Supergirl | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Publisher | DC Comics |
First appearance | Supergirl (vol. 4) #1 (September 1996) |
Created by | Peter David Gary Frank (based upon the Kara Zor-El character by Otto Binder and Al Plastino) |
In-story information | |
Alter ego | Linda Danvers |
Species | Fallen Angel (formerly) Metahuman (currently) |
Place of origin | Silver City – Hell |
Team affiliations | Teen Titans Justice League of Amazons Justice League |
Notable aliases | Kara Zor-El Superwoman |
Abilities |
(Previously):
|
Linda Danvers, also known as Supergirl , is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Peter David and artist Gary Frank, she debuted in Supergirl (vol. 4) #1 (September 1996). She is not to be confused with Linda Lee Danvers, the secret identity used by the Kara Zor-El incarnation of Supergirl prior to the events of 1985's Crisis on Infinite Earths .
Peter David adapted Linda Danvers as a separate character based on that of Kara Zor-El, who had been wiped out of continuity by DC Comics to enhance Superman's status as the sole survivor of Krypton. [1]
According to David himself, he was aware that many readers would still want Kara Zor-El back as Supergirl, so Linda was created for the fans to feel "more at home. So I gave her as many of the exterior accoutrements of Kara's former life as I possibly could. I gave her parents, and a secret identity of Linda Danvers, in a small town (called “Leesburg”, in deference to Linda Lee), and a boyfriend named Dick Malverne, and put Stanhope College nearby. Some fans thought I was being 'in-jokey.' Nah. I just wanted to make the old readers feel at home as best I could." [2]
Linda's Supergirl title (vol. 4) ran between 1997 and 2003, when DC decided to bring Kara Zor-El back as Supergirl. Starting from issue #51, Linda changes her traditional Supergirl costume to the one conceived for the DC Animated Universe, donned by Kara In-Ze.
According to Peter David, if his run on Supergirl had not ended, he would have had the series being a sort of Birds of Prey type comic, featuring the trio of Linda Danvers as Superwoman, Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El as the current Supergirl, and Power Girl. [3]
According to an interview with Newsarama, following the events of the "Infinite Crisis" storyline, editor-in-chief Dan DiDio stated that the Matrix Supergirl was wiped from existence. However, Infinite Crisis writer Geoff Johns later stated, "As for this…huh? Linda Danvers hasn't been retconned out at all." [4]
Linda Danvers (daughter of policeman Fred Danvers and his wife Sylvia) began her life in a less-than-heroic fashion. Lured into a world of darkness by her boyfriend Buzz, Linda was involved in many illicit and illegal activities (such as murder and torture). Little did she know that she was intended to be a sacrifice for a demonic cult for which Buzz worked. Buzz slashed her with a dagger to use her blood to release a demon into the world, but Matrix, the protoplasmic Supergirl, intervened. She used her shape-shifting powers to try plugging the gaping wounds on Linda, but instead became fused with her. Linda and Matrix became a new Supergirl. Armed with newfound superhuman abilities and the power to change from the Linda Danvers form to the taller Supergirl form, "Linda" (who was actually a merged Matrix and Linda) began to fight crime and demonic activity, on her road to redemption for all the crimes she's committed. She was hesitant to reveal her situation to her adoptive "brother" Superman, fearing his reaction to her co-opting a human life, but he accepted the change. Further complicating the situation was the revelation that Matrix's sacrifice in attempting to save Linda transformed her and Linda into the Earth-born Angel of Fire.
When Linda became an Earth-born Angel (one of three, the others are Blithe and Comet), she developed wings of flame and flame vision. [5] She discovered that she could teleport in an S-shaped burst of flame. She used her powers to fight demons and dark gods, and even her fellow Earth-born Angel Blithe. Linda eventually learnt that an evangelical preacher had begun a church with Supergirl as its lead centerpiece. The Silver Age character of Dick Malverne returned and started a relationship with Linda. However, Supergirl later found Dick dead in his apartment, as he had foregone proper treatment in favor of appealing to the Church of Supergirl. Enraged, she attacked the church.
Linda met an angelic ally, the equine Comet, who was revealed to be her friend, Andrea Jones, and the Angel of Love, born in an accident in an ice cavern. Stranger still, Linda began to encounter a young boy named Wally, who claimed to be what is known in the DC Universe as the Presence (his name, he explained, was a variation on "Yahweh", the Hebrew name for the Almighty God). Wally helped Linda through her strange transformations, especially when her wings changed from angelic to bat-like. Linda also found herself fighting a superhuman named Twilight, whose dark powers were almost strong enough to overpower Linda's angelic abilities. Her greatest challenge came when Linda was captured by a strangely Wally-like man, who was the Carnivore, the first vampire. She defeated him, with the help of an angelic figure, simply called "Kara." In her defeat of Carnivore, her Matrix side was ripped away, leaving Linda alone once again.
After the split, Linda retained half of the super-strength and invulnerability she had when fused with Matrix/Supergirl and could only leap 1/8 of a mile. Using some items from a costume shop, Linda created a white, blue, and red Supergirl costume (the same costume used by the animated version of Supergirl in Superman: The Animated Series ) and acted as Supergirl, while searching for Matrix, with the help of her demonic ex-boyfriend Buzz and fellow superhero Mary Marvel. Even with diminished abilities, she was still powerful enough to stop Bizarro, and even found herself fighting a Bizarro Supergirl. Linda's search led her to the Amazon, where Matrix was held prisoner by Lilith, the mother of all demons, who had sent Twilight after Supergirl, holding Twilight's sister hostage to keep her under her evil control. Lilith fatally injured Mary Marvel, Twilight, and Linda, but not before Matrix was freed from Lilith's prison. Linda asked Matrix to merge with Twilight, and Twilight became the new Angel of Fire in the process, using her powers to heal Mary and Linda, thus giving Linda all the powers she had had when she was merged with Matrix. At this point, Matrix passed the Supergirl mantle on to Linda.
Linda was the new Supergirl for only six issues of the 1996 series. With her powers back to Matrix's original (non-angelic) levels, Linda encountered a rocketship that contained a young, vibrant Kara Zor-El from the Pre-Crisis reality. After a rocky start, the two became close, with Linda mentoring Kara on how to be a hero.
Kara's presence in the Post-Crisis era was going to destabilize time. The Spectre (Hal Jordan incarnation) appeared and said that Kara was destined to die. Apparently, a cosmic entity called the Fatalist had altered the timeline for his own amusement and to vex his master, Xenon, a being with a pathological hatred of Supergirl. Not surprisingly, the young Kara Zor-El did not tamely accept that she was destined to die at a young age, and tearfully begged Linda to find some way to save her. Linda lied to her, in order to calm her down and send her away; only after she had departed did Kara Zor-El realize Linda's intent—Linda secretly took Kara's place, and was sent to the Pre-Crisis era, posing as Kara and expecting to die in her place, in order to provide Kara Zor-El with a chance at life. The Pre-Crisis Superman uncovered her ruse (upon her arrival in his universe, she tried to repeat Kara Zor-El's origin story, but his superhuman abilities allowed him to notice details that made it clear she was lying, such as the fact that her costume was made of Earth materials) and admitted he was in love with her. The two married and had a daughter, Ariella. Linda even changed her costume to cover more skin. Linda's very presence had altered the timeline, so the Spectre made her return home, not only to restore the timestream but to save Kara from Xenon, who had captured the young Supergirl and planned to kill her.
Linda defeated Xenon, and had to send frightened young Kara back to her universe, knowing Kara, as an adult, would eventually die in the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Linda's daughter was spared from being erased from the timeline by the Spectre (Linda informed the Spectre if he did not save Ariella, she would let the universe die), but Linda was heartbroken over her actions. She learned that her parents had just had a second child, ironically named "Wally". Linda reunited with her parents for one last time before leaving everyone and hanging up her cape. She left a note for Clark and Lois explaining her decision, saying she felt she had let her loved ones down and so she was no longer worthy of wearing the S.
In Reign in Hell #1, July 2008, the team of Shadowpact attacks Linda Danvers in her Gotham City apartment, which makes Linda fight back. She manifests the flaming wings she had while merged with Matrix, but still loses to the collective powers of Blue Devil and Enchantress. However she is teleported to Hell, as Hell is recalling all of its "debts".
In Reign in Hell #6, Linda reappears in the Doctor Occult backstory. She appears as a fallen angel summoned by Lilith but mysteriously released. In Reign in Hell #7, Linda uses her flame vision to kill some injured demons who were huddled around a tiny campfire, Dr. Occult is horrified by her willingness to kill innocents. Linda believes that no one in Hell is innocent, and then accuses Dr. Occult of being a damned soul. Linda says she does not deserve to be trapped in Hell, and that she would see everybody burned to char before she accepted being kept in there. Dr. Occult casts a spell to show Linda who she really is, and she flies away in horror.
Original powers: Linda was originally a normal human, with no superhuman abilities. Upon fusing with the Matrix Supergirl, Linda gained her psychokinetic abilities. This granted her an incredible level of superhuman strength and speed, near invulnerability to harm, and the power to fly at high speeds. Linda was also able to produce concussive blasts of telekinetic energy, typically referred to as "psi blasts." Linda was also able to change from her normal, Linda Danvers persona into her "Supergirl" form which was taller, had blonde hair, and a larger bust. The transformation was purely cosmetic, as Linda retained her powers in either form.
Earth-Born Angel powers: After being merged with Matrix for some time, Linda became the Earth-Born Angel of Fire. While she retained her original abilities, she also gained the ability to produce bursts of fire from her eyes (called Flame Vision), form angelic wings composed of flames, and could use her wings to create a flaming portal that allowed her to "shunt" (teleport) long distances. Though Linda originally lost her angelic powers after being separated from Matrix, she later seemed to have regained them during the "Reign in Hell" mini-series.
Reduced powers: After being separated from Matrix, Linda found herself with reduced powers. She could no longer shapeshift into her "Supergirl" form, and all of her angelic powers were lost. In addition, Linda's strength and durability were reduced by half, she lost her ability to fly and produce psionic blasts, and instead was only able to leap around 1/8th of a mile in a single bound.
Restored powers: After encountering Twilight as the new Earth-Born Angel of Fire, Linda regained all of the powers that she'd possessed while initially merged with Matrix, sans her ability to assume her "Supergirl" form. Her strength and durability returned to their original levels and she was able to fly and produce psionic blasts of force once more.
Title | Material collected | ISBN | Year |
---|---|---|---|
Supergirl: Book One | Supergirl (vol. 4) #1–9, Supergirl (vol. 4) Annual #1, Supergirl Plus #1 and a story from Showcase '96 #8. | 978-1401260927 | 2016 |
Supergirl: Book Two | Supergirl (vol. 4) #10–20, Supergirl (vol. 4) Annual #2 | 978-1401265533 | 2017 |
Supergirl: Book Three | Supergirl (vol. 4) #21–31, 1,000,000; Resurrection Man #16–17 | 978–1401268794 | 2017 |
Supergirl: Book Four | Supergirl (vol. 4) #34–43; Young Justice #12-13 | 978-1401273644 | 2018 |
Supergirl: Many Happy Returns | Supergirl (vol. 4) #75-80 | 978-1401200855 | 2003 |
Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. The character made her first appearance in Action Comics #252 and was created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino.
Kryptonians are a fictional extraterrestrial race within the DC Comics universe that originated on the planet Krypton. The term originated from the stories of DC Comics superhero, Superman. The stories also use "Kryptonian" as an adjective to refer to anything created by or associated with the planet itself or the cultures that existed on it.
Power Girl, also known as Kara Zor-L, and Karen Starr is a superheroine appearing in American comic books by DC Comics, making her first appearance in All Star Comics #58. Power Girl is the cousin of the superhero Superman, but from an alternate universe in the fictional multiverse in which DC Comics stories are set. Originally hailing from the world of Earth-Two, first envisioned as the home of DC's wartime heroes as published in 1940s comic books, Power Girl becomes stranded in the main universe where DC stories are set, and becomes acquainted with that world's Superman and her own counterpart, Supergirl.
Superwoman is the name of several fictional characters from DC Comics. Most of them are, like Supergirl, women with powers similar to those of Superman, like flight, invulnerability, and enhanced strength.
Supergirl is a fictional superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character is best known as one of the characters to have assumed the mantle of Supergirl. Created by writer Steven Seagle and artist Scott McDaniel, she first appeared in Superman: The 10¢ Adventure #1 (2003) as the alleged daughter of Superman. She is later found to be a human girl who was genetically altered by the villain Brainiac to appear Kryptonian. The character dies thwarting a plot involving Brainiac 13. Superman #200 implies that when the timeline realigned itself, Cir-El was erased from existence.
Kara Zor-El (Supergirl) also known by her adoptive names of Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Kent, Linda Lang, and Kara Danvers, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by Otto Binder and designed by Al Plastino. Danvers first appeared in the story "The Supergirl from Krypton" in Action Comics #252. Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero identity Superman. Her father, Zor-El, is the brother of Superman's father, Jor-El. During the 1980s and the revolution of the Modern Age of Comics, Superman editors believed the character's history had become too convoluted, thus killing Supergirl during the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and retconning her out of existence.
Zor-El is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. A Kryptonian, he is the brother of Jor-El, husband of Alura, father of Supergirl, and paternal uncle of Superman.
The Superman dynasty, an extension of the House of El, is a lineage of DC Comics superheroes. The term is used for the descendants of Kal-El, the original Superman, who continue to uphold his legacy of heroism well into the 853rd century, as depicted in the DC One Million crossover. Repeated references to members of the Superman dynasty, as Superman's "descendants" and at least one reference to them as the "blood of his blood" would seem to indicate that they are, in fact, the biological descendants of Superman in some fashion.
Satan Girl is a supervillain from the Supergirl series of comics. Originally, she was an evil duplicate of Kara Zor-El created by red kryptonite in Adventure Comics #313 (1963). She attempted to kill Supergirl's fellow female Legionnaires so she could sustain her independent existence.
Supergirl is a DC Comics superhero character.
Supergirl is the name of seven comic book series published by DC Comics, featuring various characters of the same name. The majority of the titles feature Superman's cousin Kara Zor-El.
The fictional superheroine Supergirl has been adapted into pop culture several times since 1984. This includes a feature film and several animated and live-action television programs.
Alura In-Ze is a character appearing in media published by DC Comics, usually those involving Superman. Alura is the Kryptonian daughter of In-Zee, wife of Zor-El, mother of Supergirl, and paternal aunt of Superman. Created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino, the character first appeared in Action Comics #252.
Thara Ak-Var is a fictional character appearing in comic books published by DC Comics, created by Geoff Johns and James Robinson. The character first appeared during the Superman: New Krypton storyline in Superman #681. She is the latest character to take on the role of Flamebird. Along with the new Nightwing, Thara is the feature character in Action Comics beginning with issue #875. Thara Ak-Var's name is a reference to Ak-Var, who was the second pre-Crisis Flamebird, and his wife, Thara.
"Pilot" is the first episode of the American superhero television series Supergirl. It premiered on CBS on October 26, 2015. The episode was written by series developers/creators Greg Berlanti, Ali Adler and Andrew Kreisberg, and directed by Glen Winter.
Alexandra "Alex" Danvers Ph.D. M.D., also known as Sentinel, is a fictional character from the Arrowverse television series Supergirl, portrayed by actress Chyler Leigh. Created by executive producers Greg Berlanti, Ali Adler, and Andrew Kreisberg, the character was introduced in the pilot episode as the elder adoptive sister of protagonist Kara Danvers / Supergirl. Alex is a bioengineer, physician, scientist and a field agent of the DEO, a secret government agency that works to protect the Earth from extraterrestrial threats. She later becomes the director of the organization at the end of season three, after having been J'onn's second-in-command for years, and remains so through season five. Alex is also featured in the show's digital tie-in comic book series, Adventures of Supergirl, as well as the 2017 four-part Arrowverse crossover event "Crisis on Earth-X", with Leigh reprising her role across The Flash, Arrow, and Legends of Tomorrow.
Clark Kent, also known by his birth name Kal-El or superhero alias Superman, is a fictional character and a superhero in the 2021 The CW television series Superman & Lois; originally developed as a part of the Arrowverse franchise of television series, first mentioned in the 2015 pilot of Supergirl, based on the character of the same name created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, and adapted for television by Glen Winter, Greg Berlanti and Todd Helbing from the previous Arrowverse adaptation of the character by Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, and Jessica Queller. Clark Kent had been portrayed by Tyler Hoechlin in the Arrowverse since 2016 prior to the development of Superman & Lois as a spin-off of Supergirl, in which Hoechlin reprised his role as co-headliner, initially said to be playing the same incarnation of Superman he had played in Supergirl, before the series was retroactively established to be set in its own continuity, on an Earth other from Earth-Prime, in its second season finale.
Kara Danvers, also known as Kara Zor-El on her homeworld, is a fictional character in the Arrowverse franchise, mainly the television series Supergirl. Adapted for television by Greg Berlanti, Ali Adler and Andrew Kreisberg, the character is based on the DC Comics character Kara Zor-El (Supergirl), created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino. Kara is introduced in the pilot episode as the adopted younger sister of Alex Danvers. Kara Danvers is portrayed by Melissa Benoist as an adult, and Malina Weissman and Izabela Vidovic as a teenager. After her planet, Krypton, was destroyed, Kara and her cousin Superman came to Earth. There she became the adopted sister of Alex Danvers and, later, after deciding to use her powers to help others under the persona of Supergirl, she discovers that her sister is part of the Department of Extranormal Operations (DEO), a massive underground anti-alien organization secretly under the control of the Martian Manhunter. She is a friend and frequent ally of the superhero speedster the Flash and vigilante archer Green Arrow.