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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kara_zor_el_003.jpg]]
2[-[[caption-width-right:350:My cousin once said in an interview that he stood for "Truth, Justice and the American Way of Life". If anyone asked me, I'd say I stand for "Hope, Help and Compassion for All."]]-]
3
4->''"Baffled, Superman? Let me tell you my story, as my parents told it to me! When Krypton blew up, you were not the only one to escape alive..."''
5-->-- '''Supergirl''', ''Action Comics #252''
6
7The Maid of Might. The Girl of Steel. The Girl of Tomorrow. The Last Daughter of Krypton. The Princess of Power. The Blonde Blockbuster. The Stanhope Sensation. The female FlyingBrick.
8
9'''[[TropeCodifier The]]''' DistaffCounterpart {{Superhero}}.
10
11Supergirl is a comicbook superheroine, originally created as a DistaffCounterpart of ComicBook/{{Superman}}, drawing inspiration from Mary Marvel (in fact one of Supergirl's co-creators, legendary comic artist Otto Binder also created Mary Marvel.) A summary of her history both in and out of comics can be found [[http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Supergirl_Publication_History here]]
12 and [[http://unitedfederationofcharles.blogspot.com/2015/03/superman-who-is-girl-of-steel.html here]]. An in-depth, light-hearted exploration of the character can be found here: [[https://maidofmight.wordpress.com/ Supergirl: the Life and Times of Kara Zor-El]]. And a chronology of her pre-Crisis appearances can be consulted [[http://www.superwomenmania.com/supergirltl/ here]].
13
14Though there have been other variations (see below) Supergirl is best known as Kara Zor-El, Superman's cousin from the planet Krypton. A fellow survivor of that planetary catastrophe, she arrived on Earth later than Kal-El. Far younger than her now-adult cousin, she oftentimes struggles with Earth's strange mores and being in the shadow of the world's greatest hero while growing into a compassionate and heroic young woman. Her role, especially in earlier comics, fluctuated between being a supporting character in Superman stories, occupying in the Superman mythos a similar niche to Robin in the Batman mythos and having her own largely unrelated stories. She has been an on-again-off-again member of the ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'', different incarnations of the ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica, the ComicBook/TeenTitans and the [[ComicBook/GreenLantern Red Lanterns Corps]].
15
16In 1985 the original Supergirl was killed off in the ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'' crossover when DC Comics decided to return Superman to the status of LastOfHisKind. For the next two decades various characters occupied the mantle before Kara Zor-El was restored to continuity. Over the years the various versions of Supergirl have held their own solo titles at several points.
17
18[[foldercontrol]]
19
20[[folder:Predecessors]]
21!!!"[[OlderThanTheyThink Lucy de Borgonia]]"
22DC's first character named Supergirl is possibly Lucy de Borgonia, a South American princess who made her only appearancee in ''Superboy'' #5 (November, 1949). Wearing an orange-and-purple costume, Lucy had no powers but Superboy helped her fake them.
23
24!!!"[[PoorlyDisguisedPilot Super-Girl]]"
25As a test, they released ''Superman'' #123 (August, 1958), a ComicBook/JimmyOlsen story where he got three wishes. One wish was for a woman to keep Superman company, but though meaning well, this magical Super-Girl kept messing up her super-feats. Jimmy sadly wished her away when she sacrificed herself to save Superman from kryptonite, and was about to die anyway. (Note that in most later reprintings of this story, Super-Girl was intentionally miscolored to look different from Supergirl; originally, and as seen in DC Archives, she looks identical to Supergirl except that the skirt of her MiniDressOfPower is red[[note]]Funnily enough, years later, the Matrix version of Supergirl would wear a red skirt instead of blue[[/note]].)
26[[/folder]]
27
28[[folder:Kara Zor-El (Pre Crisis)]]
29!!![[FirstInstallmentWins Kara Zor-El (Linda Lee Danvers)]]
30The issue sold well and the DC powers that be decided that Supergirl's time had come. Thus was born Supergirl - a.k.a. [[LawOfAlienNames Kara]] Zor-El, Kal-El's cousin. She first appeared in ''[[ComicBook/TheSupergirlFromKrypton1959 Action Comics #252]]'' (May, 1959). At first, she was "Superman's secret weapon". As Linda Lee, an orphan at the Midvale Orphanage, she hid the existence of Supergirl from the world, secretly doing good and helping those in trouble.
31
32Eventually, as the audience for good female characters increased, Superman judged her ready, and Supergirl was unleashed on the world. She was adopted and became Linda Lee Danvers; she gained her own Smallville-esque supporting cast, becoming an occasional member of the ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes and love interest to popular LSH member Brainiac 5.
33
34Very unusually for DC Comics (at the time), Kara's adventures in ''Action Comics'' were serialized from the early 1960s onwards rather than stand alone as was the general practice (including for Superman himself who she shared the comics with). Supergirl's status quo gradually changed over the course of the decade and she aged at a slightly slower than real time rate, going from a cute 15 year old to a high school graduate and then to a college student and later a career woman, moving and changing jobs constantly (she became a camerawoman in San Francisco, a student councilor in Florida and a soap opera actress in New York).
35[[/folder]]
36
37[[folder:Kara Zor-L/Power Girl (Pre Crisis)]]
38!!![[AlternateSelf Power Girl]]
39In the [[TheSeventies 1970s]], a fateful decision was made: If Superman had a cousin on Earth-1, where Supergirl had long been established to live, why not one for the original Superman, Kal-L of Earth-2? Thus was ComicBook/PowerGirl, aka Kara Zor-L of Earth-2, introduced (in ''All-Star Comics'' #58, Feb. 1976), with an origin much like Supergirl's, except for a HandWave to the effect that her capsule had taken much longer to reach Earth. Power Girl used a very different costume, an all-white one which highlighted [[MostCommonSuperpower her breasts, large even by comicbook standards]]. [[note]]This has given rise to the urban myth that her original artist, Wally Wood, increased her bust size with every issue. [[http://ragnell.blogspot.com/2006/05/power-girl-you-be-judge.html It's a funny story, but it's not true]].[[/note]] She was instantly inducted into the Justice Society of America and soon became a fan favorite. See more on [[ComicBook/PowerGirl her own page.]]
40[[/folder]]
41
42[[folder:Crisis and Interregnum]]
43!!![[GrandFinale The Crisis]]
44Supergirl's monthly strip was published throughout twenty-six years in ''Action Comics'', ''Adventure Comics'', her first solo, ''Superman Family'' and her second self-named title. DC cancelled Supergirl (Volume 2) in 1984, planning to launch a new title, ''DC Double Comics'', starring Supergirl and Superboy.
45
46But as the 1970s and early [[TheEighties 1980s]] came along, Supergirl fell out of fashion with comic fans. A number of creatives disliked the character and wanted her gone even before the failure of [[Film/Supergirl1984 her big budget live-action film]].
47
48Then came the ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths''. The powers that be decided that Supergirl was a symptom of the longstanding decline in the Superman franchise, which had made the books a poor seller for DC Comics. In order to try bringing back Superman's uniqueness, it was decided that Superman should be the only surviving Kryptonian. So in issue #7 of the Crisis (October, 1985), Supergirl made a HeroicSacrifice to help stop the villain's plan. But then DC decided to do a full-on reboot of the Superman franchise, resulting in the now dead Supergirl [[RetGone being declared to have never existed]]. In a bit of major irony though, the copycat Power Girl survived and was given a new origin story, as the granddaughter of an Atlantean sorcerer sent through time to the present day.
49
50!!![[LoopholeAbuse Matrix]]
51Eventually, Creator/JohnByrne decided to recreate Supergirl -lest DC loses the legal rights to the name- in the form of "Matrix", a shape-shifting purple creature who just so happens to take Supergirl's form. The new version first appeared in ''Superman'' vol. 2 #16 (April, 1988). Hailing from a pocket universe where ComicBook/{{Superboy}} existed (in order to keep the Legion of Super-Heroes universe from collapsing from the removal of Superboy from canon) and all life was destroyed by escaped Phantom Zone villains, Supergirl followed Superman into the mainstream DC Universe and for a time, things were good even as Supergirl began dating the Post-Crisis ComicBook/LexLuthor (who, granted, was pretending to be his own son).
52
53!!!"[[CaptainErsatz Laurel Gand/Andromeda]]"
54At the same time, DC ran into still another trouble. Supergirl had been a member of the ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes''. Those stories still were in continuity, but Supergirl had been erased from existence. How did they solve this? In Legion of Super-Heroes (Volume 4) #5 (1990), Keith Giffen and other writers introduced Laurel "Andromeda" Gand, a Daxamite and Mon-El's cousin. Laurel was identical to Kara in all ways but name: she had her same powers, personality and attitude, was cousin to the Legion's inspirational figure (Mon-El pre-Zero Hour) and even dated Brainiac 5. Andromeda was also a member of the Reboot Legion, but she faded to comic limbo when that version of the team was shelved.
55
56!!!"[[SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute Kara of Odiline]]"
57In the first ''Superman/Aliens'' crossover, written by Dan Jurgens, Superman finds a blonde, blue-eyed alien girl named Kara living in a floating city named Argo City, named after the original Kryptonian city since the inhabitants of Odiline -"Kara"'s homeworld- were big Krypton fanboys. Superman instantly took a liking to "Kara" and treated her like a long-lost close relative, but she was believed dead at the end of the crossover, and she was never mentioned again.
58
59!!!"[[GenreShift Linda Danvers (Post-Crisis)]]"
60Meanwhile, Matrix grew stale, and in a few years Creator/PeterDavid was called in to {{retool}} her. In ''Supergirl'' vol. 4 #1 (September, 1996), Matrix traveled to the town of Leesburg, and [[FusionDance melded with a troubled girl]] named Linda Danvers, calling back to her pre-ComicBook/{{Crisis|on Infinite Earths}} name. The fusion of the two resulted in an "Earth-Born Angel", a holy being with powers of fire that would serve as the MythArc for her new series.
61
62Eventually, the "angel" aspect and the "Linda" aspect separated, with Linda keeping some powers of her own. This came at the same time that Supergirl was introduced in ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'', so in a bit of media property alignment, [[RetCanon Linda was given the cartoon Supergirl's costume]]. In ''ComicBook/ManyHappyReturns'', the final story arc of the series, Linda met the ''original'' Pre-ComicBook/{{Crisis|on Infinite Earths}} Supergirl whose rocket somehow detoured to the ComicBook/PostCrisis universe. David hoped to [[PoorlyDisguisedPilot use the arc to kickstart a new series entitled]] ''Blond Justice'', and while the story sold very well, the new series was not to be. Ultimately, Kara returned to her universe, and Linda retired from superheroing. However, the success of ''Many Happy Returns'', suggested that there was interest in the original Supergirl...
63
64!!![[ReplacementScrappy Cir-El]]
65But first, a new character showed up; the DarkerAndEdgier Cir-El, who claimed to be Clark and ComicBook/LoisLane's [[KidFromTheFuture daughter from the future]]. She first appeared in ''Superman the 10 Cent Adventure'' #1 (March, 2003). However, she was a very unpopular character, and in short order her claims were debunked and she [[PutOnABus vanished into the timestream]].
66[[/folder]]
67
68[[folder:Kara Zor-El (Post-Crisis)]]
69!!![[HereWeGoAgain Kara Zor-El (Post-Crisis)]]
70At this point, Dan [=DiDio=] rose to power at DC Comics. As urban legends goes, [=DiDio=] freaked out when he accidentally discovered the current Supergirl's convoluted origin of pocket universes and "earth angels" and made one of his first edicts upon taking over DC Comics to be DC bringing back the real Supergirl. (The success of the aforementioned ''ComicBook/ManyHappyReturns'' arc probably didn't hurt either). A new Kara Zor-El was introduced, having crash-landed onto Earth just in time to be (re)introduced into DC Universe canon in ''ComicBook/SupermanBatman'' #8 (May, 2004). In a twist, it was revealed that Kara was ''older'' than Kal-El when they lived together on Krypton, and had been sent into space in order to care for her baby cousin on Earth; her rocket, however, going off-course had meant she arrived as a teenager when he was an adult.
71
72Since then Supergirl's basic identity in Franchise/TheDCU has held steady as Kara Zor-El. Confusion didn't end there though as her own named title was prone to retconning Kara's personal backstory on Krypton every three issues or so under a string of writers before ''finally'' settling down some 30 issues in. This roughly coincided with being brought into the extended [[BatFamilyCrossover New Krypton]] storyline, dealing with several hundred Kryptonians appearing on planet Earth led by Supergirl's parents. The book finally managed to become well regarded and is now a stable part of the Superman Family of comics. Supergirl also appeared in ''Supergirl and the ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'', in which she was stuck a thousand years in the future with the Legion (having made the TimeTravel trip during a TimeSkip in her own book, and then getting LaserGuidedAmnesia before she returned). To top it off, 2009 saw a toony-style miniseries aimed at kids, called ''ComicBook/SupergirlCosmicAdventuresInThe8thGrade'' which was ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. [[WordOfGod The original writer says]] [[WhatCouldHaveBeen he had plans to write sequels retelling her pre-Crisis story (her time in the Legion ''et al''), taking her up to the 12th Grade]].
73[[/folder]]
74
75[[folder:Kara Zor-L/Power Girl (Post-Crisis)]]
76!!![[ContinuitySnarl Power Girl (Post-Crisis)]]
77Meanwhile, Power Girl had gone through some changes as they tried to figure out what to do with her. Recruited for the Justice League Europe branch, Kara had her powers decreased (due to a {{deus ex machina}} lifesaving operation). She developed a new edgy, ultra-feminist attitude to let her serve as the resident shit-disturber on the JLE team (which was briefly retconned as being the result of allergies caused by diet sodas). She was made a businesswoman with her own computer company, mystically pregnant caused by her Atlantean grandpa, and most humiliatingly, was given a short-lived [[WeaksauceWeakness vulnerability to "natural, unprocessed materials"]] by Chris Claremont that was so silly and stupid that it was quickly dropped as soon as it was established.
78
79Eventually, she found a home in the ongoing ''JSA'' series, and now that she was being focused on by a single writer, she started to gain some consistency. In the series, it was {{r|etCon}}evealed that she wasn't Atlantean after all — but that left the question of what she ''was''.
80
81In the run-up to ''Infinite Crisis'', the surprisingly simple answer was revealed: she was... Kara Zor-L, the cousin of the Superman of Earth-2. As the Earths were being merged, she had somehow fallen through a crack in time, emerging in the ComicBook/PostCrisis universe unchanged, and the inconsistencies in her powers and origins since then had been side effects of the universe trying to fit her in. (Note: She is specifically from the Earth-2 that existed prior to ''Crisis of the Infinite Earths.'' A new Earth-2 that's like the old one appeared after ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis but it has its own Power Girl. Much to the original's dismay.)
82[[/folder]]
83
84
85[[folder:Kara Zor-El (Post-Flashpoint)]]
86!!![[ContinuityReboot Post-Flashpoint Kara Zor-El and Power Girl]]
87In 2011, DC published ''Flashpoint'' and rebooted their universe. Since Supergirl had to start from square one again, DC took the chance to streamline the character: Supergirl is Superman's cousin from Krypton who crashed to Earth much later and only remembers her cousin as a baby. Her personality is angrier and edgier than preceeding Karas' to emphasize her alienness in contrast to her Earth-raised cousin. There has never been other Supergirls.
88
89After managing her grief and her anger issues -ironically by [[ComicBook/RedDaughterOfKrypton becoming a Red Lantern]]-, Kara was retooled to make her closer to her then-ongoing live-action counterpart. Thus, she moved to National City, took up the Kara Danvers civilian name and started working for the DEO and Cat Grant as attending high-school. As the ''Supergirl (2015)'''s show's popularity waned, though, DC began to drift away from this status quo until dropping it completely. Around that time, DC released another mini-series: ''ComicBook/SupergirlBeingSuper''.
90
91In 2020, Supergirl's solo book was cancelled after fifteen years of almost uninterrupted publication; though DC released a new miniseries, ''ComicBook/SupergirlWomanOfTomorrow'', wherein Kara was quietly aged up. Since then, her own title's loss has been counterbalanced by making her again a regular cast member in her cousin's stories.
92
93DC's 2022-2023 Crisis events altered Supergirl's backstory -together with the entire universe's- once again, retconning back into canon her Silver Age origin (but keeping being the "older than her cousin" 2004 tweak), and restating her heroic sacrifice against the Anti-Monitor is actually remembered by everyone.
94[[/folder]]
95
96[[folder:Kara Zor-L/Power Girl (Post-Flashpoint)]]
97!!![[ContinuityReboot Post-Flashpoint Power Girl]]
98Meanwhile, on Earth 2, Power Girl is also Superman's cousin from Krypton. However, she started her career as Supergirl, her Superman is dead, and she wound up stranded on the main Earth for several years. She co-starred in ''Worlds' Finest'' with her best friend, ComicBook/{{Huntress}} (who, much like PG, started out as a sidekick in E2, having been Robin to her dad Batman). Before returning home, Kara meets her counterpart and discovers they have a strange bond due to their status as AlternateUniverse counterparts of each other. Ultimately, this version was PutOnABus together with her entire universe when the ''Earth 2'' line was dropped.
99
100The character remained in limbo for several years during which DC occasionally dropped hints of the imminent return of the original Power Girl. In 2023 she reappeared with no fanfare (the fact that she was gone for years, during which an alternate universe version was running around the place before abruptly disappearing, was not acknowledged in-universe, and may have been undone by the same CosmicRetcon mentioned above) and a new personality shift. Even though she is more integrated in the Superman family than ever, she is moodier, angrier and whinier, constantly complaining that she is ignored by everyone and treated as Supergirl's inferior copy. She also appears in ''ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica2022'', where she is none of those things (well, maybe angrier) and has apparently been around since the seventies ''in universe''.
101[[/folder]]
102
103[[AC:For a list of comic storylines and other works in the franchise, go to the franchise page [[Franchise/{{Supergirl}} here]].]]
104
105----
106!!''Supergirl'' subpages:
107[[index]]
108* Supergirl/TropesAToB
109* Supergirl/TropesCToD
110* Supergirl/TropesEToF
111* Supergirl/TropesGToH
112* Supergirl/TropesIToJ
113* Supergirl/TropesKToL
114* Supergirl/TropesMToN
115* Supergirl/TropesOToP
116* Supergirl/TropesRToS
117* Supergirl/TropesTToU
118* Supergirl/TropesVToW
119* Supergirl/TropesXToZ
120[[/index]]
121----
122->'''Supergirl:''' Thank Heaven... the worlds... have a chance to live. Y-you're crying... Please don't. You taught me to be brave... and I was... I... I love you so much for what you are. For how... good you are...

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