okay i cannot find the doc for the life of me, but! i am fairly easily summarize.
essentially there are 5 iterations in supergirl comics. first you've got pre-crisis. this was the first version of supergirl to show up in action comics back in '59. this was kara zor-el, superman's cousin from krypton. she was around until crisis on infinite earths where she was killed, and then the dcu was soft rebooted in some places.
in amidst all of that, power girl was introduced. she's kara zor-l from earth-2, an alternate universe version of supergirl. she's changed a bit as dc has gone through various reboots but never been completely overhauled the way supergirl has been.
after crisis on infinite earths, the next supergirl was matrix. matrix was a genetically modified shape-shifting bit of protoplasm created by lex luthor. (and this was somehow less convoluted than kara's backstory, apparently 🙄) she eventually breaks away from luthor and lives with the kents as mae kent. later she meets a young woman named linda danvers and essentially merges with her to save her life and linda becomes supergirl. this is the peter david supergirl run in the '90s. it... sure is a thing. but basically if supergirl is wearing a white cropped t-shirt in the comics, it's linda danvers.
in '05, they brought kara back. she fell to earth with a bunch of kryptonite, was trained by clark, bruce, and diana, and eventually became a hero in her own right. this is the version of her with the long-sleeved crop top and miniskirt. (and my favorite version of her, actually!) she had a bit of a rough beginning with the way some of her comics were written, but her solo book gets really good, especially once you get to sterling gates' run.
then dc decided to reboot! they completely reintroduced kara in the new 52 and yet again erased her history, starting her from scratch. when rebirth came around they changed some of her story yet again to make it mesh better with the tv show, though that version of kara was 16, not an adult. but she went by "linda danvers" because of her adoptive parents in this iteration.
currently i have no idea what they're doing with her. "whatever they feel like at the moment" seems to be the most accurate answer? but it's very confusing.
tl;dr: if the comic is from between '59 and '85, it's pre-crisis kara. if she's got a boob window, it's power girl. if it's from '89 to the early aughts and/or the supergirl has a white crop top in her costume, it's either matrix by herself or fused with linda danvers. if it's from '05 to '12, it's post-crisis kara. if it's from '12 to around now, it's post-flashpoint kara.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2024-01-08 12:34 am (UTC)essentially there are 5 iterations in supergirl comics. first you've got pre-crisis. this was the first version of supergirl to show up in action comics back in '59. this was kara zor-el, superman's cousin from krypton. she was around until crisis on infinite earths where she was killed, and then the dcu was soft rebooted in some places.
in amidst all of that, power girl was introduced. she's kara zor-l from earth-2, an alternate universe version of supergirl. she's changed a bit as dc has gone through various reboots but never been completely overhauled the way supergirl has been.
after crisis on infinite earths, the next supergirl was matrix. matrix was a genetically modified shape-shifting bit of protoplasm created by lex luthor. (and this was somehow less convoluted than kara's backstory, apparently 🙄) she eventually breaks away from luthor and lives with the kents as mae kent. later she meets a young woman named linda danvers and essentially merges with her to save her life and linda becomes supergirl. this is the peter david supergirl run in the '90s. it... sure is a thing. but basically if supergirl is wearing a white cropped t-shirt in the comics, it's linda danvers.
in '05, they brought kara back. she fell to earth with a bunch of kryptonite, was trained by clark, bruce, and diana, and eventually became a hero in her own right. this is the version of her with the long-sleeved crop top and miniskirt. (and my favorite version of her, actually!) she had a bit of a rough beginning with the way some of her comics were written, but her solo book gets really good, especially once you get to sterling gates' run.
then dc decided to reboot! they completely reintroduced kara in the new 52 and yet again erased her history, starting her from scratch. when rebirth came around they changed some of her story yet again to make it mesh better with the tv show, though that version of kara was 16, not an adult. but she went by "linda danvers" because of her adoptive parents in this iteration.
currently i have no idea what they're doing with her. "whatever they feel like at the moment" seems to be the most accurate answer? but it's very confusing.
tl;dr: if the comic is from between '59 and '85, it's pre-crisis kara. if she's got a boob window, it's power girl. if it's from '89 to the early aughts and/or the supergirl has a white crop top in her costume, it's either matrix by herself or fused with linda danvers. if it's from '05 to '12, it's post-crisis kara. if it's from '12 to around now, it's post-flashpoint kara.