"Female Sidekick"?! Where'd they get that from? I don't believe they said that! Oooh, that makes me mad!
— Supergirl
Supergirl Adventures- Girl of Steel is a DC Comics collection of comics starring or heavily featuring the DC Animated Universe Supergirl. All stories were written by Evan Dorkin, Sarah Dyer and Adam Beechen. The issues included are:
- The Superman Adventures #21: "Last Daughter of Argo" (July, 1998): After losing her homeworld, Kara In-Ze has started a new life on Earth. And Granny Goodness is determined to end it. Thus, she sets free three prisoners from the Phantom Zone: Jax-Ur, Mala and General Zod, called "the Butcher of Argo".
- The Superman Adventures #39: "Reunion" (January, 2000): Supergirl and Superman return to Argo to hold a funeral for Kara's family and retrieve their records. However, something familiar and dangerous follows them back to Earth.
- Justice League Unlimited #7: "Orphans" (March, 2005): Supergirl is feeling upset with the Kents after an argument. However, her views on parent-child relationships are put in perspective during a battle between the Justice League and the forces of Apokolips.
- Justice League Unlimited #16: "Smashing Through the Snow!" (February, 2006): Supergirl and other young Leaguers are holding a Christmas party when they receive a distress call. Girder has broken out of prison, and the League is needed to put him back in it.
Tropes:
- Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene: One issue starts with Clark talking to Kara after she has had an argument with his parents, continues with a space battle and ends with Kara flying back to the Kent Farm to apologize.
- Adaptation Species Change: Both Kara and Zod are from planet Argo instead of Krypton due to the then-standing ban on multiple Kryptonian characters (once the ban was lifted, Kara In-Ze was quietly retconned back into being Superman's Kryptonian blood cousin).
- Aliens Speaking English: When Kara awakens from her cold sleep, she can automatically understand and talk to Earth people. Nobody comments on it.
- All Your Base Are Belong to Us: A copy of Brainiac takes over Metropolis' S.T.A.R. Labs and captures the Supers when they try to free the place.
- Always a Bigger Fish: Done accidentally. As General Zod is trashing her through the Fortress of Solitude, Supergirl pushes him into the pen of the Teerpa, a dangerous alien animal who pounces on Zod. However, Kara did not intend for Zod to be eaten, so she sends him into the Phantom Zone before it is too late.
- Apocalypse How: Krypton's destruction sends shockwaves which knock nearby planet Argo out of orbit, dooming those who survived the shockwave to an endless ice age.
- As You Know: During a space battle, Supergirl and Ice explain Rocket Red why the League is fighting Darkseid on the edge of the universe...something Rocket Red already knows, since he has just asked them to repeat him what they previously told him.
- Beware the Nice Ones: When Brainiac gloats that he will still win, since Kal and Kara are weakened, Superman retorts a little pain will not stop him because Brainiac has gotten him absolutely pissed off.Brainiac: "Your freedom changes nothing, Kal-El. You and the female are both too weakened to stop me."
Superman: (punching Brainiac) "What you don't understand, Brainiac— is that I'm too good and angry to let a little something like that prevent me from tearing you limb from miserable limb!" - Blatant Lies: The Kents are celebrating the Mother's Day, but Kara is dwelling on her own mother's funeral. When Martha asks why she looks pale, Kara claims she just ate too much, but Clark does not buy it, pointing out that she has barely touched her food.Martha Kent: "Kara...Are you sure you're all right, dear? You're looking a little pale..."
Kara Kent: "Oh, no, I'm fine, really! I, uh, just ate too much, is all..."
[...]
Clark Kent: "So...You want to talk about it?"
Kara Kent: "Is it that obvious?"
Clark Kent: "'Ate too much'? You barely touched your food, Kara."
Kara Kent: (sighing) "Didn't need X-Ray Vision to see right through me, huh?"'' - Cat Up a Tree: Kara rescues a kitty belonging to three little kids which had climbed up a tree and couldn't go down.
- Catapult Nightmare: Kara wakes up from a nightmare involving her world's ending sitting upright, covering her face and screaming a loud "...NOOOOOO!"
- Christmas Episode: The final chapter takes place in Christmas, with the younger Leaguers celebrating the holidays.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: The Justice League tries to recapture villain Girder when he breaks out of prison at Christmas. After taking him down, they find out that he was desperate for paying a visit to his family, and he did not care if he was taken back in custody afterwards. If he had just told that, the League would have granted him his wish instead of fighting him.
- Does Not Know His Own Strength: One of the first things that Kara needs to figure out when beginning her new life on Earth is how to open doors without ripping them off their hinges.
- The Dreaded: General Zod "the Conqueror" overthrew the Argo council in a violent coup and began a decade-long reign which earned him monikers such like "the Merchant of Death" and "the Butcher of Argo" until he was finally captured and thrown into the Phantom Zone. Three hundred years later he is still a boogeyman to Argoans like Kara, who flies off when she bumps into him (in order to come up with a working strategy).
- Due to the Dead: Clark and Kara return to the ruins of Argo to hold a funeral for the latter's family. They set up several torches, slabs displaying the name and the picture of the deceased, and flowers on a stand as a memorial, and Kara says a prayer.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Villain Girder breaks out of prison because he wants to pay a visit to his family at Christmas.
- Exact Words: When Stargirl asks Hawkgirl why she is wearing her Thanagarian soldier outfit, which she swore never to wear again after Thanagar's invasion, Hawkgirl replies she swore never to wear it again in allegiance to her planet. She is now wearing her old suit to honor her family.
- Flashback: One story opens with Superman and Supergirl holding a funeral for Kara's family and retrieving one piece of equipment of Kara's mother's lab. Then it is shown that Kara is reminiscing while the Kents are gathered for dinner on Mother's Day.
- Ghost City: Supergirl and Superman return to Argo to hold a funeral for Kara's family and retrieve their records. The empty, decaying ruins look like a massive, silent tomb covered in a thick coat of ice. Exploring inside the buildings is dangerous because the slightest noise may lead to a cave-in.
- Glacial Apocalypse: Planet Argo was knocked out of its orbit when Krypton exploded and started moving away from its sun. After several months the global temperature had dropped well below survivable conditions, and Argo had become a dark, frozen rock.
- Hologram Projection Imperfection: When Kara wants to look over General Zod's history records, Brainiac projects three-dimensional and completely monochrome holographic scenes.
- I'm Standing Right Here: As the younger Leaguers are partying in the Watchtower, Kara asks why Hawkgirl is in the room and why she is wearing her old outfit. Without turning around, Hawkgirl suggests that she talk to her instead of about her.Supergirl: "Okay, but if this is kids' night at the Watchtower...what's she doing here...and why's she wearing her old outfit?"
Hawkgirl: "I voluntereed, Supergirl...and please don't talk about me like I'm not here." - Killed Mid-Sentence: Kara is talking from Argo to her friend Pala (who is on Krypton) via video conference when Krypton starts shaking. Pala shrieks, and the connection is suddenly lost.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Darkseid gets annoyed when Supergirl destroys his latest super-weapon, but he quickly calms himself down, decides that continuing the battle is pointless, and goes back to Apokolips to devise his next scheme.
- Kryptonite Factor: Subverted. Kanto tries to stab Kara to death with a Kryptonite knife...which shatters into pieces when it touches her chest because in this continuity -at this point in time- Kara is not Kryptonian but from planet Argo.
- Look Behind You: Mala, Jax-Ur and Zod are ganging up on Kara, when she suddenly shouts "Superman!". The trio turns around, and Kara exploits their distraction to punch them from behind and flee.
- Mythology Gag:
- Kara owns an orange pet cat. Original Pre-Crisis Supergirl found and adopted an orange cat, calling him Streaky, in "Supergirl's Super Pet".
- There are several references to "The Great Darkness Saga", where Supergirl played a crucial role by fighting Darkseid. In one issue, Zod's rule is called "The Great Darkness", and in another story Kara beats Darkseid up.
- No Honor Among Thieves: Zod teams up with Jax-Ur and Mala to fight Supergirl. As soon as he believes he does not need them anymore, Zod sprinkles his "associates" with Kryptonite dust and flies off.
- No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup: Subverted. A Brainiac unit hacks directly into Lexcorp's system, downloads a copy of the original Brainiac processor and wipes out the original. Mercy Graves feels troubled, thinking they have lost Brainiac's memory, but it turns out that her boss Lex has made plenty of backups.
- Prison Dimension: Kara throws General Zod into the Phantom Zone to save his life -and preventing him from taking hers-, and then she uses the Phantom Zone Projector to send Jax-Ur and Mala back into the Zone.
- Platonic Kissing: Supergirl pecks Atom Smasher's cheek affectionately but friendly when he is standing under the mistletoe.
- Properly Paranoid: Lex Luthor is not concerned when someone hacks into his ultra-secure database, downloads a copy of the Brainiac's core and wipes the original out. Why? Because he has made many, many backups.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Supergirl flies -both figuratively and literally- into a rage when Darkseid strikes Orion down:Supergirl: "You're too busy trying to conquer all of reality to know what kind of a lousy dad you are, that you should treasure every moment with your kid because you don't know how many moments you'll have...! Well, let me knock some sense into you!"
- Tempting Fate: Kara ponders that Granny Goodness will surely not dare to mess with her again while Granny is freeing Zod from the Phantom Zone and sending him after Kara.
- Turned Against Their Masters: The Kala-lookalike Brainiac unit turns against the primary Brainiac when he reveals he intends to destroy Earth (a course of action which she finds incredibly illogical). Unfortunately, she is not rival for the original Brainiac and is promptly torn apart.
- Under the Mistletoe: Supergirl gives Atom Smasher a peck on the check when he walks under a branch of mistletoe during Justice League's Christmas party.
- Unstoppable Rage: When she sees Darkseid blasting his own son away, Kara flies into a rage and attacks the Lord of Apokolips, dodging his Omega Beams, then pummeling again before punching him through his indestructible cannon. All of her JL comrades become impressed...and shocked.Enlongated Man: "The most powerful man in the universe, and you took his plan out with one punch! Wow, Supergirl...Remind me never to make you angry!"
- Video Phone: Kara uses a video phone (featuring a bulky control panel as well as a huge monochrome green-tinted monitor despite her civilization being highly advanced) to have a videoconference with her friend Pala, who is on another planet.
- Villain: Exit, Stage Left: After Supergirl breaks the cannon that Darkseid was using to go beyond the Source Wall, the Lord of Apokolips teleports himself and his army back to their planet.
- We Will Meet Again: While teleporting away after his latest scheme has failed, Darkseid promises he will return, and he will pay Supergirl back for messing up his plan.Darkseid: "I shall return to Apokolips to scheme anew...And when I return, I shall have special plans for you, girl..."
- What Measure Is a Non-Human?: When fighting Brainiac, Superman and Supergirl tear Brainiac in half. Then Kara heat-blasts the still-moving upper half, and Superman crushes the head to make sure that Brainiac is gone. Neither of them feels at all troubled about killing the world-destroying robot which makes backups of itself constantly.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Kara suffers from cryophobia -fear of the cold- because her whole civilization was killed by an endless ice age. Even after being rescued and taken to Earth, where she is completely invulnerable to cold, she fears and refuses to go near the arctic Fortress of Solitude until she is facing a life-or-death situation.
- The Worf Effect: When a Justice League team engages villain Girder, he gloats about being tougher than any of them before stomping over Power Girl and Supergirl.
