"The Supergirl From Krypton!" Writer: Otto Binder Artist: Al Plastino Buy on Comixology
It's the first ever appearance of Supergirl! Well, apart from that time Jimmy Olsen wished "Super-Girl" into existence in 1958’s Superman #123. But aside from that, this is the actual, proper first appearance of Kara Zor-El. Hooray!
We open on Clark Kent, sitting idly by a window in the Daily Planet office, as he hears "a roaring sound far out of town". Using his telescopic vision, he sees a rocket crashing to earth, and immediately zooms off to try and intercept it. Unfortunately, he arrives too late to prevent it crashing, and mournfully thinks to himself that its occupant will have perished.
He's "due for a super-shock", however, when out of the wreckage emerges a blonde, teenaged girl in a dress and cape patterned after his own costume. With calm insouciance, the girl explains to him that she's "also from the planet Krypton". Superman is immediately sceptical:
While it's perhaps not entirely unwarranted for Superman to be suspicious at this point (a fake Kryptonian girl sounds like exactly the kind of cunning scheme Luthor would come up with in order to trick him into exposing himself to Kryptonite yet again) this begins a long and proud tradition of him being kind of an aloof dick to his cousin.
What, his cousin? Yes, she's also his cousin: but we don't know that yet. In fact, neither does she. Kara relates her life story, and specifically the fact that a chunk of Krypton's surface was blown away in the explosion, protecting its occupants in a bubble of air. "We can stay alive indefinitely!" declares the scientist Zor-El upon discovering this. But wait, don't exploded chunks of Krypton turn lethally radioactive?
Yes, yes they do. Fortunately, a sheet of lead (which "stops all radiations") protects the space-rock's occupants, and they go on to live relatively normal lives: which, in Zor-El's case, also means getting married and having a daughter named Kara. Incidentally, check out Kara's mum's excellent taste in crib decor:
Wouldn't you know it, however: one day, a meteor storm damages the lead shielding, leaking radiation into the atmosphere and slowly poisoning the outpost's residents. Taking a cue from a certain other Kryptonian scientist, Zor-El builds a rocket to try and save Kara by sending her away (although it's never made clear why the month they had before perishing wasn't enough time to build a bigger rocket). Meanwhile, his wife uses a "space telescope" to try and find a suitable home for her.
Of course, they zero in on Earth; and of course, they learn of the existence of Superman, deciphering radio broadcasts to learn of his Kryptonian origins and super powers. So naturally, they decide to send Kara there to meet him; and that brings us back to the present.
There's another surprise in store for Clark at the end of her tale, however: when he mentions that his father Jor-El also sent him in a rocket, Kara realises that he's referring to the brother of Zor-El. They're cousins! What a beautiful story - they'll never be alone again, and Superman will look after his younger cousin forever! Well, not quite.
What. A. Dick.
Deciding that his own secret identity is more important than looking out for his cousin, Superman plonks her in an orphanage in the town of Midvale, warning her that she can only be Supergirl in secret until he can trust her to use her powers properly. And so begins the long and epic saga of the Super Patriarchy.
Kara, for her part, takes it all in reasonably good spirit, and comes up with a name for her secret identity: Linda Lee. Any reader immediately noticing that this follows the standard "L.L." naming convention is beaten to the punch by Superman, who points out the same thing to us like the smug arse that he is. Kara's desire to to good is already in full effect, however, and although she has to do so in secret, she pledges to be a "guardian angel" to the town of Midvale. And that's where we leave her.
Phew. Quite a lot to take in, for only eight pages. Superman has learned of the existence of a Kryptonian survivor: and what's more, she's his only family in the entire world (even his adoptive parents are dead in this timeline, remember). So of course, the first thing he does is plonk her in an orphanage, out of sight. But aside from that, this is a heartwarming tale that promises a new slant on the "young hero in a small town comes to terms with their powers" kind of story that the Superboy comics had been doing. Like Kara herself, we can't wait to find out what happens next.
Backstory
Although it arrives reasonably fully formed, there are elements of Kara's origin that are still missing at this point: most notably, neither her home town (Argo City) nor mother (Alura) are named, and she's known only as Kara rather than "Kara Zor-El". Several later versions of Kara would actually be older than Kal, having been born prior to Krypton's destruction: but here, the discrepancy in their ages is explained by her having been born several years after the "bubble" broke away. Well, what else was there to do out there on a space rock?
Getting to Know You
Aside from Kara, Zor-El and (the unnamed) Alura, orphanage headmistress Miss Hart is introduced. She'll be a recurring feature of the early stories.
She's in Fashion
Supergirl's "classic" costume debuts here, and is distinct from the red-skirted version seen in that earlier "Super-Girl" story. The simple blue-skirt and cape combo would remain the same right the way through to 1970.
Incidentally, Kara's mother deliberately based her costume on Superman's, so that he would know she also came from Krypton. Which is strange, because he didn't design his costume until long after he'd left Krypton, but we'll let that slide for now.
Superdickery Level: HIGH
You'd think Clark would want to hang out with and look after his cousin for at least a few days before getting shot of her, wouldn't you?
Final Thought
It saddens me that the El brothers will forever be remembered for their famous offspring, and not for their consummate skill at building rockets.
The new @karalogical blog (which plans to cover every Supergirl comic ever, not just the ones where she makes out with Lex Luthor II) name-checked us on their introductory post, so you know they have flawless taste. Go follow them! HURRY UP
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