Comic Book / Supergirl (1982)

*Whew!* You've come a long way, baby!

Besides, I could do with the time to myself... to sit back and think. It's selfish, I know, but I deserve... Whoa! There you go again, Linda!
There's nothing selfish about wanting to get into yourself for a while instead of thinking about the whole blasted world! I do enough of that as Supergirl — and wasn't the whole reason for this move... to give myself space to be just plain Linda Danvers?
I've been Supergirl for such a long time, it seems. Not that I'd give that up for anything... but I feel like I've totally lost hold of the part of me that doesn't scoot around the universe in shorts and a cape! I've forgotten what it feels like to be just a person... Instead of a symbol!

— Supergirl

Supergirl (1982) also known as Supergirl Vol 2 or The New Daring Adventures of Supergirl is a Supergirl comic-book written by Paul Kupperberg and illustrated by Carmine Infantino. The series spanned twenty-three issues and was initially entitled, The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, but shortened the title to simply Supergirl, with issue #13. This was Supergirl’s second self-named book and the last regular comic series to feature Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El.

Linda Danvers/Kara Zor-El resigns from Secret Hearts — a soap opera she starred in — and leaves New York, moving to Chicago to take Psychology classes in Lake Shore University.

With her career as a daytime TV star having given her some degree of financial security, and free from the pressure of being both a superhero and a well known media personality, Kara feels she finally has the grounding to stay sane and figure out who is more important: Linda Danvers -the self-assured and mature woman she has become- or Supergirl -the veteran and powerful crime-fighter hero-? However, new trials and enemies will make her new life as difficult as always before the skies turn red and she faces up to her final challenge.

The Daring Adventures of Supergirl's abrupt cancellation left several plot threads dangling. However, DC published a series called Solo in 2004, and writer Diane Schutz used the opportunity to tie up one of those loose ends. Hence, Young Love is a kind of coda for the second Supergirl series.

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Supergirl (1982) provides examples of:

• Above Good and Evil:
  • After evolving, Barry declares he is above human laws and concepts of good and evil:
    Barry: Do not think me included in your laws, Supergirl — for I shall henceforth decide upon right and wrong! I am a law unto myself... and you shall all follow my commands... or suffer for your disobedience!
  • Later he invokes the trope almost word by word:
    Barry: I am above such judgments as good, as evil! I am the judge! I am the ideal!
• Action Fashionista: Supergirl has worn over thirty costumes since her first appearance in The Supergirl From Krypton (1959). In twenty-three issues she wears three different costumes.
• Action Girl: At this point of her career, Linda is one of the most powerful, most experienced and most respected female heroes.
• Alien Among Us: At the beginning of her life on Earth Kara felt like a fish out of water. Earth was primitive and mundane compared with Argo City.
  Kara: Earth was kind of disappointing at first. All I could see was that it wasn't Argo City... didn't have the scientific majesty of my home world. And most importantly, it didn't have my parents!
• Alliterative Name: Supergirl's Secret Identity's name is Linda Lee -renamed Linda Lee Danvers after being adopted-. In the last scene she hears someone calling her “Linda” Lee and she is surprised because no one in Chicago should know her middle name.
• And I Must Scream: In #20'', Parasite absorbs Supergirl's powers and throws her in a flying metal coffin which floats about a mile straight up from solid ground. As he uses heat vision to seal her in, he warns that she has a little less than four minutes till her air runs out.
• Ass Shove: As she is arguing with a police in issue #12, Supergirl is said to get a badge if she wants to play cop. Kara retorts by asking if he wants to know what he can do with his badge.
  Lieutenant Peters: You wanna play cop, join the department and get yourself a badge! Until then, stay out of my way!
  Supergirl: You need a hint as to what you can do with your badge, Peters?
• AstroTurf: In "Blackstarr", the eponymous villain tries to drum up support for her neo-nazi party by organizing a rally and hiring a "protester" to cause a riot during the proceedings.
• Attack Its Weak Point: Subverted in #21 when Supergirl swoops down on several thugs and their leader commands his goons to shoot at her until they find her weak point because she HAS to have one. Kara just sighs.
• Awful Truth: Supergirl tells her amnesiac clone that she is... well, a clone and not the real Linda Danvers/Kara Zor-El/Supergirl.
• Back-to-Back Badasses: Supergirl and Superman did this while they fought Kryptonite-Man in issue #21.
• Badass Cape: Her long, flowing cape is indestructible and allows her glide in #20 when she can't fly.
• Bash Brothers: Bash Cousins in this instance. In #21, Supergirl and Superman fight Kryptonite Man together.
• Batman Can Breathe in Space: In #21 both Kryptonian cousins and Kryptonite Man fight in space. Neither of them needs to breathe.
• Birthday Episode: In #20, Superman, the Justice League of America and the Teen Titans celebrate Kara's arrival’s anniversary.
• Blatant Lies: In #20, Linda asks her then-boyfriend Phil Decker about his latest unexplained absence. He lies so bad that Linda says “If you're going to lie, at least try to be consistent!”
• Blessed with Suck: Having super-senses doesn't sound so cool when you can't take a break because you super-hearing tells you are needed◊.
• Body Horror: When Barry evolves, his physique mutates: his body is huge and hairless, his eyes are two large, red balls without pupils, his limbs are ridiculously long and thin and his feet have only two fingers each.
• Boomerang Bigot: Blackstarr is a Nazi Jew.
• Breath Weapon: In #23, Linda uses her hurricane breath to push bystanders away the battlefield.
• Buried Alive: In #20, Parasite absorbs Supergirl's powers and throws her in a flying metal coffin which floats about a mile straight up from solid ground, using heat vision to seal her in.
• Came from the Sky: In the first issue Linda remembers how her cousin found her: Clark Kent saw a rocket crashing down to Earth and flew to the landing site to investigate. Inside the rocket he found his fifteen-year-old cousin.
• The Cameo: The Justice League of America and the Teen Titans make a short appearance in #20.
• Cape Snag: In #20, Parasite grabs Supergirl's cape, and after spinning Kara around, slams her into a railroad track.
• Casual Interstellar Travel: In Blackstar, Supergirl takes less than a full day to cover the distance between Earth and the center of the universe.
• Catch a Falling Star: In #4, Linda grabs villain Bulldozer as he is falling.
• Cat Up a Tree: Invoked in the first issue when Supergirl says that she would interrupt a date with Robert Redford to rescue a kitten from a tree◊.
• Chekhov's Gunman: In #4, Linda's tenant Mrs. Berkowitz observes an old picture of her missing daughter Rachel and cries. In #13, Supergirl meets and fights Blackstarr... as well known as Rachel Berkowitz.
• Childhood Friend Romance: At the last issue Linda meets her childhood boyfriend Dick Malverne. In a never-written scene, Linda turned Dick down. In Solo #1 Linda visited him in the hospital two weeks later. Dick told her he always knew she was Supergirl and he loved her. She admitted that she loved him back, and they kissed. He passed away later that night.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: Kara Zor-El is the same kind of hero than her cousin, but she is more short-tempered and more compassionate, which means that she feels more compelled to be a hero, punish criminals and help people. In the first issue she feels guilty because she needs to give herself space to be "Linda Danvers" rather than "Supergirl". In the same scene she admits she would interrupt a date with Robert Redford to rescue a kitten from a tree, though.
• Clark Kenting: Kara dyes her hair brown and wears a different hairstyle when she is Linda Lee Danvers.
• Clark Kent Outfit: Linda wears loose sweaters, long skirts and dresses to hide her inhumanly strong muscles.
• Clarke's Third Law: Supergirl invokes it when she deduces Kraken is not a wizard, because if his skills were magic, she would have been seriously hurt. Her X-Ray Vision scans his costume and spots his gadgets.
  Supergirl: So much for your magic — or should I say super-science... technological marvels that only appear magical to someone not familiar with them!
• Clones Are People, Too: In "Who Stole Supergirl's Life?", a depowered clone removes Supergirl's memories from her civilian life in order to try to take her place. Kara eventually gets her memories back but she actually feels sorry for her duplicate, acknowledging the fact that she was only a desperate girl who wanted a life of her own, and she promises to help her create her own identity.
• Clothes Make the Superman: Supergirl gets a lot of innate superpowers but her costume and her comb are indestructible because they came from Krypton. It came in handy when Parasite drained her natural powers and sealed her in a metal coffin, since she could still use her super-hard comb to tear her coffin open.
• Color-Coded Characters: In issue #4, Supergirl fights The Gang, a super-villain team. Its members are: Brains (Red), Bulldozer (Blue), Ms. Mesmer (Yellow) and Kong (Green).
• Combo Platter Powers: In a single fight, Linda can use her flight, super-strength, freezing breath or a combination of all above.
• Complexity Addiction: Parasite managed to knock Supergirl out. Instead of killing her right away, he put her in a complex death trap.
• Convection, Schmonvection: In #1, Kara shields two persons from a shower of molten steel. Her indestructible cape blocks the cascade of metal but it should not protect them from the intense heat.
• Costume Evolution: In issue #13, Kara returns to her classic "blue shirt and red skirt" costume, to which she adds a red headband at the end of #17.
• Crapsack Only by Comparison: The Midvale Orphanage was not a bad place by Earth's standards, but to Kara, who had just arrived from a peaceful technological paradise, it looked primitive.
  Kara: "Earth was kind of disappointing at first. All I could see was that it wasn't Argo City... didn't have the scientific majesty of my home world."
• Deadpan Snarker: Kara is nice and kind, but she has little patience for idiots and may be pretty sarcastic.
  • In #12, while several mooks are shooting at her:
    Supergirl: I hate thinking of the fortune in ammunition thugs like you have wasted on me over the years!
  • A short while later, a cop is berating her:
    Lieutenant Peters: You wanna play cop, join the department and get yourself a badge! Until then, stay out of my way!
    Supergirl: You need a hint as to what you can do with your badge, Peters?
  • In #21 she swoops in on a gang of armed robbers:
    Supergirl: Going someplace, boys?
    Mook: Not! Not Supergirl!''
    Supergirl: What do you mean "Not Supergirl!"? What other blondes with a cape do you know who can fly?
    Mook: (as she grabs him) Yikes!
    Supergirl: Oh, now that's a snappy repartee! Remind me jot that one down for future reference!
• Death Trap: Parasite built a floating metal coffin to throw a depowered Supergirl in.
• Determinator: Parasite depowers Kara and seals her in a metal coffin that is floating a mile above solid ground. And she will run out of air within less than four minutes. So... what does she do? Relax, breathe shallowly and think of a plan. She breaks out, uses her cloak to glide downwards, and fights Parasite again.
• Does This Make Me Look Fat?: In #20, Superman unveils a statue erected in honor of his cousin. Linda feels flattered... but then she asks:
  Supergirl: Say, Kal... Am I really as pudgy as the statue makes me look?
  Superman: Ha Ha Ha – No way! Happy anniversary, cousin!
• Doing In the Wizard: Kraken pretends to be a wizard, but he uses devices hidden inside his bracelets and belt to perform his tricks. Kara realizes he cannot be a wizard when one of his "spells" hits her and hurts her but doesn't blow her head off.
• Dual Age Modes: Super-villain Blackstarr can change her looks at will in order to look younger.
• Dye or Die: Linda uses a comb-like device to dye her golden locks brown (Julius Schwartz came up with this idea) and protect her Secret Identity.
• Dying Declaration of Love: Dick Malverne confessed Linda he loved her before dying from cancer in Solo #1.
• Dynamic Akimbo: Kara pulls the pose off in the twentieth issue.
• Earth-Shattering Kaboom: In #21 the alien race known as the world-seeders nearly blow Earth up to try to kill Kryptonite Man.
• Enemy Within: Linda Danvers' college advisor Barry Metzner tested a machine in himself to jump-start his evolution. The result was his body mutated and he developed an evil split personality which eventually took over.
• Evil Is Hammy: Many Supergirl villains are hammy.
  Blackstarr: Fool! You think all there is to reality is what is seen? Yes – I appear young – and I may be younger still... or even be you, if I so desire!
• Evil Redhead: Black Starr is a redhead and... Well, a Nazi super-villain.
• Evil Twin: At a point Kara got an evil clone. Her clone was eventually depowered and just wanted to live a normal life. Kara promised to help her establish a new identity for herself.
• Evolution Power-Up: Barry Metzner transformed into a big-brained, psychically-empowered mutant after using an evolutionary machine.
• Expendable Clone:
  • The Parasite's clone. It was endowed to transmit any powers he stole to the real Parasite to trick Superman. After fighting Supergirl his cells fell apart and his body dissolved.
  • Averted with Linda’s clone, who only wants to live a normal life, and original Linda promises help her.
• Experienced Protagonist: Kara flatly tells Blackstar to drop her threats and taunts because villains have been taunting her since she was fifteen, and she has heard all of them across the whole galaxy for now.
• Eye Beams:
  • Supergirl and her cousin have heat vision. In #21 her eye beams melt several mooks’ guns.
  • Kryptonite-Man has green radioactive eye beams.
• Eye Scream:
  • Supergirl shoots her heat vision straight in Kryptonite Man's eyes, blinding him temporarily.
  • Later, when she is fighting Barry's mutated form, he shoots fire at her eyes.
• Faking the Dead: In the final issue, Supergirl confronts a friend who has been taken over by his evil side. In order to get him snap out of his possession, Supergirl reminds him that he is no killer and then lets him believe he has killed her.
• Faster-Than-Light Travel: In "Blackstar", Supergirl takes one day to make her way to Earth from the center of the universe.
• Fight Off the Kryptonite:
  • In #21, Kara and Kal fight the Kryptonite Man, even though they feel pain within six feet of him.
  • In #23 Supergirl tries to overcome a mind-searing telepathic attack. Then she tries the opposite tactic and stops fighting it, focusing on using her other powers.
• Fling a Light into the Future: In the first issue Kara remembers how her parents sent her to Earth to escape from Argo City and meet Superman, and she eventually became one of the greatest heroes of the planet.
• Flying Brick: Linda is super-strong, super-fast, and nearly indestructible, and she can fly.
• Flying Firepower: Supergirl and most of her villains can fly and shoot fire or energy blasts.
• Forced Transformation: Bernard’s psychic rays can turn people into mutated humanoid animals.
• Forceful Kiss: In the last scene, Linda's old crush Dick Malverne appears, grasps her chin and kisses her abruptly.
• From Stray to Pet: Kara finds a stray kitten scrounging around her apartment and declares he is not homeless anymore, naming him "Streaky" after her first cat (which was another stray who she adopted when she was fifteen in "Supergirl's Super Pet").
• Freudian Slip: In #15, as she fights Blackstarr, Supergirl nearly outs herself.
  Supergirl: She can't be, Mrs. Berkowitz! We told you—
  Mrs. Berkowitz: You told...?!
  Supergirl: (thinking) Stupid! Stupid! Maybe I ought to just put on my wig and introduce myself next time!
• From Nobody to Nightmare: Rachel Berkowitz was a poor, unlucky child... and then she became Blackstarr, a villain who can control matter and energy.
• Fully Absorbed Finale: Dick Malverne's sudden and unexpected return got a resolution twenty-one years after the book's cancellation when the short-story "Young Love" was published in the first issue of the Solo (Volume 1) magazine. Ironically, said resolution was the complete opposite of what Kupperberg intended.
• Gender Bender: Misdiagnosed by Ambush Bug in #16. The Bug spends most of the story trying to cure Superman of the dastardly plot that transformed him into a young blonde woman. Despite his Genre Savviness, he somehow was completely unaware of the existence of SuperGIRL. He does, however, turn out to be Genre Savvy enough to figure out Supergirl's secret identity at the end.
• Ghost Town: During her search for her lost memories, Kara flies back to Argo City. The floating domed city is still an icy-cold graveyard, littered with corpses.
• Goal-Oriented Evolution: Barry Metzner wanted to find out how evolution will change the human brain, so he tested an evolutionary machine in himself and became an evil big-headed, red-eyed mutant.
• Gotta Get Your Head Together:
  • Linda's clone does this when Supergirl reveals her true nature.
  • Supergirl clutches her head, screaming "Get out of my head!" when Barry attempts to mind-rape her.
• Goomba Springboard: Supergirl does this when she fights the Kryptonite-Man. Justified because she is super-strong.
• Goomba Stomp: Supergirl stomps on Kryptonite Man with both feet during their first battle.
• Green and Mean: Kryptonite Man is completely green.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Linda's friend Joan is jealous of Linda when she finds out that her friend is meeting Clark Kent, nationally famous newscaster. Her jealousy goes away when Linda explains Clark is her cousin.
• Groin Attack: In #20, Supergirl kicks Parasite's crotch during their fight.
• The Group: The Council, a villainous super-secret organization based in Chicago and dedicated to controlling the world's exchange of information. Some of their operatives were a super-villain team known as The Gang.
• Heartbroken Badass: In Solo #1, her childhood crush Dick Malverne died after confessing he loved her and he knew her Secret Identity all along, leaving her heart-broken.
  Supergirl: That was the last time I saw Richard. Tonight I know what it is to be human. Tonight my super skin is still invulnerable, but my Richard is never coming back, and my heart is broken into a million pieces.
• Heroic Build: Linda is a Kryptonian woman in her middle twenties and at the height of her physical development. She has broad shoulders, large breasts, thin waist and lean, muscular arms and legs.
• Hoist Hero over Head:
  • Inverted on the cover◊ of #15 (Jan 1984), in which Kara does this to Blackstarr.
  • In #20 Parasite does this to Supergirl followed by slamming her into the ground.
• Home Base: The Fortress of Solitude, used by both Superman and Supergirl. In #20, Kara flies to the Fortress to run several tests and find out why she lost her powers temporarily.
• Human Aliens: Kara is Kryptonian and outwardly indistinguishable from humans, despite obvious biological differences.
• Hyper-Awareness: Kara has demonstrated having impressive capability for analysis and deductive reasoning (Super Instinct she called it back in the Silver Age) owing to her Super-Senses, heightened memory and natural intelligence. In the final issue she recognizes a heartbeat because "with hearing as sensitive as mine, they're as individual as fingerprints".
• Hypocrite: In #20, Linda quarrels with her boyfriend Philip Decker because he is prone to unexplained absences, causing Linda to suspect he is hiding something. Later she considers she is being a hypocrite: she is prone to unexplained absences, too. And Decker never complained about them.
• Iconic Outfit: Supergirl wears two of her three most famous Pre-Crisis costumes: her "hot pants" and her "headband" outfit.
• "I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight: When Linda realizes the psychic mutant she is fighting is her professor Barry Metzner, she tries to reach him out:
  Barry: Metzner is dead! His pitiful consciousness submerged in my superior mind!
  Supergirl: No! I don't believe that! Barry Metzner... Whatever makes him the man he is... can't be lost!
• Immune to Bullets: Kara is this, and she lampshades it in issue #12:
  Supergirl: I hate thinking of the fortune in ammunition thugs like you have wasted on me over the years!
• Important Hair Accessory: Kara starts wearing a red headband to remind herself of her roots (since headbands were symbols of citizenzhip on Krypton).
• Inner Monologue: In issue #1 Linda spends the first pages reminiscing and reminding herself she needs a change of scene:
  Supergirl: Besides, I could do with the time to myself... to sit back and think. It's selfish, I know, but I deserve... Whoa! There you go again, Linda! There's nothing selfish about wanting to get into yourself for a while instead of thinking about the whole blasted world! I do enough of that as Supergirl — and wasn't the whole reason for this move... to give myself space to be just plain Linda Danvers?
• Innocent Blue Eyes: Kara has blue eyes. And she's a nice, kind and compassionate young woman. Moreover, her teen self was pretty innocent, optimistic and dangerously naive when she arrived on Earth.
• Innocent Bystander: When Supergirl fights Barry, the mutant shoots at random bystanders to keep Supergirl distracted.
  Supergirl: Good Lord! Don't you care what happens to these people?
  Barry: Frankly... NO!
• Instant Costume Change: In #20 Linda instantly strips off her costume and puts on her civilians clothes when her friend Joan knocks on her door.
• Intangibility: This is one of the powers of Barry Metzner's mutated self.
• Interspecies Romance: Linda dates several human guys such like a musician named Philiph Decker. In the last scene her childhood crush, Dick Malverne runs into her and kisses her.
• It's Personal: In issue #21, Supergirl and her cousin fight Kryptonite Man, a villain who blames their race for Krypton's destruction and his own species' extinction. Superman tries to explain the truth to him, but K-Man refuses to listen.
• Kill It with Fire: In #23, a mutant tries to burn Supergirl. Obviously, it does not work.
• Kindhearted Cat Lover: Kara is a cat person. When she was a student in Stanhope College she owned a pet tomcat called Streaky -which accidentally got super-powers-. Several years later she moved to Chicago and she found a stray female cat. Linda adopted it and named Streaky right away◊. She really adores her cats◊.
  Supergirl: Well, now... What've got here? Hiya, little kittycat! You live around here?
  Joan: I've seen her scrounging around the block for days now. I figure she's a stray.
  Supergirl: Not anymore, friend — 'cause this little darling's just been adopted! Isn't that right, little Streaky?
  Joan: You sure don't waste time thinking up names! How'cum Streaky?
  Supergirl: Oh... Let's just say she reminds me of a cat I used own!
• Kirby Dots: In #21 they show up everywhere every time someone powers up, gives off energy or blasts energy bolts.
• Kryptonite Factor: In #21, both Super-cousins fight the Kryptonite Man. His power weakens them and hurts them.
  Supergirl: Kryptonite... Cutting through me... like a knife.
• Large Ham: Kryptonite Man, Blackstarr, Barry… are dramatic and verbose villains.
• Last Kiss: In Solo #1, Dick Malverne kissed Linda before dying.
• Last of His Kind: Kryptonite Man is the last member of a race inhabited Krypton long ago. He wants to kill both Superman and Supergirl because they are the last Kryptonians whom he blames for Krypton’s destruction.
• Leave Me Alone!: In issue #22, Joan notices Linda is upset and attempts to reach her out, but Linda reacts badly, shouting "Joan! I said I didn't want to talk... and I mean it! Leave me alone!"
• Left Hanging: Supergirl's book was cancelled with the expectation that Kara's adventures would go on in a new title called DC Double Comics, so that Paul Kupperberg did not bother to resolve any of his ongoing plotlines (such like Kara's boyfriend's mysterious and unexplained absences, Kara's increasing anger alienating her friends, or the unexpected return of Kara's old boyfriend Dick Malverne). When DC's plans for a Superboy/Supergirl doble-feature magazine fell through, all those plotlines remained unresolved.
• Light Girl, Dark Boy: As seen in this cover, Supergirl has blond hair and a fairer skin than her black-haired cousin.
• Leotard of Power: Supergirl's costume is a blue leotard with a red dress over it.
• Love Hurts:
  • Linda got hurt when she found out that her boyfriend lied to her.
  • Kara dated Dick Malverne when they were teenagers. Many years later, Dick sought her out to confess that he always loved her... because he was dying from cancer. They kissed the night he died, leaving Kara heart-broken.
    That was the last time I saw Richard. Tonight I know what it is to be human. Tonight my super skin is still invulnerable, but my Richard is never coming back, and my heart is broken into a million pieces.
• Loving a Shadow: It never came to pass because of the cancellation of the book, but Paul Kupperberg's plan was Dick Malverne confessing and Kara turning him down because he was in love with her teenager self, and he knew nothing about the adult woman that she had become.
• Luckily, My Powers Will Protect Me: In the third page of first issue, Linda Danvers explains she is Supergirl -as is changing clothes and flying off- and she has Super-Senses. One page later she comments she is using her freezing breath as she blows away and freezes a shower molten steel.
• Made of Indestructium: Supergirl costume is indestructible because it is from Krypton.
  • In the first chapter, Kara spreads her cape to shield two persons from a shower of molten steel. The boiling metal didn't damage her costume at all.
  • Her outfit's indestructibility came in handy when she couldn’t fly, so she glided downwards and let her costume take the brunt of the impact.
  Supergirl: Of course, that still left me with the problem of being one mile high... So I counted on being able to glide down with my cape — knowing my still indestructible costume would take the brunt of my impact in the lake!
• Man of Kryptonite: The Kryptonite Man shows up in #21.
  Supergirl: That green tinge around you — He used Kryptonite against you!
  Superman: Not only... used it... He IS it!
  Supergirl: What?! A... Kryptonite Man?!
• Mass "Oh, Crap!": In issue #19, two crooks assault a lonely woman at night before noticing two things: she wears a Supergirl costume; and she seems pissed off. They shriek.
• The Masquerade Will Kill Your Dating Life: During the latter part of the series Linda became ever more suspicious of her boyfriend Philip Decker. Decker was prone to unexplained absences, causing Linda to suspect he was hiding something. Of course, Linda is prone to unexplained absences, too, and Decker had been taking them in stride until they quarrel and he throws them back in her face. Unable to explain she is the Girl of Steel, she storms off.
• Mind Probe: In #23, Barry uses a psychic attack to hurt Supergirl.
• Mind Rape: Barry attacks Supergirl telepathically in order to hurt her. Kara beats his attack when she stops resisting it and channels her energy into blow him away with a gust of super-breath.
  Barry: This is merely the prelude — to this... the seizing of your mind!
  Supergirl: My head... suddenly feels so hot... throbbing...!
  Barry: That is me, Supergirl. Your mind may differ from normal humans, but it is still vulnerable to attack from within — an attack most painful!
  Supergirl: Gnngh! N-no! Get... out of... my head...!
  Barry: Do not be ridiculous, child! You are mine now! It ill serves me to relinquish my control... before you are dead!
  Supergirl: S-stop... it...
  Barry: I think not. Please... Do not resist. It only makes the process that much more painful — and prolongs the agony!
• Mini-Me: In issue #11, a mad scientist working for an evil clandestine organization creates six miniaturized Supergirl clones.
• Missed Him by That Much: In issue #23, Linda is about to go into her apartment block when she decides she does not want spending hours wondering whether her boyfriend Phil Decker will or will not call her to clear things up, so that she turns around to go for a walk. Right after Linda leaves, Phil walks out of the building, having spent the whole afternoon waiting for Linda's return to clear things up.
• Mugging the Monster: In issue #19 two crooks stalking a park at night spot a woman sitting alone on a bench. They approach her from behind and bludgeon her with a pipe... which gets bent. Then they notice her Supergirl's costume... and her pissed off expression.
  Supergirl: I take it this [pipe] is yours, guys?
  Crook 1: H-Holy...! It... It's... Oh, man, it sure is! Hey... We're awfully sorry, lady... Honest! We didn't know it was you!
  Supergirl: I'm kind of glad it was! My head's made to take this kind of abuse!— Is yours?
  Crook 1: Oh... Momma...
  Crook 2: P-Please... Don't do it!
• Mundane Utility: In #13, Fred Danvers has trouble with lighting his pipe, and Linda helps her father out with a burst of heat vision.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Barry Metzner is anguished when he thinks his evil side has murdered Supergirl.
• My Sister Is Off-Limits: "My male cousin is off limits" in this instance. Joan asks Linda whether she may introduce her cousin to her. Linda makes clear that Clark is not available.
  Linda Danvers: 'Fraid you're on your own today, Joanie. I've got a date for lunch.
  Joan: With the gorgeous Mr. Philip Decker, I presume—?
  Linda: Nope. A different man... named Clark Kent.
  Joan: Clark Kent... THE Clark Kent, the news guy from GBS?! Don't you ever see guys who aren't nationally famous?
  Linda: Relax, Joan. Clark's my cousin!
  Joan: Oh, yeah? Think you could maybe arrange a little introduction, then...?
  Linda: JOANIE!
  Joan: Okay, okay!
• My Suit Is Also Super: In the first issue Supergirl saves two persons from a cascade of molten steel by using her cape to shield them.
• The Needless: Linda can fly through space vacuum unassisted because she doesn't need to breathe.
• Never a Self-Made Woman: On the one hand, Linda is one of the mightiest heroes of her universe; on the other, she is cousin of THE greatest hero of her universe, who mentored her and trained her when she arrived on Earth. Writer Paul Kupperberg depicted her as a mature, intelligent, confident and extremely powerful young woman and crime-fighter who wasn't under her cousin's shadow anymore and didn't need his advice or approval (a fact Superman agreed with). Nevertheless, many creative types and fans kept brushing her off and dismissing her as "Superman with boobs".
• New Transfer Student: At the beginning of the series, Linda Danvers moves to Chicago and gets enrolled in Lake Shore University to tak Psychology classes.
• Nigh-Invulnerability: Parasite slams Linda into a railway... It merely knocks her out. Barry tries to burn her. It does nothing. Linda is tough.
• No OSHA Compliance: In the first issue, Kara bursts through a factory to save two workers. A bucket's guide-chain snapped, and poured a shower of molten steel on them
• Noodle Incident: In #20, Superman mentions he fought the Parasite. He didn't elaborate, but that fight happened in Action Comics #555.
• No Romantic Resolution:
  • The Linda/Philip relationship never got a proper resolution.
  • In the last scene, Linda's childhood crush Dick Malverne all of sudden shows up and kisses her. Readers never got to see Kara's reaction because the series was abruptly cancelled and the character killed two years later (DC had plans for a relaunch but they never materialized). Several decades later writer Paul Kupperberg revealed that Supergirl would turn Dick down. However, 2004 book Solo #1 picked up that plot thread and solved it after twenty years: Dick confesses that he loves Linda, he always knew she was Supergirl... and he's dying from cancer. They kiss and he passes away later that night.
• No Sense of Personal Space: Linda's friend Joan doesn't get the concept. As soon as they meet, Joan grabs Linda's hand and drags her along.
• Older Than They Look: Blackstarr looks like a twenty-years-old woman, but she is in her fifties.
• Old Flame: Pre-Crisis Kara/Linda and Dick Malverne dated for a while but they drifted apart during their college years. Several years later they meet again. It turns out that Dick was seeking her out because he was dying from cancer and wanted to confess he still loved her before dying. They shared a kiss the night when he finally passed away.
• Outdated Outfit:
  • From issue #16, Kara began wearing a red headband (on request of Supergirl (1984) moviemakers); a look which became incredibly dated after the '80s.
  • The outfit she started the series in and wore for the first year, a ruffled shirt with hotpants, was already dated years before the series began.
• Parental Abandonment: Blackstarr hates her parents because she is convinced that they hated her and abandoned her.
• Pedestrian Crushes Car: The cover of #17 features a car crashing into Supergirl. She said them "Stop", but they didn't listen.
• People Jars: In issue #11, Supergirl gets captured by The Council and dumped into a containment unit after getting cloned.
• Percussive Therapy: After breaking up with her boyfriend, Linda changes clothes, dons her Supergirl's costume and starts her daily patrol, hoping to find someone or something she can legitimately hit.
• Physical God: Blackstarr controls cosmic forces. However she fights Supergirl, an Earth-One Kryptonian who doesn't care for puny laws of physics.
• Playing with Fire: Barry Metzner's mutated form is able to shoot fire beams.
• Power Copying: Parasite drains the powers, memories and life-force of parahumans. He drains Supergirl's powers in the twentieth issue.
• Powers Do the Fighting:
  • In #17, several thugs try to get away after committing a kidnapping. Linda steps in the way of their car, stands her ground and lets the vehicle hit her (it helped that those thugs were dumb enough to try to run over her).
  • Parasite lets Supergirl hit him after stealing her powers. She hurt her fist.
• Power Parasite: In #20 the clone of the original Parasite drains Supergirl's powers and transmits them to the true Parasite who was fighting Superman.
• Pre Ass Kicking One Liner: In issue #19, after two thugs have been dumb enough to assail her:
  Supergirl: I take it this [pipe] is yours, guys?
  Crook 1: H-Holy...! It... It's... Oh, man, it sure is! Hey... We're awfully sorry, lady... Honest! We didn't know it was you!
  Supergirl: I'm kind of glad it was! My head's made to take this kind of abuse!— Is yours?
• Primary-Color Champion: Linda's hero costume is blue and red.
• Psychic Link: Psi had a telepathic link with her mentor Pendergast which allowed him to guide her or command her when she fought the Maid of Might.
• Psychic Powers:
  • Psi wields powers of telepathy, telekinesis, teleportation, energy manipulation and more, but her telepathy/empathy comes with a serious drawback: she can't filter out other people's thoughts and emotions. Her tekelinesis is powerful enough to smash Supergirl around.
  • Barry Metzner transforms into a mutant with powers of telepathy, telekinesis, levitation, teleportation and pyrokinesis.
• Red Is Heroic: Linda wears a red cape, skirt, boots and headband.
• Relative Error: In #20, Linda tells her friend Joan that she's got a date for lunch with Clark Kent. When Joan starts gushing about her hot date, Linda adds that Clarks is her cousin.
  Linda: 'Fraid you're on your own today, Joanie. I've got a date for lunch.
  Joan: With the gorgeous Mr. Philip Decker, I presume—?
  Linda: Nope. A different man... named Clark Kent.
  Joan: Clark Kent... THE Clark Kent, the news guy from GBS?! Don't you ever see guys who aren't nationally famous?
  Linda: Relax, Joan. Clark's my cousin!
• Revenge Before Reason: Kryptonite Man is determined to kill all Kryptonian survivors because he blames them for Krypton’s destruction and his species. Kal and Kara try to explain their people didn’t blow their own planet up, but he refuses to listen.
• Rise from Your Grave: Linda has to do this in #20 after Parasite seals her in a flying metal coffin.
• Romantic Runner-Up: Philip Decker ultimately becomes this when it's proved that Linda still loves Dick Malverne.
• Rubber-Forehead Aliens: In #21 Supergirl and her cousin meet the world-seeders, an alien race of pink-haired, blue-haired, vaguely-feline humanoids.
• Rule of Perception: When Barry attempts to mind-rape Supergirl, a pink light emerges from his head and surrounds Supergirl’s body.
• Samaritan Syndrome: Kara has to accept the fact that she cannot save everyone and sometimes she isn't needed. In a classic story from that era she was mindwiped and forgot about her Secret Identity. She got her memories back, but that incident made her realize she couldn't be Supergirl 24/7.
• Scene Cover: The cover of issue #17 features a car crashing into Linda and getting crushed. That is exactly what happens in that issue.
• Secret Chaser: In the last issue Dick Malverne shows up. He and Linda grew up together at the Midvale Orphanage, and he was constantly trying to prove she had super-powers. In a story written in 2004, it was revealed that he always knew Linda was Supergirl, but he kept mum about it.
• Secret Identity: Supergirl's secret identity is Linda Lee Danvers.
• Secret Identity Change Trick: In the first issue Kara takes the train to travel from New York to Chicago◊. Suddenly she decides to head back to the dining car◊.
• Secret-Identity Identity: Kara Zor-El is torn between her responsibilities as Supergirl and her desire to be a normal woman and lead a normal life. Unlike her cousin -whose "real" person was Superman back then-, she thought of herself as "Linda Danvers", and sometimes she felt frustrated because she spent so long being Supergirl that she forgot what being "Linda" was like.
  Besides, I could do with the time to myself... to sit back and think. It's selfish, I know, but I deserve... Whoa! There you go again, Linda!
  There's nothing selfish about wanting to get into yourself for a while instead of thinking about the whole blasted world! I do enough of that as Supergirl — and wasn't the whole reason for this move... to give myself space to be just plain Linda Danvers?
  I've been Supergirl for such a long time, it seems. Not that I'd give that up for anything... but I feel like I've totally lost hold of the part of me that doesn't scoot around the universe in shorts and a cape! I've forgotten what it feels like to be just a person... Instead of a symbol!
• Secret-Keeper:
  • Supergirl knows Clark Kent is Superman (and she admits to her friend Joan that Clark Kent is her cousin) and her best friend Barbara Gordon is Batgirl.
  • Her cousin Superman, her foster parents Fred and Edna Danvers and Barbara Gordon know that Linda Lee Danvers is Supergirl.
• Secret Secret-Keeper: Her childhood crush Dick Malverne. In 2004 it was revealed that he always knew, but he kept mum about her secret identity.
• Self-Made Orphan: Blackstarr kidnapped and considered killing her mother, but she never made the attempt.
• Sequel Series: To the 1972 series and the Superman Family magazine.
• Shapeshifting: Blackstarr can change shapes and transforming into other people.
• Shooting Superman: Lampshaded in issue #12:
  Supergirl: I hate thinking of the fortune in ammunition thugs like you have wasted on me over the years!
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: In #15, Kara does this to Blackstarr several times:
  Blackstarr: I may be undecided as to the old woman's fate, but yours is certain... death!
  Supergirl: Listen — I've been romping through the cosmos since I was 15... And threats like THAT don't even make me work up a sweat!
• Small Steps Hero: Subverted. Back in the Silver Age, Supergirl looked after orphaned kids when she wasn't taking down interplanetary dictators. By now, though, the dichotomy between her compulsion to help people and her desire for a normal life has gotten so bad that she has to accept for her sanity's sake she can't solve every problem in the world.
• Soft Water: Justified. In #20, Parasite seals Linda in a flying metal coffin. Linda manages to rip it open, but she finds herself being one mile high and being unable to fly. So she glides downwards with her cloak, knowing her indestructible costume would take the brunt of her impact in the lake.
• Spin Attack: In #20, Parasite grabs Linda's cape, spins her around and slams her into a train track.
• Star-Spangled Spandex: Reactron wears a purple outfit with big five-pointed stars all over it.
• Superpowered Evil Side: Prof. Barry Metzer built a machine to make his brain and body evolve... and he developed an evil, ruthless split personality who took over.
• Superpower Lottery: Supergirl hit the absolute jackpot, being an Earth-One Kryptonian. She is a Flying Brick with Super-Senses, eye beams, and several kinds of breath weapons.
• Super-Breath: Linda has this power. In issue #1 shes freezes a shower of molten metal. In issue #23, she blows a bunch of innocent bystanders away the battlefield.
• Super-Senses:
  • Supergirl's Kryptonian senses allow her see or hear anything. In the first issue she complains about it◊.
  • Supergirl's hearing allows her recognize people's heartbeats.
    Supergirl: Waitaminnit! That heartbeat... I've heard it before! With hearing as sensitive as mine, they're as individual as fingerprints!
• Super-Speed:
  • In #21, Kara shows how incredibly fast she is:
    Take a stopwatch to it if you'd like — from the instant Supergirl leaves the Kryptonite Man — to speeding to her cousin's side — turning back a miniature alien invasion — and returning to her starting point — within scant seconds!
  • Linda can fly from Chicago to her foster parent's home in seconds.
• Super-Strength: Linda can move planets. In issue #20 she catches a falling copter effortlessly.
• Super-Toughness: Supergirl is a nigh invulnerable Flying Brick on par with her cousin. In #1 she shielded several men from a shower of molten steel with her body. Afterwards she endures blows, fire, energy blasts, space vacuum...
• Telepathy: Barry can read and tear minds after mutating.
• Temporary Love Interest: Philip Decker dated Linda for a while. They quarreled, she told him to not speak her until he was ready to be sincere... and they never talked again. Philip never was seen again after the final issue. In 2003, Diane Schutz wrote him out completely when she picked up a plot thread left dangling from this run and firmly established that Dick Malverne was Linda's main Love Interest.
• Teleportation: Supergirl runs into several psychic villains like Psi or Barry Metzner's mutant self who can teleport themselves.
• That Man Is Dead: College advisor Barry Metzner tests an evolutionary machine in himself and accidentally creates a twisted, evil personality which takes over his body. When Supergirl tries to reach him out, he shouts Barry Metzner doesn't exist anymore.
  Supergirl: You don't believe that, Dr. Metzner!
  Metzner: Do not call me that, girl! I warn you|
  Supergirl: You can't kill me, Dr. Metzner! You're not bad... You're no killer!
  Metzner: I am Barry Metzner no more, curse you!
• There Was a Door: In #1, Kara flies in a factory through a smokestack and bursting through a furnace's hatch.
• Thinking Tic: In #20, Linda brings her finger up to her lip as she ponders, an old habit of hers.
• Those Wacky Nazis: Blackstarr is a Nazi super-villain.
• Tomato in the Mirror: In issue #19, there are two Supergirls: One of them is a depowered Linda Danvers and the another is a Supergirl who doesn't even remember having an alter ego. Finally "Linda" is confronted by Supergirl, who explains she is clone of hers whom she fought in an earlier adventure. "Linda" gets upset, but she at last remembers putting a block on Supergirl's memories and attempting to steal her civilian identity because she had no one, only for forgetting her origins, too. The fake Linda has a breakdown, but the real Supergirl promises helping her find her own identity.
• Triple Shifter: The reason that Kara moves to Chicago from New York City is that she was hardly having any sleep as working as a soap opera actress, which was extremely time-consuming and only left nighttime to operate as Supergirl, and she was going mad due to the lack of sleep (her body doesn't need the rest but her mind does) and private life, so she needed a change of scenery.
• Two First Names: Supergirl's civilian Earth name is Linda Lee Danvers. In the final scene, when someone calls her "Linda Lee", she is surprised because no one in Chicago should know her middle name.
• Unrealistic Black Hole: Blackstar is able to form -typically two-dimensional- black holes in mid-air which she uses as a weapon to try to crush or tear her enemies apart.
• Up, Up and Away!: She does this as soon as first issue's cover◊
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Rachel Berkowitz was a cheerful, sweet little girl... and then the Third Reich happened. She was forcefully taken from her parents whom she blamed for not saving her, dumped in a concentration camp and raised by Nazis. Forty years later she's super-villain Blackstarr and is twisted and full of hatred.
• Villain Ball: Downplayed. Parasite told Kara everything about his death trap before sealing her in. However he waited several minutes before leaving the place. And he left because his flying power was fading (so he couldn’t stay).
• Villainous BSoD: When Barry believes he has killed Supergirl, he loses it completely; to the point his human conscience regains control.
• Villain Teleportation: Barry's mutated body is able to dissolve and rematerialize far away. He uses this ability to run away from Supergirl.
• Wake Up, Go to School & Save the World: At this point in her career, Linda is a veteran crime-fighter and one of the mightiest heroes in the planet. However, attending college, making friends and having romantic relationships is as hard as ever.
• You Have Failed Me: In "Guess Who's About to Die!", a Mad Scientist's attempt to clone Supergirl results in six dwarf-sized copies. He sends them out to kill Supergirl but they fail, causing his enraged boss crush his skull.
  Drake: Th-The Chairman! Then it... It, ah... Is her— er... SHE?!
  Chairman: Supergirl! Who you swore to me would die before before she could return here and interfere again! You realize what this means, Drake? Not only have your clones failed— our entire operation has veen put in dire jeopardy!
  Drake: I... Ah, I...
  Chairman: Say nothing! You failed me... And that I will not tolerate! You were given a chance— and one is all I will allow!
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: The Parasite clone was programmed to self-destruct after accomplishing that task he was created for.

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