| Supergirl | |
|---|---|
.png) Linda Danvers as Supergirl, fromSupergirl (vol. 4) #78, Art byEd Benes. Her comics incorporated the Supergirl costume originally conceived for theDC Animated Universe. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Supergirl (vol. 4) #1 (September 1996) |
| Created by | Peter David Gary Frank (based upon theKara Zor-El character byOtto Binder andAl Plastino) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Linda Danvers |
| Species | Fallen Angel (formerly) Metahuman (currently) |
| Place of origin | Silver City –Hell |
| Team affiliations | Teen Titans Justice League of Amazons Justice League |
| Notable aliases | Kara Zor-El Superwoman |
| Abilities |
(Previously):
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Linda Danvers, also known asSupergirl, is acomic booksuperhero appearing in books published byDC Comics. Created by writerPeter David and artistGary Frank, she debuted inSupergirl (vol. 4) #1 (September 1996). She is not to be confused with Linda Lee Danvers, the secret identity used by theKara Zor-El incarnation of Supergirl prior to the events of 1985'sCrisis on Infinite Earths.
Peter David adapted Linda Danvers as a separate character based on that of Kara Zor-El, who had been wiped out of continuity by DC Comics to enforce Superman's status as the sole survivor of Krypton.[1]
According to David, he was aware that many readers would still want Kara Zor-El back as Supergirl, so Linda was created for the fans to feel "more at home. So I gave her as many of the exterior accoutrements of Kara's former life as I possibly could. I gave her parents, and a secret identity of Linda Danvers, in a small town (called “Leesburg”, in deference to Linda Lee), and a boyfriend named Dick Malverne, and put Stanhope College nearby. Some fans thought I was being 'in-jokey.' Nah. I just wanted to make the old readers feel at home as best I could."[2]
Linda'sSupergirl title (vol. 4) ran between 1997 and 2003, when DC decided to bring Kara Zor-El back as Supergirl. Starting from issue #51, Linda changes her traditional Supergirl costume to the one conceived for theDC Animated Universe, donned by Kara In-Ze.
According to Peter David, if his run onSupergirl had not ended, he would have had the series being a sort ofBirds of Prey type comic, featuring the trio of Linda Danvers asSuperwoman, Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El as the current Supergirl, andPower Girl.[3]
According to an interview withNewsarama, following the events of the "Infinite Crisis" storyline, editor-in-chiefDan DiDio stated that the Matrix Supergirl was wiped from existence. However,Infinite Crisis writerGeoff Johns later stated, "As for this…huh? Linda Danvers hasn't been retconned out at all."[4]
Linda Danvers (daughter of policeman Fred Danvers and his wife Sylvia) began her life in a less-than-heroic fashion. Lured into a world of darkness by her boyfriend Buzz, Linda was involved in many illicit and illegal activities (such as murder and torture). Little did she know that she was intended to be a sacrifice for a demonic cult for which Buzz worked. Buzz slashed her with a dagger to use her blood to release a demon into the world, butMatrix, theprotoplasmicSupergirl, intervened. She used her shape-shifting powers to try plugging the gaping wounds on Linda, but instead became fused with her. Linda and Matrix became a new Supergirl. Armed with newfound superhuman abilities and the power to change from the Linda Danvers form to the taller Supergirl form, "Linda" (who was actually a merged Matrix and Linda) began to fight crime and demonic activity, on her road to redemption for all the crimes she's committed. She was hesitant to reveal her situation to her adoptive "brother"Superman, fearing his reaction to her co-opting a human life, but he accepted the change. Further complicating the situation was the revelation that Matrix's sacrifice in attempting to save Linda transformed her and Linda into the Earth-born Angel of Fire.
When Linda became an Earth-born Angel (one of three, the others are Blithe andComet), she developed wings of flame and flame vision.[5] She discovered that she could teleport in an S-shaped burst of flame. She used her powers to fight demons and dark gods, and even her fellow Earth-born Angel Blithe. Linda eventually learnt that an evangelical preacher had begun a church with Supergirl as its lead centerpiece. The Silver Age character of Dick Malverne returned and started a relationship with Linda. However, Supergirl later found Dick dead in his apartment, as he had foregone proper treatment in favor of appealing to the Church of Supergirl. Enraged, she attacked the church.
Linda met an angelic ally, the equine Comet, who was revealed to be her friend, Andrea Jones, and the Angel of Love, born in an accident in an ice cavern. Stranger still, Linda began to encounter a young boy named Wally, who claimed to be what is known in the DC Universe as thePresence (his name, he explained, was a variation on "Yahweh", the Hebrew name for God). Wally helped Linda through her strange transformations, especially when her wings changed from angelic to bat-like. Linda also found herself fighting a superhuman named Twilight, whose dark powers were almost strong enough to overpower Linda's angelic abilities. Her greatest challenge came when Linda was captured by a strangely Wally-like man, who was the Carnivore, the firstvampire. She defeated him, with the help of anangelic figure, simply called "Kara." In her defeat of Carnivore, her Matrix side was ripped away, leaving Linda alone once again.
After the split, Linda retained half of the super-strength and invulnerability she had when fused with Matrix/Supergirl and could only leap 1/8 of a mile. Using some items from a costume shop, Linda created a white, blue, and red Supergirl costume and acted as Supergirl, while searching for Matrix, with the help of her demonic ex-boyfriend Buzz and fellow superheroMary Marvel. Even with diminished abilities, she was still powerful enough to stopBizarro, and even found herself fighting a Bizarro Supergirl. Linda's search led her to the Amazon, where Matrix was held prisoner byLilith, the mother of all demons, who had sent Twilight after Supergirl, holding Twilight's sister hostage to keep her under her evil control. Lilith fatally injured Mary, Twilight, and Linda, but not before Matrix was freed from Lilith's prison. Linda asked Matrix to merge with Twilight, and Twilight became the new Angel of Fire in the process, using her powers to heal Mary and Linda, thus giving Linda all the powers she had had when she was merged with Matrix. At this point, Matrix passed the Supergirl mantle on to Linda.
Linda was the new Supergirl for only six issues of the 1996 series. With her powers back to Matrix's original (non-angelic) levels, Linda encountered a rocketship that contained a young, vibrantKara Zor-El from the Pre-Crisis reality. After a rocky start, the two became close, with Linda mentoring Kara on how to be a hero.
Kara's presence in the Post-Crisis era was going to destabilize time. TheSpectre (Hal Jordan) appeared and said that Kara was destined to die. Apparently, a cosmic entity called the Fatalist had altered the timeline for his own amusement and to vex his master, Xenon, a being with a pathological hatred of Supergirl. Not surprisingly, the young Kara Zor-El did not tamely accept that she was destined to die at a young age, and begged Linda to find some way to save her. Linda lied to her, in order to calm her down and send her away; only after she had departed did Kara Zor-El realize Linda's intent—Linda secretly took Kara's place, and was sent to the Pre-Crisis era, posing as Kara and expecting to die in her place, in order to provide Kara Zor-El with a chance at life. The Pre-CrisisSuperman uncovered her ruse (upon her arrival in his universe, she tried to repeat Kara Zor-El's origin story, but his superhuman abilities allowed him to notice details that made it clear she was lying, such as the fact that her costume was made of Earth materials) and admitted he was in love with her. The two married and had a daughter,Ariella. Linda even changed her costume to cover more skin. Linda's presence had altered the timeline, so the Spectre made her return home, not only to restore the timestream but to save Kara from Xenon, who had captured the young Supergirl and planned to kill her.
Linda defeated Xenon, and had to send Kara back to her universe, knowing Kara, as an adult, would eventually die in theCrisis on Infinite Earths. Linda's daughter was spared from being erased from the timeline by the Spectre, but Linda was heartbroken over her actions. She learned that her parents had just had a second child, ironically named "Wally". Linda reunited with her parents for one last time before leaving everyone and hanging up her cape. She left a note for Clark and Lois explaining her decision, saying she felt she had let her loved ones down and so she was no longer worthy of wearing the S.
InReign in Hell #1, the team ofShadowpact attacks Linda Danvers in herGotham City apartment, which makes Linda fight back. She manifests the flaming wings she had while merged with Matrix, but still loses to the collective powers ofBlue Devil andEnchantress. However she is teleported toHell, as Hell is recalling all of its "debts".
InReign in Hell #6, Linda reappears in theDoctor Occult backstory. She appears as afallen angel summoned by Lilith but mysteriously released. InReign in Hell #7, Linda uses her flame vision to kill some injured demons who were huddled around a tiny campfire, which horrifies Occult. Linda believes that no one in Hell is innocent, and then accuses Occult of being a damned soul. Linda says she does not deserve to be trapped in Hell, and that she would see everybody burned to char before she accepted being kept in there. Occult casts a spell to show Linda who she really is, and she flies away in horror.
Linda was originally a normal human, with no superhuman abilities. Upon fusing with the Matrix Supergirl, Linda gained psychokinetic abilities. This granted her an incredible level of superhuman strength and speed, near invulnerability to harm, and the power to fly at high speeds. Linda was also able to produce concussive blasts of telekinetic energy, typically referred to as "psi blasts".
After being merged with Matrix for some time, Linda became the Earth-Born Angel of Fire. While she retained her original abilities, she also gained the ability to produce bursts of fire from her eyes (called Flame Vision), form angelic wings composed of flames, and could use her wings to create a flaming portal that allowed her to "shunt" (teleport) long distances. Though Linda originally lost her angelic powers after being separated from Matrix, she later seemed to have regained them during the "Reign in Hell" mini-series.
After being separated from Matrix, Linda found herself with reduced powers. She could no longer shapeshift into her "Supergirl" form, and all of her angelic powers were lost. In addition, Linda's strength and durability were reduced by half, she lost her ability to fly and produce psionic blasts, and instead was only able to leap around 1/8th of a mile in a single bound.
After encountering Twilight as the new Earth-Born Angel of Fire, Linda regained all of the powers that she'd possessed while initially merged with Matrix, sans her ability to assume her "Supergirl" form. Her strength and durability returned to their original levels and she was able to fly and produce psionic blasts of force once more.
| Title | Material collected | ISBN | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Supergirl: Book One | Supergirl (vol. 4) #1–9,Supergirl (vol. 4) Annual #1,Supergirl Plus #1 and a story fromShowcase '96 #8. | 978-1401260927 | 2016 |
| Supergirl: Book Two | Supergirl (vol. 4) #10–20,Supergirl (vol. 4) Annual #2 | 978-1401265533 | 2017 |
| Supergirl: Book Three | Supergirl (vol. 4) #21–31, 1,000,000;Resurrection Man #16–17 | 978-1401268794 | 2017 |
| Supergirl: Book Four | Supergirl (vol. 4) #34–43;Young Justice #12-13 | 978-1401273644 | 2018 |
| Supergirl: Many Happy Returns | Supergirl (vol. 4) #75-80 | 978-1401200855 | 2003 |
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