Kara Hamilton
Following Kara Zor-El's death, the character of Supergirl proved impossible to suppress, and several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix, Linda Danvers and Cir-El.
In 1989, in the tale "Christmas with the Super-Heroes" the soul of Kara appears to Boston "Deadman" Brand and cheers him up, not appearing in continuity again until the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 48 and 49 in 2001.
A hero resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper.
Revival
Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David’s Supergirl: Many Happy Returns . The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series. In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states:
As the character continued to be reinvented, steps towards regarbing the iconic character were some of the most prominent changes. Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from briefs under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and "more respectable."
Fictional character biography
Silver Age
In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is described as the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton. Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite. Though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning.
In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by her quintessential Artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage. She disguises herself by hiding her blonde hair beneath a brunette wig. During this time, Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time. Supergirl also uses clever schemes in order to act as "Superman's Secret Weapon" saving him many times, while avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly.
While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna. In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called "The World's Greatest Heroine".
When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the "Survival Zone" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments. Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after "Crisis" for burial.
Graduating high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to College on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until 1971, when she graduates there, too. During this era, she is helped by her pet cat Streaky, her Super-Horse pet Comet and befriends Lena Thorul, who had first appeared in Lois Lane series. Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes where she develops a special friendship with its many-times leader Brainiac 5. In addition, Linda has boyfriends from the orphanage (Richard "Dick" Malverne) and from Atlantis (Jerro the merboy).
In 1967, Supergirl meets Batgirl for the first time in World's Finest Comics . Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381. In 1969, Supergirl left Action Comics and became a featured character in Adventure Comics beginning with issue #381 (June 1969).
During the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life. During this era, her most remembered outfit included a "V" necked blouse with a "S" in her heart, and red hot-pants. In her secret identity as Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Zor-El took a variety of jobs including graduate student in acting, television reporter, and student counselor, and finally became an actress on the TV soap "Secret Hearts."
Bronze Age
When DC Editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, under assistant editor Joe Orlando & artist Mike Sekowsky the character underwent revitalization. Wearing a series of new outfits, leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers Family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV and gets a new beau: her own boss, Geoff. These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. The villain doggedly pursues Supergirl for two years, trying to determine her secret identity.
Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girlfriend Lois Lane, and Superman's pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called "The Superman Family", where she rotated lead stories with them until 1982. In 1982 Supergirl received a second monthly solo series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl and later simply Supergirl again, which ran until a sudden cancellation in 1984; surprisingly enough, this happened just two months before her big budget Hollywood debut starring Helen Slater.
In 1985, in the Crisis on Infinite Earths , the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two,Earth-Four,Earth-S and Earth-X joined forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Dr. Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. Batgirl gives her eulogy at a publicly held memorial service in Chicago. Batgirl states, "Kara is a hero, she will not be forgotten." Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Allura. It is later revealed in a "Superman" title the following month, that Kara had been granted a premonition about her own passing. However, when the universe is rebooted, the timeline is altered and Kara Zor-El is erased from remembrance by everybody else.
The final chapter
After these events, the soul of Kara Zor-El made another appearance in continuity three years later in a story titled "Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot" in Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2 (1989). Within the story, Boston "Deadman"
