
Papaya has recorded a song called "Supergirl."