So as someone who has read comics for about four years...

[Rory]

...I was quite surprised to discover that Supergirl hadn't actually been Supergirl for about fifteen years.

I started reading at the new 52 as it seemed like a good jumping on point. I did go back and start reading some other comics recently and discovered that Supergirl had actually died in Crisis. I don't know much about this and am still reading up but it explains Death of Superman why there was a big grey mass that became Superman. Who was that? D:

Did the real Supergirl really only return in New 52, over 20 years after originally dieing?

I've only read for four years but feel like I am never going to know enough or stop learning things

[Sacred Knight]

The "real" Supergirl, a.k.a Kara Zor-El actually did come back before the New 52 started, in the old Superman/Batman title in 2004. Before then though the idea had gone through a couple different unique incarnations to adhere to the concept after the Crisis that Superman could be the only Kryptonian. At first she was a shape-shifting being of ectoplasm from a pocket universe that Superman had visited and whom came back with him called Matrix. After that the same being merged with an Earthling named Linda Danvers which started a whole new direction for the character. Eventually though that title was canceled, and the decision was finally made to bring back a Supergirl who was legitimately Superman's cousin again, and Kara Zor-El returned to comics canon when her ship crash landed in Gotham City in Superman/Batman #8.

[Rory]

Actually come to think of it, I might have read the issue where the ship crashes in to Gotham. I can't remember how or where but that feels familiar.

[butterfingers158]

You may have seen the animated movie based on the arc, Superman/Batman:Apocalypse

[George Taylor]

Yeah, the true kryptonian Supergirl returned in the last 10 years in the Superman/Batman book as mentioned above. Personally, I like the concept of Superman's cousin as Supergirl rather than the Pocket Universe shape-shifting creature though Peter Davids's Supergirl was fun.

[Sacred Knight]

It allowed for some creative twists on old concepts but none of them proved as charming or effective as the original idea. The no-other-Kryptonians edict, while I understand where it came from and even supported giving a try, ultimately proved a failure. The gains were not worth the losses.

[exile001]

It allowed for some creative twists on old concepts but none of them proved as charming or effective as the original idea. The no-other-Kryptonians edict, while I understand where it came from and even supported giving a try, ultimately proved a failure. The gains were not worth the losses.

I disagree.

The only real loss was Zod, and the two twists we got on him were fine. Both times he actually felt like a threat. I think Peter David's Supergirl run was as popular as any Kara Zor-El era, and I vastly prefer the multicultural Kandor.

The main losses, to my mind, were contrivance and thousands of nameless other Kryptonians.

Since bringing them all back, have we really gained anything?

[Sacred Knight]

We'll just have to agree to disagree then. I think all of the alternative methods of these ideas paled in comparison to the Kryptonian originals. Don't get me wrong, you can go too far with the Kryptonians if you go nuts, but you just have to reign it in and not go nuts. But give me Kara Zor-El, give me Zod, Non and Faora and/or Ursa, give me Krypto, and give me classic Kandor. I did like the idea of a multicultural Kandor, but only if the actual city was the actual Kryptonian Kandor. None of the substitutes ever beat those.

And yeah, I'd say since bringing all that back the mythos gained a whole lot. It gained a stronger physical connection between Superman and Krypton, one which was sorely lacking post-Crisis. And granted that too was by design, but the design proved ultimately inferior.

[exile001]

We'll just have to agree to disagree then. I think all of the alternative methods of these ideas paled in comparison to the Kryptonian originals. Don't get me wrong, you can go too far with the Kryptonians if you go nuts, but you just have to reign it in and not go nuts. But give me Kara Zor-El, give me Zod, Non and Faora and/or Ursa, give me Krypto, and give me classic Kandor. I did like the idea of a multicultural Kandor, but only if the actual city was the actual Kryptonian Kandor. None of the substitutes ever beat those.

And yeah, I'd say since bringing all that back the mythos gained a whole lot. It gained a stronger physical connection between Superman and Krypton, one which was sorely lacking post-Crisis. And granted that too was by design, but the design proved ultimately inferior.

I think I see where are differences lie. I want Kryton a thing that is gone and in the past. An ideal of what Kal-El's life could have been but can never have, where you prefer a more direct connection to that lost past. Is that correct?

While still agreeing to disagree, I'd actually keep Krypto. He's pretty unique as a character and the fact that he somehow works in a modern context is superb.

I also liked the Eradicator device (prior to getting a body) from post-Crisis (not that god-awful New-52 thing).