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Real name Supergirl, Flamebird,, Linda Lee Danvers,, Claire Connors,, Kara Danvers
Supergirl is a fictional superheroine appearing in comic books published by DC Comics and related media. The character was created by writer Otto Binder and designed by artist Al Plastino. Going by the real name Kara Zor-El, Supergirl is the biological cousin and female counterpart to DC Comic's iconic superhero Superman, created by writer Jerome Siegel and designed by artist Joseph Shuster.
The Supergirl character first appeared in a story published in Action Comics #252 (May 1959) titled "The Supergirl from Krypton". Since the character's comic book debut, Kara Zor-El's Supergirl has been adapted into various media relating to the Superman franchise, including merchandise, television, and feature film. However, during the 1980s and the revolution of the Modern Age of Comics, Superman editors believed the character’s history had become too convoluted, and desired to re-establish Superman as "The Last Son of Krypton". Supergirl was thus killed during the 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths and retconned out of existence. In the decades following Crisis, several characters unrelated to Superman used the alias "Supergirl".
Kara Zor-El re-entered mainstream continuity in 2004 when DC Comics Senior Vice President and Executive Editor Dan DiDio, along with editor Eddie Berganza and comic book writer Jeph Loeb, reintroduced the character in the Superman/Batman storyline "The Supergirl from Krypton". The title paid homage to the original character’s 1959 debut. As the current Supergirl, Kara Zor-El stars in her own monthly comic book series. With DC's 2011 relaunch, Kara, like most of the DC Universe, was revamped. Until early 2015, when the title was cancelled, she featured in her own series Supergirl, as well as related comics like Superman.
Biography
Silver AgeIn 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 her quintessential 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. During this era, her most remembered outfit included a "V" necked blouse with a "S" in her heart, and red hot-pants. 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,
“
We don't do it for the glory. We don't do it for the recognition ... We do it because it needs to be done. Because if we don't, no one else will. And we do it even if no one knows what we've done. Even if no one knows we exist. Even if no one remembers we ever existed.
”
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.
Played by the actors
Filmography of Supergirl (3 films)
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Superman: Unbound (2013)
, 1h15Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Fantasy, Action, Adventure, Animation
Themes Films about children, Films set in the future, Superman films, Films about extraterrestrial life, Superhero films, Super-héros inspiré de comics, Films about extraterrestrial life, Alien invasions in films, Disaster films
Actors Matt Bomer, Stana Katic, Molly C. Quinn, John Noble, Alexander Gould, Emmanuel Jacomy
Rating65%
Offering herself as a hostage, Lois Lane is caught in an aerial confrontation between her terrorist captors and the unpredictable Supergirl before Superman arrives to save the day. Soon after, knowing Superman's civilian identity, Lois attempts to get Clark Kent to make their relationship public despite his fear of the consequences, but their argument is halted by a Daily Planet staff meeting before Kent leaves after being alerted to an approaching meteor. Intercepting it, Superman learns the meteor is actually a robot that he promptly defeats before activating its beacon and taking it to the Fortress of Solitude. With help from a fearful Supergirl, Superman learns the robot is actually a drone controlled by a being named Brainiac, a Coluan scientist who subjected himself to extensive motor, skeletal and cybernetic enhancements, turning him from a human like, thin, and hairless being to a muscular, red eyed giant with computer like components and enhanced physical abilities compatible to Superman's. Supergirl, horrified at seeing Brainiac, reveals from her experience with the monster. Brainiac seized and miniaturized Krypton's capital city of Kandor prior to the planet's destruction with her father and mother attempting to track him down before they mysteriously lost contact with Krypton. She is now worried that Brainiac will do to the world what he did to Kandor.
Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (2010)
, 1h18Directed by Lauren Montgomery
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Action, Adventure, Animation
Themes Films about children, Batman films, Superman films, Films about extraterrestrial life, Superhero films, Super-héros inspiré de comics, Films about extraterrestrial life
Actors Kevin Conroy, Timothy Daly, Summer Glau, Andre Braugher, Edward Asnere, Susan Eisenberg
Rating71%
Weeks after the events that led to Lex Luthor's arrest, the impeachment of his presidency, and Batman's success in saving the world from the impact of an arriving meteor, a spaceship lands in Gotham City Harbor. While Batman investigates the sunken craft, a young girl with no knowledge of English or any other human languages emerges from the water and accidentally crashes Batman's boat. Three longshoremen find her where she attacks two of them in self-defense while the third one just gives up his coat to her in order for her to cover up. She accidentally causes all sorts of havoc with her Kryptonian-like powers until the Dark Knight exposes her to a piece of Kryptonite while Superman gives the blimp that she unknowingly used her heat vision on a water landing.
Supergirl (1984)
, 2h4Directed by Jeannot Szwarc
Origin USA
Genres Science fiction, Fantasy, Action, Adventure
Themes Films about children, Superman films, Films about extraterrestrial life, Superhero films, Super-héros inspiré de comics, Films about extraterrestrial life
Actors Faye Dunaway, Helen Slater, Peter O'Toole, Hart Bochner, Mia Farrow, Brenda Vaccaro
Rating44%
Kara Zor-El (Helen Slater) lives in an isolated Kryptonian community called Argo City, in a pocket of trans-dimensional space. A man named Zaltar (Peter O'Toole) allows Kara to see a unique an immensely powerful item known as the Omegahedron, which he has borrowed without the knowledge of the city government, and which powers the city. However, after a mishap, the Omegahedron is blown out into space. Much to the distress of her parents (Simon Ward and Mia Farrow), Kara follows it to Earth (undergoing a transformation into "Supergirl" in the process) in an effort to recover it and save the city.