Questions about the current Supergirl

[Choppa]

As I understand it, Pre-Crisis there was Powergirl (girl who came from krypton in a rocket). Post-crisis, there was never a Supergirl who came from Krypton, but there were the other ones (matrix, Linda, etc) who were modeled after someone else. Now there is the current Supergirl who came from Krypton in a rocket and has adopted the mantle of Supergirl.

My first question is, post IC those previous post-crisis SG's are no longer in continuity. But right before they were wiped out, before IC, did anyone tell current SG that there were SG's before her?

Second, who were the other Pre-IC SG's (matrix, linda) modeled after?

And finally, who was the Supergirl that died in COIE? In the issue with the famous cover of Superman holding her body?

[3D Master]

As I understand it, Pre-Crisis there was Powergirl (girl who came from krypton in a rocket). Post-crisis, there was never a Supergirl who came from Krypton, but there were the other ones (matrix, Linda, etc) who were modeled after someone else. Now there is the current Supergirl who came from Krypton in a rocket and has adopted the mantle of Supergirl.

My first question is, post IC those previous post-crisis SG's are no longer in continuity.

Uh, that's new to me. As far as I know, the non-kryptonian, earth-angel supergirl is indeed still in continuity.

But right before they were wiped out, before IC, did anyone tell current SG that there were SG's before her?

Yes, and she found it rather daunting - she found out about them after she chose her super hero moniker - that she had to live up to their legacy.

Second, who were the other Pre-IC SG's (matrix, linda) modeled after?

Uh, by the writer? Nobody I guess, apart from the original look, based upon the original supergirl. Earth-angel supergirl was a complete departure from any former supergirl. She was something unique.

And finally, who was the Supergirl that died in COIE? In the issue with the famous cover of Superman holding her body?

Kara Zor-El, Superman's cousin from the city Argo, a part of Krypton that remained intact because of forcefields and was kept alive by technology as it floated in space.

[Ontir]

Pre-Crisis, there was Supergirl, who escaped the destruction of Krypton on Argo City, a chunk of Krypton in an air bubble. Eventually, Argo was lost, and she was rocketed to Earth, Argo's sole survivor (which eventually changed; but that's another LONG story).

When Wally Wood re-vamped the Justice Society on Earth 2, in the 70's, he introduced the Earth 2 version of Supergirl, POWER GIRL, who similarly, was rocketed to Earth, like Kal-L.

Post-Crisis, Byrne insisted that there be no other survivor of Krypton, and Supergirl was eliminated from continuity. He had intended to introduce a post-Crisis Power Girl, via the body found in Antarctica, which eventually became the Matrix Supergirl, because he hadn't noticed that Roy Thomas was still using Power Girl in the then on-going Infinity, Inc., forcing him to re-create Supergirl.

This Supergirl went through a variety of stages of development, before Peter David took her and really developed her. That character is still said to be in continuity, though her exact location and status is, IIRC, unknown at the present.

The current Supergirl was introduced in Batman/Superman, and was a hint of things to come with Infinite Crisis, and is, of course, still very much in continuity.

[Eliseu Gouveia]

I really dislike the idea of Kara-from-Krypton, Superman should be the only survivor, period.
Having more kryptonians around steals from his uniqueness and "Last Son of Krypton" stops making sense.

[666MasterOfPuppets]

I really dislike the idea of Kara-from-Krypton, Superman should be the only survivor, period.
Having more kryptonians around steals from his uniqueness and "Last Son of Krypton" stops making sense.

Agreed. It's a pity that nothing more can be done about it. At least for the time being.

[Lorendiac]

Post-Crisis, Byrne insisted that there be no other survivor of Krypton, and Supergirl was eliminated from continuity. He had intended to introduce a post-Crisis Power Girl, via the body found in Antarctica, which eventually became the Matrix Supergirl, because he hadn't noticed that Roy Thomas was still using Power Girl in the then on-going Infinity, Inc., forcing him to re-create Supergirl.

I thought I knew a lot about Supergirl continuity, but I hadn't heard that Byrne only invented Matrix as a pinch-hitter substitute for Power Girl, whom he had originally intended to reboot for his own purposes, just like Superman and the rest of his supporting cast got rebooted, if I follow you correctly?

Just last night I was typing up some material to be added to the next draft of my once-notorious "Timeline of First Appearances of Each Supergirl, Superwoman, etc." Now that the perplexing question of the status of the tangled histories of Matrix Supergirl and Linda Supergirl in Post-Infinite Crisis continuity seems to have been finally resolved (by a recent follow-up comment from Geoff Johns) I figured it was about time for me to do my level best, once again, to lay out all the fundamental items about the "Supergirl continuity" of each and every character who's ever been called Supergirl, Super-Girl, Superwoman, Power Girl, and/or Kara! Coming soon to a forum near you! :)

[Ontir]

Until the Donner arc hits, Superman remains the last son, even with Kara and Karen about. Beyond that, he's a unique character from any other survivors, because he has almost no personal history with the world. He, despite genetic lineage, and location of birth, is an Earthling. Culturally, he's one of us. That's something that really ought to be addressed by the current Supergirl book. She's not one of us, at all! I'd really like to see the difficulties had by someone forced to live in an extremely "rustic" setting like Earth, after having been raised on advanced Krytpon.

Yes, Byrne was going to totally re-boot Power Girl in his Post-IC Superman mold. She would have a connection TO Superman; but he would remain the sole Kryptonese survivor anywhere in the universe. If only he'd read Infinity, Inc.!

[Trademark]

Pre-Crisis, there were an infinite series of parallel worlds, these infinite parallel worlds were destroyed and collapsed into a single world during the crisis, hence that's why it's called Crisis on Infinite Earths. The Supergirl that died during crisis lived on the main DC timeline called Earth-1 and went by the name Kara Zor-El.

At the time, DC had a separate continuity called Earth-2 with alternate versions of it's characters, kind of like Marvel's Ultimate Universe. Powergirl was Kara Zor-L, a parallel version of Supergirl in Earth-2 continuity and a cousin to the Superman of that parallel universe. Think of Powergirl sort of like an Ultimate Supergirl.

Post-Crisis, all of Superman's continuity got wiped out and Superman was rebooted from scratch. There was a DC editorial mandate that said there were to be no surviving Kryptonians other than Superman by then DC President Jenette Kahn, so the various post-Crisis had to have non-Kryptonian origins. The first was Matrix, a protoplasmic lifeform from another universe. The second was Linda Danvers, her name was a reference to how pre-Crisis Supergirl used the name Linda Danvers as her secret identity. The third post-Crisis Supergirl was Cir-El, a homeless girl given superpowers and brainwashed into thinking she was the daughter of Superman and Lois to be used as a weapon to kill Superman.

The fourth Supergirl is the current one, a post-Crisis incarnation of the original Kara Zor-El. By now, the editorial mandate of no other surviving Kryptonians is gone since Jenette Khan had stepped down as DC President. Since Superman was rebooted, all Superman related stories were restarted from scratch. The current Supergirl is essentially a reboot of the original Supergirl that died during Crisis on Infinite Earths for the rebooted post-Crisis Superman continuity.

[ForEverAncien]

Man, that was a excellent thread, too.

I thought I knew a lot about Supergirl continuity, but I hadn't heard that Byrne only invented Matrix as a pinch-hitter substitute for Power Girl, whom he had originally intended to reboot for his own purposes, just like Superman and the rest of his supporting cast got rebooted, if I follow you correctly?

Just last night I was typing up some material to be added to the next draft of my once-notorious "Timeline of First Appearances of Each Supergirl, Superwoman, etc." Now that the perplexing question of the status of the tangled histories of Matrix Supergirl and Linda Supergirl in Post-Infinite Crisis continuity seems to have been finally resolved (by a recent follow-up comment from Geoff Johns) I figured it was about time for me to do my level best, once again, to lay out all the fundamental items about the "Supergirl continuity" of each and every character who's ever been called Supergirl, Super-Girl, Superwoman, Power Girl, and/or Kara! Coming soon to a forum near you! :)

[Choppa]

Nevermind, I don't want to put the time into understanding all of this.

[Lorendiac]

Man, that was a excellent thread, too.

Thank you! It's been just about a year since I last updated and posted a new draft; I hope to have the Fourth Draft (the first Post-Infinite Crisis version) online within the next week or so. It will include a brief explanation of why things got so confused among Supergirl fans for awhile after Infinite Crisis ("Did Matrix Supergirl still happen in the new history, or didn't she?" and so forth), as well as including new listings for a couple of minor characters who haven't been mentioned in my Timeline before. And a few other minor changes to tidy up some of the stuff that's previously been posted in other drafts.

In some cases, during this past year I have finally read relevant stories that were referred to in earlier drafts without my personally having ever seen anything except other people's online summaries of just what happened in them. (For instance, I believe I have now finally read every story that ever had Cir-El in it.) That allows me to go back and look at what I said about those stories before, and change any mistakes, or add any details that seem important for the reader to know.

[Jason1Kent]

which all this also tells us that Conner will be back!