Supergirl (Volume 2) #15 is an issue of the series Supergirl (Volume 2) with a cover date of January, 1984.
Synopsis for "Starfall"
Blackstarr sees Mrs. Berkowitz and recognizes her mother whom she believed killed in Auschwitz decades ago. Stunned, she lands and touches her mother's face. For a second, she seems to let her hatred go.
Supergirl is shocked but decides to resume her fight with Blackstarr, even though Blackstarr declares the battle is over for now. Both women stop when Mrs. Berkowitz steps in between them, but Supergirl -after nearly blowing up her secret identity accidentally- declares Blackstarr is trouble and is coming with her, whoever she is. Blackstarr dares her to try, and Mrs. Berkowitz leaves sobbing because violence is the only language both women seem to know.
Blackstarr gets angry with Supergirl, but the Maid of Might replies she doesn't believe she's Ida's daughter and won't let her bother her. Blackstarr blasts Supergirl away, reveals she's a shape-shifter who looks young because so she desires, and warps away, promising a rematch. Supergirl decides to head off, pondering on tonight's revelations.
In the meantime, Ida has made it back to her building. Linda Danvers drops by her apartment and reiterates she can't imagine what her life was like but she wants to understand and help her. Ida mumbles Linda's too young to know what to lose your world is like, and Linda regrets she's unable to tell she's one of the last living Kryptonians and the last survivor of Argo City.
Ida's husband Hymie Berkowitz had a tailor shop in Warsaw. They weren't rich but they had each other and their daughter. Then World War II broke out. They tried to stay in their city, but at the end they had to flee. After several months running they were caught by German soldiers in a farm. Her husband tried to protect them but he was gunned down, and Ida and Rachel were sent to the camps where they were separated. Ida tried to find her daughter after the Russians liberated the camp, but the Germans' records listed Rachel Berkowitz as dead, so she left Europe.
After telling her story, Ida asks Linda to leave her alone and turns in for the night. Later, Blackstarr teleports in her room.
At the morning, Linda is driven to Lake Shore University by her boyfriend Philip Decker. After class she meets her student advisor, Barry Metzner, whose office is as disorderly as always. As talking, Prof. Metzner mentions he's writing an in-depth psychological profile on world-class criminal Jackson Burroughs. Metzner is explaining that he finds the man fascinating, even though he's a criminal, when Linda's friend Joan Raymond barges in his office to warn Linda Mrs. Berkowitz's missing. Linda leaves for searching her landlady, having the horrible feeling her disappearance wasn't voluntary.
Somewhere else, Ida asks her daughter why Rachel's brought her to a safe house. Her daughter hasn't said a word since she kidnapped her. Then Blackstarr breaks her silence and reveals she believes her mother let the Nazis take her because she hated her. She was fluent enough in German to understand the guards and know she and other children were going to die. Believing to be abandoned by her mother and needing to be clever to survive, Rachel managed to get into the camp commandant's good graces. The man adopted her, and Rachel spent the next years sheltered from the War and growing up to hate her mother and her mother's people.
Anticipating the downfall of the Reich, Rachel's adoptive father got false papers forged. He died during the War, but fourteen-year Rachel fled to America. She went to school and excelled in everything. She studied physics until she figured out how to manipulate the forces of the universe, and she became Blackstarr.
Her story over, Rachel doesn't know what to do with Ida: she's but an old woman but she can do her harm. All of sudden a voice states that's because Ida's a reminder of everything good she could have been.
Blackstarr turns around to see Supergirl standing in the door. Supergirl reveals Blackstarr's powers cause a disturbance in the electro-magnetic field around her which her super-senses can track down. Supergirl engages Blackstarr, stating how little concerned she's by her death threats.
Blackstar teleports Supergirl and herself to the center of the universe, where the maelstrom of cosmic forces threatens ripping Supergirl apart before her enemy does. Blackstarr unleashes her full power, and Supergirl realizes she can't take her on a direct confrontation. So she decides to be sneaky: when Blackstar manipulates gravity around her to reduce Supergirl to atoms, Kara rushes towards her. The overwhelming gravitation field draws two black holes which tear Blackstarr apart.
Supergirl flies her way back to Earth, regretting she can't bring any grief to Mrs. Berkowitz, only more grief. Kara shows herself to Ida, and the old woman tries to smile in spite of her pain. Supergirl smiles back and flies off.
Appearing in "Starfall"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Ida Berkowitz
- Joan Raymond
- Johnny Ostrander (Final appearance)
- Cheryl Delarye (Final appearance)
- Phil Decker
Antagonists:
Other Characters:
- Barry Metzner
- Hymie Berkowitz (Dies in flashback)
Locations:
- Earth
- United States of America
- Chicago
- Rogers Park Neighborhood
- Lake Shore University
- Chicago
- Poland
- Germany (Flashback only)
- United States of America
- Argo City
Items:
Vehicles:
Notes
- Although Blackstarr seems die in this issue, she would show up again in DC Comics Presents #86