Linda Danvers

Peter David’s critically acclaimed Supergirl series (1996-2003)16 was like nothing the Girl of Steel had ever been through before or since. It kicked off with Matrix attempting to rescue an ordinary girl named Linda Danvers (sound familiar?) from a cult sacrifice. In a desperate bid to save the mortally wounded Linda, Matrix bonded her protoplasmic form with Linda’s body. The two became one being, and Matrix’s shapeshifting became limited to just changing from short, brunette Linda to tall, blonde “Supergirl.”

There was another interesting side effect to this bonding. Because of Matrix’s sacrifice in merging with a dying girl, Matrix/Linda became an “Earth-born angel,” one of three divine entities who represented the female aspect of God. Supergirl’s powers grew accordingly: she developed flame vision, wings of fire that could teleport or “shunt” her to wherever she needed to be, and the ability to judge the sins of the wicked.

However, such divine power was not to be hers for long. Thanks to the devious machinations of the villain Carnivore, Supergirl fell from grace, and for a moment, all seemed lost. Then Linda was visited by a spirit identified only as “Kara,” the spirit who had been her guardian angel since childhood. Heartened by Kara’s presence, Supergirl charged back into the fray with the other two Earth-born angels by her side and defeated the Carnivore.

But there was a price. Somehow Linda Danvers became separated from the Earth-born angel aspect of herself. Linda still retained depleted superpowers (reduced strength, speed, and invulnerability, as well as the ability to leap an eighth of a mile), but her angelic part, which seemed to match up roughly with her Matrix part, was missing.17  Linda embarked upon a quest to find this part of herself, which ended in yet another cataclysmic battle, this time with the Carnivore’s mother Lilith, who was holding the Matrix-angel captive. Again, Linda found herself mortally wounded, and again, Matrix offered to bond with her, but instead Linda told Matrix to bond with the also-fatally-wounded Twilight. Luckily for Linda, Twilight turned out to have the ability to bring people back to life, and after she and Matrix became a reinstated Earth-born angel, she promptly brought Linda back to life, this time with full Supergirl powers (strength, speed, flight, invulnerability, and psi-blasts).

Still with me? Good. It gets worse.

Linda had just barely gotten used to this new state of things when a rocket crash-landed in her hometown18 and a perky blonde teenager popped out of it. This was Kara Zor-El, apparently rerouted on her way to the Silver Age from the dying Argo planetoid. Kara was meant to be a permanent addition to the Supergirl cast,19 confronting criticism that Linda was not the “real” Supergirl; however, she'd barely arrived before Supergirl was cancelled. Plotlines had to be tied up, and fast.

It appeared that Kara’s being in the modern era instead of the Silver Age was a big problem for everyone: if she wasn’t in the Silver Age, she couldn’t die heroically in the Crisis, and if she couldn’t die heroically in the Crisis, the day could not be saved and there would be no survivors to make up the post-Crisis world. Loath to send a 15-year-old off to die, Linda decided to take Kara’s place, and found herself in a kinder, gentler, much more brightly-colored world. This Silver Age world was kind to her; Linda wound up marrying Superman and having a daughter named Ariella (who had quite a helping of superpowers herself).20

But along came the Crisis, and Linda’s death simply would not cut it. It had to be Kara dying in the Crisis, or all was for naught.  Linda was forced to abandon her husband, child, and life, and return to the post-Crisis world. There she sucker-punched Kara back into her rocket and sent her back where she belonged, to face her inevitable death with no memory of her time in the post-Crisis universe. Understandably upset by all of this, Linda sent a farewell note to Superman asking him not to look for her, and disappeared.21

 

Next: Kara Zor-El Returns
Back: Matrix

16. Artists on this series included Gary Frank, Leonard Kirk, and Ed Benes.
17. She also switched from the classic blue leotard and red skirt to the white midriff-baring T-shirt and blue mini favored by the Supergirl on Superman: The Animated Series.
18. Leesburg, so named in honor of Kara's original alias "Linda Lee." The David series was full of references to the Silver Age, such as Dick Malverne (originally Kara's boyfriend, now Linda's), Streaky the Supercat (Kara's superpowered pet made a couple of superpowerless cameos), and Comet the Superhorse (don't ask).
19. Linda was to become Superwoman, Kara would take her place as Supergirl, and together with Power Girl they would form "Blonde Justice."
20. Ariella is still bopping around out there, since Linda only agreed to return to her own world if her daughter survived. She operates in the 853rd century. I can't make this stuff up.
21. Some think she continued on as "Lee," the heroine of Peter David's series Fallen Angel.

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