Supergirl - A Pre-Crisis History

Hi, due to time constraints again this week I haven't been able to spend a lot of time here, so here is another article I have written years ago for your (hopeful) reading enjoyment.

Superman: “Great guns! A girl, flying! It –Uh—must be an illusion!”

Supergirl: “Look again, Superman! It’s me – Supergirl! And I have all your powers!”

Action Comics No. 252 Cover dated May 1959.

With the words above, comic lovers were introduced to the graceful, petite blond girl that was Kara Zor-El, better known to the world at large as Superman’s younger cousin, Supergirl. She is arguably the most popular DC character to make her/his debut in the Silver Age without having a Golden Age predecessor.

Hailing from Argo City, a settlement that had somehow miraculously escaped the destruction of Krypton (with an air bubble no less), she was the daughter of Zor-El (who was the younger brother of Jor-El) and Alura. As the chunk containing Argo City moved away from the holocaust that was left in its wake, the ground below began to turn to kryptonite. Zor-El had the ground covered in lead sheeting and the inhabitants were able to live in reasonable happiness for what seems to be the equivalent of twenty-five Earth years. One fateful day, Argo City encountered a meteor storm that broke through the lead sheeting protecting the citizens of Argo City from the deadly radiation. Knowing they were doomed (I guess there wasn’t enough lead left from the original batch to repair the damage), Zor-El decided that he would send his daughter away in a rocket-ship (unknowingly replicating the scenario that confronted his brother many years before.) As he had been monitoring the radio and television transmissions from a planet from a yellow star system, he discovered that a Kryptonian survivor lived there, known as Superman, and that Kara would gain super-powers in Earth’s environment. Kara’s mother quickly made a facsimile of Superman’s costume for her, and thus she was sent to Earth to be saved.

Supergirl was created by science fiction and comic writer Otto Binder, (who had created the Legion of Super-Heroes the year before), and her first appearance was drawn by Al Plastino (replaced by Jim Mooney on Action Comics with the very next issue.) In the first story in Action Comics 252 (which also was the first appearance of the super-villain Metallo) we not only get the above origin story, but we also get the realization that Superman and Supergirl are first cousins. Superman then convinces her that she needs to remain a secret “in case Superman can’t act” until she can master her powers and brings her to an orphanage in the village of Midvale (thus explaining this fifteen year old girl with no identity papers) in order for her to have a place to stay. After all, what would the neighbours think if Clark Kent suddenly had a fifteen year old girl living with him in Metropolis? She decides (in the great Superman tradition of double L names) to call her herself Linda Lee. Thus, we end the story with Superman flying off and Kara left at the orphanage pondering what the future has in store for her.

She was a hit. From the time of her debut she quickly became the regular back-up feature to the lead Superman stories in Action Comics. Her adventures for the first three years were of the variety of working in secret on Earth (or having someone discover her, then she has to prove she doesn’t exist), or time travel/outer space travel sorts. She got to know Krypto and acquired a super-pet of her own, a cat named Streaky, who only had powers sporadically (he would get them from playing with a ball of yarn Supergirl had chemically infused with an attempted kryptonite cure but would lose the powers shortly thereafter; this began in his first appearance -  Action 260). Kara would attempt to join the Legion (only to be rejected at first), and would eventually join with Brainiac 5 at the conclusion of their initiation tests. The merfolk of Atlantis knew about her, as they are telepathic. She acquired boyfriends, such as the aforementioned Brainiac 5 and Jerro the Mer-boy from Atlantis, as well as Dick Wilson, a boy from the Midvale Orphanage that also acted as her “Lois Lane” equivalent.

A common theme in stories written before the day she became known to the world at large was that Supergirl could not allow herself to be adopted, so hat her powers would not be discovered by anyone. This of course led to a couple of stories in the “Secret Weapon” era where she would be briefly adopted and then returned to the orphanage within the 30 day test period. However, she was adopted for good during a period where she lost her powers temporarily by a couple named Fred and Edna Danvers. It was also around this time that Superman decided to reveal her existence to the world. This was done in Action 285, when Supergirl received similar honours as Superman (such as the right to enter UN countries without a passport, to make arrests, judge bake-offs, etc.) Of course, this coupled with the fact that Kara was fast approaching the age of high school graduation would lead to different types of stories.

Supergirl remained in Action as the backup feature until issue 376, when in a move that is still debated to this day in its confusion; she was switched with the Legion of Super-Heroes as the lead in Adventure Comics, with the Legion taking over Kara’s former spot in Action. Beginning with issue 381 (cover date June 1969), Supergirl was now in Stanhope College and had grown into full womanhood. The beginning of the Adventure Comics era had Supergirl mostly in love and romance type of stories, such as “The Beast who Loved Supergirl” or “Supergirl’s Jilted Boy Friends!”, but eventually settled down into the usual Super-family type of stories. This era of her life was known for her continuous changes in hairstyle and costume, as the creators were trying to find the right style for a beautiful young woman of the 1970s. (Please note, this was probably the worst ever decade for fashion; some of these costumes were way out there!) After a lot of experimentation, she finally settled into the costume she would wear for the rest of the decade.

It was during this era that Supergirl finally got her own series. Supergirl #1 (Nov 1972) had Linda enrolling into a school for dramatic arts. She wanted to be Linda more, and have a life outside of super-powers and super-villains. This series had a bit of a mystical bent to it, especially with Zatanna as the back-up of the series. The book was issued bi-monthly and had decent sales, but was cancelled after ten issues and, combined with the titles Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen and Superman’s Girlfriend Lois Lane, was spun into a title called Superman Family with issue 164 (the numbering continued from Jimmy Olsen, as his was the longest running series at the time of the compression.)

The Superman Family stories finally showed Linda as her own person. Using the training she received from the dramatic school she attended, she had jobs as a television reporter (really, this had never been done before in the world of super-heroes!), as a student counselor, and eventually gaining a role on a television on the soap opera “Secret Heart”. Despite the fact she was only getting one new story every three issues, (the format for Superman Family at the time had the three leads rotating, with the others having reprinted stories in the rest of the book); her story did continue to grow. During this time, she also established a close relationship with Batgirl. Superman Family continued until issue 222, when it was cancelled. The last Supergirl story “Stop My Life – I Want to Get Out!” shows a woman who is fed-up with all the demands in her life and she makes some life changes, quitting the soap opera and deciding to go back to school, leading up to her next series.

Supergirl (Volume 2; originally known as the Daring New Adventures of Supergirl issues 1-12) followed with its first issue following the cancellation of Superman Family (Lois Lane became the back-up feature.)  In this series, written so that each issue was a serial with “to be continued…,” Linda was living in Chicago going to school again. Artistically pleasing penciling by Carmine Infantino (inks by Bob Oskner) could not rescue a book that had very mediocre writing. The new villains introduced in this series were for the most part, not memorable, as was the attempt at characterization with the supporting cast in the book. (There was one interesting story involving the Ambush Bug in Supergirl 16, where he thought Superman was turned into a girl by red kryptonite.) Supergirl did get a new costume (the headband one) in issue 13. This series was cancelled with issue 23, in preparation for the biggest event of her life.

Crisis on Infinite Earths was DC’s first big company-wide crossover. Happening in the company’s 50 year in business, this event was being used by DC to try to clean up the continuity problems that having the multiverse had caused over time. Duplicate versions of heroes existed, and there even was a duplicate of Supergirl called Power Girl in the DC Universe. The word had come down from the top that in the new universe, Superman was to be the only survivor of Krypton. All the other parts, from Krypto to the Phantom Zone, were to be erased.

Unfortunately, that included Kara. She makes her first appearance in the series talking with Batgirl in issue 3. Always in the front of the action wherever she was, but the time issue 7 came around, she was with both Superman of Earth-2 and Earth-1 (and other heroes) attacking the Anti-Monitor’s fortress. The Anti-Monitor had begun to hurt Superman, and this spurred Supergirl into action. Using all the death that had happened as an inspiration, and her love of her cousin as motivation, she continuously fought and defeated every attack from him until the Anti-Monitor finally retreated, his body destroyed. At this point Superman gets to Kara, only to have her die in his arms. A funeral is held in Chicago with Batgirl giving the eulogy. He book ends with Superman carrying Kara’s body into outer space.

This is a photo of me with George Perez, who drew our heroine's demise. Note my shirt.

Supergirl was continuously in print in one book or another from 1959 until 1985 (I think there was only one month between books between the Adventure series and her own book). She was so popular that within a year of the reboot that started in 1987, a new version known as Matrix (a shapeshifter that tended to use the familiar look of the original Supergirl) joined the Superman books in Metropolis. The original Kara returned in Superman/Batman issue 8 (2004). It showed that no matter what, there was always room for family in Superman’s world. (Since I wrote this article in 2011, the Supergirl television series has been on the air for three seasons now.)

“We live on remembering and honoring the past, but always looking to the future. Good-bye, Kara…Linda Lee…Supergirl. I will miss you forever.” – Superman, Crisis on Infinite Earths #7.

Ottawa News and Notes - Myths, Legends and Heroes on Bank Street had a thief grab stuff from the store. They caught him on video footage but as of this writing he hasn't been identified. You can check it out here: https://www.facebook.com/mythslegendsandheroes/ . If you can help, drop them a note for follow their request there. 

Billy Boyd has cancelled his appearance for Comiccon, but he has been replaced by Karl Urban. There is also a slew of new comic creators mentioned, both from out of town and local. I plan on buying some original art this year. Keep on buyin'!