Exercise in Egotism: What I Want From Kara Zor-El

I don't think I'm going too far in saying Supergirl is a problem. More than that, she's a mess.

I'm sure Kara Zor-El (Post-Crisis version) has some fans out there, but I don't know many. Most of the folks I know are resentful. She's not Linda. She's not Pre-Crisis Kara. She's not any of the characters we like or remember. Which wouldn't necessarily be bad...except the end result is, to put it bluntly, sensationalist tripe.

She's a sullen, angry little lolita in a barely there costume, sexy tattoo on her back, whose only purpose seems to be shower scenes or kissing cousins. But...wait a second, she's *Supergirl*!

There's something, I think, innately wrong with taking Supergirl, traditionally a character that makes Superman's concept accessible to young female readers and remaking her solely for men.

Supergirl should be a series I can recommend to my fourteen year old cousin, so she can see a young girl like herself with powers, an neat concept and fun stories. I certainly can't, in all good conscience, recommend *this* to her. And honestly, I don't know anyone who really likes the character as she is now. Evil version, sent to kill Clark, uber-angst, and barely there costume or not.

What's interesting to me is that apparently, in an interview, Joe Kelly said that the reason he got the series is because no one else wanted it. Yeah, it was a joke, but you know what? You should have looked my way, DC. Because *I* want the series. Give me the chance. I can fix her.

Give *Me* Supergirl
The thing about Supergirl that no one seems to get, not even Peter David, though he was much much closer, is that she's supposed to be for *girls*. She's the character that little girls think of when they tie a towel around their necks and climb up jungle gyms. Or at least that's what she should be. I'm not saying that Supergirl should have only very sanitized content and never deal with mature issues. But there's a difference between dealing with mature issues and what's going on right now.

Hell, if you read any young adult literature, you'd quickly realize that the big difference between YA and Adult fiction is in subtlety. The horror, the sexuality, the death is a bit less overt. That dosn't make their themes any less substantial. (Read Lurene McDaniel for drama or Christopher Pike for horror, for example, you'd see that the scope of YA literature doesn't stop at Babysitters Club, Sweet Valley High, or whatever you fogeys think young girls read*)

(*Yes, I know these are all out of date. I'm referring to the crap I read as a girl, I'm sure there are new and better examples now...heck Harry Potter's YA, after all.)

Comics neglect the Young Adult market anyway, which is stupid. You gotta hook the kids young damnit. Hook'em young, you got 'em for life. Cigarette companies know this, why have you forgotten?

Anyway, things aren't hopeless. In fact, right now, it would be really, really easy to turn Kara Zor-El into a likeable, marketable character. Without having to turn her into her pre-crisis version.

You see, it occurs to me, during Mr. Loeb's initial run of the new series, there was one moment where I found Kara Zor-El interesting. It wasn't while showing up Superman, single-handedly taking out severely out of character Titans or even beating up on the Outsiders. It wasn't while fighting Luthor or her buried evil side.

It was when she had her crush on Nightwing. It was silly. It was embarrassing. She made a total fool of herself and it was obvious to *everyone*. And I felt for her. In that moment, for the first time ever, I liked her.

Forget Kelly's silly bit about her being older than sixteen but acting sixteen or whatever that nonsense was. She's sixteen. Stasis doesn't count. She's not a safe means of exercising a school-girl fetish. She's *sixteen*.

So I'd write her that way. At the risk of being sexist, I bet I've a much better idea of what it is to be a sixteen year old girl than Jeph Loeb, Greg Rucka, and Joe Kelly combined.

Sixteen year old girls are silly. They're insecure. They're exciteable. They're angsty. No one understands them. Everyone's laughing at them. They're in love. Sure they were in love with someone different yesterday! But today it's the *real thing*. The genuine article! And...tomorrow's will be even *more* real.

Forget the dark evil daddy issues. Save them for when the character's grown up a little. Let her put them out of her head and focus on being a kid now. Focus on dating, on fitting in, on learning the ropes of this new world she's on. Focus on using her powers to fight bad-guys while trying to maintain something resembling a normal teenage existance.

She's got a good start really. Her sullen anger is very teenager-ish. But that's a bit unlikeable isn't it? Besides no teenager is that angry all the time. I'm not saying she can't be sullen and angry of course. Especially around grownups who Couldn't Possibly Understand. But that shouldn't be her default state.

We need to see Kara with kids her own age. People she won't be angry and sullen toward. School-friends, for example. So she can show other sides of her personality.

My suggestion would be boarding school. It'd be a good way for her to learn to adjust to Earth. She'd have to sneak out in order to fight and sneak back in later. She can make friends, meet boys to crush on (and she's sixteen, there'll be lots of cute crushes...let's avoid going too far though, okay? Krypton's a pretty non-touchy feely culture it seems). It'll keep her away from Clark or Bruce or Karen so she be defined on her own, apart from them.

With her personality, it'd be fun too. She's not sugary sweet like her pre-crisis self. She'll want to be cool. She'll want to impress the right people. She'll skirt the line between tomboy, girly-girl and bad girl. She'll be insecure and self-absorbed, but grow to genuinely care about the friends she makes.

And of course, there'll be ass-kicking. Bullies...she's not the sort to meekly roll over, but she'll also have to exert enough control so as not to hurt them or reveal her secret. Bad guys. There are always bad guys. But not Luthor and that sort yet, she's young. Give her her own bad-guys for a while. That way it'll be a big thing when she's got to join a big-league fight.

And in crossover stories, she should crush on more people besides just Nightwing. Come on, she's surrounded by a bunch of really attractive guys in very showy clothing. Nice, gallant, hero types. She's sixteen. It's a done deal. And she should make a complete idiot of herself. That's part of what'll make her appealing to teenage girls. Because we do that. Trip over stupid shit, stumble over her speech, all her normal grace and skill *gone* in front of a hot guy! How unfair is that!

Naturally, she'll still be competent in a fight though. She's a hero and heroes suck it up when it counts.

Finally, her costume needs to go. We do not need to see that much of her torso. The Matrix one would be much better. Still short skirt, but more of a unitard top.

It'd be really easy to get a good motivation to change it anyway. She's a teenager. Have someone make fun of her for it. Or have her overhear a guy she likes, maybe one of the other heroes, say something about how the costume's a little much on someone that young. Teenagers are sensitive and insecure. In a snap, the costume would be gone and traded. I'm sure Martha would be relieved and thrilled to make her a new costume that covers her up a little more.

But yeah, that's what I want really. Lose the daddy issues (for now) and the Lolita complex and put the *girl* back in Supergirl.

Maybe they are going this way (I love the cover with Kara getting hit by the truck), but from the interview with Mr. Kelly and the other things I've read, I'm not particularly hopeful.

Come on, guys. You have tons of sexy superheroines out there designed specifically designed for you in mind. Let us girls have Supergirl back!