Supergirl: The Trinity Child (inspired by the Post-Crisis Concept) includes Karaâs relationships with the Superfamily, Batfamily and Amazons
What makes a Supergirl? A reading list that explores common themes, characteristics, parallels among the Supergirls (It will be this or number 5)
Legends Donât Stay Dead: A list of Kara/Supergirl publication call outs from 1986-2003 in the Supergirl mythos. (It will be this or number 2)
It doesnât get any gayer. (not Kara focused-My favorite gay propaganda from the supposedly straight)
Supergirl and the Stages of Grief
Supergirl and her Secret Life: showcases Kara outside the cape. The title references her secret identity and the kryptonian life she rarely discusses with others.
Supergirl and Superman (because it is way too long for the other one I made.)
Winter Wonderland (not Kara focused- mostly Holiday specials, but a few winter themed issues the world should read)
Kara of Krypton (Karaâs adventures on Krypton, New Krypton, and Argo City)
A totally sane reading order for the entirety merged timeline Supergirl(s) with a list of issues I would consider fully retconned and outside of the timeline due to technicalities and notes how it works over all. [i.e. Supergirl is my life]
A totally sane reading order for the entirety merged timeline Batgirl(s) with a list of issues I would consider fully retconned and outside of the timeline due to technicalities and notes how it works over all.
Supergirl #6 by Greg Rucka (2005)( the start to Karaâs worst arc ever) had one cool idea before the arc gets completely derailed by Joe Kelly: Kara on a quest to find Argo City.
Supergirlâs Family Vacation had her searching and finding Argo City not in ruins, but alive and thriving. Her people managed to find a way to push through after her dad sent her away and created a beautiful city 20+ years later.
Through an elaborate story I cannot explain. I call my sister Dickie and Nightwing. It has been brought to my attention she has only read 4 nightwing comics ever. She loves him in animation. She just collected mostly villain runs as a teen and âthe comic store [there] is full of weirdosâ
Its her Birthday! What do I get her?
Nightwing Year One 20th Anniversary Edition (is the bonus stuff worth it?)
You know the argument about Tim occupying the niche of a batgirl more than a robin? Well Kara and Kon occupy the same niche, and the overlap in pre-crisis Kara and 90s Kon, especially with comparison to the modern understanding and treatment of their stories, is actually going to drive me crazy
I was rereading infinite crisis and obviously there is way more meaning to this post, but Kara and Konâs deathâs literally mirror each other.
Kara and Kon both die to a multiversal reality warper who inevitably falls in a battle with two supermen. (Also Earth-2 Superman and Lois essentially go to Heaven in COIE and actually die in Infinite Crisis).
I read this article entitled "What can you do with Supergirl that you can't do with Superman?" on DC's website today, and I think it encapsulates a lot of things with how DC approaches both characters and their relationship to one another, and I'm responding to them all. I apologize in advance for this being unpolished.
(Using a Read More because I basically copy the article to spare you all the effort)
Direct Responses
Writer Alex Jaffe: "When your guiding principle for Supergirl is only that she isnât Superman, there are thousands of directions you can take."
This guiding principle is shit. I don't have a polite way of framing it. Kara's gender, age, place of origin (for even if Krypton hadn't exploded, Kal was born in Kryptonopolis!), and the time period in which she was introduced to Earth culture are just a few aspects that differentiate the characters without an author explicitly needing the crutch of "well, she's not him." Moreover, and perhaps more importantly, I would argue that this relies on Superman himself being a relatively stagnant and unchanging character, both in narrative and in wider perception, or the goalposts for developing Supergirl must change in response. The authors themselves do a better job of elaborating on their positions and how they've developed Supergirl, but the premise they're working from manages to be vague, trite, and damaging somehow.
Cary Bates answered, âAt the time I was writing,â he told us, âthe answer would be ânot much.' But I think a more blunt answer to the question came in 1985 with Crisis on Infinite Earths, when DC took the drastic step of killing Supergirl "for real.""
I'm not going to say that Superman and Supergirl having nothing that's theoretically "off-limits" to the other for whatever reason that may crop up is inherently better â but I fail to see why them being so different that you can't regard them similarly is considered necessary from the outset rather than being a natural result of the characters' respective backgrounds and story progression.
I think the COIE mention is interesting because it's a perception-based answer; Superman was/is just too iconic and important to the overall DC universe to exclude, but Supergirl could be removed for a prolonged period without too much fuss as far as editorial was concerned. Still, "you can kill her off" isn't really the kind of answer people care about when they ask this.
Jeff Loeb answered, âWhat I loved about writing Supergirl was that she was a young woman who came to Earthâunlike her cousin Superman,â Loeb told us. âShe had no Ma and Pa Kent, so her perspective on everything had to do with what she knew from Krypton. It became a different kind of immigrant story. Much more of a stranger in a strange land than Clark. Having spent years exposed to the yellow sun, she is, in many ways, more powerful than Superman, and hasn't had the human experience of keeping those skills in check when needed,â he suggested. âShe can be the badass in the family. It's great fun.â
Based on what I've read of Loeb's take on Kara, I'm not necessarily surprised by the answer. The first half of it repeats what I mentioned earlier, and I take issue with the latter half, which aligns with how I felt about Loeb's writing anyway. I don't take issue with the origin where Kara got trapped orbiting the sun in stasis because of the powerscaling bit; I hate that writers of similar mind to Loeb accidently vilify her under the impression that they're making her cool. Supergirl being written as ill-tempered and violent â as a (often teenaged) young woman and a refugee â reeks of latent bigotry. Kara not having an amazing control over her powers at first is a completely normal aspect of Superlore, but if said lack of control's supposed to be "badassery," I feel there's an intentionality there evoking unsavory stereotypes. If we're working with the juxtaposition angle, then this heavily implies that her older male American Earth-raised cousin, who historically did struggle with impulses, is the softer and more reasonable one. Call me Ralph Dibny if you want, but it doesn't sit right with me.
Also, again, I don't appreciate comparisons between Kal and Kara that imply or state that his different immigrant story is lesser. He lost me with that.
"That difference in Supergirl and Supermanâs origins is where most writers seem to find the crux of Supergirlâs character."
Finally!
âSupergirl is the stranger in the strange land trope at its best,â Landry Q. Walker (Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the Eighth Grade) told us. âAnd that is a tremendous amount of fun to write. She can look at a cow with wonder and amazement. She can be skeptical about ice cream. The room for comedy and drama is virtually limitless as Supergirl gets to be overwhelmed by the best and worst that Earth has to offer in a way that Supermanâborn and raised as a humanânever can.â
Hm. Okay, I guess. Cliche and not my cup of tea.
Shea Fontana (DC Super Hero Girls) similarly casts her view of Kara back to her origins. âSupergirl had a much more complex life and journey before she came to Earth than Superman,â she told us. âI love stories that explore the potential friction that causes and how it shapes her as a hero.â
Fontana's referring to the fact that Kara was a teen and not a baby. The use of the word "complex" rubs me the wrong way, but I'm oversensitive to discussions about Superman's immigrant themes so I'll give her the benefit of the doubt.
Steve Orlando, one of the writers on Supergirlâs Rebirth series, is of the same mind, but has clearly given the issue considerable thought. âWhile Kal learned about the home he lost after the fact, Kara experienced it firsthandâshe had plans, hopes and dreams,â he explained. âShe had friends, family and teachers she left behind. For Superman, coming to Earth meant discovering a history he never knew. For Supergirl, coming to Earth means leaving behind a future she'll never see. So, with Supergirl, you can tell stories that truly analyze the immigrant experience, even the refugee experience, in a way completely different than with Superman. And that can be as big as the pain she feels on a holiday no one else alive remembers should be celebrated, on the birthday for a lost friend no one but her in the universe remembers...or as personal as the complexities of the Kryptonian languages and the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis as it pertains to Kara's lens on Earth.â
Thank Rao for an actual answer to this question that elaborates on why the Supercousins can/should be treated differently and how that stems from their respective backgrounds without implying anything negative about either one. I hope Orlando's run was actually good.
 Supergirl: Being Superâs Mariko Tamaki takes another approachâlooking not to Karaâs past, but the nature of her arrival. âThe essence of Supergirl is that she showed up second,â Tamaki posited. âSheâs someone who has to forge her own path in a world that has a Superman. I donât think thatâs her essence, but I think itâs relatable to have a character who is becoming themselves in the context of an existing narrative that isnât their story. Itâs why I love writing her.â
Clarification aside, I wish a painful death to the word and concept of "relatability."
Writer Alex Jaffe: "And as many of Karaâs more recent writers have embraced, Itâs about existing outside of Kalâs strict moral bounds and giving herself some room to let her hair down and get wild with it when she needs to."
You know, if statements like this were elaborated on, I might take them more seriously. In general, I don't respect the refusal to acknowledge basically any time period or run where one or both of them were in a greyer area of morality than people like to assign to them.
âSupergirl, despite sharing so many qualities with her cousin, is her own person,â Supergirl: Surviveâs Griffin Sheridan explained. âWith Superman, we see him arrive as a blank slate that is raised human and must eventually learn what it is to be Kryptonian as well. The balancing act of being a god amongst man. With Supergirl, itâs almost reversed. She has always been a Kryptonian who has to learn to accept her new home, all while having a much more vivid picture of what was lost.â
Something about this doesn't sit right with me, but beyond balking at the use of "blank slate" to describe a violently orphaned, assimilated toddler, I'm not sure what it is.
To Brandon T. Snider, the writer of the middle grade graphic novel Supergirlâs Family Vacation, Kara Zor-Elâs value is often as a critique of Superman. âSuperman wants to be an example,â offered Snider. âHe knows his own impact. He doesnât just say whatever is on his mind at any given time. He also looks for ways to get his message across inoffensively. Supergirl, however, doesnât have those same self-imposed constraints. She says what sheâs thinking. If something doesnât sit right with her, sheâs not going to mince words or censor herself. Part of that is her youth. Part of that is her ability to see things Superman canât. They both have a sense of right and wrong, but Supergirl is unafraid to point out inconsistences.â
What?
That sense of uninhibited freedom is what defines the tone of Sophie Campbellâs ongoing Supergirl run, now well into its dizzying second year. âThe main thing you can do with Supergirl that isn't allowed with Superman is that she can be messy both literally and figuratively,â Campbell shared with us. âShe can be a bit slobby, make mistakes, go overboard, she can party, and she can be a bit of a hot mess and still be a hero. She can have an all-night pizza party and still go save the city.â
I need everyone to understand that this is bad.
One last note from the legendary Mark Waid, who took on Kara for his Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes storylineas well as the recent Summer of Supergirl Special. He only had three words for us when we asked him what you can do with Supergirl that you canât with her cousin: âChange her costume.â
Points for hilarity, but Waid is probably one of the most popular Super writers ever, and I wish he'd answered it.
Musing
I often come out of conversations and interviews like this one wondering where people get their understandings of Superman and Supergirl from, and this time is no different. I would say that most of these answers are somewhat underdeveloped at best and concerning at worst regarding the state of the Supercousins' respective portrayals. They're just so... reductive.
last lion of albion they'll steal your patent for the sun & you'll feel extinction đđ„Č thank you @clambuoyance for the inspiration!!! ID is in alt text.
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