Kara Zor-El was the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton, which had survived the explosion of the planet and had drifted through space. When the soil of the colony was turned into Kryptonite, lead sheeting was placed on the ground. But meteorites pierced the sheeting and the Kryptonians began to die of radiation poisoning.
Kara was sent to Earth by her parents Zor-El and Allura to be raised by her cousin Kal-El, known as Superman. So Superman would know Kara was his cousin, her parents provided a costume based closely on the Man of Steel's.[1]Upon meeting Kara (who had begun to display powers similar to those of Kal-El), Superman decided she would become his secret weapon, and explained that her presence on Earth must be kept confidential while he trained Kara in the use of her new powers.
Kara adopted the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage, hiding her blonde locks beneath a brunette wig. During this period and for two full years, Linda interacted with humans mainly on a person-to-person basis performing good super-deeds on a save-the-world one at a time ratio, using clever schemes while trying to avoid becoming adopted before her time came. A distant precursor for her worldwide - even galaxy-wide - fame that was to come soon. Travel to other times or worlds came easy, since it permitted her to be openly seen then.
While temporarily un-super-powered due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar who was out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allowed herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna. She revealed her secret identity to both on the same day her Cousin Superman finally introduced her to an unsuspecting world in the finale of then-DC's longest series ever published aptly titled "The World's Greatest Heroine".
Changing her name to Linda Lee Danvers (later known as just Linda Danvers), she became a student at Midvale High School, from where she graduated in time (1965). During this period she befriended telepath and Luthor's sister Lena Thorul (who had first appeared in Lois Lane's series and changed her name from Lena Luthor) who became a helper and confidant to both her secret identities apart until she married. In 1966 Linda went on to study an unrevealed BA in Stanhope College until she graduated there in 1971. She even gained Streaky, a pet cat that also possessed superpowers, an equine companion named Comet was a magical superpowered pet once described by Superman as "the mightiest Super-Creature on Earth" and joined the Legion of Super-Heroes. Comet the Superhorse became her inseparable companion awhile who was secretly in love with Kara and could romance her while he became human whenever a real Comet passed near Earth, in accordance with Circe's hex. His invulnerability to kryptonite allowed Supergirl to be saved many times. But both grew distant when she went on to college.
When dreams about her Kryptonian parents Zor-El and Allura being still alive alerted her, she built a machine and brought both back safely from the survival zone (where they had teleported during Argo's final moments) with the help of her adopted father's engineering talent. Eventually, they settled in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle was enlarged they lived on New Krypton/Rokyn.
Always popular with boys and fond of romances, Kara enjoyed many boyfriend-girlfriend relationships, like her Midvale orphanage friend Richard (Dick) Malverne, her merboy friend from Atlantis Jerro, and the many-time leader of the Legion of Super-Heroes Brainiac 5, but she always shunned a serious commitment that would translate into marriage, putting her super-career first.
When DC Editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971 Julius Schwartz revamped the Superman Comics, and (under Mike Sekowsky) Kara was given a big set of mod threads to wear, some to the liking of fans, others not much. Technically more powerful than the 1/3 depowered Superman, and with no peril in sight due to the absence of green kryptonite, she was given a potion that made her at times non-powered and other times powered for two years, a formula that soon became tired routine. But under the editorship of Joe Orlando in 1973-4, the character was revitalized to the liking of fans, balancing the superheroics with the romantic girl. Leaving her adoptive home to become an anchorwoman for KSF-TV in San Francisco, Linda had to battle her co-worker and most memorable villain from this period: Luthor's niece Nasthalthia or Nasty, who followed her doggedly and came too close to proving her dual identity. Her beau this time was her own boss, Geoff, and his pal, Johnny.
Renouncing her job, she became a Graduate Student in drama at Vandyre College nearby. Supergirl began to try and establish her own identity and experimented with a wide variety of costume and hairstyle changes; her best-known outfit from this era was a blue v-necked sweater with a small S insignia over her heart, and red hot-pants. While remaining independent from her cousin Superman, Kara maintained close ties with him as she handled a succession of short timed jobs like Student Advisor at New Athens Experimental College in Florida, and female soap-opera actress in the Secret Hearts TV series, during her "Superman Family" run.
