Kara Zor-El Returns

The final arc of the Supergirl had been a successful one; Kara Zor-El’s temporary presence had caused sales to skyrocket. DC decided the time was ripe to bring Kara Zor-El back for good.

Thus, in the Jeph Loeb-penned Superman/Batman #8 (May 2004),²² Batman encounters a rocket which has fallen to Earth in a shower of Kryptonite. Inside is Kara Zor-El, daughter of Jor-El’s brother, and thus Superman’s cousin. There is a twist or two in this retelling; Kara is actually older than Clark, a teenager when he was a baby, and had been sent in her own rocket ostensibly to look after him on Earth.²³ However, Zor-El was apparently not as smart as his brother, and Kara’s rocket took about 30 years to get to Earth, while keeping her in stasis, so that she arrives on Earth still 16 years old.

After a quick introductory arc in Superman/Batman, Kara Zor-El is once again flying high in her own series (that’s Supergirl vol. 5 for those of you keeping track). But problems seem to be plaguing the Girl of Steel already, as by issue seven she’s already on her third writer. Her (re?)creator Jeph Loeb kicked off the series, Greg Rucka took over for one issue, and as of this writing Joe Kelly is taking the reins.²⁴ Why? “Everybody else said no,” Kelly told Wizard magazine. Not a statement that inspires much confidence in Kara’s fate, is it?

Next: Conclusion
Back: Linda Danvers

22. Artist: Michael Turner.
23. Supergirl v.5 #4 revealed that Kara was actually sent to kill the infant Kal-El.
24. The artist has remain Ian Churchill throughout.

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