FANTASY DRAFT: Which Supergirl Is Ready For Prime Time?

[Vanguard-01]

I think he was talking about Power Girl's popularity...not Supergirls. But I agree with you're saying anyway, it would be great if her titles to sell a bit better, maybe some day Supergirl won't be in her cousins shadow as much, and can become as independent a character as Supeman. Not that she isn't, it's just that sometimes people can just over look her y'know.

Whoops!

How did I think he was saying "Supergirl?"

Epic brain fart!

[victorsage]

Power Girl began as Superman's younger cousin too — the Earth-2 one.

That's Earth-Two my friend. ;-) In the Pre-Crisis universe the number's are typed out, and yes I know Power Girl is Kal-L's cousin which is why I said that she was. She was also his adopted daughter. By the time Power Girl showed up Lois and Clark were a middle aged married couple, and they adopted her and brought her into their world, gave her a home, and helped her set up a life.

What I'm talking about is how they started, and what they are often reminded as in the popular mind. Siver Age Supergirl was nothing more then Superman's backup.... well technically she was a wish granted to Jimmy when he rubbed on his magic totem (don't be a perv lol) first, but eventually she became a real character. Anyways her original character was as a backup, she was to only be a "real hero" in the unlikely case that Superman was killed. Probably most famously used in the Silver Age what if story by Jerry Siegel "The Death of Superman".



Power Girl on the other hand was always on the opposite end of that spectrum. Her character from the beginning wanted nothing to do with the shadow of Superman, and wouldn't use his name, demanded to be allow to fight crime on her own, and took offense to even being given a symbol that hinted at her being a legacy character. Granted she didn't show up till much later, but she still had a different theme to her from the start.

Even today by the very fact that Supergirl is called "Supergirl" she's necessarily in the shadow of Superman. Since he is the first to hold that style of name and to use the S shield. This is a problem Power Girl never had. Power Girl was always very different from her Earth One counterpart. By having that as the setup though it's obvious that they could do different things with Power Girl then with Supergirl.

And reading The Daring New Adventures Of Supergirl (as the 80s series was called), it was difficult to see the shadow of Superman because she wasn't living in Smallville, she wasn't at his beck and call, she wasn't battling his villains or relatives of his villains… while Power Girl was doing the same over in Justice League flirting with Firestorm.

Well those alterations came later, and I am glad you enjoy them, but the fact still remains. Supergirl is not her own hero, she will always be Superman's cousin. She uses his symbol, and color scheme. Her entire character is at it's heart simply a female version of Superman. Power girl on the other hand although with a similar background, and obviously a doppleganger of Supergirl, was still allowed to develop her own style and name. You aren't reminded every time she shows up that "hey it's the female Superman figure".

Power Girl, in the meantime, appears as a background character until Robinson & Johns makes her prominent again in JSA, a book that rode decently in popularity until the resent reset.

As a guy who loved and defends the Post Crisis world a lot, it is never the less very true that they simply didn't know what to do with Power Girl for far to long. Bad writing can ruin even great characters.

Personally — for me — the best Supergirl for television is the Kara/Linda version of the 80s, trying to make it in college while being Supergirl at the same time. That way, she knows her powers and Clark already, and it's really about personal identity. She goes to school, she has a job to balance, and so on.

We all have our favorites. :-)

[Choos]

Even if they are crazy and don't reference Smallville Laura Vandervoort in that almost Michael Turner re imagined outfit is a must for this.

[SJNeal]

Personal bias aside, I do think PAD's Linda/Matrix has the best chance of translating to a successful TV series.

The supernatural angle in particular would make it a CW hit...

[Gustopher]

Kara Zor-El, but the more modern take on her -- arrived long after Kal-El had grown up and become Superman.

Supergirl with no ties to Superman is just not going to work, but you wouldn't want her to be eclipsed within her own show. So, Superman is off planet, somewhere, searching for the remains of Krypton and hopeful to find clues to the location of other survivors. No one knows when or if he will return, and he's been gone for several years. Or he could have vanished fighting some great threat off world.

Kara's spaceship crashes, her symbol is recognized, and now this young woman is expected to live up to the reputation of her more famous, and missing, cousin. A nearly impossible task. She wants to run her own life, but everyone has expectations of who she should be. She wants time to herself to mourn the loss of Krypton (really, her last memory before waking on Earth), but she has super-hearing, and can't just ignore people's cries for help.

Supergirl doesn't have a good classic rogues gallery or set of secondary characters, since she has been rebooted and reimagined enough times to make it hard to even know who she is, let alone a cast of supporting characters. So, start by borrowing and adapting from her more famous cousin's supporting characters. It's also a world that has had at least one well known super hero, which gives us pretty much all of DC to borrow characters from. I would want to avoid giving her too many female villains and pigeon-holing her as just a female version of Superman. Using traditional Superman villains and supporting characters would help the theme of her being trapped in her cousin's life.

Possible supporting characters:
- Ma and Pa Kent, either hunting her down or after she discovers Kal El was Clark Kent. They provide guidance, but they don't quite know what to do with a headstrong teenager who doesn't view them as her parents.
- Lois Lane: She's going to hunt down Lois Lane. There's no escaping it. So, at least guest star status (perhaps they won't like each other...)
- Lex Luthor (Jr?): Turning over a new leaf or trying to atone for his father's mistakes, the head of LexCorp has been using his corporation to attempt to fill the gap left by Superman's absence. Mostly good man, doing some bad things, for the greater good. Matrix Supergirl and Lex Luthor Jr had a relationship, before she discovered he was really his father, and that might be a nice dynamic to have here.

[I_Captain Blanco]

No real interest in this if Superman is not in some way involved (and I can't imagine he would be). I'd much rather they introduced Supergirl as a character in a potential MAN OF STEEL sequel (should they ever get around to doing one).

[jnocomski]

[WonderNight]

power girl ftw!!!

[Mister BoMan]

I would prefer the Kara Zor-EL Supergirl, but also mix in other elements of Supergirl/Power Girl. Movies and television have been doing it for years in comic book properties.