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| Superman-Batman #13 (M.Turner) || Supergirl #1 (I.Churchill) || SG #5 (I.Churchill) || SG/Legion #16 (B.Kitson) | |||
First appearance: March 2004. Twenty years after the original Kara died and not quite a year after Linda Danvers retired from being Supergirl, a second Kara from Krypton has been introduced into the current DC universe. She first appeared in the March 2004 SUPERMAN/BATMAN #8, discovered by Batman after she escaped from her downed escape shuttle which had crashed to Earth in a meteor from Krypton. Her origin mirrors that of Power Girl of Earth 2, in that she was sent by her parents at the same time as Kal-El when Krypton was about to explode, but did not arrive until many years after Kal's. Kara arrives on Earth, unaged due to suspended animation, to discover that her baby cousin is already a great superhero. Superman is overjoyed to see her (seemingly forgetting all about his relationship with the previous Supergirl), for the single fact that she is his cousin.
Batman makes it clear that he does not trust a super powered girl claiming to be from Krypton. At one point he admits to himself that the thought of a Supergirl equal or greater in power to Superman disturbs him (what, Batman afraid of strong women? nah!) Wonder Woman understands that Kara's raw power is untrained and unfocused, and takes her to Themyscira (Paradise Island) for some Amazonian warrior training. It beats being stuck in an orphanage! There Kara makes friends on Earth for the first time, but all is not well as Darkseid sees the opportunity to recruit the most powerful girl on Earth as the leader of his Female Furies. He abducts her to Apokolips, and, offscreen, brainwashes her to turn "evil". Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman travel to Apokolips to rescue her, and Kal-El literally knocks Kara back to her senses by uppercutting her wearing a Kryptonite ring (no, I don't understand how that works either). Back on Earth, Superman and Wonder Woman conspire to trick Darkseid into thinking Kara is dead. The threat from Darkseid eliminated, Superman officially introduces Kara as Supergirl to the Teen Titans, the Outsiders, the JLA and the JSA. Supergirl is set to start her career as a superhero. If only she'd been given a less embarassing costume!
Summary of SUPERGIRL #0-5 and SUPERGIRL & THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES to follow. I highly recommend the Legion series over the Supergirl series itself. See Comicsbooks: Supergirl/Kara II for all issues and guest appearances.