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Supergirl Costumes (Linda Danvers)

Visiting this site from a link about Supergirl’s red shorts? Here’s my post on it!

Superheroes are known for wearing the same spandex uniform day in and day out (do they ever wash that thing?) but there are days when Supergirl’s regular duds just won’t cut it!

Supergirl and Despero Supergirl #1-50: This iconic Supergirl uniform, the one most firmly imprinted in public imagination, was actually developed for the SUPERGIRL movie. Non-comicbook readers would never guess that this classic was never worn by the original Supergirl, Kara. She did take on a modified version in anticipation of the movie in SUPERGIRL #13 (November 1983) which lasted until 1985. The movie uniform didn’t appear in comics until Supergirl was reinvented in 1988 as Matrix Supergirl. This costume became Linda’s when she merged with Matrix. With a good balance of the red, blue and yellow, a red skirt and a flattering v-shaped yellow belt, this look just works on a visual level. It’s very close to Supergirl’s original all blue costume. Supergirl and Comet
Supergirl under Gorilla Grodd's influence Supergirl #04 (left): When the town of Leesburg suffers from the paranoia induced by the Final Night crossover event that blacked out the world, Gorilla Grodd succeeds in bringing out “the beast within” the frenzied townspeople, turning them into savage apes. Even the Girl of Steel is not immune to Grodd’s Heart of Darkness talisman. When the “bad girl” in her comes out, she suddenly starts dressing in tight leather pants and jacket, high heels, teased hair and dark lipstick. And of course, fangs.

Supergirl #19 (right): Deciding that she should expand her image from just the local superhero who appears only around disasters, Supergirl spends a leisurely winter’s afternoon “mingling” with the townsfolk. Her sleek blue and white skating duds are an inspired take on Superman Blue.

 scan from Supergirl #19

scan from Supergirl #39 Supergirl #39: After quitting his newspaper job, Supergirl’s sidekick Cutter Sharp set himself up as her publicist and head of “Supergirl Enterprises”. Gamely she models this outfit from a proposed line of Supergirl clothing. She ditches it as soon as she’s out of sight. =)

Supergirl #42 (right): Another product of Supergirl Enterprises, this comfy-looking tunic appears only on the cover of SUPERGIRL #42.

 Linda in a Supergirl tunic
Supergirl permanently changes her costume in SUPERGIRL #51 after she finds herself separated from her Matrix/Earth Angel side. After the defeat of the Carnivore in SUPERGIRL #50, she was left with reduced superpowers and an inability to morph into Supergirl. Physically she looks like Linda (in a blonde wig), and it takes some effort to convince people that she’s the real deal. She quickly constructs a new uniform from a superhero themed costume shop. Look familiar? It’s based on the animated Supergirl‘s costume from Superman Adventures.
scan from Supergirl #56
In SUPERGIRL #62 Linda travels to Gotham to look for Buzz. She could go to Batman for help, but prefers to do it herself. Her cover: Smallville cheerleader from hell.
There’s always someone trying to clone one of the Supers. When Two-Face clones Supergirl in SUPERGIRL #62, he gets Bizarro Supergirl. Her outfit is a negative colour version of Linda’s and her hair looks like she licked an electrical wire. Maybe she did. She speaks in classical reverse-Bizarro fashion and is insane.
Supergirl #80: In the final two issues of the series, Linda takes the place of the original Supergirl in an alternate timeline. Here we see Linda wearing a mature version of her uniform, eight years later. The sleeves are longer and the white top is now connected to the skirt. It’s a really good uniform for her (if drawn unnecessarily tight and short here by Ed Benes). Perhaps if the series had continued and Linda had become Superwoman as intended, she could have adopted this costume, only with blue pants instead of the skirt. That would have rocked.