Supergirl Summaries: 2004-2005

Debut: The Supergirl From Krypton

• Issues: SUPERMAN/BATMAN #8-13
• Published: March-September 2004
• Writer: Jeph Loeb. Artist: Michael Turner

SUPERMAN/BATMAN #8: “Alone”

“The Supergirl From Krypton” tells the story of Supergirl’s arrival on Earth from the perspective of Superman and Batman. The story opens with Superman quarantined in the Fortress of Solitude: a kryptonite asteroid has crashed into Gotham City’s harbour, containing unknown types of Kryptonite – and an alien ship. Batman discovers Kara’s space ship on the ocean floor, but it is empty. Kara has already exited – naked, in this version of the story – and found the Batboat. She hijacks it and crashes into a Gotham pier, Batman in tow. She walks down the street (still naked), asking some men she meets what planet she is on. When one of them reaches out to her she breaks his fingers, telling him not to touch her. His companion picks up a weapon, but she sends him flying. She wonders what’s happened to give her such strength. Taking one of their trenchcoats, she runs through the streets until she finds herself in an intersection where a car crashes into her, its entire front end crumpled. Frightened, her heat vision goes off, setting a police cruiser on fire. Police shoot at her, and bullets bounce off as she superleaps to the top of a Gotham building where Batman is waiting. Her newly emergent powers continue to wreck havok, as she flies away from Batman and crashes into a dirigible. Only Superman’s quick actions are able to save it.

Batman finds Kara crouched inside a building, crying. Unable to understand her speech and fearful of her power, Batman uses the green kryptonite he found at her downed ship. We next see Kara in the batcave, lying unconscious and covered by a sheet on an examining table. Batman’s scans reveal her DNA to be Kryptonian. Kara awakes, enraged at being trapped in this manner, and screams at Batman that she won’t be held captive by anyone. She flies upward to escape, covered loosely in a sheet, only to be grabbed by the ankle by Superman. When he speaks to her in Kryptonese, she stops. She tells him she is from Krypton and that her uncle and father were scientists who built spaceships for their children to escape in. Superman tells her he is the Kal-El she seeks. She is overjoyed that she made it, that she has found her cousin, although she is confused that he is not a baby any longer. Superman tells a shocked Batman that this mysterious being is Kara Zor-El, his cousin from Krypton.

Note: Kara’s dialogue in this issue is entirely in Kryptonese. Here are translated pages based on a translation posted to the DC boards.

SUPERMAN/BATMAN #9: “Visitor”

Batman and Superman are in the Fortress examining Kara’s ship. The inscription reads: “This vessel carries my daughter, Kara Zor-El from the now dead planet Krypton. Treat her as you would your own child for you will see the treasure she will be for your world.” Batman finds Kara’s arrival too good to be true, while Superman accepts her explanation of who she is at face value. Kara bursts through a door in a panic, crying that something is after her. Batman whirls around with a batarang while Kara cowers behind Superman. Krypto leaps up at her with his teeth bared in a vicious growl and shooting his heat vision at her. Superman commands him to stay down, and wonders to himself why Krypto won’t accept Kara. As usual, Batman takes this as a sign that his distrust of Kara is warranted. Kara states that she’s tried to get Krypto to like her, but Batman cuts her off and commands her to return to her quarters like a misbehaving child. She protests weakly that she didn’t do anything wrong, and departs, feeling hurt and misunderstood.

Kara walks despondently through the Fortress’ halls, frustrated by Batman’s heavy handed manner and by her own inability to remember much of her past. She cannot even remember her mother’s name. What she does remember is her father building a ship for her, and her parents telling her that they would follow her soon after. But they never did. Her ship failed to leave the planet under its own power, and was trapped within an exploded fragment of Krypton that took years to make its way to Earth, its navigation system being set to follow Kal-El’s ship. She was kept in suspended hibernation during this time, bathed in yellow sunlight that allowed her powers to manifest upon arrival. [Kara's revised origin is almost identical to Power Girl's.]

On Apokolips, Darkseid commands Granny Goodness to bring him “the girl who fell to Earth”. He plans to mold Kara into the next leader of his Female Furies.

Against Batman’s advice, Clark is introducing Kara to his world by by taking her on a tour through Metropolis in his secrety identity as Clark Kent. Kara enjoys shopping and hot dogs, and wants to know everything about this new world. She is amazed that no one recognizes Kal as Superman with just a pair of glasses. Metropolis is beautiful to her, so different from both Gotham and Krypton. A statue of Superman shows her that humans regard her cousin as someone bigger than life, far above themselves. Clark insists there is no “them”, that he and Kara are a part of humanity. Suddenly Kara and Clark are attacked by unseen forces. Kara tries to fly away but is roped by a golden lasso. Harbinger attacks Superman while Artemis delays Batman elsewhere. It’s all a ruse to allow Wonder Woman to take Kara away to the Amazons’ island. Like Superman before her, Wonder Woman insists it is for Kara’s own good.

SUPERMAN/BATMAN #10: “Warrior”

Kara is on Themyscira battling Artemis. She has been on Paradise Island for weeks training with the Amazons. Batman and Wonder Woman planned this, believing that Kara could not stay in Metropolis. Superman feels betrayed by his friends, seeing himself as the one who should be taking care of Kara. He is overprotective to the point of attacking Artemis when he thinks she might hurt Kara. Wonder Woman argues that Kara is a “young, impressionable girl with awesome power” who is untested and ripe for someone to exploit. Kara cannot be kept hidden from the world indefinitely.

Elsewhere, walking with Harbinger, Kara wonders for herself what she should do next. Lyla (Harbinger) points out what most people’s expectations of her will be: she comes from Krypton, has powers that are “super”, and is a girl. But Kara isn’t ready to think about becoming a Supergirl just yet. She hugs Lyla, happy in having found friends on Themyscira who can understand her.

What Harbinger and Wonder Woman haven’t told Kara is that Harbinger has had visions of Kara’s presence bringing death and destruction. These visions come to fruition with the sudden arrival of a cloned army of Doomsdays through an Apokoliptikan boom tube. The Amazons, Superman and Batman ready themselves for battle. But they quickly discover that the clones are not alive, are merely “animates” who were sent as a destraction. Superman wipes them out with his heat vision. Wonder Woman and Superman look for Batman, and find him standing at the shore where Kara and Harbinger had gone swimming. Harbinger’s lifeless body floats in the water. While they had been preoccupied, a second boom tube had opened here, delivering a group of Darkseid’s raiders to take Kara. Harbinger died fighting them off. As Superman holds Harbinger in his arms, her orb activates and shows them a scene of Kara being menaced by Darkseid. Superman vows to bring Kara back from Apokolips.

SUPERMAN/BATMAN #11: “Prisoner”

Wonder Woman and Superman arrive at Big Barda’s home in Connecticut. They’ve come for her mother box, and Barda insists on coming with them. The Furies were likely responsible for abducting Kara and killing Harbinger, and that makes this personal for Barda. Batman helps himself to some of Mister Miracle’s equipment, and Barda suits up to do battle. Superman is resolute in his decision to take Kara back from his nemesis. Arriving on Apokolips, they split up. Barda and Wonder Woman encounter the Furies, and at first it appears they will succeed in staving off the attack together. But suddenly Barda is on her knees with a sword at her throat, and Granny Goodness is pleased with the prospect of delivering Wonder Woman into Darkseid’s hands.

Batman is on his own, feeling out of his element on the hell planet. He narrowly escapes two giant demon dogs, only to be swallowed whole by another when he locates a storehouse of “hellspores”, which can blow a hole down to a planet’s core leaving a firepit.

Superman storms Darkseid’s throne room. He thinks of how his friends are all in a way responsible for Kara being taken from him: Batman for keeping him from having sole custody of Kara, Wonder Woman for bringing Kara to Paradise Island, even Barda for having trained the Furies. He tells himself that any action he takes is justified in protecting those he feels are family. His eyes burning with vengence, he confronts Darkseid and demands Kara back. But it’s too late: Kara is wearing Apokoliptikan dress, apparently brainwashed by Darkseid. Superman says to Kara in Kryptonese, “Come with me cousin”. He promises she will always be safe with him. She pulls away from him, and says that he didn’t listen to what Darkseid said – that he never listens to anyone else. She begins to fight him, saying that she’s free to go if she wants to, but she doesn’t appear to wish that. Superman is unwilling to fight back, telling her that Darkseid has corrupted her somehow. Angrily Kara tells him that he should have listened to her. Standing over Superman with her eyes burning red, Darkseid commands Kara to kill her cousin.

SUPERMAN/BATMAN #12: “Traitor”

Superman’s worst fear has come true: Kara is trying to kill him. He feels betrayed. His beloved cousin is under Darkseid’s control. Batman had warned him that Kara was not to be trusted, but he refuses to give up his faith in her. He believes in his friends’ ability to pull through. As Kara throws Superman through a wall, we see the hellhound that swallowed Batman explode around him, and Wonder Woman change the balance of power by lassoing Granny Goodness. No matter what Kara thinks is going to happen, Superman is going to bring her home. Batman and Superman both understand what it’s like to have someone they cared for seem to turn against them. With Batman, he faced an imposter of Jason Todd, who reminded him of his guilt over Jason’s death. His rage over the defilement of Jason’s memory enabled him to defeat his enemy. It is the same for Superman: Kara will kill him if he lets her. The corrupted Kara plays his fears by telling him that he doesn’t know her, he only knows what he wants to know. “Being on Earth for so long has made you soft, Kal-El” To defeat Darkseid, he must betray Kara to save her. He pulls a kryptonite ring from his belt buckle, and places it on his finger. The kryptonite courses through his veins, and he tells her how much this hurts him as he swings at her with a massive uppercut.

Batman faces off against Darkseid himself. Ever the cold calulator, he has programmed Darkseid’s hellspore bombs to detonate, which will destroy the entire planet. Darkseid knows that Batman, unlike Wonder Woman or Superman, is single-minded enough to actually do this. Batman extracts a promise from Darkseid, that he will not go after Kara again. Darkseid admires Batman’s ability, as a human, to kill even his own kind to win battles. The four heroes leave Apokolips, Superman carrying the unconscious Kara in his arms.

Back on Themyscira, Superman sits by Kara’s bed as Batman and Wonder Woman look on. Kara has recovered from her nightmare ordeal. All she remembers is trying to get home. Her cousin promises that she’s safe now with him, and they share a tearful embrace. After mourning Harbinger, Kara takes her leave of the Amazons. Wonder Woman promises that they will always watch over her. Kara tells Batman that she remembers her mother’s name: Alura.

At the Fortress, Kara models the Supergirl costume that Superman has given her. She wonders if she’s worthy of it, thinking of what she did while under Darkseid’s thrall. She worries that Darkseid only brought out a darkness already inside her. Superman assures her that she’s not responsible for what Darkseid caused her to do. The two fly through the air together, Kara delighted in her new costume which was made from blankets in her ship by Martha. They touch down at the Kent farm, where all appears quiet, until Darkseid’s oversized arm bursts through the farm door and sends Superman flying into a tractor. Kara leaps in front of the Omega Beams aimed at her cousin, and disintegrates before their eyes. Superman weaps as he cradles her ashes in his hands.

SUPERMAN/BATMAN #13: “Hero”

Darkseid torments Superman with Supergirl’s death: he is alone once again, and it’s his own fault. Superman sends Darkseid flying with a furious punch. He tells Darkseid who Kara was, that she was special and important, but none of that matters to Darkseid who cares only for war and death. Wonder Woman jumps in to protect Superman from Darkseid’s omega beam, bouncing it off her bracelets and back into his face. Superman flings Wonder Woman out of the way, and pushes Darkseid into the sky and up into space, as he angrily tells him of all the wonders of the world that Kara will never see. Darkseid finds his talk foolish, but he fails to realize that Superman’s anger has taken them up towards the sun, making the Kryptonian strong enough to beat him back towards the Source Wall, where he fastens him and leaves, just another of the universe’s failures.

Darkseid defeated, Superman returns to the Kent farm to find Martian Manhunter and other members of the Justice League repairing his parents’ home. Unlike Darkseid, Superman has friends who are there for him in his time of need. Batman hands him a container of ashes. Superman flies to Themyscira with it, and enters a secret chamber by uttering a magical phrase in Kryptonese (“Unseal the door” said backwards). Kara is waiting for him, relieved that their plot to trick Darkseid into thinking she’s dead has succeeded. She’s safe for now, but Superman won’t be able to have her teleported away every time a supervillain comes after her. She tells him wistfully that he has a life and multiple identities he can be: who will she be? This time Superman tells her that’s her decision. Whether she becomes a superhero like him, an Amazonian warrior, or simply another teenager, he will be there for her no matter what.

Superman and Batman stand in the Fortress, looking up at the larger than life statues of Lara and Jor-El. Superman reminises about the time that he left home for collge, and his dad wrote him a letter describing how everything they’d done to raise him had been to ready him for the day he could said goodbye. He realizes that, in his thrill at discovering family, he has been holding on too tight to Kara, and thus preventing her from choosing her own destiny. He now understands that she’s old enough to stand on her own. Defeating Darkseid was the hardest thing he ever had to do; his love for Kara made it possible. Batman has been struggling too, to understand Superman’s overprotective behavior of Kara. His friend apologizes for bringing up Jason Tood, but Batman forgives him and tells him it’s more like when Dick Grayson gave up being Robin and became Nightwing. Batman had difficulty letting go and accepting that Dick had outgrown him. This is what Superman now faces. Kara appears, her decision made.

On Paradise Island, the Amazons, Teen Titans, the Outsiders, and members of the JSA and JLA are assembled in front of Kara in her new Supergirl costume. Batman recognizes that they are there for Superman. Full of pride, he introduces his cousin to his world. She tells the smiling faces before her that she looks forward to getting to know all of them and, with their help, growing into her new identity as Supergirl. It’s a brand new day for a hopeful new hero.

SUPERMAN/BATMAN #19: “The New Adventures of Supergirl The Girl of Steel”

• Originally published April 2005, reprinted August 2005 as SUPERGIRL #0
• Writer: Jeph Loeb. Artist: Ian Churchill (pencils)

Air Force One, carrying the American president, has been hit. Supergirl flies out from her base on Paradise Island. She’s been working alone for months, but Superman still has problems letting her go. Diana has informed Batman that Superman’s been “hovering” over the island, not seeing the problem in spying on an island of women. What neither of them realizes is that Lex Luthor has been monitoring Supergirl, putting her through tests like an incident at Hoover Dam, a terrorist attack at the Eiffel Tower, and the explosion on Air Force One. Kara has been able to handle off them successfully, but after every rescue she flies off before the public can meet her. She’s met half the superhero community, but she isn’t ready to announce herself to the world. Superman tracks her from a distance, thinking he’s being discreet, but she easily loses him out in space. Lex Luthor and his spy Noah Kutler, the “Calculator”, speculate that she may be even more powerful than Superman. The thought has occurred to Batman as well, and it disturbs him.

Supergirl surprises Batman in his cave. She knows they’ve been spying on her, and reminds him of their agreement not to interfere with her patrols. She also suspects someone else is watching her besides them.

Hovering above a Gotham rooftop, Kara is greeted by Batgirl. It’s the original Batgirl: she invites Supergirl join her as she busts up a robbery in progress by Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy. Supergirl makes short work of Quinn, then Ivy unexpectedly kisses her: she’s attempting to infect her with synthetic kryptonite lipstick, but unlike with Superman, it appears to have little affect. On a monitor, we see Calculator instruct “Batgirl” over a headset to test Supergirl’s strength. The girl of steel crashes through the glass wall of the First National Bank of Gotham. Batgirl is really Clayface in disguise. Kara is aware from her studies of what happened to the real Batgirl, and knew someone was impersonating her. She flings Clayface into the ocean. Superman shows up in midair behind her, proud of her success in her first time out against meta-human supervillains. Kara thanks him for letting her handle it, reassuring him that this is the only way for her to learn.

Miles away, Calculator prepares to have Harley and Ivy bailed out. The result of this latest test by Luthor has his employee worried. Having a new player of this magnitude could shift the balance of power for Luthor. Lex is not worried. He flexes his arm within a newly built powersuit, three variants of kryptonite built into the glove. For him, the game just became more interesting.

SUPERGIRL #1: “Power, Chapter 1: JSA”

• SUPERGIRL #1-5 published August 2005-February 2006
• Writer: Jeph Loeb. Artist: Ian Churchill (pencils)

Up to this point, Supergirl’s story has been told through the eyes of Superman and Batman. In this issue we get to hear the story from Kara’s POV.

Kara recounts her memories of her last moments on Krypton. From inside her escape pod, she watched helplessly as debris fell down around her parents as they watched her rise away from them. Tears streaming down her face, the young Kara (shown here with short hair) peers out the window as all around her the city of Argo breaks apart and the planet shatters. The next thing she knows is crashing into Gotham Harbour. Inside her ship (her hair now grown long and still naked), she sees a man in an underwater batsuit with headlights. Alone, scared, and with no idea where she is, she flees. But she can’t keep runing. Today she’s with Stargirl, discussing how old she is: how does age work when you’re in suspended animation? Best she can answer is that she’s around fifteen or sixteen years old on Earth.

She’s met up with the JSA, who are busy fighting Solomon Grundy, to find Power Girl. Trying to figure out who she is, she was surprised to discover that she’s not the first Supergirl. [This is the first time the series acknowledges the first Kara, Matrix, and Linda Danvers.] She’s not even the “only cousin from Krypton Supergirl” – that title belongs to Power Girl. As Supergirl watches the fight with Grundy, she thinks about how the JSA is a generational team where older heroes train the next generation. She wonders who trained Power Girl. Stargirl describes as Power Girl as like Kara, “only with a different bra size”, and speculates that since they’re both Superman’s cousin, perhaps that makes them sisters. Supergirl barely has time to ponder that thought before she notices Power Girl weakening under Grundy’s grip and flies in to save her. This brings the JSA’s fight to an abrupt halt, and the two girls from Krypton shake hands. This has the unexpected effect of making Power Girl’s powers go haywire. Kara finds herself battling her out of control counterpart, until Alan Scott, the original Green Lanten, separates the two of them with a magical barrier. Mr. Terrific theorizes that the two of them are like two positive wires on a transformer crossing. Instead of repelling, there is an energy burst. In essence, they’re like the same person trying to occupy a single space. Supergirl could handle the overload, but Power Girl could not.

Supergirl is crushed: the one person she’d hoped would understand her and possibly provide her with answers wants nothing to do with her. She’s able to meet with Power Girl a few days later, and Kara explains her how she’d hoped the two of them could be friends. But it’s not a good time for Power Girl: only recently did she rediscover who she was, a Kryptonian from Earth-2 and cousin to Superman. Kara sympathizes, and doesn’t wish to take that identity away from Power Girl. For now, the two of them cannot be friends. Before Power Girl departs, she shares with Supergirl something troubling: when they first made contact, she felt something dark inside of Kara.

Having failed to find any answers from Power Girl, Kara sets off to find another member of her family who is closer to her own age. But when she finds Superboy in Smallville, he doesn’t appear happy to see her either.