The current Supergirl comicbook has been running since September 1996 and has already passed the 40 issue mark. It is by far the best-written Supergirl series yet (there were two brief runs in the '70s and '80s) as it thoroughly explores her character and features thought-provoking and genuinely engaging adventures in a way which has never been done with Supergirl before. Rather than just being episodic in nature, with each issue centering on the villain of the day with very little character development or overall plot advancement, each issue carefully develops as part of a long-running story arc that has been running since the very first issue. If you are just jumping in at this point, you will find that this Supergirl has enough history and twists and turns to make collecting back issues a must!

Supergirl is Linda Danvers, but this isn't just a secret identity which she has taken as a cover for her superheroics. Before they met, Linda was an ordinary teenager living in the small town of Leesburg while Supergirl was a shapeshifting artificial being with the memories of another world's Lana Lang, endowed with superpowers both similar to and very different from Superman's. This new Supergirl had been introduced in the three part "Supergirl Saga" in September-October '88 Superman comics. She was later named Matrix and had telekinesis, invisibility, and shapeshifting as her main powers. Both Linda and the being who would be Supergirl lacked something crucial in their lives which only the other could give: Supergirl lacked a soul and a human identity and Linda lacked a sense of hope and purpose.

Linda viewed Supergirl as her role model and frequently found herself sculpting the superheroine's form in her artistic endeavours. But an evil demon named Buzz had played upon Linda's loss of faith in those around her by drawning her into his cult in preparation for using her as a human sacrifce to the otherworldly creature known as Lord Chakat. Supergirl managed to reach Linda before the sacrifice took place, but not in time to save her life. With Supergirl filled with grief over her failure and Linda feeling overwhelmed at how her life was ending before she could set right what had gone wrong, the two reached out to each other, and at the moment of death, Supergirl merged her protoplasmic form with that of Linda's, and the two became one.

Supergirl now has a past as Linda Danvers and a human family, with all that entails, and Linda Danvers is now endowed with superpowers of flight, superstrength, and the ability to transform into Supergirl whenever the world needs saving. This event has had far-reaching repercussions: Supergirl is now more powerful than ever, for the act of giving one's life for another has caused her to become an earth-born angel. The Girl of Steel finds herself now with wings of flame and an even greater role as the Angel of Fire. This is not your average superheroine!

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