"Girl" more important than the "Super?"

[JulianPerez]

One of the things I always thought was fascinating about Supergirl is how she is, in many ways, a much more interesting person out of costume than in it. True, Clark Kent had his own inner life as well thanks to the "Life of Clark Kent" backups, but this emphasis is not as true to the extent it is for Supergirl

I loved the Elliot S! Maggin stories in SUPERMAN FAMILY that had Kara as a guidance counselor for troubled kids; she herself even said that she got a great sense of purpose from doing her guidance job than as Supergirl. Later on, she became a Soap Opera actress (with her subplot on the show dominating a lot of issues) and even ran for political office. In other words, Linda Danvers seemed to have an importance that Superman did not allow the obscure and humble Clark Kent to have.

Paul Kupperberg established Supergirl in college again in the '82 miniseries (weird, considering she was a college graduate in 1974), but what I find interesting is, despite the fact that he monkeyed around with the previously grown up Linda, his BEST story was the battle against Blackstarr in 1982, which had the majority of it be like listening in to a very thoughtful kind of conversation, where the most interesting parts were with Supergirl as Linda Danvers.

Those that believe Pre-Crisis Supergirl was a bubbly and lighthearted ditz (ahem, Peter David) should read SUPERGIRL #13-15, the issues where she battled white supremacist Neo-Nazis. It was one of the few "issue" comics, along with some of Englehart's CAPTAIN AMERICA, that seemed neither overly preachy, nor did it seem like the issue was cheapened by the presence of superheroes.

Ironically, despite all this, when we think of Supergirl we call her "Kara," not Linda.

(Incidentally, I get a very definite MAN CALLED NOVA vibe from the Kupperberg Supergirl series, because here were all these villains that they introduced for the sake of introducing new villains...yet not one of them is really all that memorable. Well, except that robot that shot from his chest other robots. At least MAN CALLED NOVA had ONE big villain: the Sphinx...and Kurt Busiek got some good use out of the Corruptor.)

[Uncle Mxy]

I think I'll disagree with Julian on this one.

To me, Supergirl's secret identity just never really made sense.  There was a struggle to find an interesting context that was distinct and interesting.  Kara Kent bored on the farm with Jonathan and Martha getting acclimated to Earth ways in S:TAS was far more interesting to me than what Linda Danvers in Pre-Crisis comics.

[DoctorZero]

Supergirl after she graduated from College was a total disaster, IMO.  First she had a Clark Kent style job working for a TV news station or something, then she went back to college, then she went through a series of jobs.  They couldn't decide what to do with Linda Danvers. 

The artwork on the post college stories by Mike Sekowski wasn't all that good either.  To me, Supergirl worked best when she was at college.