| Supergirl | |
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Linda Danvers as Supergirl, from Supergirl # 78, Art by Ed Benes. |
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Supergirl #1, (September 1996) |
| Created by | Peter David Gary Frank (based upon the Kara Zor-El character by Otto Binder and Al Plastino) |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Linda Danvers |
| Species | Fallen Angel |
| Place of origin | Silver City - Hell |
| Team affiliations | Teen Titans |
| Notable aliases | Kara Zor-El, Superwoman |
| Abilities |
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Linda Danvers, formerly known as Supergirl, is a fictional character, a comic book superhero published by DC Comics.[1] She debuted in Supergirl #1 (September 1996), and was created by Peter David and Gary Frank. She is not to be confused with Linda Lee Danvers, the secret identity used by the Kara Zor-El incarnation of Supergirl prior to the events of 1985's Crisis on Infinite Earths, who was inspired to use the name for her secret identity by a half remembered meeting with Linda Danvers.
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Linda Danvers (daughter of policeman Fred Danvers and his wife Sylvia) began her life in a less-than-heroic fashion. Lured into a world of darkness by her boyfriend Buzz, Linda was involved in many illicit and illegal activities. Little did she know that she was intended to be a sacrifice for a demonic cult Buzz worked for. Buzz slashed her with a dagger to use her blood to release a demon into the world, but Matrix, the protoplasmic Supergirl, intervened. She used her shape-shifting powers to try plugging the gaping wounds on Linda, but instead became fused with Linda. Linda and Matrix became a new Supergirl. Armed with newfound superhuman abilities and the power to change from Linda Danvers into the taller Supergirl, Linda began to fight crime and demonic activity, and redeem her darkened soul. She was hesitant to reveal her situation to her adoptive "brother" Superman, fearing his reaction to her co-opting a human life, but he accepted the change. Further complicating the situation was the revelation that Matrix's sacrifice in attempting to save Linda transformed her and Linda into the Earth-born Angel of Fire.
When Linda became an Earth-born Angel (one of three), she developed wings of flame and flame vision. She discovered that she could teleport in a S-shaped burst of flame. She used her powers to fight demons and dark gods, and even her fellow Earth-born Angel Blithe. She met an angelic ally, the equine Comet, who was revealed to be her friend, Andrea Jones, and the Angel of Love, born in an accident in an ice cavern. Stranger still, Linda began to encounter a young boy named Wally, who claimed to be what is known in the DC Universe as the Presence (his name, he explained, was a variation on "Yahweh," the Hebrew name for God). Wally helped Linda through her strange transformations, especially when her wings changed from angelic to bat-like. Linda also found herself fighting a superhuman named Twilight, whose dark powers were almost strong enough to overpower Linda's angelic abilities. Her greatest challenge came when Linda was captured by a strangely Wally-like man, who was the Carnivore, the first vampire. She defeated him, with the help of an angelic figure, simply called "Kara". In her defeat of Carnivore, her Matrix side was ripped away, leaving Linda alone once again.
After the split, Linda retained half of the super-strength and invulnerability she had when fused with Matrix/Supergirl and could only leap 1/8 of a mile. Using some items from a costume shop, Linda created a white, blue, and red Supergirl costume (the same costume used by the animated version of Supergirl in Superman: The Animated Series) and acted as Supergirl, while searching for Matrix, with the help of her demonic ex-boyfriend Buzz and fellow superhero Mary Marvel. Even with diminished abilities, she was still powerful enough to stop Bizarro, and even found herself fighting a Bizarro Supergirl. Linda's search led her to the Amazon, where Matrix was held prisoner by Lilith, the mother of all demons, who had sent Twilight after Supergirl, holding Twilight's sister hostage to keep her under her evil control. Lilith fatally injured Mary Marvel, Twilight, and Linda, but not before Matrix was freed from Lilith's prison. Linda asked Matrix to merge with Twilight, and Twilight became the new Angel of Fire in the process, using her powers to heal Mary and Linda, thus giving Linda all the powers she'd had when she was merged with Matrix. At this point, Matrix passed the Supergirl mantle on to Linda.
Linda was the new Supergirl for only six issues of the 1996 series. With her powers back to Matrix's original (non-angelic) levels, Linda encountered a rocketship that contained a young, vibrant Kara Zor-El from the Pre-Crisis reality. After a rocky start, the two became close, with Linda mentoring Kara on how to be a hero.
Kara's presence in the Post-Crisis era was going to destabilize time. The Spectre (Hal Jordan incarnation) appeared and said that Kara was destined to die. Apparently, a cosmic entity called the Fatalist had altered the timeline for his own amusement and to vex his master, Xenon, a being with a pathological hatred of Supergirl. Not surprisingly, the young Kara Zor-El did not tamely accept that she was destined to die at a young age, and tearfully begged Linda to find some way to save her. Linda lied to her, in order to calm her down and send her away; only after she had departed did Kara Zor-El realize Linda's intent—Linda secretly took Kara's place, and was sent to the Pre-Crisis era, posing as Kara and expecting to die in her place, in order to provide Kara Zor-El with a chance at life. The Pre-Crisis Superman uncovered her ruse (upon her arrival in his universe, she tried to repeat Kara Zor-El's origin story, but his superhuman abilities allowed him to notice details that made it clear she was lying, such as the fact that her costume was made of Earth materials) and admitted he was in love with her. The two married and had a daughter, Ariella. Linda even changed her costume. Linda's very presence had altered the timeline, so the Spectre made her return home, not only to restore the timestream but to save Kara from Xenon, who had captured the young Supergirl and planned to kill her.
Linda defeated Xenon, and had to send frightened young Kara back to her universe, knowing Kara, as an adult, would eventually die in the Crisis on Infinite Earths. Linda's daughter was spared from being erased from the timeline by the Spectre (Linda informed the Spectre if he didn't save Ariella, she would let the universe die), but Linda was heartbroken over her actions. She learned that her parents had just had a second child, ironically named "Wally". Linda reunited with her parents for one last time before leaving everyone and hanging up her cape. She left a note for Clark and Lois explaining her decision, saying she felt she had let her loved ones down and so she was no longer worthy of wearing the S.
According to Peter David, if his run on Supergirl hadn't ended, he would have had the series being a sort of Birds of Prey type comic, featuring the trio of Linda Danvers as Superwoman, Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El as the current Supergirl, and Power Girl.[2]
According to an interview with Newsarama, following the events of Infinite Crisis, Dan Didio stated that the Matrix Supergirl was wiped from existence. However, Geoff Johns later stated, "As for this...huh? Linda Danvers hasn't been retconned out at all."[3]
In Reign in Hell #1, July 2008, the team of Shadowpact attacks Linda Danvers in her Gotham City apartment, which makes Linda fight back. She manifests the flaming wings she had while merged with Matrix, but still loses to the collective powers of Blue Devil and Enchantress. However she is teleported to Hell, as Hell is recalling all of its "debts".
In Reign in Hell #6, Linda reappears in the Doctor Occult backstory. She appears as a fallen angel summoned by Lilith but mysteriously released. In Reign in Hell #7, Linda uses her flame vision to kill some injured demons who were huddled around a tiny campfire, Dr. Occult is horrified by her willingness to kill innocents. Linda believes that no one in Hell is innocent, and then accuses Dr. Occult of being a damned soul. Linda says she does not deserve to be trapped in Hell, and that she would see everybody burned to char before she accepted being kept in there. Dr. Occult casts a spell to show Linda who she really is, and she flies away in horror.
Linda possesses superhuman strength and superhuman speed, as well as the capability of flight and invulnerability while separated from Matrix. She also has telekinetic powers, which she can use to move most forms of matter with her thoughts. Linda can channel her telekinetic energy into blasts of mental force. While she was merged with Matrix, Linda could also fire blasts of fire out of her eyes (called flame vision), form angelic wings composed of pure fire, and could turn her wings into a flaming portal and "shunt" (teleport) anywhere she wished to be. Linda appears to have regained her fire wings and flame vision in the Reign in Hell miniseries.