DC's 'The New 52' continues and each issue builds up the suspense in what we're going to get. Some characters remain virtually untouched from before while others have been given tweaks and changes as the DC Universe moves forward in a new direction. We have already seen some of the changes with Superman in the pages of Justice League #1 and Action Comics #1. Now it is time to see what changes Superman's cousin is facing.

Supergirl is a character that has changed several times over the years. Originally she started out as Kal-El's cousin, Kara Zor-El. After her death in Crisis on Infinite Earths, we saw the Matrix version of Supergirl, from a parallel universe. Then we had 80 issues of Peter David's Linda Danvers version. A return to the character's original roots, courtesy of Jeph Loeb and Michael Turner, gave us the return of Kara. She was older than Superman but had been in suspended animation longer, thus she was still considered a seventeen-year-old girl.

In the little glimpses of this new DC Universe, the attitude towards superheroes has changed. This is something Supergirl will be facing. From the first issue, it is evident that we will be seeing some changes. There will be some minor spoilers below. Be sure to check out the issue. These are the biggest changes that have happened to Supergirl.

Her Arrival

If we stick with the recent version, Kara's Kryptonian ship crashed into Gotham Harbor a couple years ago (in comic time). She emerged fully nude and it was Batman that was the first to encounter her after running from the local law enforcement. Supergirl does crash on Earth in a ship still. Her location is completely different. The impact of the ship results in Supergirl coming out in a completely different location. Let's just say, "We're not in Kansas anymore..."

With the amount of force and impact her ship causes, it's obvious that her arrival will not go unnoticed. She is immediately met by humans but you'll have to read the issue to see what sort of welcoming committee she encounters.

Her Clothing

I mentioned how originally she arrived with no clothing. Despite many of 'The New 52' books focusing on the...female form, Supergirl was allowed to emerge from her ship fully dressed. Not only was she fully dressed, but she had on her (new) costume.

What we don't know is why she arrives wearing it. Actually, she doesn't even know why she's wearing it. She mentions the significance of the suit but is ready for action with all her private bits covered up when she is greeted by humans. We all know the skirt is gone. She is now wearing what looks like a bathing suit with a cape and some interesting thigh-high boots. We are talking fancy Kryptonian fashion so who are we to judge what she wears?

Her Memory

When Supergirl arrived last time, she knew what was going on. Here, Supergirl believes she is dreaming at first. She has no idea where she's at. She doesn't understand why it's snowing and she's cold. She doesn't know why she's wearing her costume. She finds herself on a strange planet and doesn't have any answers.

There is mention of her parents. It remains to be seen what part they play into her arriving on Earth. We can assume that part will remain the same. She was sent before Krypton's destruction. What we don't know is her relationship to Kal-El. Yet another reason to read the next issue.

Powers

Kryptonians have different powers in 'The New 52." That's what we can gather from Action Comics #1. Superman was younger and clearly less powerful. Superman couldn't fly and struggled a little with his strength. Supergirl shows sign of being cold in the snow. This makes perfect sense if she's been trapped in a ship for (what we assume) is many years.

We've seen stories where the ship was designed to collect energy from the sun and Superman emerged from his ship with superpowers. Because of his portrayal in Action Comics, we have to assume that he's been slowly building up his powers. Yet when Supergirl is first exposed to Earth's sun, she is suddenly showing superhuman abilities. It's been said that Supergirl is more powerful than her cousin. Could that be the case and she simply processes the sun's energy more quickly and efficiently or is there another reason for this sudden burst or strength and powers?

What other changes will there be? What is her attitude like? What will she think of Superman? Where is she going to live and with who? These are just some of the questions we'll have to continue reading to see how everything unfolds. Supergirl is off to a great start. We may have lost some history since it's easy to assume this story takes place in current times (based on the appearance of a character at the end). This book also shows that you don't need to inject sexual elements in order to make a relaunch book interesting.

this is the series I'm most anxious to see succeed, love Kara when she's done right :)

The only way to do Kara right is to have Power Girl take her out back and put her out of her misery.

@TheCrowbar: Got the title right here: Old Kara. "No, Clark, she's my... self."

i hope they don"t mess kara up but we will see.

she looks the 52 version of powergirl only less revealing

Anyone else think that the Krytonian armour might have something to do with their powers this time around? Note that the younger and less powerful Superman in action comics is not yet wearing his armour.

Hope this thread will be going somewhere :P

I mean the whole "amnesic"-thing.

Does this mean New Krypton's out of continuity now?

I think it would be fair to theorize, although it probably won't be the explanation we'll receive, that as with many forms of life on our little blue marble, gender plays a role in the capabilities of a creature. An example of this can be found in the insect kingdom. Quite often, female insects are larger and more dominant than the males. There's nothing that says such a factor couldn't exist on other planets in the universe. Therefore, it's completely possible that female Kryptonians can gain powers quicker, even to the point of almost immediately, than male Kryptonians.

@Iron_Turtle: I've thought about that as well. Like maybe the armor helps them process the sun's rays better. It just seems that might be too big of a change. Who knows.

Loved it. 5-stars! Fantastic start. I like this better that the last few incarnations of Kara, so far. My only minor quibble is her shorts should be a bit more modest.

Still don't like her new costume.

anyone else just think that her tights are pulled up a bit too tight? :P

Costume is cool. Good article G-man

This issue was the bees knees

Im adding all the Superman titles to my pull list now

We still dont know if she had simulated yellow sun in her ship and so far she has been shown to be strong, resistant to temperatures, and have heat vision. I dont think they showed her more powerful then Kal and they showed her running but not super humanly fast. She even got hit but one of the shots while running. I dont think they portrayed her at all being more powerful than Kal.

Got this yesterday as well and I'm so psyched to read it. I quickly leaped through pages yesterday to get the gist of what was being said and so far I'm blown away and excited for what is coming up for Kara! As far as the sudden spurt in superhuman powers, I can only attribute it to maybe being in midst of a total mind-screw considering she realizes this is no longer Krypton but Earth. She was attacked first and she most likely had the usual "fight or flight" response, which in any defense situation can give on increased capacity for fighting. It would be entirely inconsistent and lame to have her stronger than Kal in my opinion. Her wearing the costume baffles me too though...I still have to say the best origin story was in Superman/Batman where she was all naked and arrived in Gotham Harbor because you got the true sense of a lost Kryptonian trying to make sense of her new surroundings (on top of Michael Turner's art making her look absolutely great). So glad this book is one of my holds.

Does anyone actually think the revamp was necessary?

Why do you keep saying that Kara is cold? She isn't cold. She says that she should be freezing but she only feels a cool breeze.

I won't be reading it, but what what I've seen and read so far looks to have been handled very well with great decorum.

wow cool. i hope you guys make a "4 biggest ways Wonder Woman has changed" too

Gman she actualy say's she knows she is "dreaming" because it is snowing and she does not feel cold. It states that she only feels a slight breeze. Just saying

Is that her skin showing in the bottom half of her costume or is it really that slutty looking? I can't tell from the artists style and the angle being at the front.

I really liked this issue. That is all.

I don't see much as having changed except for her inexperience. We didn't find out what happened to her parents so we don't really know her backstory yet. We just know "rocket crash on earth, girl get out" which really, is always in her origin.

People shouldn't be so quick to find a discrepancy in Kryptonian power levels when it hasn't been explained how she got here, why she is in costume, what's wrong with her memories. There's too much unknown to blast editorial about their supposed mistake.

@ltbrd: I've never been a huge DC fan, and the New 52 isn't inspiring me to become one. I understand the need to clean up the continuity and make things more concise, but completely rebooting some characters (Superman and Supergirl), erasing some characters (Powergirl) and leaving some characters almost essentially unchanged (Batman) seems a little too arbitrary.

BTW, I still don't get why comic book creators and fans have become such pansies about the outfits of female characters. If practicality was so important, why does damn near every character in DC wear capes? Supergirl is an invulnerable, physically perfect female humanoid alien with heat rays that emmet from her eyes, the ability to run and fly at supersonic speeds and nearly limitless strength. Yet fans are decrying artist for falling to provide 'believable' outfits. This is all pointless PC drivel to me.

I know I'm fighting a losing battle on this, but I am not changing my stance. Watching prime-time TV dramas, I want an element of believability. Watching a Sci-Fi movie or show, I want the writers to establish the parameters of their world and then stay within them. Reading comics, believability is over-rated. However, allow me to digress...

Why don't we just start demanding that artists make all comic characters 'believable' in every way. Some of them should be chubby and unattractive. They should all wear street clothes, military gear or police uniforms. Their abilities should be reduced to those that are within the scope of reason- if they have abilities at all. That means that Batman would be able to take on two or three bad guys at most. No man can realistically come out of a 8 on 1 fight victorious. Characters should all have to have to take months off to heal from injuries. We want to be believable, right? So after getting beat down by a gang of thugs, Huntress should have 5 or 6 issues chronicling her hospitalization and recovery time. Not compelling in the least, but certainly more realistic and 'believable', don't you think?

I like her new design.

Man, this is like DC's what... 67th attempt at changing Supergirl?

Honestly didn't like her "shield panty" design.

It's like they got rid of Superman's red panties... just to give it to Supergirl.

Should've just stuck with the late Michael Turner design.

Gonna wait to see if the TPB will be worth it later.

Perhaps the the costume is the reason her powers developed so quickly. Maybe the it's not just something to cover herself, perhaps the costume has a practical function and we saw that function when her powers came on so quick.

Cant say I am a fan of Supergirl, to me she died in Crisis on Infinite Earths. Give me back Power Girl thank you

Was pleasantly surprised with this one. I don't consider myself a Supergirl fan by any stretch, but I grabbed this on a whim since Superboy was good and found myself liking it, even if it feels like not a ton happens here, but an incoming throwdown with Superman oughta be fun. Hopefully they don't change artists anytime soon.

I really enjoyed this issue

Great emotion, art, action... everything!

Gonna stick with this series for sure!!! :D

Why do people always feel the need to comment negatively when superheroines are wearing outfits like leotards?

I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but look at women's track atheletes, women's mma fighers, women's volleyball players etc. They're nto wearing nun habits.

It's make less sense for superheorines to go around dressed l like 30's school marms than it does for them to dress like modern athletes.

I didn't pick up Supergirl, so this was a great read. I was curious to know how she changed, what was the same, etc.

Oh man! I can't wait to read this. This is gonna be SUPER-AWESOME!

I can't get behind the costume. And it's not from a "AYE! SHE'S BEING DRAWN ALL SEXY AND IT'S TOO MUCH FOR MY PRE-PUBECENT MIND TO HANDLE" point of view like some people here and in the Wonder Woman article are crying about (which I just posted on too ironically enough). It's from a design standpoint. From the waist up it's fine. But from the waist down it's like a 5 year-old designed it. Go with a full red bottom and lose the "over-the-knee" things and it would be okay.

@wane88 said:

Why do you keep saying that Kara is cold? She isn't cold. She says that she should be freezing but she only feels a cool breeze.

Yeah, that was the whole reason she thought it was a dream, because she saw snow but wasn't freezing

@TheCrowbar:

haha that made ,me laugh

HATE THIS. This retcon is going to be scrapped because MARTHA KENT made the Superman costume, on Earth. NOT Kara's Kryptonian parents before Kal El ever arrived on Earth!

Plus, the suit is wack. I don't get the gold shield crotch panel or hyper huge cape collar, and especially the knock-kneed boots! Too bad, because restore the old boots, lose the gold panel in favor of the normal blue of the suit, keep the old neckline and 'S' and this could work -- AFTER Clark gets his Super suit!

FAIL.

Yeah, I like the Superman/Batman origin of Supergirl better. It was creepy/fast and the style went well with it too.

This looks like it'll be good...but I don't think it'll out do the Original return story. Hell all the heavy hitters were in it; Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Artemis, Big Bara, Darksied...yeah.

What I do like: I like the fact she looks like she in her mid 20's. I like the teenage drawn version too, but they always over played the really really really REALLY low mini skirt that always seems to cover her up while fighting/flying.

At least here she looks older looking in new 52. She's possible the only person with any REAL PHYSICAL DIFFERENCE to them. Sure, minor drawing styles done to look younger, Dick is shorter...but this is a lot...she looks like she hit the gym or ate up the old universe in her travels.

To me this is more of a change in Character in the New 52 then o lets make them younger/shorter.

I want see someone: Older, someone new taking over, more weight, less powerful etc.

this is the series I'm most anxious to see succeed, love Kara when she's done right :)

Maybe her ship collected solar energy and transferred it to her enhanced. I'm pretty sure I've hear that explanation for a similar story... somewhere

Tbh I dont really mind the costume. Its nothing special but its not bad.

@Cervantes said:

HATE THIS. This retcon is going to be scrapped because MARTHA KENT made the Superman costume, on Earth. NOT Kara's Kryptonian parents before Kal El ever arrived on Earth!

In the issue Kara says that the costume is some sort of Kryptonian formal wear, so maybe Superman's is too at that point? Coz lets be honest, the new Superman costume is like bloody body armor, so I doubt Martha Kent made it in the New 52.

@Hypo-Calvinist said:

Does anyone actually think the revamp was necessary?

I didnt and im a new reader to DC, i bought all the supergirl comics from her latest incarnation, and now i have to start again :/

I never liked Power Girl's backstory but i did like her personality so that i guess is a plus if they add that into the new Super Girl. But then wouldnt that make her basically Power Woman

Also i always thought Kara was stronger than Kal even if he just says 'because she isnt holding back like me, etc'

I also think she should of kept the skirt or atleast hotpants, or anything to give her a bit more modesty....then again im a Ms Marvel fan and tbh her costume reminds me alot of Ms Marvel uniform. But maybe that's because im a fan of her

@Cervantes: Hasn't it been suggested in some stories that Superman's symbol is Kryptonian in origin? If so it might make sense that, as Kal El's cousin, she'd share his family crest on Krypton. Besides, Superman #1 comes out soon so we might get answers about his new suit. His costume in Action Comics is just a T-shirt and pants really; just the sort of thing he might have had made by Martha.

Also, seeing as DC's in a Silver Age mode atm, didn't her parents send her in a Super-ish costume anyway so he'd recognise her partly way back in the good ol' 50's (or was it early 60's)? I do agree the boots should probably be changed, and I think Kara could have kept the skirt, but otherwise I think it's an okay costume.

Why the hell is she more powerful than Superman? That sucks. I'm sure JLA Superman could beat Sueprgirl.