It had to happen: the Supergirl retrospective has reached its tragic finale.
This time I’ll cover her appearances in the issues prior to her death. Then we’ll move to her last issue, followed by a couple of posthumous pre-Crisis appearances, and we’ll end the entire retrospective on a positive note with her very first Silver Age story.
Crisis on Infinite Earths #4 (1985)
by Marv Wolfman & George Perez
Crisis is a story of truly immense scope: going through the details of everything would be a colossal endeavor, so to reiterate: I’m covering JUST the Supergirl moments here.
We actually begin with Supergirl (she doesn’t show up in the previous three issues), who responds to a call from Batgirl. We actually saw that call in DC Comics Presents #86.
It’s a nice scene that really sells you their friendship. Batgirl hasn’t shown up a lot in my retrospective, but the two did share a few adventures in other titles.
At this point in time “The Killing Joke” had yet to be published and wouldn’t be considered part of the main continuity for a while; that’s why Batgirl can still walk during Crisis.
(NOTE: I originally stated that Killing Joke had already been published, but reader A.Gerard correctly reminded me that story wouldn’t come out until 1988).
The very same conversation is replicated in DC Comics Presents #86 with minimal changes.
While I totally get what Supergirl is trying to do, it’s a little hard not to understand Batgirl’s viewpoint: the heroes without powers don’t really get much to do during Crisis.
It’s a legitimate problem, but to be honest I prefer this approach rather than the modern approach to have people like Batman being directly involved in absolutely everything.
Regardless, it’s a very good scene that sells both Supergirl’s heroism and positivity and Batgirl’s moody pessimism. She’ll slightly get over it as the series progresses.
That’s the last Supergirl scene in Crisis #4, but I should probably note that it’s also the first appearance of the heroic Doctor Light.
She’s going to be important later.
Crisis on Infinite Earths #5 (1985)
by Marv Wolfman & George Perez
Not a whole lot of Supergirl in this one, which is understandable since EVERYONE is in this. Just look at the cover!
Even Peter Parker gets a cameo! Seriously, try telling me it’s not him between Lois and Superman.
She only shows up for a single scene in the 30th century to witness the failed merging of the various Earths.
Supergirl actually had quite a few appearances in the Legion books in this period, which I’ll cover when I eventually reach that point in their own retrospective.
Crisis on Infinite Earths #7 (1985)
by Marv Wolfman & George Perez
It’s a pity that the Anti-Monitor will get a completely different look soon, because his original design is TERRIFYING.
Crisis has reached Earth-S, which is where the Fawcett characters live. And at that point why not have a Supergirl versus Captain Marvel fight?
Yeah things are pretty bad when Captain “Wisdom of Solomon” Marvel is the unreasonable one.
I get that they wanted to showcase Supergirl, but it’s a pity she’s not fighting her precursor Mary Marvel instead of Wonder Woman.
The fight doesn’t even get a proper ending, because Earth-S ends up being pulled together with the rest of the surviving Earths.
Historical significance: 10/10
Supergirl doesn’t do much in these specific issues, but it’s hard not to give this one the highest score considering everything will be seen through the Crisis lens.
Silver Age-ness: 0/10
Just looking at the Supergirl scenes, not really.
Does it stand the test of time? N/A
I don’t think it’s fair to give a proper score when I’m not reviewing the entire issue. That being said, the Supergirl scenes hold up fantastically well.