Supergirl

The Original Supergirl

Krypton and Argo City

Supergirl was created during the "Silver Age" of DC Comics, in an era when Superman mythos were unbound by the limits of science or storytelling. "Imaginary stories" were common but Superman's cousin turned out to be real.

Prior to Krypton's destruction, Superman's uncle Zor-El had invented an experimental dome to protect Argo City and eradicate all disease. When the planet exploded, the dome kept Argo intact and the city was propelled into space by the force of the exploding planet. Zor-El and his wife Alura survived. (Action Comics #252)

The ground under Argo City was turned to Kryptonite, so they covered it with a lead surface to protect themselves. The El's daughter, Kara, was born in space. (#309) She was named for the ancient Kryptonian goddess of beauty. (#314)

The Kryptonite was a constant danger, though, and a tear in Argo's lead sheath led to the death of one of Kara's childhood friends, Morina. (#371)

During this time, Kara's cousin Kal-El (Superman) was living on Earth and had established a career as Superboy. During one of his space missions, he encountered a vessel from Argo City and was knocked unconscious. He was revived by Zor-El in the city, but had amnesia. Zor-El was moving the city to another system in search of a new home planet. When an alien took hold of Argo, Kal-El went out and sacrificed himself to save it. The aliens removed the Argonites' memories of Superboy and when he regained his own memories, he escaped and returned to Earth. (#358)

Argo's search for a new home planet led to a system with a yellow sun but they were sabotaged by a superstitious old man called Jer-Em. They punished him by sending him to the Phantom Zone.

When Kara was a teenager, Argo City was bombarded by meteors that destroyed its leaden shield—its protection against the Kryptonite beneath. Zor-El and Alura sent fifteen-year-old Kara to Earth before Argo's destruction. Her parents were among the last survivors and a last minute effort saved their lives as well — Zor-El projected he and Alura into a dimension called the Survival Zone (similar to the Phantom Zone). They were stranded there and had no way to contact anyone. (#309)

Arrival on Earth

Superman was dumbfounded when Kara Zor-El — an actual living relative — arrived on Earth. His way of welcoming her was to consign the girl to an orphanage in the small town of Midvale. He insisted that she keep her existence carefully hidden and gave her the alias of Linda Lee, ostensibly so she could serve as his "secret emergency weapon" while learning to master her super-powers. In public, she would later be known as Supergirl. (Action Comics #252) Note: Supergirl's arrival date was said to be May 18, 1959, at the anniversary celebration of her arrival. (Action #305)

Supergirl's first several stories set the tone for the feature. The drama centered around the orphanage and on securing her cousin's approval. There Supergirl helped care for the younger children and tried find adoptive parents for her friends. (#253) She had mixed feelings about being adopted herself; on one hand she longed to be part of a loving family. On the other, it would require considerable effort to conceal her secret identity from a new family. (#254)

Supergirl traveled through time into the 21st century where she met the young Tommy Tomorrow in an interplanetary orphanage. Tommy would grow up to be a famous space explorer. (#255) Note: In this issue, her wig was colored black instead of brown. This was the character from whom Supergirl took over in Action Comics.

Superman was always testing Kara, but even when she excelled he seemed to find a reason for not introducing her to the public. He feared the reprisals of his devious enemies, and she just was too valuable as his "secret weapon."

In her first crossover tale with him, Superman enlisted Supergirl to play the role of "Mighty Maid." Kara dressed up as a super-woman from the "Fourth Dimension" in order divert alien attackers. (#260) A full-length team-up story followed two issues later. (#262)

Supergirl also met other super-people in outer space. She rescued a boy from the ocean who wore an unusual necklace and was remanded to the care of Linda's orphanage. He was Valzorr, the Prince of the planet Korvia, who had come to Earth for pleasure but his spaceship was wrecked and Supergirl helped repaired it. (#263)

Linda actively tried to prevent her own adoption because she didn't want to have to account for her actions as Supergirl. Despite making herself appear undesirable, the Wilkins family adopted her. Mr. Wilkins was a police officer and Supergirl disguised herself as Superman to help him. The Wilkinses decided that his job was too dangerous for Linda and she was returned to the orphanage. (#264)

One day in science class, Linda Lee was given the idea that there must be a "double" of herself somewhere in the universe. To see, Superman used his Super-Univac computer to locate such a world: the planet Terra. He agreed to send Supergirl into space as part of her ongoing training.

Terra was Earth's twin in most ways and Supergirl met her doppelganger, Marvel Maid, in the city of Macropolis. At the champion's orbiting Fortress of Marvels, Supergirl learned about the heroine's father, Jaal-Kor, who lived deep beneath Terra. He saved his daughter by putting her in a super-borer that emerged 4,000 miles overhead. Cosmic rays in the surface atmosphere gave her super-powers, and she became the planet's first super-heroine. Marvel Maid's super-cousin, Marvel Man, arrived after her and was her secret weapon. (#272)

Supergirl sympathized with Marvel Man and a stint standing in for Marvel Maid, Kara recommended to her that he be introduced to society — and Marvel Maid agreed! (#273)

Super-Pets

Streaky the Super-Cat

Supergirl met Superman's pet dog, Krypto (who first appeared in Adventure Comics #210, Mar. 1955). (Action #258) She adopted her own orange cat and named it Streaky, because she had a lightning-like mark on her fur.

Later, Supergirl was trying to create an antidote to Kryptonite by treating it with chemicals. She thought she'd failed and discarded the results, but she had unknowingly created a new mineral, which was later dubbed "X-Kryptonite." Streaky came upon this X-Kryptonite and gained super-powers from it, but the powers wore off within the same day. (Action Comics #261)

That X-Kryptonite became embedded in a ball of string and each time Streaky played with it, she regained her super-powers. She met Krypto (#266) and Beppo the super-monkey, too. (#277)

Streaky was forgotten after Linda moved away from Midvale.

Comet the Super-Horse

Supergirl's second 'pet' was a super-horse that she named Comet. She had dreamt of Comet in anticipation of visit to a horse ranch. (Action Comics #292) The next day, the Danvers family went to the ranch where Linda literally met the horse of her dreams. Comet, as it turned out, had telepathic super-powers and had reached out to Linda in her dreams.

Comet had an incredible story: he was actually a centaur named Biron who was born in ancient Greece. Biron fell in love with the sorceress Circe, who concocted a potion to transform Biron into a human. But Circe's enemy, Maldor, sabotaged her and Biron became a full horse instead.

Circe could not undo this magic, so she bestowed Biron with "all the super-powers of the gods" — strength, speed, wisdom and telepathy as well as immortality. Maldor wasn't content with this and cast another spell that expelled Biron from Earth. He was catapulted into space and trapped on a planet in the Saggitarius constellation.

Biron was stranded there for centuries, until Supergirl's spaceship from Argo City passed and disrupted the spell that kept him there. Biron followed Kara to Earth and began attempting to reach her telepathically. Supergirl shared adventures with him as Super-Horse. But just before Supergirl could convince her parents to buy Comet, another man snatched him up. (#293)

Supergirl was soon reunited with him when Comet was (ironically) hired to portray Super-Horse in a Hollywood movie. She helped him 'appear' to have super-powers. (#294)

Streaky and Comet were drafted by the Legion of Super-Heroes (along with Krypto and Beppo) to become the Legion of Super-Pets (Adventure Comics #293) and that group convened several times.

Superman called on Comet and Supergirl for a mission to the planet Zerox, the Sorcerer's World. The horse helped Prince Endor, who cast a temporary spell that enabled Comet to become a human. Back on Earth, he would then transform from horse to centaur to human whenever a comet came into Earth's vicinity. In these times as a human, he used the identity of cowboy "Bronco Bill," and flirted with Supergirl (who was unaware of this alter ego). (Action #301)

Biron was falling in love with Supergirl so he traveled into the past , where Circe finally succeeded in changing him into a human. As "Bill," he reconnected with Linda but when he became a fugitive, he was forced to transform back into a horse to save himself. (#311)

Comet made many appearances but he was never freed of his curse and the character was abandoned as Supergirl entered adulthood. His last appearance was brief, in Adventure Comics #392 (April 1970).

Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes

Superman (when he was Superboy) had a long history as a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, a group of super-powered teens from the future. Supergirl was also invited to join this group. This story is a chronological anomaly. It was only the third appearance of the group in print, and these Legionnaires — Cosmic Boy, Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl — were said to be the children of the original Legionnaires and it was ten years after Superboy's first encounter with them.

They visited Supergirl in Midvale and invited her to try out for the group. She traveled to the 30th century with them and participated in the Legion membership trials. But she was disqualified after Red Kryptonite temporarily transformed her into an adult (Legionnaires must be under 18). She also met members Chameleon Boy, Colossal Boy and Invisible Kid. (Action Comics #267)

Their being "children" of the original Legion was a detail that was ignored after this; it was edited out of some reprints of this story. After Action #267 it was made clear that both Superboy and Supergirl interacted with the same Legionnaires. After this story it was presumed that Supergirl's always traveled 990 years in the future (because Superboy traveled 1,000 years). Supergirl's meeting with the Legion strongly parallels the original story in Adventure Comics #247.

A year after that first encounter, Supergirl was given a second chance to apply for membership. She was invited by Saturn Girl and two super-girlfriends, Phantom Girl and Triplicate Girl. This time she was admitted after recovering King Arthur's legendary sword, Excalibur. She also met Brainiac 5, the good-natured descendant of the evil android. The two of them were instantly enamored of one another, and he gifted her a duplicate of his force-field belt. The force field protected her from Kryptonite, but it broke shortly after she returned to the 20th century. (Action #276)

The Legionnaires became quick friends with Kara and continued to visit her frequently in the 20th century. She participated regularly in missions, and sometimes just for fun, like when they staged a good-natured prank on the super-cousins to celebrate the anniversary of Supergirl's arrival on Earth. (Superman #152)

Supergirl responded to their summons sent via miniature Legion statues and went to the future to win the Legion's battle against the Positive Man. On this trip she met Whizzy, a telepathic super-cat who was allegedly descended from her pet Streaky. (Action #287)

She met Superboy's 20th century friend, Mon-El, and other inhabitants of the Phantom Zone. (Action #288, 298, 307)

If Supergirl ever traveled 1,000 years into the future, she would interact with the Adult Legion, a time when the Legionnaires were 10 years older. She tried to hook Superman up with Saturn Woman, but it turned out that she was married to Lightning Man. This story featured a notoriously awkward conclusion wherein Superman told his cousin that he'd love to find someone like her. This inspired Kara to try again. She found a true Superwoman who was an older "duplicate" of herself on planet Staryl, but that plot failed as well. (Action #289)

The 30th century was apparently rife with Red Kryptonite, which produced a new, unexpected result every time. Twice, Supergirl was transformed into other beings. First, she was split in two and the doppelganger became Satan Girl (Adventure #313) and another time she became the masked Unknown Boy. (#334)

When Queen Azura of the planet Femnaz hypnotized the girl Legionnaires into attacking their male comrades, Supergirl invented Cancellite gas to nullify Chameleon Boy's powers. (Adventure #326)

Superboy and Supergirl were both forced to temporarily leave the Legion when the Earth was surrounded by a cloud of Green Kryptonite, (#350) but they rejoined as soon as it was eliminated. (#351)

Notes About Time Travel

Superboy has no memory of his adventures with Supergirl and the Legion because their memories were selectively wiped after each visit. In Adventure Comics #333 (June 1965) editor Mort Weisinger explained, "Supergirl uses post-hypnotic suggestion to make the Boy of Steel forget about her when he returns to twentieth-century Smallville."

Supergirl's first chronological meeting with her cousin was when she flew back to Superboy's time, in Adventure Comics #278 (Nov. 1960). She was hoping that the mission would prove to Superman that she could protect her identity and be trusted to be revealed to the world. Ma and Pa Kent called her Linda Kent and introduced her as Clark's cousin, but he never learned who she really was.

The Legionnaires recruited Superboy and Supergirl nearly simultaneously but the cousins traveled to the 30th century from different points in the 20th century, a decade apart. Most Legion adventures featured only one of the cousins. The first Legion story where they appeared together was Adventure Comics #304 (Jan. 1963), at the funeral of Lightning Lad.

After a similar meeting in Adventure #350 (Nov. 1966), Brainiac 5 implanted a microscopic dose of kryptonite in both their brains to wipe their memories.

READ MORE »The Comics Roundtable: Deck Log Entry #99

Adoption and Introduction to Society

Supergirl's popularity with readers increased steadily and it became time for the character to settle into a more a permanent home—and look. If a DC house ad is to be believed, 20,000 readers voted on what her new hairstyle should be. It was announced in Action Comics #278 (July 1961) that she'd move away from the braided pigtails (which had drawn lots of criticism from female readers) to a tame style dubbed the "campus cuddle-bun." It was changed as part of the story in Action Comics #279 (Aug. 1961). This was also the start of a multipart story involving an arch rival from Kandor …

Supergirl wished for little more than for Superman to introduce her to the public as his cousin. He was finally prepared to do this, but an evil Kandorian named Lesla-Lar stole Supergirl's powers with a "Kryptonite-tinged" beam and Superman was forced to called it off. (Action Comics #278)

Lesla-Lar was a young Kandorian scientist who lived a life parallel to Supergirl's. She bore a strong resemblance to Kara and was also an orphan. Lar was so gifted that she created her own version of Superman's Exchange Ray that could swap a person between Earth and the tiny bottled city of Kandor.

Lesla-Lar sapped Supergirl's powers just before Linda Lee accepted Fred and Edna Danvers as her adoptive parents (Streaky came with her). Her new father suggested that she was too "grown-up" for pigtails so she changed her hairstyle herself (a visit to the salon would have revealed it as a wig). Note: The Danverses also had a son named Jan, who died in Korea. (#303)

When Linda went to sleep that night, Lesla-Lar swapped places with her, stranding Linda on Kandor and brainwashing her to think she was Lar. Meanwhile on Earth, Lar broke Lex Luthor out of prison and asked to be "his secret weapon." In Kandor, Supergirl recovered her senses and was about to tell the authorities everything when Lesla swapped them back just in time; Linda wondered if it had all been a dream. (#279)

Lesla-Lar changed places with Supergirl again and helped Luthor begin work on a new Kryptonite ray. Later she met Superman and managed to fool him into believing Linda had regained her super-powers. He was so impressed with her that he renewed his promise to introduce Supergirl to the world. (#280)

Krypto the super-dog sniffed out something strange about Lesla/Supergirl and activated Superman's Exchange Ray to swap the two back to their rightful places. Naturally, Linda was powerless again and Superman tested a theory with her. By traveling to the past, they learned that she still had her powers there. (#281)

Superman next created an imitation of the Legion's Time Bubble and sent Supergirl to the future. She had powers there too, and helped Gizmak-Ral and his "Unconquerables" defeat Martian overlords. Behind the scenes, Mr. Mxyzptlk magically gave Linda super-powers again (he believed her to be an ordinary girl). On Kandor Lesla-Lar was arrested by the authorities for using forbidden technology. (#282)

Supergirl and Superman learned about Mr. Mxyzptlk's interference, but also, her real powers had returned. Superman resolved to introduce her to the public at last! (#284)

This epic concluded with a book-length tale. Supergirl felt pressured to do well on her first public outing. When an alien monster appeared out of the sky and began trampling everything, Supergirl sent for help from Brainiac 5 and the Legion. He sent her a shrinking ray that Supergirl used to shrink the monster. After this, the accolades poured in; Supergirl was even fêted at the White House and Superman created an annex for her in his Fortress of Solitude. (#285)

Boyfriends

When Supergirl was rescuing a ship at sea, she was summoned telepathically to Atlantis by a mermaid named Lori Lemaris (who was once Superman's sweetheart). There a mer-boy named Jerro showed her to a dangerous weapons stockpile. Supergirl helped the Atlanteans avert this explosive situation and afterwards, Jerro toured Atlantis with her. She developed a long-lasting crush on him. (Action Comics #269) Jerro returned to wish Supergirl a happy sixteenth birthday (a party that was also attended by Batman and Robin). (#270) Supergirl often returned to see her friends in Atlantis.

Dick Wilson was Supergirl's version of Lana Lang, a persistent friend from the orphanage who suspected Linda Lee's secret and always tried to trick her into exposing her super-powers. (#256) Dick was adopted by the Malverne family. (#282)

Dick invited Linda on a date, but she was cursed by a recent exposure to Red Kryptonite. But when she was shrunk to a microscopic size, Supergirl was secretly able to save the life of Dick's adoptive father. (#283) Dick met Jerro when they both got super-powers from another Red K incident. (#290) Dick and Linda often went on dates. (#306) After high school, when Linda went to Stanhope College, he attended a nearby college. (#318)

On her next visit to Atlantis, Jerro asked Supergirl to marry him but he sensed her attraction to Dick, and let it go. (#284) Jerro was even willing to undergo a risky surgery to give him legs so he could live on land with her. But again, he sensed that she didn't love him to the same degree. (#325)

Linda also dated "four-star athletic wonder" Tony Walson. She transferred her invulnerability to him as part of an experiment to find a way for her powers to benefit humans. (Adventure Comics #383)

Naturally, Supergirl also had suitors from space. The nefarious jerk, Raspor of Gryyk claimed to love Supergirl and neglected his companion, Viperie. (Action #338)

When her roommates Becky and Jan signed up for a computer dating service, Supergirl tried its computer to find her own match. It was Volar (Ren Oxonian of Toma), but she found that women on his world were made to be subservient. Volar was revealed to actually be a woman in disguise and Supergirl inspired her to fight for change. (Adventure #384)

She legitimately fell for Prince Raynor of the Inner-World. They were even engaged to marry but he called it off when when she became vulnerable to his planet's atmosphere. (#385)

The space-criminal Kimor sent a android double of himself to seduce Supergirl. (#388-389) Note: Adventure Comics #390 was a giant sized "All-Romance Issue."

In the end, Supergirl's most consistent (and legendary) "boyfriend" was Brainiac 5. Their story continued for the duration of her life.

New Friends, Arch Foes

Lena (Luthor) Thorul

Supergirl had already met Superman's arch enemy, Lex Luthor, (Action Comics #286) when she befriended his long-lost sister, young Lena Thorul. Lena didn't know the truth about her origins. Years before, before Lex turned evil, Lena gained mental powers during one of his experiments on the Brain Globes from Rambat. When Lex became a notorious criminal, his family was forced to relocate and change their name to escape public ire. Lena's parents told her that Lex had died. After they also died, Lena went to an orphanage.

Lena applied to work at the FBI but was rejected because her past was a mystery. Supergirl traveled back in time and uncovered these truths, but she decided not to tell Lena. Meanwhile, Lex secretly maintained watch over his sister. When he learned that Lena was using her powers to help criminals rob banks, he reached out to Supergirl to intervene. In the end, Lena revealed that she had done it to foil the crime and prove her worth to the FBI. (#295)

When Lesla-Lar escaped from custody, she returned to Earth and switched places with Lena Thorul. Lar created her own Phantom Zone projector in order to release several criminals: Zod, Jax-Ur and Kru-El. These three turned on her and used Kru-El's raygun to disintegrate the villainess! Supergirl was forced to ask for help from Luthor to defeat them. (#297) In exchange for Luthor's help, Superman released Lena from Kandor. (#298)

After Lar's death, her close friend Zora Vi-Lar became the Black Flame and took up a campaign of vengeance in Lesla's memory. (#304)

Another Phantom Zone criminal, Tor-An, escaped to Earth and posed as a teacher to woo Linda. He called her "Kara" (a rarity) and lied, saying he was a lost citizen of Argo City. She agreed to marry him, but her telepathic friends from Atlantis, plus Comet, sensed that he was no good. They called on Saturn Girl to replace in the wedding ceremony and return Tor-An to the Zone. (#307)

When Lena Thorul was chosen to interview Lex in prison, her mental powers revealed the truth about their familial connection. She was rocked by the news and both Lex and Supergirl agreed to induce amnesia to make Lena forget this fact. (#313)

Lena married Jeff Colby — the FBI agent who had arrested her brother! (#317)

Superman had many allies in the bottle city of Kandor, some of whom formed the Superman Emergency Squad. (Superman #158) Supergirls' fans also formed the Supergirl Emergency Squad. (Action #290)

The Return of Alura and Zor-El

One day, Kara was curious to revisit her real parents' history, so she used Superman's chronoscope to gaze into the past. She was shocked to discover that her parents, Zor-El and Alura, had not died on Argo City! At the last possible moment, Zor-El managed to project himself and his wife into a so-called "Survival Zone," a dimension similar to the Phantom Zone but vibrating at a different frequency. When cosmic winds blew this Zone nearer to Earth, Zor-El finally managed to reach out to his daughter in her dreams. But she had no way to find them. (Action Comics #309)

Supergirl sought help from her allies in Kandor, who told her that the Survival Zone had moved near to New Krypton (a memorial world built by Kara and Superman). There she used a Vibro-Projector helmet to finally make contact with her parents. Zor-El provided his daughter with instructions for the technology to free them and with some help from Fred Danvers (an electrical engineer), she succeeded!

Alura and Zor-El planned to live in the Fortress of Solitude. Supergirl's adoptive parents, Fred and Edna Danvers, were sad to think that they would lose her to her "super-parents," but when Zor-El witnessed the Danvers' grief, he was so moved that he and Alura decided to live in Kandor instead. They saw how well Kara had adjusted to life on Earth but they preferred to live in Kryptonian society. Supergirl would literally have the best of both worlds! (#310)

Alura became distraught about her separation from Kara, so the two sets of parents agreed to swap places. Eventually, Alura realized that Kara was more carefree when she was with the Danverses, so she and Zor-El went back to Kandor. (#314–316)

Notes: Often (and consistently for a period), Supergirl's mother's name was spelled "Allura." It was canonically established as "Alura" in the letter column of Adventure Comics #384 (Sept. 1969), where the editor explained that it had to be "Alura" because, "one of Jimmy Olsen's ex-girlfriends was named Allura." She first appeared in Action #252 (May 1959) but was not named until their second appearance, Action #291 (Aug. 1962, an appearance that was the creation of Mr. Mxyzptlk). Alura's family name — In-Ze — was never known until the creation of the Superman Family Tree in Krypton Chronicles #3 (Nov. 1981).

High School Graduation

Linda graduated from Midvale High and was surprised when she was awarded a scholarship to attend Stanhope College. (Action Comics #318) She made a new frenemy in Donna Storm, the head of her Alpha Lambda Sorority. Shrinking Violet of the Legion helped Linda overcome Donna's petty schemes. (#319)

Her major or career aspirations were never really explored, but over the years Linda showed an aptitude toward science (as was the role of her father). In college she worked for the newspaper (#364) and in the library.

On distant Planet Z, Ravenne invited villainous women from across the galaxy to form a Sisterhood of Evil. Their immediate goal was the destruction of Supergirl. She rechristened the planet "Feminax" and sent three women to Earth: Plant Girl (Ran-Kor of Drob), Time Girl (Tempra of Simor) and Music Maid (Lattora). Like her Legion super-girlfriends before, they invited Supergirl to Feminax, where she quickly sussed their insidious plan. (#322)

The Sisterhood tricked Supergirl into restoring three notorious women from Earth's past: Mata Hari, Lucretia Borgia and Lady Macbeth, who were plucked from just before their deaths and Ravenne brought them to Feminax. These women managed to mentally compel Supergirl to do evil acts for them. (#323) Note: Several months before this Supergirl and the Legion met Queen Azura of the planet Femnaz (Adventure Comics #326, Nov. 1964).

Fans were constantly asking for Supergirl to be awarded her own title. The editor teased the possibility, but the best he could do was an 80-page giant issue of Action Comics #334 (Mar. 1966), which contained mostly reprints. Two more followed, Action Comics #347 and #360. The latter was cleverly arranged; stories were reprinted in a manner that formed a continuous story of Supergirl's life. No mention was made of their being reprints. It also featured a text article, "Milestones in Supergirl's Life."

When Superman was away on a Justice League mission, Brainiac attacked and ran up against Supergirl. While his force field was formidable, he underestimated her prowess and she forced him to use a Time-Travel Gun to send himself away. (#339)

Supergirl discovered an Earth-like planet called Gaea where where people were frozen as teenagers and Linda Danvers was elected as their President. (#344)

When LInda was in her second year of college, (#349) she had her first adventure with the Justice League of America. She met a band of musicians who dressed as Green Lantern, Batman and Green Arrow who turned out to be crooks and disabled her with Kryptonite. She managed to call to the real JLA and they rescued her. (#350)

While Supergirl wished she were a member of the Justice League, she was never invited to be a member. She assisted them several times. (Justice League of America #98)

The Seventies: Adventure Comics Time

A Critique

In her first ten years, Supergirl's star continued to rise. The covers of Action Comics #369–376 (Nov. 1968–May 1969) named Superman and Supergirl both as co-stars of the series. After that, Supergirl finally graduated to her own comic book, but it wasn't the solo series her fans in the letter columns had been demanding. The Maid of Might became the star of Adventure Comics instead, taking it over from the popular Legion feature. Her final backup strip in Action Comics was issue #376 (May 1969) and the new strip began in Adventure Comics #381 (June 1969).

This was the end of Mort Weisinger's editorial era, and his last issue of Adventure Comics was #396 (Aug. 1970). He retired in 1970 and went on record about his waning enthusiasm for his job. The novelty of his Silver Age plot devices had worn thin; Supergirl's last stories under his watch continued to feature alien pretenders and dating dramas (even a parody of The Dating Game).

The "Super-Chick" had become a featured heroine in DC's roster. She guest-starred throughout the DC Universe, in Wonder Woman #177 (July/Aug. 1968) and DC Special #3 (April/June 1969).

This was a time of change, experimentation and catch-up for DC Comics. The company had reinvigorated its core characters in the mid-1960s with revivals of Batman, the Flash and Green Lantern. But the comics landscape was profoundly altered by the arrival of Marvel Comics, the first serious challenger to DC Comics' dominance. Marvel was successful in tapping into the cultural zeitgeist while DC struggled to shake the undertone of its Silver Age formulary.

In reimagining Supergirl for the '70s, the realm of "girl comics" had three successful templates to consider: romance comics, Lois Lane (which one could also consider a romance comic) and Wonder Woman. The resulting feature in Adventure Comics seemed to be a mash of all three: Supergirl was constantly fawning over loser dreamboats, she got a job in journalism and like Wonder Woman in her contemporary series, was always being depowered.

Creators at DC Comics during this time seemed to know that the Silver Age formulas were out of fashion, but were unsure how to apply the newer sensibilities ushered in by their contemporaries at Marvel.

No single writer was assigned to the series (the post-Weisinger era included Mike Sekowsky, John Albano, Len Wein and Steve Skeates). This resulted in a range of storytelling sophistication where Linda ping-ponged between life decisions and love interests.

Costume Carousel

The new series kicked off with a team-up with Batgirl, whom Supergirl had met several years before, in World's Finest #169 (Sept. 1967) and again in issue #176. Batgirl helped foil a ring of women cat burglars in Metropolis. The thieves turned out to be Linda's classmates from Stanhope, who were recruited by a "Sleuth School." Supergirl availed herself of the resources in the Batcave to investigate it's leader Albert Maxom, aka Telix, who used a mirrored suit to hypnotize the women into doing his bidding. Supergirl joined them undercover but when Telix produced a chunk of Kryptonite, Batgirl (who had also been undercover) swooped in to save her. Together they mopped up the operation. (Adventure Comics #381)

Just prior to her debut in Adventure, Supergirl changed her costume for the first time, when her original uniform was damaged. (Adventure Comics #379) This presaged a two-year period of costume changes before she settled upon her now-classic 1970s costume (with the blouse and red shorts). The changes to Supergirl sharply coincided with the departure of editor Mort Weisinger.

In the letter column of Adventure Comics #384 (Sept. 1969), Mort had responded to a fan saying "we may let her try out some new outfits." His successor encouraged fans further, writing in #388, "Why don't you fans send us ideas for new Supergirl outfits?" DC also reran the poll about her hairstyle, offering the same styles as before, (#387) but fans still preferred what artist Win Mortimer was drawing, so no change was made.

The road to her new permanent costume began in Adventure Comics #397 (Sept. 1970). On the cover, Supergirl was depicted reviewing the fans' designs. In the story, her original costume was damaged in battle with a magician named Zond and she sought help from Wonder Woman, who summoned the sorceress Morgana. Before setting out to take down Zond, Diana gave Supergirl a new uniform. (#397)

Supergirl wore this outfit when she faced Luthor's niece, Nasthaltia (aka "Nasty"), who tried to expose Linda's secret identity. (#397) Note: Nasty returned for an Imaginary Story in issue #401.The editor explained that Lena and Luthor had an older sister who lived abroad and was estranged from their family.

The cover of Adventure #398 hailed a "new Supergirl"; her name/logo was prefixed with "Adventure Comics presents" in in smaller letters. She wore another new costume, a mini-dress with gloves and thigh-high boots that took parts from two different designs. She addressed the readers, “I wouldn’t be too surprised if now and then you don’t see me wearing one of your creations — just for variety’s sake.” One reason for the constant change-up was that Supergirl couldn't create a fabric that was invulnerable like her original from Krypton. (She also figured that it might confuse her enemies to show up looking different all the time.)

Linda met Johnny Dee, a Black football player for Stanhope who was blackmailed into throwing their games for racketeers. (#399)

The Black Flame returned with three new allies: the Inventor, L. Finn and the Toymaster. They felled Supergirl with Kryptonite and set her up as a pin in a giant bowling game. The Black Flame was poised to deliver her final blow — a revenge dose of Gold Kryptonite — which permanently removes a Kryptonian's powers —  but Supergirl used the Toymaster's creations to free herself. (Adventure Comics #400) Note: Some consider this to be an Imaginary Story because it significantly goofed up details involving Gold K, Kandor and the Phantom Zone. The the editor printed a big mea culpa in the letter column of issue #405, without explicitly retconning the story away.

Creators were trying to break free from cliched storytelling and new Superman writer Denny O'Neill penned a major change to the Super-status quo in a story where an accident unexpectedly transformed all the Kryptonite on Earth into harmless iron. (Superman #233)

A writer of O'Neill's ability was clever enough to create original challenges for the Man of Steel but Supergirl's writers struggled with ways to handicap her. Supergirl lacked serious super-challengers. Now unable to wave a piece of Kryptonite, her enemies sometimes struck at her psychological vulnerabilities. Starfire wore an exotic eye patch and built an army of women to take over America. She gave Supergirl a serum that neutralized her powers. (#403–405)

Starfire's serum caused Supergirl's powers begin to malfunction intermittently, leaving her vulnerable at inopportune moments. The tedium of her come-and-go powers would continue for the next two years.

College Graduation and San Francisco

Kara was melancholy on the day of her graduation from Stanhope College. Not only were there protesters, but "Nasty" Luthor returned to try exposing her secret identity. After celebrating with her adoptive parents, Linda boarded a jet for her new home: Metropolis. Jobs were hard to come by there, but her cousin Clark Kent made a connection with the San Francisco office of his employer, Galaxy Broadcasting. Station KSF-TV hired Linda to join their "mobile unit." Her boss Geoffrey Anderson made Linda a camera operator (she had never been shown to study journalism) and she met a new love interest, colleague Johnny Drew. Her excitement was dampened by the fact that Nasty had followed Linda to the west coast — and was assigned to work with her! (#406)

Supergirl realized that she could get some new invulnerable costumes in Kandor, where she was also fitted with an "exo-skeleta cyborg" to enhance her strength. (#407) Zor-El also invented a bracelet that amplified her strength, plus she always had the use of her Legion flight ring. (#409)

The costume by John Sposato that first appeared in Adventure Comics #410 (Sept. 1971) would eventually be the one that stuck. It was featured on the comic's covers while inside, Supergirl stories continued a rotation of looks.

The alien ruler Glynix of Liquel II briefly impersonated Supergirl to get her attention and blackmailed her into helping defeat a challenger to her rule. (#412) She fought Togran and the wizards collectively known as the Mind Warp. (#420)

She teamed up with Johnny Double on a case in San Francisco's Chinatown. There, Dr. Tzin Tzin had relocated from Gotham City to take over a west coast gang. Notes: Tzin Tzin first appeared in Detective Comics #354 (Aug. 1966). Johnny Double was a new character from Showcase #78 (Nov. 1968).

Her career went nowhere partly because, as her rival Nasty put it, she was "never around when a big story breaks." It was true, and complicated by the fact that her outings as Supergirl were the very things she was expected to cover as Linda.

Nightflame terrorized San Francisco before taking Supergirl to her homeworld — a microscopic world insider her own brain! (#421) The villainess took control of both Supergirl and Superman but their efforts were halted by the Justice League. (#423)

Linda's miserable time in San Francisco came to a dramatic close after Supergirl caused the death of one of her informants. She'd had enough of Nasty's back-stabbing (not to mention the inappropriate office romance) and was "sick of the whole rotten news business." (#424)

Supergirl, volume 1

Supergirl benefited from DC's expansionist agenda, finally winning her first solo title in 1972. Cary Bates wrote most of the series, which kept things a bit more focused than her Adventure run.

Linda Danvers left her job in San Francisco and enrolled at nearby Vandyre University (said to be 10 miles away) as a graduate student in drama. She took up residence in the Delta-Zan dorm under house mother Aunt Rosie and with roommate Wanda Five (who it turned out had a certain amount of psychic abilities, or "ESP"). She stopped the killing spree of their own professor, Basil Rasloff. (Supergirl vol. 1 #1)

Linda's dating life was no fun. Bob Lewis was set to take her to the Valentine's Day dance but he got jealous of Linda's scene partner and dumped her. (#3) Then she liked David at pool party, but being at Vandyre was a cover for his gang activities. When he suffered a brain injury, Supergirl used a Kandorian process involving her own brain cells to heal him. This empowered David to commit crimes as the Super-Scavenger. (#4)

The new series also launched with a back-up feature starring Zatanna. The young magician teamed-up with Supergirl too. Sadly, their meeting centered around their shared infatuation of a man. They followed him on a wild goose chase through the Himalayas only to discover that he had a fiance. (#7)

Supergirl was frustrated with men and wondered, "where can I go where I won't see their faces again?" Paradise Island, naturally. She set off across the Pacific and came upon the Amazons Nubia and Hippolyta being attacked by shark-men. Afterwards, the queen was so thankful for Supergirl's help that she invited her to become an Amazon. She ventured to another island on a mission to save Nubia's life. When she returned with Nubia's cure, she decided that "the world needed her" good-deed-doing and that she would "give men another chance after all." (#9)

The series ended with two curious stories. In the first she met Prez Rickard, the new, young President of the United States! This new DC character first appeared in Prez #1 (Aug./Sept. 1973), in which his adventures were definitively placed on a different Earth. The writer of this Supergirl story, Cary Bates (not the character's creator), portrayed him as a denizen of Earth-One.

In the second story, evil Dr. Forte managed to obtain Supergirl's genetic material and created a clone. During the process, Forte's "proto-creator" short circuited and the clone came out male! This Superlad was sent out to commit robberies on the doctor's behalf. When he met Supergirl, she remarked that he looked like her "identical twin." Superlad was morally conflicted and when forced to choose between shooting his creator or his twin, he chose to obliterate himself instead. (#10)

Supergirl ended with issue #10 (Sept./Oct. 1974), the conclusion of which directed fans to follow her in Superman Family #168.

Superman Family

The Superman Family series debuted in May 1974 (with issue #164, continuing the numbering from Jimmy Olson). Supergirl was a star in this anthology title but most of her stories before 1977 were Silver Age reprints.

In her first appearance in the series, Superman Family #165 (June/July 1974), Linda completes her drama course at Vandyre and moves to Florida to begin her new job as student advisor at the New Athens Experimental School. There she was challenged by Tlaca, Princess of the Golden Sun who was charged with dueling with Supergirl by her tribe in Mexico.

When Congresswoman Barbara Gordon visited the school (Supergirl did not know her secret identity), this 'world's finest' pair saved the entire Justice League from a woman who was possessed by the sceptre of Queen Cleopatra. (Superman Family #171)

Years prior, on the distant planet Hakawee, a priest prophesied that the boy named Ranar was destined to find a "star-mate" whose very presence would amplify his powers beyond measure. Ranar's quest led him to Argo City — before its destruction! He went there and met the parents of his "betrothed," Zor-El and Alura, who were hateful towards him, because he was a native of Hakawee.

His search took years and eventually led him to Supergirl on Earth, but she would have nothing to do with his mystic rod, with which he attempted to draw her power. She recalled what she had learned about his race: they were dreadful and despised by Kryptonians. She figured out a way to alter his planet's sun system, thereby robbing Ranar of his powers. (#177) Note: Both Ranar's costume and origin story are borrowed from that of Star Boy.

The Viking mission to Mars discovered that there was Kryptonite on the red planet. Word of this got to Lex Luthor who hopped a rocket post haste, but Supergirl worked with the space agency to beat him to it. (Superman Family #182)

Linda became disillusioned with her super-hero career and considered abandoning Supergirl altogether until Superman told her about the Kryptonian called Nam-Ek. Nam-Ek succeeded in creating an immortality serum, but despite his powerful healing ability he became a monster and a pariah. (Superman #282) Nam-Ek survived Krypton's destruction and came to Earth many years later. Things turned sour when he met Superman, and Nam-Ek allied with another alien foe called Amalak, who possessed a gun that could kill a Kryptonian. (Superman #312–314) Nam-Ek was condemned to the Phantom Zone. (#315)

Elsewhere in the DCU, Linda was invited to speak at a womens symposium at Ivy University, where she ran across the Atom and the Flash. Their partners, Jean Loring and Iris West were on Linda's panel as well. This assembly tempted the Justice League's enemy, T.O. Morrow, into a revenge scheme. (Super-Team Family #11)

Power Girl

On Earth-Two, a very similar super-girl was arriving late to the party. Kara Zor-L's spaceship from Krypton-Two landed on Earth even later than Kara Zor-El's. The Superman of Earth-Two had been active for forty years when his cousin arrived, but his Kara had aged only about the equivalent of 20 years. (Showcase #97–98)

She burst onto the public scene as Power Girl and became an integral member of the Justice Society of America. (All-Star Comics #58) Superman formally retired soon thereafter and nominated his cousin as his full-time replacement. (#63)

Supergirl's cousin had surely told her about Power Girl, but the two were never seen meeting in person. Power Girl participated in many of the Justice Society's yearly meet-ups but didn't meet Supergirl until they were both called upon by the Wonder Woman of Earth-One to join an army of female heroes in a campaign against the Adjudicator and his Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. There was little time for introductions, but during this case Supergirl came in proximity to her Earth-Two counterpart. (Wonder Woman #291–293)

Supergirl was drawn into several Justice League cases, including a grand battle against Despero and the Queen Bee. (Justice League of America #132–134, 157, 231, 232)

The Revenge of Lesla-Lar

Years before, Lesla-Lar was disembodied, but not dead. Instead, she became a being of pure energy that returned to plague Supergirl by proxy. In this form, she mentally controlled other villains, including Shyla Kor-Onn of Kandor.

Sylvia was a native of Krypton whose experiments resulted in manslaughter. She was sentenced to the Phantom Zone by Jor-El, where she was when Krytpon exploded, thus trapped there for years beyond her intended sentence. Shyla managed to follow the El cousins to Earth and ultimately used the vibrations of a jet plane to free herself.

After she arrived at New Athens as a sleep scientist named "Sylvia Shadow," Supergirl began noticing strange things and discovered that Shyla was stealing vital energy from her subjects to empower herself! Supergirl managed to maneuver Shyla into inside the Fortress of Solitude and locked her away in the Phantom Zone again. (Superman Family #183)

Lesla-Lar manipulated more super-foes, including "the Visitors" aka Invisible Rogue, Elastic Crook and Electric Man (#184–186); Kryptonian survivor Klax-Ar (#187); and a Superboy robot (#194–195). Lar also coerced Linda's friend into becoming a terrorist, the Gravitron Man. The new Doom Patrol helped her mop up that mess. (#191–193)

Shyla and Lesla-Lar managed to framed Supergirl and she was taken into custody on Kandor. At trial, Shyla produced a "mento-tape" that recorded the memories of Lex Luthor. He recounted his original meeting with "Supergirl" (it had been Lesla-Lar in disguise), and how she helped him commit heinous crimes. She plead "no contest" and was remanded to the Phantom Zone. (#188)

Getting into the Zone had been Supergirl's plan. There she located her ally, Mon-El, who recorded his own testimony revealing that Lesla-Lar was behind it all. His evidence cleared Supergirl. (#189)

Lesla-Lar became trapped inside the body of a super-robot but finally managed to make the jump into Supergirl herself. They fought on the astral plane, where Lar made the claim that she and Kara were twin sisters! When Supergirl regained control, she dispersed Lesla-Lar's energies once again. (Superman Family #206)

New Krypton

After many years of failed experiments, Superman finally succeeded in enlarging and relocating the city of Kandor. The city's leaders chose a planet under a red sun because most citizens disliked the idea of having a whole city of super-people on Earth. Also, Superman was on record having the opinion that “there isn’t a nation that wouldn’t welcome you with open arms!” Van-Zee ultimately agreed, saying that Superman and Supergirl were enough for any world. (Superman #338) The people voted to name this new world Rokyn, meaning "god's gift" in Kryptonian (deciding against "New Krypton"). (The Krypton Chronicles #1)

Superman invented a ray to collect the energies of a nova star to restore the city. Once again, Kara had the choice to live with her parents, but by this point she was invested in her life on Earth and did not join them on Rokyn. Superman, on the other hand, felt duty-bound to remain on Rokyn but Supergirl and their cousin (once removed), Van-Zee (aka Nightwing), knocked him out so that she could pilot them back to Earth. (Superman #338)

Rokyn was inaccessible to the outside for regular intervals, but Superman and Supergirl returned to visit at their first opportunity. Shyla Kor-On had repented and become a dutiful citizen. She apologized for framing Supergirl but her contemporary, Zora Vi-Lar (the Black Flame), still hated Supergirl and attacked her again. (Krypton Chronicles #1)

Notes: Stories used both names, “New Krypton” and “Rokyn.” The latter isn’t mentioned in Superman #338, but it is in The Krypton Chronicles #1. Rokyn was first cited in the Legion story from Adventure Comics #356: “Rokyn was settled in the 20th century by survivors of Krypton, when the Bottle-City of Kandor was enlarged.”

Soap Opera Star

One day, Linda was confronted by her boss at New Athens. She'd come in late and he accused her of absenteeism, which sent her into an angry tirade. Her coworker's fiance, Peter Barton, took notice and asked Linda to audition for a part in a soap opera. Kara was torn about returning to the dramatic arts and confided in her cousin. She wondered whether such a career was shallow, but Superman reassured her that any career could be used as a means for their mission as super-heroes. She took the plunge and signed a contract to play Margo Hatton on Secret Hearts which filmed in New York City. The show was produced by Galaxy Communications, Clark Kent's employer in Metropolis. (Superman Family #208)

"Margo" was a hit straight off the bat. Writer Greg Gilbert took a shine to her as well ... in fact, he seemed to like Linda more than Supergirl. (#209) Gilbert was in a mess of gambling debts and he took a bribe from the villain Blackrock in exchange for GBS's 3D television prototype. (#212)

While Linda's popularity as a soap star grew, fans regarded her character as somewhat boring. So the producers decided to turn her character into a first class villain. Meanwhile the parade of super-villains continued; Louise-L, a Supergirl from 500,000 years in the future arrived on a mission to capture Toxus. (#215)

Aging Sheree Hatcher received power from the legendary sorceress Hecate in exchange for Supergirl's soul. (#218) The Master Jailer turned Supergirl into an invisible phantom. She borrowed the Atom's white dwarf belt to become counteract the effects. (#219-221)

Ultimately, not even an appearance on the Donny Hughes talk show (#217) could keep Linda at on the show. She grew weary of the demands of her double life and her producers had created an unpleasant workplace. After a harassment incident, she quit and decided to return to school after all. (#222)

She explained all of this to Superman. She felt that having a job was the problems in her life. With the money she saved from Sacred Hearts she could comfortably return graduate studies. He thought she was being impulsive, but she made it clear to him: "I'm not your apprentice anymore …  I came to tell you what I've decided." (Superman #376)

Phantom Zone (1982)

Lena Luthor Returns

Lena Colby now had a son, Val, who inherited her psychokinetic super-powers (Adventure #387) and his uncle Lex once tried to kidnap the boy. (#388) Lena became a teacher and had crossed paths with Linda at the New Athens school. Linda helped a student of Lena's whose telepathic powers were causing her great distress. (Superman Family #168)

Then Lena turned up in New York as well. She'd recently become widowed and scored a job as a writer on Secret Hearts. For some reason at this point, Lena's telepathic powers finally exposed the fact that Linda was Supergirl! (#211)

Lena moved in next door and one day her mother-in-law and son arrived to find her unconscious from an aneurysm. (#212) This opened the mental floodgates and she learned the truth about her Luthor family ties — a shock which doubled when she woke to find herself bald from the surgery! (#213)

Lena was incensed to learn that her friend (and her husband) had kept this from her for so long. She worried about inheriting Lex's evil streak (which a call from Lex did little to assuage). In her anger, she triggered a new power — telekinesis — and lashed out against Supergirl. (#214)

Adult Legion Career

During her college years, Supergirl also resigned from full-time service with the Legion of Super-Heroes. Brainiac 5 had become more and more obsessed with her, even building a robot duplicate of Supergirl in his sleep. He was crushed when she told him that she was resigning. (Superboy #204) Although he continued to carry a torch for her, this effectively ended any chance of a real relationship between them.

As an adult, Supergirl's visits to the 30th century were less frequent. Universo, a Legion adversary, came to the 20th century and hypnotized her into thinking that the people of Argo City had survived. His aim was to steal a powerful invention made by Zor-El. Supergirl followed Universo back to the future and captured him with the Legion's help. (Superman Family #207)

As a Legion reservist, she returned to the future only in times of great need. She fought with Superboy against Darkseid, (Legion vol. 2 #294) and in order to thwart the powerful Emerald Empress. (#301–303) In her last Legion mission, Supergirl helped the Legion fight the Dark Circle. (Tales of the Legion #314–315)

Brainiac 5 mourned her on the 1,000-year anniversary of her death. (Legion vol. 3 #15) Of course, the Legionnaires had always known her fate, and the inevitable paradox that would have resulted if they had tried to change history to save her. (#16)

But what if Supergirl had resettled in the future with Brainiac 5? This idea was explored in Mark Waid and Alex Ross's Kingdom Come (1996), which was set in an alternate reality.

Daring New Adventures!

In 1982, Superman Family was canceled to make way for Supergirl’s second solo series, The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl. (Lois Lane appeared in a back-up feature.) This series maintained a single writer, Paul Kupperberg, who finally created adversaries for Supergirl who could rival her power.

Daring (drawn by Carmine Infantino) attempted to bring Supergirl into the 1980s. The series launched in the time of contemporary super-stars such as New Teen Titans and Uncanny X-Men and placed Linda back in an institutional setting. She returned to college in Chicago and enrolled in the psychology program at Lake Shore University. She met kooky Joan Raymond who got Linda an apartment with Mrs. Berkowitz.

At school, Linda bumped into Gayle Marsh, which somehow triggered the woman's potent mental powers. Gayle was under the thrall of the evil Mr. Pendergast, who manipulated her into believing Chicago had 'succumbed to decay.' Calling herself Psi, Marsh donned a costume and attacked Supergirl. (Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #1)

After forcing Psi into retreat, Marsh came to her senses and turned on Pendergast. A blast of her power turned him into a monster called Decay. (#2) When Decay confronted Supergirl, Psi arrived and transformed him back. (#3)

Linda adopted an orange-and-white stray cat and named it Streaky, remarking, “Let’s just say she reminds me of a cat I used to own!” (#6)

Her primary (and unseen) nemesis in Chicago was the shadowy Council. (#7) They hired Lester Adams and his colorful "Gang": Brains, Ms. Mesmer, Kong and Bulldozer. During a visit from her parents, the Danverses, (#4) Supergirl's struggle escalated into a battle at O'Hare airport against a giant robot called Matrix-Prime. (#6)

Linda tried dating her handsome neighbor, John Ostrander, who was also unwittingly working for the Council. (#10) Note: Ostrander was loosely based on the real man of that name, an actor whom writer Paul Kupperberg knew in Chicago. He also later wrote comics for DC.

Supergirl reteamed with the Doom Patrol, who were on the trail of Reactron (another pawn of the Council). (#8-9) Note: In post-Crisis continuity, when Supergirl did not exist, this event was shown to be retconned into a team-up with Power Girl, in Secret Origins vol. 2 Annual #1 (1987).

The Council directed Professor Drake to make small clones of Supergirl after she sought his help for side affects from Reactron's radiation. The clones followed her to the Fortress of Solitude, where she subdued them with Gold Kryptonite, rendering them powerless. (#12) Later, those clones were discovered to have merged into a normal-sized woman with partial memories of Supergirl's past. She and Supergirl agreed that the clone would be free to live her own life. (#19)

The series was retitled Supergirl — on the cover with issue #13 (Nov. 1983) and the indicia in the following issue (Dec. 1983). With this came yet another change in costume that featured a pleated skirt; it was designed by Edna Danvers. This 'new era' kicked off with the introduction of a Nazi super-woman called Blackstarr who ran a Social Reformist Party rally in Grant Park; it was a front for her racist agenda. (#13) Note: The new costume was an odd turn, considering it did not match her look in the upcoming Supergirl feature film.

Blackstarr commanded the primal forces of the universe but she began as lowly Rachael Berkowitz, the daughter of Linda's landlord! Rachael was separated from her family at Auschwitz during World War II and became an astrophysicist in America and unlocked cosmic secrets to become Blackstarr. In their final battle, the villain was drawn into a black hole. (#15)

Linda was dating orchestra conductor Phil Decker during this time, (#14) and in a bizarre case, the Ambush Bug showed up in Chicago and got mixed up in a plot of a Stradivarius stolen from Phil's orchestra. (#16)

Kara finally invented a way to turn her natural blond hair color to Linda's brunette, with a comb treated with "color-sensitive molecules." It also enabled her to add curl to her hair, and she began wearing a red headband as well, an homage to her Kryptonian heritage. (#17) Note: This headband was meant to mirror her movie costume, but it was scrapped from that costume in the end. This blog links to a still from a test screening.

Superman, the Justice League and the Teen Titans gathered to unveil a statue to honor Supergirl's anniversary (her 25th, in print) and her years of service. (#20)

The powerful alien Kraken was from a magical dimension and had history of conflict with Argo City. (#18) The final three issues of Supergirl pitted her against the Kryptonite Man (#21) and the Future-Man (which was her mutated teacher, Dr. Metzner). (#22–23)

The series ended with an unresolved cliffhanger: Linda had broken up with Phil and her old boyfriend Dick Malverne reentered the picture! In the final panel, he surprised her with a kiss. The series was canceled before the creators could wrap things up. Clearly a decision about Supergirl's fate had been made.

The End

Supergirl: the Feature Film

The Superman franchise of films had been successful since 1978 and Supergirl was released between Superman III and IV. But the film was an epic flop and even the exposure couldn't spare Supergirl and her comic book series from getting the axe. The comic was canceled with issue #23 (Sept. 1984) — just months ahead of the film's release on 21 November 1984. 

The villain in the movie was a witch called Selena, played by Faye Dunaway, whose character made no comic book appearances (but might be compared to Blackstarr in some ways).

It's easy to think the powers-that-be decided to kill her off. No so, according to DC in the 80s:

"Crisis on Infinite Earths was planned/plotted by Marv Wolfman several years before the Supergirl film was released. In later interviews with Dick Giordano, it was revealed that there was some hesitation on DC’s part to kill off Supergirl if the movie was successful - but alas, that was not the case. Jeannette Kahn was the one who ultimately threw the kill switch."

Crisis on Infinite Earths

Crisis began about six months after the cancellation of Supergirl and the heroine made several more appearances before her death.

After Kara met with her friend Batgirl, (Crisis #4) the chaos of the Crisis allowed Blackstarr to return. Supergirl and Superman actually ended up working with the villain to try to prevent the collapse of the universe. (DC Comics Presents #86)

Supergirl joined a team of the most powerful heroes, and traveled to the Anti-Matter Universe, where she perished in the campaign. (Crisis #7)

Two stories in Superman eulogized his cousin. In the first, he returned her body to New Krypton and delivered the news to Zor-El and Allura. (Superman #414)

In the next issue, Kal-El learned that Supergirl had gotten married a couple years prior! Her widowed spouse, a yellow-skinned alien named Salkor broke into the Fortress of Solitude to reclaim a "hokku" — a device that held all her memories. You see, on a space mission Kara was struck by a Kryptonite fragment that rendered her amnesiac. She was discovered in space by Salkor, who took her to Makkor, where she assumed the name Jasma. They fell in love and were married.

After a battle, Kara recovered her memories but forgot everything about her time on Makkor. Later on Earth, she recovered those memories as well (after her battle with Blackstarr). Before her death she programmed the hokku to alert Superman if Salkor ever found the device, so that the two could meet. (Superman #415)

"Superwoman"? and Imaginary Stories

Despite proclaiming her womanhood, Kara Zor-El was never rechristened "Superwoman" in mainstream continuity. (Even Hawkgirl changed her name to "Hawkwoman" in World's Finest Comics #274, 1982.) There were several "Imaginary Stories" where she was called by that name:

• 1960: In Superman's dreams, Supergirl succeeded him in the future and became "Superwoman," as told in Action Comics #270 (Nov. 1960).
• 1961: In another dream Supergirl came to Earth first, instead of Kal-El. She took the name Linda Kent in Smallville, had a super-parrot from Krypton named Squawky and was friends with Lex Luthor (Action Comics #275, Apr. 1961).
• 1966: A later Imaginary Story had a similar plot. In Action Comics #332–333 (Jan.–Feb. 1966), Zor-El, Alura and their baby Kara all made it to Earth and Kal-El arrived after them. Kara became Superwoman.
• 1980: In an alternate Earth-One timeline, Linda eventually became the governor of Florida and changed her alter ego to Superwoman (Superman Family #200, Mar./Apr. 1980).
• 1983: In 1983's DC Comics Presents Annual #2, a different Superwoman was introduced (which could have also prevented Kara's renaming). She was a time-traveling college history student from the 29th century named Kristin Wells. She was a descendant of Jimmy Olsen.

Post-Crisis "Sightings" of Supergirl

Sensor Girl

DC Editors did a remarkable job of keeping the new "post-Crisis" continuity in line, but during the Crisis aftermath, some creators held out hope that she could survive in some way.

In Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 3 #14 (Sept. 1985), Paul Levitz introduced a new Legionnaire called Sensor Girl. Levitz later admitted that he intended for her to be revealed as Kara Zor-El, until his editor squashed the plan. His co-creator, artist Steve Lightle is on record saying:

"When Paul [Levitz] saw that I had designed a Legionnaire with a full mask, I think that sparked his desire to spare Supergirl from her Crisis fate, by making her the lady behind the mask. I believe the original idea was that even she didn't know her true identity, and that she had lost all her Kryptonian powers except those pertaining to her senses. This is why, in the early appearances of the character, she appears to have powers consistent with X-ray vision, heat vision, etc. It wasn't until [DC Comics president Jeanette] Khan insisted that Supergirl should remain dead (she was very firm on this at the time) that Paul came up with Plan B ... Projectra. after all, who wanted to incur the wrath of Jeanette?" —Comic Book Resources

There is another anomylous appearance from page 25 of Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 3 #32 (Mar. 1987). In a scene where Saturn Girl enters Brainiac 5's mind, she sees the image of a curly-haired blond woman. It is speculation to identify her as Supergirl, but notable nonetheless.

Christmas with the Super-Heroes

Kara Zor-El made one post-Crisis appearance, in Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2 (1988). This appearance was not canonical and the character called herself "Kara." It was clear that this character was a sentimental nod to Supergirl, the ghost of a forgotten woman.

Brian Cronin talked with the creators of the story and wrote about the story for Comic Book Resources:

"The editor of the DC Christmas special, Mark Waid, knew that the story might prove to be controversial with the Superman office, so he explained the situation to Dick Giordano (then DC's Executive Editor) to keep the story from being squelched by the Superman office complaining. Giordano liked the story idea, so he decided to draw it himself so that no one would ask to cancel the story if their boss drew it, ya know?"

Powers

Supergirl possessed the same powers as all Kryptonians under a yellow sun: super-strength, invulnerability, flight and super-speed — which together could also pierce the barriers of time.

She could survive unaided in space roughly two hours by holding her breath, but did require oxygen. Note: Some stories indicated that Kryptonians still needed oxygen (especially post-Crisis), but Silver Age stories generally indicated that powered Kryptonians could survive indefinitely underwater or in space. The only times the chose to use transport were when they expected to travel to a system with a red sun, or if they were trying to hide their identities. (Superman #365–368).

Her vision could perceive microscopically and with x-rays and produce intensely heated eye-blasts. The power of her lungs produced freeze breath. She had super-hearing and voice (sometimes used for ventriloquist effect). Her super-brain boasted a photographic memory and superior intelligence.

Kryptonian powers could be negated by the radiation of a red sun (and dimmed by an orange one) and she was vulnerable to magic. Exposure to Kryptonite — a green mineral from her home planet of Krytpon — could kill her.

In some early '70s stories, it was suggested that Supergirl had psychic powers. The logic behind this originated in Action Comics #268 (Sept. 1960), when she commented that her "feminine intuition" seemed to be amplified to a super-degree.