This article details Supergirl's biography from her first appearance in The Supergirl from Krypton (Pre-Crisis) (1959) to her death during the Crisis on Infinite Earths and posterior special appearances.
Early Life[]
Kara Zor-El was the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton which had survived the explosion of the planet and had drifted through space. When the soil of the colony was turned into Kryptonite, lead sheeting was placed on the ground. Some while after the demise of Krypton, her parents Zor-El and Allura In-Ze got married and conceived her. She led a relatively happy childhood[1] until she was fifteen when a meteor shower pierced the sheeting and the Kryptonians began to die of radiation poisoning.
Arrival On Earth[]
Kara was sent to Earth by her parents Zor-El and Allura to be raised by her cousin Kal-El, known as Superman. So Superman would know Kara was his cousin, her parents provided a costume based closely on the Man of Steel's. Upon meeting Kara (who had begun to display powers similar to those of Kal-El), Superman decided she would become his secret weapon, and explained that her presence on Earth must be kept confidential while he trained Kara in the use of her new powers.[2]
Training[]
Kara adopted the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage, hiding her blonde locks beneath a brunette wig. During this period and for two full years, Linda interacted with humans mainly on a person-to-person basis performing good super-deeds on a save-the-world one at a time ratio, using clever schemes while trying to avoid becoming adopted before her time came. A distant precursor for her worldwide -- even galaxy-wide-- fame that was to come soon. Travel to other times or worlds came easy, since it permitted her to be openly seen then. As Superman's confidence in Kara grew, he put her through a test which resulted in her temporary exile from Earth. Through a string of circumstances, she came to learn Superman's dual identity, but proved worthy of the name Supergirl by keeping Clark's private life a secret.[3] Shortly thereafter, Superman publicly unveiled his cousin to the world.[4]
While temporarily un-powered due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar who was out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allowed herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife Edna.[5] She revealed her secret identity to both on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduced her to an unsuspecting world.
Public Career[]
Changing her name to Linda Lee Danvers (later known as just Linda Danvers), she became a student at Midvale High School, from where she graduated in time (1965).[6] During this period she befriended Lex Luthor´s telepathic sister Lena Thorul who became a helper and confident to both her secret identities apart until she married.
In 1966, Linda went on to study an unrevealed BA in Stanhope College until she graduated there in 1971.[7] She even gained Streaky, a pet cat that also possessed superpowers,[8] a horse named "Comet" that was a magical superpowered pet once described by Superman as "the mightiest Super-Creature on Earth"[9] and joined the Legion of Super-Heroes.[10] Comet the Superhorse became her inseparable companion awhile who was secretly in love with Kara and could romance her while he became human whenever a real Comet passed near Earth, in accordance with Circe's hex. His invulnerability to Kryptonite allowed Supergirl to be saved many times. But both grew distant when she went on to college.
When dreams about her Kryptonian parents Zor-El and Allura being still alive alerted her,[11] she built a machine and brought both back safely from the Survival Zone (where they had teleported during Argo's final moments) with the help of her adopted father's engineering talent. Eventually, they settled in Kandor,[12] and when the city in the bottle was enlarged they lived on Rokyn.[13]
After a stint as a photographer for news station KSF-TV in San Francisco, and another as graduate student in drama at Vandyre College nearby, Supergirl began to try and establish her own identity and experimented with a wide variety of costume and hairstyle changes; her best-known outfit from this era was a blue v-necked sweater with a small S insignia over her heart, and red hot-pants. While remaining independent from Superman, Kara maintained close ties with her cousin, while handling a succession of short timed jobs like student adviser at New Athens Experimental School in Florida, and soap-opera star in "Secret Hearts" TV series.
Crisis on Infinite Earths[]
When a cosmic event threatened to destroy the universe (and all of its parallel realities), all of Earth's heroes answered the call. And when Superman was about to be destroyed, Kara sacrificed herself to save him. Superman later learned that Kara had been granted a premonition about her own passing.
But sadly, when the universe was rebooted, time had been altered and Kara was erased from existence. No one even knew that she had died.
Haunting New Earth[]
Despite nobody then remembering her life in materiality's plane of existence, the soul of Kara made later appearances.
Boston Brand (Deadman) tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies. Experiencing guilt upon realizing that he has been stealing others' emotions, he flies off, feeling sorry for himself for being denied any reward for a year filled with helping people. A warmly-dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him. She can see the normally-invisible Brand, converses with him, and ultimately reminds 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". The woman 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 she leaves, Brand asks her who she is, to which she replies, "My name is Kara. Though I doubt that will mean anything to you".[14]
The soul of Kara appeared twice to a defeated and imprisoned Linda Danvers to comfort her. Linda acknowledged she has been helped by her phantom-friend several times, and when she asked her name, the smiling spirit answered she had many, but was most fond of "Kara".[15]
Many Happy Returns[]
A young Kara makes an appearance in the Post-Crisis universe when the villain known as Fatalist changes the course of her rocket and she crash-lands into New Earth. Kara is found and taken in by then-current Supergirl Linda Danvers, who upon learning about Kara's fate, tries to replace her to save her. Unfortunately Linda fails and Kara has to return to her own dimension.
Convergence[]
During the events of Convergence, Kara and her cousin are trapped in one of the cities collected by Brainiac. As Superman and Supergirl try to find a way out of the dome surrounding Pre-Crisis Gotham City, Kara learns about her death during the Crisis.[16] Frightened and upset, Kara prepares herself to die nonetheless and opts to not tell her cousin anything[17]
At the end of the saga Kara volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of Earth-One Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman, and Pre-Zero Hour Parallax, vows to defeat him for the sake of The Multiverse. The group is succesful, and the Multiverse is saved.[18] After the battle against the Anti-Monitor, Kara decides to find their place in the universe and leaves for parts unknown.[19]
Sources[]
- ↑ {{Supergirl Vol 2 #1
- ↑ Action Comics Vol 1 252
- ↑ Action Comics Vol 1 258
- ↑ Action Comics Vol 1 285
- ↑ Action Comics Vol 1 279
- ↑ Action Comics Vol 1 388
- ↑ Adventure Comics Vol 1 406
- ↑ Action Comics Vol 1 261
- ↑ Adventure Comics Vol 1 406
- ↑ Action Comics Vol 1 276
- ↑ Action Comics Vol 1 309
- ↑ Action Comics Vol 1 310
- ↑ Superman Vol 1 338
- ↑ Christmas with the Super-Heroes Vol 1 2
- ↑ Supergirl Vol 4 48
- ↑ Convergence: Adventures of Superman Vol 1 1
- ↑ Convergence: Adventures of Superman Vol 1 2
- ↑ Convergence Vol 1 8
- ↑ Superman: Lois and Clark Vol 1 1