Supergirl

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Post-Crisis history

After the reboot of Superman in the late 1980s, Supergirl's origin was completely rewritten. No longer would she be Superman's cousin, or even Kryptonian.

Related Topics:
Reboot - 1980s

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No longer anyone's cousin

Debuting in Superman v2 #16 (April 1988), Supergirl was now an artificial life form made from a protoplasm matrix created by a parallel Earth's Lex Luthor, and sent to recruit Superman to return to her world and save it from destruction at the hands of three escaped criminals from the planet Krypton. When the mission failed and the world was destroyed, Superman returned home with the injured artificial creature.

Related Topics:
1988 - Protoplasm - Parallel - Lex Luthor

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For a while the life form developed amnesia and thought it was Superman, coincidentally helping to preserve Superman's secret identity during a lengthy absence from Earth. Later, it again took on a female form, and the identity of Supergirl, under the name "Mae" (short for "Matrix"). In this guise, she began a romance with the mainstream DC universe's Lex Luthor. When Mae realized Luthor's evil nature, she left him to find her own way in the world, serving for a time as a member of the Teen Titans.

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Earth angel

A new Supergirl title appeared in September 1996. Writer Peter David merged the protoplasmic Supergirl with a troubled young Virginia woman named Linda Danvers, together becoming an "Earth-Born Angel". 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; and the Angel of Light, a super-being named Blithe. All three earth-angels were created under very specific circumstances in which one being selflessly sacrificed him or herself to save the life of another who was, in every way, beyond hope. This selfless sacrifice resulted in the two beings merging and becoming earth-born angels.

Related Topics:
1996 - Peter David - Angel

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As an earth-born angel, Supergirl faced the Carnivore, the first vampire, a supremely evil being who was determined to create hell on earth by taking control of all three of the earth-borns. Following the death of Linda's romantic interest, Dick Malverne, Supergirl succumbed to the Carnivore, resulting in the balance of good and evil shifting in evil's favor. With the help of the other two earth-borns, she defeated the Carnivore, but the only way to do so was by taking his life. Linda fell from grace and was separated from the angelic part of herself.

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Linda acted as Supergirl for a while, attempting to locate her angelic aspect with the help of a former demon, Buzz. The angel was being held by the Demon Mother, Lilith, mother of the Carnivore, who wanted to use Supergirl to free her son from perdition. By forcing Supergirl to follow the chaos stream, a tributary of the river Styx, to find her earth-born aspect, she caused Supergirl to absorb enough chaos energy to warp reality and open the gates to perdition. Buzz and Linda managed to stop the Demon Mother, and Linda's powers were returned to their former level, minus the earth-born angel powers. Her earth-born angel aspect merged with the super-being Twilight, who became the new earth-born angel of fire.

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The themes and plotlines of David's Supergirl were often sophisticated and aimed at a slightly more mature audience than most mainstream comics. Due to the earth-born angel storyline, religion was often a topic of the stories, and Supergirl even met and conversed with a young boy who she believed was God. Supergirl's earth-born aspect was being held in the Garden of Eden, revealed by this series to exist somewhere in South America, hidden from mortals. The Demon Mother was also said to be Lilith, who is believed by some to be the first wife of the biblical Adam, the first man.

Related Topics:
God - Garden of Eden - Lilith

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The return of the original Supergirl

In Supergirl #75 (December 2002), David introduced the original Supergirl—who had apparently been detoured into the post-Crisis universe on her way to the pre-Crisis Earth—into the current Supergirl's life. Knowing 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, she had to allow history to take its place in order to ensure one universe would survive the Crisis.

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Upon returning to the contemporary DC universe, Linda abandoned the role of Supergirl. Her current whereabouts are unknown, although fans have speculated she may be the unsympathetic lead character of David's new creator-owned series for DC, Fallen Angel.

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Cir-El

Following this, another Supergirl appeared, claiming to be the daughter of Superman and Lois Lane from the future. Her name was, apparently, Cir-El, though her alter ego, which seemed to be more of a personality change than a simple change of costume, was that of a street person named Mia. She was later found to be a clone, created by a group of villains from the future; she died to prevent them from (re)creating Brainiac 13.

Related Topics:
Lois Lane - Clone - Brainiac

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The Post-Crisis Kara Zor-El

In 2004, Kara Zor-El was reintroduced into DC continuity in the Superman/Batman series. Like the pre-Crisis version, this Kara claims to be the daughter of Superman's uncle Zor-El and his wife Alura. In a twist from the traditional Supergirl origin, Kara is actually older than Kal-El (Superman) and was a teenager when he was a baby. When Krypton exploded, she was sent in a rocket (in suspended animation) to look after Superman. However, her rocket got caught in a piece of Krypton and she has just now arrived on Earth. Writer Jeph Loeb explains, "She came to Earth essentially to look after this baby who was sent at the same time. But her rocket got wedged into a huge chunk of the planet and it has taken years to get here. When she arrives, the baby isn't a baby, he's Superman -- the greatest hero the universe has ever known. And as a teenager who has lost everything in her past, this is quite the monkey wrench. It may be part of the reason why, at least at first, she'll be hesitant to spend too much time with Superman. She was supposed to take care of him, not the other way around."

Related Topics:
2004 - Jeph Loeb

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Following the end of "The Supergirl from Krypton" arc, Kara officially introduces herself to many of the heroes of the DCU, and adopts a Supergirl costume and name. Jeph Loeb commenced a new Supergirl series in August 2005. In the first issue of the new series, the new Kara acknowledged that she is not even the first Supergirl, and that the other Supergirls prior to her are gone now, which troubles her. This was the first acknowledgement so far on Kara's behalf of the Matrix/Linda incarnation of Supergirl, obviously now being confirmed as the first and original Supergirl in post-Crisis continuity, and perhaps an acknowledgement of Cir-El as well.

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Supergirl #1 revealed that, for reasons as yet fully explained, physical contact and close proximity to Supergirl causes Power Girl to lose control of her abilities. It is suggested that the effect is similar to what might occur if two copies of the same object try to occupy the same point in space. The implications of this for both Supergirl and Power Girl have yet to be fully explored. Power Girl, meanwhile, is having trouble accepting the fact that she is no longer Superman's only cousin on Earth ... if she even is his cousin. The answer to who Power Girl truly is will finally and definitively be answered in the JSA Classified series.

Related Topics:
Power Girl - JSA Classified

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