Supergirl is my favorite Superhero

Supergirl:

When a 20-something guy goes around telling people that his favorite superhero character is Supergirl, you get some funny looks. Not Batman? Not Green Arrow? Not Wolverine? Not Deadpool? Not Superman? No, it’s definitely Supergirl, and I’ll tell you why.

A lot of so called superheroes are just vigilantes, out for personal revenge or protecting just one city, or they are mentally unstable, but when you look at Superman, he is a beacon of hope, the alpha man, something to strive towards. This is where a lot of people call Superman ‘Too perfect’ and ‘Boring’ because they can’t relate, but that’s not what he’s about. You may think Batman is cool, Wolverine is a bad-ass, but Superman can fill you with awe, not as a person, but as an ideal. An Alien sun god who spends half of his time incognito as a normal man because he sees something so great in humanity, see something worthwhile, something worth protecting: I don’t know about you, but it makes me feel special.

So, that was Superman, he’s great, but why Supergirl? I’ll admit, I didn't get into Supergirl early, I disregarded her as a little girl version of Superman, turns out I was right and wrong. It was only a few years ago that she solidified her place as my favorite, but why? Is she just a girl with ALL of Superman's powers? I'll say something here, I loved watching and reading about tough female characters since forever, I guess Buffy played a decent role in that during my childhood, along with several other choice stories, but gender doesn't matter. You don't need gender to be sassy, strong, witty, hopeful, idealistic, honest, helpful.

Now when talking about a Comic Book Superhero, it’s often difficult, because there are so many versions of the character. Every writer can change powers, personalities and histories, but Supergirl (Or Kara Zor-El, specifically) as a package, can’t (And shouldn't) change that much.

I think Michael Alan Nelsa, a previous writer for Supergirl, puts it in better words that I ever could:

I've always been a fan of her as a character. I've always been drawn to strong female characters and she is one of the strongest. And not just physically, but I think emotionally as well. I know that if I woke up on an alien planet to discover that everyone I ever knew or loved died a terrifying, painful death and everyone else would shove me into oncoming traffic as soon as look at me, I’d be weeping in the fetal position and never come out from under the bed. But not Kara. Yes, she’s despaired as anyone would, but as much pain she’s had to endure, she doesn't give up. That she can pull herself out of bed after all of that makes her such an interesting person to me. All the powers and crazy villains are nice, but the core attraction to her as a character is her boundless sense of spirit. Plus she’s looking for a place to belong, a place where she’ll feel loved and accepted. I think we can all relate to that.

Supergirl is a fish out of water, just a teenage girl shoved into an impossible life, cast into the shadow of her cousin, Supergirl is a person that doesn't really belong anywhere. Although she is learning, Superman is better than her in almost every way, so she’d be a liability on the Justice League, yet she’s far too powerful to join the likes of the Teen Titans. On her own is where her insecurities can come into play, but she is always one to help, that’s why her team-up stories are especially fantastic. Despite these issues, she keeps going.

Supergirl tries her hardest and when she doesn't, she asks herself why she failed, ‘Goddammit, you’re Supergirl, how did you fail?’ she is weighed down by the promises she keeps and the people she fails, but her hero career is one born from loss. It’s not ‘Oh, my parents are dead’ or ‘oh, my orphanage burned down’, for Supergirl, its “Oh, my planet blew up and every person I ever loved or cared about; friends, family, teachers, strangers, my entire race died an excruciating death along with my way of life and everything I learned in seventeen years is now useless, and I was on ten hit lists as soon as I crash-landed on Earth and my baby cousin is actually a legendary superhero that arrived here before me and is someone I can never live up to and oh gosh why can’t I control this super-strength and why are lasers shooting out of my eyes?”

Supergirl is an imperfect Superman, but this is why she is so fantastic, she’s not a copy at all, just a struggling cousin, but she sees her distant Kryptonian cousin in his big blue shirt and red cape and sees hope, she dons the big S as well and despite all the naysayers, devotes her life to becoming a hero. She struggles, she falls, but she keeps going, it is this devotion to being a hero that I love. And who can resist a sweet blonde chick who could punch a hole through entire cities, but chooses, instead, to rescue that cat out of the tree? I’d say she holds up the Superman Mantle quite well. Supergirl can pull her own weight, sure, she has a myriad of flaws, but what three-dimension person doesn't? Supergirl strives to be the person you can count on. She’s funny, always has centuries of human pop media culture to catch up on, makes her own light at the end of the tunnel, is incredibly spirited… And she’s not bad looking either. Supergirl is a blonde teenage girl with the powers of a god and she puts them to good use. Plus its always funny when a super-bad-ass baddie gets his butt kicked into next Tuesday by a petite blonde girl. Always.

Identity, Hope, Devotion, this is Supergirl.