Board Thread:Supergirl discussions/@comment-1998684-20170328130718/@comment-31125534-20170331085138

Supergirl never was a Superman with boobs.

During years I kept hearing this claim of people who usually admitted they hardly read her adventures. And still long-time Supergirl fans told they liked Supergirl because she was NOT like Superman. And they proved their claims with comic scans. Some of them even told they were Supergirl fans but not Superman fans. Then I began reading Supergirl's issues of different eras, and I definitely agree with the second group. She has never been like Superman.

Supergirl was created in a time where Superman was THE hero. He never failed. He never made mistakes. He couldn't make mistakes because he was THE hero back in 1959.

Supergirl wasn't Superman. She was allowed to fail. She was young, hot-headed, impulsive and inexperienced. She was learning how to be a hero. She often made mistakes and had to atone for them (such like almost destroying Lena's love life, for example). And she never stopped to try to get better.

Her stories had a different tone, too. Do you want an example? In Action Comics 310, Superman has to deal with a new kind of Kryptonite. Meanwhile, Kara is trying to rescue her birth parents from a pocket dimension but she is conflicted for how Zor and Allura's return could affect her relationship with her foster parents.

Their stories were often multi-part stories, which was pretty unusual in the late fifties-early sixties. And though Superman remained a fairly static character during the Silver and Bronze Ages, she grew up, changed and got character development. She often moved and changed jobs. Early Kara was always frightened of disappointing Superman, but during the sixties became more confident and self-assured, and after a while she had no trouble talking back, and demanded and expected to be treated like his equal partner. In Superman 376 -written in the early eighties- she bluntly tells him she isn't his apprentice anymore and she can make her own choices, and Superman agrees that she has grown.

Another trait set her apart from her cousin is after a while she grew tired of being a hero and wanted to a normal life. Back then Superman would never think of that. They argue the matter several times (one of them in Superman 282). Also, Pre-Crisis Super was obsessed with Krypton, whereas Supergirl moved on and adapted to Earth better than him.

She was also pretty snarky, which is something Silver Age Superman certainly was not. I don't think that Superman ever told an uppity cop: "You need a hint as to what you can do with your badge, Peters?" (Daring Adventures of Supergirl 12)

Post-Crisis and New 52 Supergirl also had character development and a different personality. Jeph Loeb's Supergirl was an angry, whiny brat. After the Gates' run she was more confident and more mature. New 52 Supergirl was also an angry, inmature loner at the beginning, but she also changed. She grew up during the Bedard's run and the "Red Daughter of Krypton" arc (which is two years older than the show, so any changes cannot be attributed to it). Rebirth Supergirl is the result of that.

And Power Girl? As far as I'm concerned, PG rocks and has always rocked. However she and her counterparts of Earth-One, New Earth (the Post-Crisis universe), Prime Earth (Post-Flashpoint verse) share the same basic traits: they are short-tempered, fierce, impulsive and are always willing to talk her mind. They are not exclusive to Karen.

If you want another another opinion of another long-time fan you can go here:

Why Supergirl?