Supergirl

Art by Jim Mooney Color by Nightwing

Introduction

A lovely blond super-heroine who functions periodically, from May 1959 onward, as Superman’s companion in super-heroic adventure. She is in reality Kara Zor-El, Superman’s first cousin, the daughter of the Kryptonian scientist Zor-El and his wife Alura. Born and raised on Argo City, a city of the planet Krypton which survived the death of its native planet when it was hurled into outer space, people and buildings alive and intact, by the force of the cataclysm that destroyed Krypton, she was, at the age of fifteen, launched toward Earth in a small rocket ship by her father Zor-El when the city faced extinction due to Kryptonite poisoning.

Origin

Most of what is known concerning Supergirl’s origin is contained in the Supergirl story in Action Comics No. 252. In May 1959, a small rocket ship crash-lands on the outskirts of Metropolis and a teen-aged girl, clad in a costume clearly modeled after Superman’s, emerges smiling and unhurt from the wreckage. As Superman listens in amazement to her story, the girl explains that she too is Kryptonian, although she was born on floating Argo City long after the planet Krypton exploded. When, years later, after his young daughter had become a teen-ager, the scientist Zor-El realized that Argo City’s entire population would, within about one month’s time, succumb to deadly kryptonite poisoning, he began desperately racing against time to construct a rocket ship to carry his daughter to another world. It was while scanning the universe through a “super-space telescope” in search of a suitable world to which young Kara could be sent that Kara and her mother discovered Earth, became aware of Superman and his exploits, and realized that Earth’s greatest hero was a Kryptonian like them. Kara’s mother decided to send her teen-aged daughter to Earth, clad in a costume that would make her easily recognizable to Superman as a fellow native of Krypton. And so, soon afterward, Zor-El placed his young daughter inside his small rocket ship and launched her toward Earth, while behind her, on Argo City, virtually the entire population lay dead or dying of kryptonite poisoning.

The Secret Identity

She assumed the secret alternate identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at the Midvale Orphanage, concealing her blond hair beneath a brunette wig and functioning as Supergirl only in secret, at Superman’s insistence, until such time as she could learn to use her super-powers properly.

Supergirl’s alternate identity is a closely held secret, but it is known to Superman, to her foster parents the Danverses (Act No. 285, Feb 1962: “The World’s Greatest Heroine!”; and others), and to the Legion of Super-Heroes, of which she served as a member until resigning her membership at the age of twenty-one (S No. 152/1, Apr 1962: “The Robot Master!”; and others).

The Costumes

Supergirl’s red, yellow, and blue costume, which was originally fashioned by her mother Alura prior to her flight from doomed Argo City, is a female counterpart of Superman’s own.

The Superpowers

On Earth, where, like any Kryptonian survivor, she acquired super-powers identical to Superman’s.

The Vulnerabilities

Like all Kryptonian survivors, Supergirl is vulnerable to kryptonite.

The Woman herself as Linda Lee Danvers

After exchanging her colorful Supergirl costume for ordinary Earth girls’ clothing and concealing her blond hair beneath a brown, pigtailed wig, Kara registers at the Midvale Orphanage in the Metropolis suburb of Midvale, employing the alias Linda Lee. Someday, promises Superman faithfully, the world will learn of her existence, but “for a long time to come,” he adds, “you’ll live here quietly as an “ordinary” girl until you get used to earthly things!” (Act No. 252: “The Supergirl from Krypton!”).

Adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, she attended Midvale High School as Linda Lee Danvers, graduated in 1964, and then went on to attend Stanhope College on a scholarship, graduating in 1971. Presented to the world by Superman in 1962, she has since that time, performed super-heroic feats openly as Supergirl, while retaining the secrecy of her dual identity.

The Woman herself as Supergirl

In the texts, Supergirl is alternatively referred to as the Girl of Steel. Action Comics No. 285 describes Superman and Supergirl as “the two mightiest crusaders in the entire universe” (Feb 1962: “The World’s Greatest Heroine!”). Superman, who has dedicated a room to Supergirl in his Fortress of Solitude (S No. 1 Jan 1961: “Flame-Dragon from Krypton”), 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 [sic] quick to tears, as any ordinary girt! I guess that’s why everyone who meets her loves her! [ No. 285, Feb 1962: “The World’s Greatest Heroine!”].

Supergirl is fully aware that her cousin Superman is secretly Clark Kent. According to the Supergirl story in Action Comics No. 270, she has also been entrusted with the secret identities of Batman and Robin (Nov 1960: “Supergirl’s Busiest Day!”).

It is only as the newly arrived orphan from space concludes her narrative that Superman realizes that she is his cousin, the daughter of Zor-El, his father’s brother (see Jor-El). Overjoyed at having encountered a kinswoman from his native planet, Superman advises her that she can use her super-powers to aid humanity, as he does, but that first she must undergo a prolonged period of training so that she may learn to use her powers wisely.

The Pets of the Chronicles

Comet The Super-Horse is Supergirl’s pet and equine companion. Streaky, the orange cat that acquires temporary super-powers as the result of its exposure to “X-kryptonite,” is Linda Lee Danvers’s pet cat. She also has a non-super cat by the name of Streaky II (DNAS No. 6, Apr 1983: "Battleground O'Hare"!). In her 30th-Century adventures, she also has a pet super-cat named Whizzy who is the telepathic 30th-Century descendant of Streaky, the Super-Cat.

The Men of the Chronicles

Among her boyfriends have been Brainiac 5, Jerro, the Merboy from Atlantis, Biron (in human form), and boy-next-door Richard "Dick" Malverne (see Dick Malverne). After her death, it was revealed that she had a secret husband named Salkor (S No. 415, Jan. 1986: "Supergirl: Bride of -- X?").

The Early Adventures

In January 1960, Supergirl assumes the alternate identity of Mighty Maid in order to help Superman thwart the schemes of a band of extraterrestrial aliens bent on destroying the Earth (Act No. 260: “Mighty Maid!”). During this same period, Supergirl helps Superman convince the Kandorian scientist Kull-Ex that his bitter grudge against Superman’s father is completely unfounded (S No. 134, Jan 1960: chs. I-III—”The Super-Menace of Metropolis!”; “The Revenge Against Jor-El!”; “The Duel of the Supermen!”).

In August 1960, after exposure to Red Kryptonite has brought about the sudden, accelerated growth of Superman’s hair, beard, and fingernails, Supergirl and Krypto The Superdog lend the Man of Steel a helping hand by using the combined power of their X- ray vision to disintegrate the virtually indestructible hair and fingernails, thus restoring Superman to his normal appearance (S No. 139/3: “The Untold Story of Red Kryptonite!”).

In October 1960, Supergirl becomes embroiled in the bizarre adventure surrounding the infant son of Bizarro and Bizarro-Lois (S No. 140: pts. I-III “The Son of Bizarro!”; “The ‘Orphan’ Bizarro!”; “The Bizarro Supergirl!”).

In January 1961, Supergirl helps Batman, Superman, and Krypto the Superdog carry out an elaborate, and ultimately successful, ruse to protect the secret of Superman’s identity (S No. 142/3: “Flame Dragon from Krypton”).

In April 1961, at the Fortress of Solitude, Supergirl, Superman, and Krypto the Superdog all experience the same “red kryptonite hallucination” simultaneously as the result of their simultaneous exposure to red-kryptonite dust. In the hallucinatory fantasy, which is also referred to as a dream, the Earth is destroyed by a titanic explosion caused by Superman’s careless tinkering with an extraterrestrial device; Supergirl, Superman, and Krypto, the sole survivors of the cataclysm, are taken into custody by the Cosmic Police, who charge Superman with “criminal negligence” in the destruction of Earth; stripped of their super-powers by an interplanetary tribunal, the now-powerless heroes are banished to a desolate “primordial planet,” inhabited by ferocious prehistoric beasts, where they are forced to live as cave dwellers, in continual terror, until finally Supergirl and Krypto are annihilated by a terrifying “lightning-monster” and the shock of this grisly event brings the nightmarish dream to an end and snaps the three hallucinators back to reality (S No. 144/3: “The Orphans of Space!”).

In May 1961, Supergirl joins forces with the Supermen Emergency Squad to carry out an elaborate, and ultimately successful, ruse designed to persuade John Kiley and his cohorts that Kiley was only experiencing a drug-induced hallucination when he saw Clark Kent change into Superman (Act No. 276: “The War Between Supergirl and the Supermen Emergency Squad!”).

In July 1961, Supergirl uses a chunk of white kryptonite to destroy the diabolical extraterrestrial “plant intelligence” that has seized control of the body of Perry White (Act No. 278: “The Super Powers of Perry White!”).

The Later Adventures

Coming Soon!

External Links

• superman.ws presents: The WORLD of SUPERGIRL!
• Supergirl: La prima de Superman
• Kara's entry at the LSH Clubhouse
• Supergirl Index by Mike

External Links to Online Comics

• "Meet the Supergirl From Krypton" from Action Comics No. 258
• Supergirl is revealed to the world in "The World's Greatest Heroine" Action Comics serial reprinted in 80 Page Giant Action Comics No. 360