To the casual observer, Supergirl often appears to be simply a “female version of Superman”—a marketing spinoff designed to sell skirts with ‘S’ shields. While she certainly shares a power set and a family crest with the Man of Steel, Kara Zor-El has one of the most chaotic, bizarre, and fascinating histories in the entire comic book medium. Unlike her cousin Kal-El, whose origin story has remained relatively stable for 80 years (planet explodes, rocket lands, Kansas farm), Supergirl’s history has been rewritten, retconned, and reimagined more times than perhaps any other A-list hero.

From dating a horse (yes, really) to becoming a literal angel of fire, and from being a shapeshifting protoplasm to leading a corps of rage monsters, Supergirl’s journey is a masterclass in comic book weirdness. She has been an orphan, a secret weapon, a martyr, and a villain. Her continuity is so complex that it often serves as a map of the DC Universe’s various reboots and crises.

If you think you know the Girl of Steel just from watching the TV show or seeing her in movies, think again. Here are 10 things you probably didn’t know about the wild comic book history of Supergirl.

1. The First “Super-Girl” Was a Magic Wish

The Origin Oddity: The Jimmy Olsen Connection

Before Kara Zor-El ever crashed her rocket onto Earth in 1959, DC Comics test-drove the concept of a Super-Girl in a rather unusual way. In Superman #123 (1958), Jimmy Olsen found a magical Native American totem and, in a moment of typical Silver Age logic, wished for a “Super-Girl” to aid Superman.

The totem granted the wish, creating a blonde superheroine purely out of magic. She had the same powers as Superman but wasn’t Kryptonian. While she meant well, she frequently got in Superman’s way. At the end of the story, she heroically sacrificed herself to save Superman from Kryptonite, and the magic dispelled, erasing her from existence. The reader response was so positive that DC decided to introduce a “real” Supergirl—Kara Zor-El—just one year later.

2. Superman Hid Her in an Orphanage

The Relationship Dynamic: The Secret Weapon

In modern retellings, Superman usually welcomes his cousin with open arms, eager to have a connection to his lost home. However, in her original 1959 debut in Action Comics #252, Superman’s reaction was bafflingly cold. Upon meeting his teenage cousin, who had just survived the destruction of their planet, he didn’t take her to the Kent farm or his fortress.

Instead, he dumped her at the Midvale Orphanage. He strictly forbade her from revealing her identity, treating her as a “secret weapon” that he would keep in reserve. For years, Kara lived in the orphanage under the name Linda Lee, forced to wear a brunette wig and hide her powers, while her adult cousin lived a life of glory in Metropolis. It remains one of the strangest “heroic” decisions Superman has ever made.

3. She Dated Her Horse (It’s Complicated)

The Silver Age Weirdness: Comet the Super-Horse

The Silver Age of comics (1956–1970) was a time of unchecked imagination, often bordering on hallucination. Supergirl had a pet super-horse named Comet, who had superpowers and could fly. But Comet wasn’t just a horse; he was actually a centaur from ancient Greece named Biron who had been cursed by Circe to live as a full horse.

The kicker? Comet had telepathic powers and was in love with Supergirl. Occasionally, when a specific comet passed Earth, he would transform back into a handsome human man for a brief period. During these intervals, he dated Supergirl in his human form (“Bronco Bill”). She didn’t know he was her horse, but he knew. It is widely considered one of the most bizarre romances in DC history.

4. Her Death Saved the Multiverse

The Crisis Event: The Ultimate Sacrifice

By the mid-1980s, DC’s continuity was a mess of parallel universes. To fix this, they launched the massive crossover event Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985). The editorial mandate was to streamline the universe, and they decided that Superman should be the only survivor of Krypton to emphasize his loneliness. That meant Kara had to go.

In Crisis #7, Supergirl engages in a brutal battle with the Anti-Monitor, a cosmic entity destroying entire universes. She pummels him, destroying his armor and saving Superman’s life, but is killed in the counter-attack. It was one of the most shocking and poignant deaths in comic history. Unlike many comic deaths that are reversed a year later, Kara remained dead for nearly two decades, turning her into a legendary martyr for a generation of readers.

5. The “Supergirl” of the 90s Was Pink Protoplasm

The Identity Shift: The Matrix Era

Because the “Superman is the only survivor” rule was still in effect in the late 80s and 90s, writers couldn’t bring back the Kryptonian Kara. Instead, they introduced a new Supergirl known as “Matrix.” Created by a version of Lex Luthor from a “pocket universe,” Matrix was not a woman, but a shapeshifting protoplasmic life form.

She had telekinesis, invisibility, and shape-shifting powers, but she chose to appear as a blonde woman wearing Superman’s crest. She eventually came to the main DC Earth and dated Lex Luthor (who was pretending to be his own Australian son at the time—comics are complicated). For almost a decade, if you were reading Supergirl, you weren’t reading about a Kryptonian, but a confused artificial life form trying to find a soul.

6. She Became an Earth-Born Angel

The Supernatural Turn: The Linda Danvers Merger

The weirdness didn’t stop with protoplasm. In 1996, writer Peter David took the Matrix concept further. In a battle to save a dying girl named Linda Danvers (a distinct character from the Silver Age Linda Lee), the Matrix protoplasm merged with Linda’s body.

This created a new Supergirl who was a fusion of human and protoplasm. But things got metaphysical when it was revealed that this merger turned her into an “Earth-Born Angel of Fire.” She grew literal wings of flame, could teleport, and fought demons and supernatural threats rather than bank robbers. This run is a cult classic for its exploration of religion and morality, but it is a far cry from the sci-fi origins of the character.

7. Power Girl Is Actually Supergirl

The Multiverse confusion: Earth-2 Counterpart

If you have ever been confused by the difference between Supergirl and Power Girl, you aren’t alone. Power Girl (Karen Starr) is technically Kara Zor-L, the Supergirl of “Earth-2″—an alternate universe where older versions of DC heroes lived.

When the multiverse was collapsed in 1985, Power Girl survived but was stranded on the main Earth. While Supergirl (Kara Zor-El) is usually depicted as a teenager learning the ropes, Power Girl is an older, more confident, and aggressive business owner. Despite the different costumes, names, and attitudes, they are genetically the same person from different realities. They have even met, leading to awkward “looking in a mirror” moments where they critique each other’s life choices.

8. She Was a Red Lantern

The Emotional Spectrum: Rage of the Maiden

Supergirl is often depicted as “sunny” compared to Batman, but she has a lot of trauma. She watched everyone she ever loved die on Krypton, unlike Superman who was a baby and didn’t remember it. In the “New 52” reboot (2011), writers decided to tap into this anger.

During a storyline involving the Red Lanterns—cosmic villains powered by the red light of rage—a Red Power Ring sought out Kara. She possessed so much repressed anger over the loss of Krypton and her frustration with Earth that she became a Red Lantern. For a time, she roamed space vomiting acidic blood (a standard Red Lantern power) and screaming her fury at the universe, proving that she is arguably more dangerous than her cousin when she loses control.

9. She Joined the Legion of Super-Heroes

The Future Connection: Brainiac 5

While Superman was a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes (a team of teens from the 31st century) as “Superboy,” Kara also had a significant tenure with the team. She would frequently travel 1,000 years into the future to hang out with teenagers who treated her as an equal rather than a sidekick.

During her time with the Legion, she developed a serious romance with Brainiac 5, a green-skinned descendant of one of Superman’s greatest villains. It was a “Romeo and Juliet” dynamic—the girl of steel and the descendant of the computer tyrant who bottled her city. This relationship is a core part of her history that often gets omitted from modern adaptations, though the TV show did nod to it.

10. Kryptonite Doesn’t Always Hurt Her

The Inconsistent Weakness: Kryptonite Immunity

One of the strangest recurring plot points in Supergirl’s history is her fluctuating immunity to Kryptonite. In various storylines, specifically post-Crisis versions, writers have suggested that because her father, Zor-El, experimented on her or because she spent time in Argo City (which survived the explosion on a chunk of the planet), she developed an immunity to Green Kryptonite.

In some runs, she is actually energized by Kryptonite, while in others, it kills her just like Superman. This inconsistency usually stems from writers trying to make her distinct from Clark—giving her an edge that he lacks to compensate for his greater experience. However, the “sunstone” radiation treatments she received in the “New 52” origin temporarily made her immune to Kryptonite poisoning, terrifying Superman, who realized he had no way to stop her if she went rogue.

Further Reading

• “Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow” by Tom King and Bilquis Evely – A modern masterpiece that explores Kara’s trauma and grit in a sci-fi western setting.
• “Crisis on Infinite Earths” by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez – The event featuring the legendary death of Supergirl.
• “Supergirl by Peter David” – Collects the 1990s run featuring the shape-shifting, angelic Linda Danvers version of the character.
• “Supergirl: Red Daughter of Krypton” by Charles Soule – The storyline where Kara succumbs to rage and joins the Red Lantern Corps.
• “The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl” – A collection of her early 80s adventures, showcasing the ” headband” era and pre-Crisis fun.

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