Supergirl Comics: Matrix (1988-1996)

Supergirl #1 (1994 miniseries) This is a complete list of Matrix Supergirl’s appearances from her 1988 debut to the 1996 SUPERGIRL series, taken from The Grand Comic Book Database and the partial listing at The Unofficial Supergirl Chronology. Dates shown are the cover date, which is two months ahead of the release date.

In 1985 DC killed off Supergirl in Crisis on Infinite Earths #7. They had decided to return Superman’s status as the sole survivor of Krypton. So important was this to them that it was decreed, at the conclusion of Crisis on Infinite Earths and later in the Superman reboot (Superman: Man of Steel 1-6 by John Byrne), that not only was Supergirl dead, but she had never existed in the new timeline. An insult to a great hero? You bet. And more than a little misogynistic. The Post-Crisis revamping of the DC universe was a period of great backlash against female superheroes, and many were killed off, depowered, or had their origins radically altered to distance them from DC’s male superheroes. DC would slowly reintroduce familiar elements of the Superman story in new forms, including a Superboy who was a clone of Superman and played a major role in the 1992-1993 Death and Return of Superman. But they showed extreme reluctance to reintroduce Supergirl in any form that might challenge Superman’s supremacy.

In 1988, scarely three years after Kara-El’s death and wiping from existence, DC published a story called the Supergirl Saga which introduced a character who looked like and was called Supergirl, but was in fact a clone of another dimension’s Lana Lang, given very different superpowers and completely unrelated to Kal-El or Krypton. This character became known as Matrix for her protoplasmic origins. Readers eagerly took Matrix to be the new Supergirl. DC resisted. In the Adventures of Superman #457 letter column, editor Mike Carlin insisted in response to two readers’ letters that, in fact, Matrix was not the new Supergirl, and they did not even wish to call her Supergirl. Whaa? During the “Superman in Exile” storyarc, the shapeshifting Matrix took on the role of Clark Kent to protect the Kents, and was written out at the conclusion of that storyline.

DC’s approach to the character evidently changed, because three years later Matrix would return in “Panic in the Sky” and take on the mantle of Supergirl for good. Unfortunately this promising turn of events was followed by an unpleasant Supergirl-Lex Luthor storyline in which Supergirl became a member of “Team Luthor” and essentially became Luthor’s kept woman, constantly referred to as “Lexcorp’s Supergirl” in her few, brief appearances during an otherwise interesting storyline (the Death and Return of Superman). The scenes with Luthor were exploitive and Supergirl’s behavior awkwardly out of character in a heavy-handed attempt to portray her as a foolish victim of a manipulative relationship. The end to this distasteful storyline came in the 1994 SUPERGIRL miniseries; following it Supergirl became a member of the New Titans until 1995. Her appearances in that series are unremarkable. A new level of depth for Supergirl emerged in SHOWCASE ’96 #8 (Sept 1996), written by Peter David as a prelude to the fourth series which debuted that same month.

Matrix Supergirl was a fairly one-dimensional character who only became a character in her own right when she was merged with the human Linda Danvers, gaining a secret identity and becoming a lot more like the Supergirl one would expect: humanized, heroic, and with powers portrayed simply as super, not different or inferior to Superman’s. Prior to Peter David’s series, writers tended to define her in relation to male characters, primarily Superman and Lex Luthor. The potential for a real, living super woman was always there; it was just not recognized by male writers who were content to quickly sketch in the outline of a (purportedly heroic) woman before getting back to their real business of telling male heroes’ stories. So while this appears to be a long list of Supergirl appearances, in most issues she is a minor character who does not have a large role to play. This makes her starring roles all the more precious.

DC’s reprints of the second half of the 1980s is spotty, and the trade paperbacks that collect the 1990s Superman comics are all out of print. Therefore I have provided downloads for all the relevant (and some not so relevant) issues to feature Supergirl, so you may judge for yourself whether a particular issue is worth tracking down in trade or back issue (Mile High Comics is one such source for back issues). The “Supergirl Saga” issues are not available in trade paperback and are very rare and expensive as back issues.

Recommended issues: “The Supergirl Saga”, “Panic in the Sky” (a pivotal turning point in establishing Supergirl as an active superhero), ACTION COMICS #676 and #677 (issue 676 fleshes out Supergirl’s origin story while setting her up with Lex Luthor II), the 1993 SUPERGIRL & TEAM LUTHOR one-shot, the 1994 four-issue SUPERGIRL miniseries, and SHOWCASE ‘96 #8.

Issues are available for download in CBR/CBZ format. They can be viewed with a reader like CDisplay (Windows), FFview (Mac), Comical (all), or renamed to .ZIP (for .CBZ) or .RAR (for .CBR) and extracted. A few issues just have the relevant pages which feature Supergirl and are unrelated to the issue’s story; issues marked “N/A” are ones I don’t have.

Pre-Intro Teaser Cameos

The debut of the second Supergirl was foreshadowed in small cameos for a number of months prior to the origin story in “The Supergirl Saga”:

  • SUPERMAN Vol. 2 #16 – April 1988 (pages 21 – 22)
  • ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #440 – May 1988 (page 18)
  • ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #441 – June 1988 (page 16)
  • SUPERMAN #19 – July 1988 (page 8)
  • ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN #442 – July 1988 (page 12)
  • DOOM PATROL #10 – July 1988 (pages 20 – 21, disguised as Lana Lang, taking place between panels of Superman #20)
  • SUPERMAN #20 – Aug 1998 (pages 1-3, 7 [one panel as Lana], 15, 22)

The Supergirl Saga

The new Matrix Supergirl was introduced in the Superman comics in a 3-part storyline:

At the end of the Supergirl Saga, Supergirl reverted to an androgynous form. She would begin calling herself Matrix in the “Exile in Space” and “Superman on Earth” storyarcs (below). She appears very briefly in this form for 5 issues, which evolve into a B-plot wherein she impersonates Clark Kent while Superman is off in space. Following Exile in Space/Superman on Earth, Matrix leaves Earth at the end of ACTION COMICS #644, just as Superman had previously done. It would be three years before DC brought her back. Note: you can download the full issues or just the pages featuring Matrix. The A-plot starring Superman is extremely dull; the scenes back on Earth are the only interesting part of the story in my opinion.

Exile in Space/Superman on Earth

The Superman: Exile trade paperback (out of print) reprints most of these issues: Superman #28-30, 32-33, The Adventures of Superman #451-456, Action Comics #643, Action Comics Annual #2.

Panic in the Sky

Matrix returned in ACTION COMICS #674 in 1992, initially in the form of Superman. She would play a pivotal role in the 8-issue “Panic in the Sky” storyline, returning to her original Supergirl form for good by the end of the story arc. Matrix/Supergirl is featured throughout the following issues. [Reprinted in the Superman: Panic in the Sky trade paperback - out of print.]

Following the “Panic in the Sky” story, Supergirl began an alliance with Lex Luthor II, not realizing that he was in fact Lex Luthor in disguise, and not at all the person her Lex had been. During this two year period, Supergirl was reduced to being Lex’s “kept woman”, and most of her brief on-panel appearances have her draping herself and simpering over him, pointedly posing for the male audience’s enjoyment >_< Few of these issues are worth reading for Supergirl, which is a real shame because they take place during the exciting Death & Rebirth of Superman storyline (starting with the “Doomsday” arc) that introduced four new “Supermen” who were all interesting and complex characters.

The Death of Superman and Return of Superman

The following issues took place during the massive “Death of Superman and Return of Superman” storyline (these are only the issues in which Supergirl appears). The entire storyline is reprinted in The Death of Superman, World Without A Superman, and The Return of Superman (all in print).

SUPERGIRL Miniseries

In 1994 DC Comics put out a “trial run” Supergirl miniseries to see if there was support for an ongoing series. Evidently there was: two years later an ongoing SUPERGIRL series debuted. Following the revelation that Lex Luthor II was in fact the real Lex Luthor and had been exploiting Supergirl all along, Supergirl’s relationship with him came to an explosive end in this series.

Zero Hour

Zero Hour: Crisis in Time is a five-issue comic book limited series and crossover storyline published by DC Comics in 1994. The crossover involved almost every DC Universe monthly series published at the time. The issues of the series itself were numbered in reverse order, beginning with issue #4 and ending with #0 (i.e. Counting Down To Zero). The series had no impact on Supergirl, and is entirely skippable if you’re only reading for her. However SUPERMAN #93, which is a standalone story tied into the events of Zero Hour, is of interest.

  • SUPERMAN #93 (Sept 1994) (pages 1-7)
  • ZERO HOUR: Crisis In Time! #4 (Sept 1994) (SG does not appear)
  • ZERO HOUR: Crisis In Time! #3 (Sept 1994) (tiny cameo in group shot, page 9)
  • ZERO HOUR: Crisis In Time! #2 (Sept 1994) (cover appearance, two panels on page 13)
  • ZERO HOUR: Crisis In Time! #1 (Sept 1994) (pages 1-5, 12)
  • ZERO HOUR: Crisis In Time! #0 (Sept 1994) (SG does not appear)

Supergirl in the New Titans

  • GUY GARDNER: Warrior #24 (Sept 1994) (pages 13, 18-21)
  • ACTION COMICS #706 (Jan 1995)
  • SHOWCASE ’95 #1 (Jan 1995) – contains the Supergirl story “Perfect Form” which continues in SHOWCASE #2
  • SHOWCASE ’95 #2 (Feb 1995) – final page begins launches a crossover story continued in NEW TITANS #120
  • GUY GARDNER: Warrior #29 (March 1995) – N/A
  • NEW TITANS #120 (April 1995) – Supergirl is featured in a dreadful storyline in which Evil!Raven is capturing and turning the other Titans to the dark side (the writer and artist seem to particularly enjoy torturing/placing the women in peril)
  • NEW TITANS #121 (May 1995)
  • GUY GARDNER: Warrior #30 – N/A
  • GUY GARDNER: Warrior #31 – N/A
  • DAMAGE #13 (June 1995) (four panels, 2 lines)
  • DEATHSTROKE #48 (June 1995) (Supergirl stars as part of the New Titans on pages 17-24, cont. in NEW TITANS #122)
  • NEW TITANS #122 (June 1995)
  • NEW TITANS Annual #11 (June 1995) (semi-featured, pages 31-57)
  • DARKSTARS #32 (July 1995) – (pages 1-4)
  • DEATHSTROKE #49 (July 1995) (two tiny panel appearances, no lines)
  • DEATHSTROKE #50 (Aug 1995) (one panel, one line)
  • NEW TITANS #123 (July 1995) (appears in two panels, has one line)

The Siege of the Zi Charam (New Titans)

The Trial of Superman

Sources