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Kara In-Ze: TV’s Animated Supergirl

image: animated Supergirl flying over city Superman: The Animated Series introduced another version of Kara, the Supergirl from Krypton. Kara In-Ze is the last survivor of Argo, sister planet to Krypton, which was throw out of its orbit by Krypton’s explosion. The scientist Kala In-ze, Kara’s mother, constructed several cryogenic chambers in an attempt to save her remaining family members from starvation and freezing. (In-ze is the maiden name of Kara’s mother in the comics.) Tragically only Kara survived the process. Upon her arrival on Earth, she fashioned a Supergirl outfit for herself and set upon working with Superman to help the people of Earth as she could not help the people of Argo.

image: Supergirl Animated StatueKara appeared a number of times between 1998-2005 on Superman: The Animated Series and Justice League Unlimited (the new title for Justice League beginning in Season 3), and in the comic books based on the animated universe. Although she does not play a major role in any of these series, she is a wonderful character and one of the most positive versions of Supergirl to appear. Her costume is a new invention, and began the trend of the cropped top and micromini which was later adopted by the comic Supergirl in SUPERGIRL #51 (2000) and of course the current comic version of Kara Zor-El. Her secret identity is “Kara Kent” and in an interesting twist, she wears glasses in her civilian identity like her “cousin”, along with a brunette wig.

In the final season of Justice League Unlimited, Supergirl creates a new costume for herself that is similar to the Matrix/movie costume but with a cropped top. In her final appearance on JLU (episode 36), Supergirl joins the Legion of Super-Heroes in the 30th century and makes that time period her permanent home.

TV Episodes

Superman: The Animated Series

  • “Little Girl Lost: Part 1″ (Episode 37)
  • “Little Girl Lost: Part 2″ (Episode 38)
  • “Legacy: Part 1″ (Episode 45)
  • “Legacy: Part 2″ (Episode 46)
  • “Unity” (Episode 53)

The New Batman Adventures Season Two

  • “Girls’ Nite Out” (Episode 20, originally aired Oct 17, 1998)
    Livewire escapes during a prison transfer and runs amok in Gotham, joining forces with Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn. Batgirl teams up with Supergirl to face the deadly trio.

Justice League Unlimited

  • “Initiation” (JLU Episode 1, originally aired July 31, 2004)
  • “Fearful Symmetry” aka “Galatea” (JLU Episode 4, originally aired Sept 4, 2004)
  • “The Return” (JLU Episode 7, originally aired Sept 18, 2004)
  • “Flashpoint” (JLU Episode 23, July 2, 2005)
  • “Panic in the Sky” (JLU Episode 24, July 9, 2005)
  • “Chaos at the Earth’s Core” (JLU Episode 29, September 24, 2005)
  • “Far From Home” (JLU Episode 36, final appearance)

Comics

The Superman Adventures and Justice League Unlimited comic books are set in the same universe as the TV animated series. The comics delve further into the characters and feature many characters that did not have time to appear on the TV series.

Links for these issues are to downloads in CBZ or CBR format and 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.

Superman Adventures

Recommended issues for Supergirl: Superman Adventures #21, #39, #52. This series has been only partially reprinted in trade paperback, and the trades are out of print.

  • SUPERMAN ADVENTURES #21 Presents SUPERGIRL ADVENTURES – “Last Daughter of Argo”. June 1998.
    Sequel to the TV episode “Little Girl Lost”: Kara In-Ze faces down three criminals who have escaped from the Phantom Zone. The comic to get for Kara In-Ze.
  • SUPERMAN ADVENTURES #30 – “Family Reunion” Part 1. April 1999.
    Superman travels to another dimension where he meets evil, brainwashed versions of himself and Supergirl.
  • SUPERMAN ADVENTURES #31 – “Family Reunion” Part 2. May 1999.
  • SUPERMAN ADVENTURES #39 – “Reunion”. January 2000.
    Conclusion to “Last Daughter of Argo”: Kara In-Ze and Superman must defeat Brainiac and an android which has assumed the name and face of Kara’s deceased mother.
  • SUPERMAN ADVENTURES #41 – “22 Stories in a Single Bound”. March 2000. Supergirl appears in a humorous one-page story titled “Supergirl’s Secret Emergency Weapon”.
  • SUPERMAN ADVENTURES #52 – “A Death in the Family”. February 2001. Kara is stricken with a deadly Argoan virus, and it looks like only Lex Luthor may have the cure.
  • SUPERMAN ADVENTURES #66 – “Power Play!” Part 2. May 2001. Cameo in one panel, no lines.

Justice League Unlimited

Recommended issues for Supergirl: Justice League Unlimited #7, #16, #20. Links for these issues are to downloads.

Links