Why was the "Linda" alias abandoned for Supergirl

[Carabas]

I'd say she was given a different first name for her civilian ID in the past in order to avoid any possible connections between Linda and Supergirl. Like if Clark was instead Kal Kent and his Kryptonian name were semi-common knowledge.

It just makes sense to me that there should be more of a separation between the dual identities and not leave any clues that certain people could pick up on.

But there are no connections between Kara and Supergirl. Or at least not more so than between Linda and Supergirl.

Do random women named Cory often get suspected of secretly being Starfire?
Do guys named Cal get mistaken for Kal-El?

Kara is a normal earther name, and Kara Zor-El will not be the only Kara living in Metropolis.

[LordMikel]

Pre-Crisis Supergirl used the civilian alias of "Linda Danvers". Anyone know why this was abandoned post-crisis?

Because Supergirl died during Crisis.

[Carabas]

Because Supergirl died during Crisis.

Yeah, but then several Supergirls came back.

[KurtW95]

It makes no sense. Having her be Linda Danvers in her normal life and Kara Zor-El as Supergirl makes her secret identity a hell of a lot better. Imagine if Superman went by Kal Kent. Also, it bugs me that the show provinces it Car-Uh rather than Care-uh when prety much every media adaption used the later and I believe that’s how it’s supposed to be officially. (Part of me wonders if WB did it because they knew Carol Danvers was getting a movie and wanted to sort of swipe the rug from under them, possibly in return for Marvel taking the Captain Marvel name.) Also, personally, I prefer her pre-crisis origin of being born after Clark as Argo City survives longer than Krypton and then she’s raised by Fred and Linda. Hope that returns someday.

[jimmy]

Because Supergirl died during Crisis.

And - it should have -never happed- in first place!

It makes no sense. Having her be Linda Danvers in her normal life and Kara Zor-El as Supergirl makes her secret identity a hell of a lot better. Imagine if Superman went by Kal Kent. Also, it bugs me that the show provinces it Car-Uh rather than Care-uh when prety much every media adaption used the later and I believe that’s how it’s supposed to be officially. (Part of me wonders if WB did it because they knew Carol Danvers was getting a movie and wanted to sort of swipe the rug from under them, possibly in return for Marvel taking the Captain Marvel name.) Also, personally, I prefer her pre-crisis origin of being born after Clark as Argo City survives longer than Krypton and then she’s raised by Fred and Linda. Hope that returns someday.

Me TOO!

[LordMikel]

Yeah, but then several Supergirls came back.

True, but they are different Supergirls. And DC is going in a new direction rather than simply redo old stuff. So we should applaud them for that and not ask for them to redo the old stuff again.

[Jim Kelly]

True, but they are different Supergirls. And DC is going in a new direction rather than simply redo old stuff. So we should applaud them for that and not ask for them to redo the old stuff again.

This seems to be having your cake and eating it--as DC does with some of their characters. I think you have to take a stand and not try to have it both ways. Either it's an all-new Supergirl, completely her own thing, not beholden to the traditional Supergirl, or she's the traditional Supergirl albeit with some retcons.

When it suits them Kara Zor-El is an all new character but, when they want to ride the coattails of the old comic books or the Helen Slater movie, then she's good ol' Supergirl.

While I thought Matrix Supergirl was horribly messed up and terribly confusing, at least it was clear she was a new Supergirl and not a revival of the Kara Zor-El we knew and loved.

[adkal]

Also, it bugs me that the show provinces it Car-Uh rather than Care-uh when prety much every media adaption used the later and I believe that’s how it’s supposed to be officially.

It was Car-uh in the movie and it's also how the girls I've known over the years with the name have pronounced it.

So totally fine with it being pronounced properly.

(You probably prefer Denny O'Neil's (mis) pronunciation of Ra's name, too )

[Jim Kelly]

I've always heard Care-uh as the pronunciation for girls named Kara. And that's how I pronounce Kara Zor-El. It annoys me whenever I hear the Car-ah pronunciation on the TV show. However, I don't think you can allege there's a "proper" pronunciation for names. Many if not most names have multiple pronunciations and its purely your own bias which one you prefer.

If TV Supergirl was really clever and she still wants to keep the Kara name, then she would insist on pronouncing her name one way as reporter girl and the other way as alien girl. Didn't Ms. Grant have her own way of saying Kara?

[adkal]

I've always heard Care-uh as the pronunciation for girls named Kara. And that's how I pronounce Kara Zor-El. It annoys me whenever I hear the Car-ah pronunciation on the TV show. However, I don't think you can allege there's a "proper" pronunciation for names. Many if not most names have multiple pronunciations and its purely your own bias which one you prefer.

Reminds me of the Substitute Teacher sketch from a few years ago

With regards to pronunciations (and spellings, I guess) there are still certain rules (even if, for example, certain Irish ones don't follow the English ones ), especially within the language itself.

If TV Supergirl was really clever and she still wants to keep the Kara name, then she would insist on pronouncing her name one way as reporter girl and the other way as alien girl. Didn't Ms. Grant have her own way of saying Kara?

A shame.

[Carabas]

If TV Supergirl was really clever and she still wants to keep the Kara name, then she would insist on pronouncing her name one way as reporter girl and the other way as alien girl. Didn't Ms. Grant have her own way of saying Kara?

What is clever about that?
You know what real life undercover agents do? They use their own names. Because having more names than strictly necessary and trying to keep them straight is just asking for secret ID troubles.

And Cat Grant calling her Keera was her own little joke at Kara's expense.

[Last Son]

True, but they are different Supergirls. And DC is going in a new direction rather than simply redo old stuff. So we should applaud them for that and not ask for them to redo the old stuff again.

There's room for new and old. There's all sorts of stories you could tell about a lot of characters even when keeping their classic traits and backstory. It's not like calling her Kara Danvers opens up a whole new world of stories(same with how taking the trunks off Superman doesn't open a world of new possibilities for him). I mean, it's not a huge deal for me, I wouldn't have minded if the Rebirth Superman suit stayed and I wouldn't mind if they went on with the Kara Danvers identity instead of Linda Lee Danvers. It's just a preference for me that for the most part, the mythos stick as closely to the original versions as possible, though even I'm not so beholden to the past that I'd want them to revert Superman to the 1938 version. Call that "redoing old stuff" if you like, but I think new stories and ideas are still possible without reimagining characters to the point where they barely resemble what they were originally created to be(as in the case of making Lex a businessman and deemphasizing his scientist side or having Supergirl as a protoplasmic shapeshifter).

I mean, look at Batman. Attitudes and personalities changed somewhat as the comics got darker and grittier, but it was really only to the point of how violent the rogues gallery was or whether Batman was sort of a boyscout or a grim avenger. Everyone was still somewhat recognizable no matter what era it was. They never reimagined the Joker, Two-Face, Riddler, Penguin, etc. as drastically as Lex Luthor and Brainiac, for example. Catwoman did have some fairly major changes to her backstory, going from being an amnesiac flight attendant to a hooker/dominatrix, but her backstory was always in flux, even in the pre-crisis comics. And on top of that, a lot of Batman's history remained after COIE and Flashpoint, even as Superman was again and again heavily reimagined to make non-fans like him.

[Jim Kelly]

It's clever like Demi Moore and Emilio Estevez. I still remember when they were dating and a friend of mine joked that they both insisted their names be accented differently than how everyone naturally would.

With all these video reviews, I'm hearing people pronounce character names in strange ways I never imagined. Especially for aliens. Which, to give them their due, is within reason--since the character's an alien, I guess they think the name should sound exotic.

So I think it would be funny/clever if Kara Danvers/Kara Zor-El each claimed a different pronunciation. It's like if two things are very similar but a little off, we're less likely to think they're the same. But if someone goes to great lengths to create a difference then it seems like there might be a connection. Why style your hair in such an elaborate way if you're not trying to hide the bald patch?

You would think Superman would have this elaborate disguise rather than hiding in plain sight. When I go to look for my keys, I don't look in the obvious place--why would they be there--they must be hiding somewhere, so I don't see them sitting right on the counter.

[PyroTwilight]

Honestly I think it's simply to keep the name separate from Kara ever since PAD's human Linda Danvers.

It was a very important run and because of it readers viewed Superman's cousin as Kara and the other Supergirl as Linda.

I never figured she'd use Kara as her human name like she does in the show but here we are.

Kara also went by Linda Lang which I felt worked well enough but ultimately it's too close to the other Linda Danvers in the end.

[Digifiend]

Have you guys read the latest issue? Someone thinks the wrong person is Supergirl. When Kara transforms in a photo booth, the other girl disappears as well. So they think they've figured out her secret identity, but added two and two and got five!