Supergirl: Girl Power was a five-part inaugural story-arc chronicled in issues #1-5 of Supergirl (Volume 5). The story focused on the character of Supergirl and her efforts to find her place in the world. Prior to this event, Supergirl appeared in Superman/Batman: The Supergirl from Krypton and Superman/Batman #19.
All five parts were collected in the Supergirl: Power and Supergirl: The Girl of Steel trade paperbacks. This story was followed up by the three-part "Supergirl: Candor" storyline.
Synopsis
Supergirl and Stargirl are having a amicable talk while the JSA is fighting Solomon Grundy. Kara asks Courtney if they shouldn't be helping out, but Stargirl claims Kara can trust her team to have the situation under control.
In spite of Stargirl's reassurances, Grundy is driving the JSA back. He is about to smash a fallen Green Lantern when Power Girl shows up. Though she's also struggling against him. and Kara can't stand still for longer. Before Grundy can overpower the Supergirl from Eart-Two, Supergirl dives into the fray and punches Grundy out.
Supergirl and Power Girl greet each other and are about to shake hands when Power Girl's powers go haywire and she heat-beams Supergirl. Kara defends herself but her counterpart appear to be out of her mind and attacks relentlessly. Alan Scott breaks them off wrapping both girls in green energy bubbles. His teammate regains self-control and asks what has just happened.
Mister Terrific guesses Power Girl's powers went nuts because she and Supergirl are the same person so their existences sort of reject each other. Aghast, Supergirl wants to find a solution, but Power Girl is sick of tests and flies off. Stargirl asks Kara to not take it personally but Kara heads off, wondering how she can not to.
Several days later, Power Girl and Supergirl meet up again. The younger Kara wants to make friends with her counterpart, but Power Girl doesn't believe they can be friends for now. Right now she is confused, her powers are glitching, her past isn't what she believed to be... and Supergirl makes her feel uneasy. She was Superman's cousin, but now Kara has arrived she feels it's been taken away from her. Ignoring Kara's protests' Power Girl warns Supergirl she felt something dark within her during their brawl and leaves.
Somewhere else, Calculator and Lex Luthor are reviewing Supergirl's last actions. Luthor guesses Supergirl is looking for a friend right now.
Feeling despondent and lonely, Supergirl heads to the Kent Farm, hoping to talk with Superboy. She's flying over the Farm when Superboy abruptly intercepts and demands angrily she leaves. Superboy's recently gone through extreme trauma, is very distrustful of others, and so he tries to shoo Kara away and picks up a fight with her. The two begin fighting and Supergirl lands a blow that breaks Conner's jaw. Conner stops fighting and Kara fixes his jaw.
Their tempers now cooled off, the two teenagers begin to speak amicably to one another and Kara starts to think they will get along well after all; but suddenly, Conner's teammates in the Teen Titans appear. Without provocation, the Titans begin fighting against Superboy and Supergirl.
Wonder Girl pounces on Supergirl, and Kara punches Cassie back. The Amazon girl admits she overreacted when she saw Conner talking to another blonde girl, but she is still angry because of Kara's punch. Wonder Girl ensnares Supergirl with her Lasso of Lightning, but Supergirl is able to withstand the electrical discharge. Her willpower forces the charge back upon Wonder Girl who falls to the ground, stunned. Raven grabs Supergirl and envelops her in her soul-self. Raven cannot interpret the conflicting emotions she is perceiving and lets go of her.
In the meantime, Cyborg and Beast Boy turns confront Superboy. Cyborg reveals they have been keeping a close watch on him since his recent brainwashing at the hands of Lex Luthor and voluntary resignation. Incensed, Superboy shoves Beast Boy aside and squares off.
Supergirl zips over and separates the two. Kara states that since they're fighting cause of her presence there, she'll leave now. Superboy gets angry and declare its's his teammates and no his "cousin" who should leave. Suddenly, Starfire of the Outsiders arrives and says that she has important information for Supergirl.
Elsewhere, Lex Luthor conspires with the Calculator on the means by which to take Supergirl down. Luthor is wearing an upgraded battlesuit equipped with multi-colored Kryptonite weaponry. Calculator asks what the black Kryptonite does, and Luthor just grins.
Starfire tells Supergirl the Outsiders have looked into and found out who was spying on her: Lex Luthor. Supergirl follows her and stays with the Outsiders for three days. She's combat training with Grace, Thunder and Arsenal when Nightwing arrives and puts an end to the training. Supergirl is smitten with Nightwing and barely hears him as he tells her that Starfire has has located Luthor in Monument Valley, Utah.
Kara wants to take off right now, feeling she has to confront Luthor alone. Nightwing tries to dissuade her, but she impulsively plants a quick kiss on his lips and flies off towards Monument Valley. The Outsiders want to follow her, but Supergirl has sabotaged the control grid of The Pequod with a blast of heat vision.
Supergirl arrives in Utah and finds Lex Luthor waiting for her and wearing his battlesuit. Kara engages him valiantly but Luthor pummels her with ease thanks to his Kryptonite-enhanced armaments. When he gets her on the ground, he projects a ray of Black Kryptonite energy at her with surprising results. An evil version of Supergirl, wearing a black-and-white costume, emerges from Supergirl's prone body. Speaking Kryptonese, she tells Lex that "you just made the biggest mistake of what's left of your life!"
Lex Luthor is surprised. Darkseid told him that Kara's "true" nature would emerge when exposed to black Kryptonite and she would become his ally. He didn't think an evil dooppelgänger would be split up form Supergirl. He attempts to talk her into being his ally anyway, but "Dark Supergirl" couldn't care less. She goads him to hit her with his best -and only- shot.
They beging fighting but Dark Supergirl is too powerful. Luthor tries to run away, but she grabs and flies him off into outer space. Dark Supergirl dumps him onto Earth's moon and sends him smashing through the JLA Watchtower. Luthor's battlesuit has protected him but he is found and apprenhended by Green Lantern. John Stewart is about to put him away, but Dark Supergirl turns up and takes John down. As she's distracted, Luthor runs away. She gets to track him down.
Meanwhile, the real Supergirl comes to in the deserts of Monument Valley. Standing above her is Starfire, who is likewise recovering from injuries visited upon her by Lex Luthor. Koriand'r says she believed to see Kara chasing after Luthor. Kara explains it was some kind of evil twin that came out of her, which reminds Kori of her sister Blackfire. Nevertheless, Kara knows where her doppelgänger went to. She takes off for the Moon.
Back at the Watchtower, Calculator hacks into the JLA's teleport tubes which enables Luthor to escape. Frustrated, Dark Supergirl fights up against several more members of the JLA. She easily incapacitates each one of them. On the surface of the moon, outside the Watchtower, she snatches the Martian Manhunter by the throat, preparing to snap his neck. Before she can do so however, the real Supergirl arrives on the scene.
Both Supergirls square off against one another. Dark Supergirl taunts Kara, claiming her father Zor-El hated his brother and sent her to kill her own cousin. Supergirl retorts she's just lying and pounces. As they trade blows and Dark Supergirl keeps taunting Kara, the JLA turn up, regrouped and ready to fight, but Dark Supergirl flies off into space. Supergirl tells Martian Manhunter to read her mind and "warn him they're coming" before pursuing.
Supergirl and Dark Supergirl clash in space. As they carry on attacking one another, Supergirl lures her evil duplicate into following her to Gotham City. Both girls crash-lands on Gotham Harbor where Batman is already waiting them. Dark Supergirl scoffs at Batman and tries to kill him, but Superman and Wonder Woman arrive to help Batman out.
The evil Supergirl power-dives into the real one and switches their costumes at super-speed. Now the Leaguers have no way of knowing which one is the real Supergirl and which one is the duplicate. Superman attacks both of them, thinking the real Supergirl will not defend herself, but both girls strike back. Wonder Woman manages to subdue Kara while Superman clashes with Dark Supergirl -still dressed as Supergirl-. Dark Supergirl hits him, recalling him everyone tells she's stronger. Superman hits her back and replies she shouldn't believe everything she hears because he's always instinctively holding back and he's sure he can stop her whenever he wants. Dark Supergirl invites him to test his theory, but Batman separates them with his Kryptonite Ring. Suddenly Supergirl breaks in and states there's one way to end this: Wonder Woman's Lasso of Truth.
Wonder Woman binds them together and commands the Supergirls to tell her who is the real Kara Zor-El. Since the mystical properties of the lasso can not adequately distinguish between the two, it merges them back together and Supergirl is once again whole.
Superman hugs his cousin. Kara states she's still missing most of her memories but it doesn't matter: the three of them are her surrogate family now and her mentors from now on. Later Supergirl flies around freely, thinking her story is just beginning, and what it's up to her finding out her true self... but she knows she's Kara Zor-El, Supergirl, and that's what truly matters.
Issues
- Supergirl (Volume 5) #1 (Girl Power, Part I of V: JSA)
- Supergirl (Volume 5) #2 (Girl Power, Part II of V: Teen Titans)
- Supergirl (Volume 5) #3 (Girl Power, Part III of V: Outsiders)
- Supergirl (Volume 5) #4 (Girl Power, Part IV of V: J.L.A.)
- Supergirl (Volume 5) #5 (Girl Power, Part V of V: Supergirls)
Recommended Reading
Links and References
Supergirl Storyline This event or storyline is specifically related to the character of Supergirl and/or her supporting cast. This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the Supergirl Storylines category. |
Superman Family Storyline This event or storyline is specifically related to Superman, or to members of the Superman Family. This template will automatically categorize articles that include it into the Superman Storylines category. |