CSBG Archive
John Seavey’s Storytelling Engines: Supergirl
Here’s the latest Storytelling Engine from John Seavey. Click here to read John’s description of what a Storytelling Engine IS, anyways. Check out more of them at his blog, Fraggmented.
Storytelling Engines: Supergirl
(or “Keeping the Important Flaws”)
One doesn’t generally think of early Silver Age stories as “character-driven”; during the era when Mort Weisinger edited the Superman comics with an iron fist, the emphasis was on fast-paced energetic stories that sold, and plot logic seemed to take a backseat to that, let alone character development. Yet despite the surface simplicity of these stories, there’s actually a really strong character-driven storytelling engine to the classic adventures of the Silver Age Supergirl, one that the modern-day ‘Supergirl’ series could take lessons from.
The backstory for Supergirl is pretty straightforward (if a bit loopy); she comes from Argo City, a chunk of Krypton that managed to ride out the destruction of the planet relatively intact. The inhabitants built a dome to keep in the atmosphere, used lead shielding to keep from being poisoned by the ground they walked on (which had, after all, turned to Kryptonite), and used Kryptonian technology to generate food and other necessities. Kara Zor-El was born on Argo City, but when she was fifteen, tragedy struck–meteor showers shredded the lead lining, contaminating the environment, and dooming the survivors of Krypton to a slow death. They used their remaining resources to build a rocket for Kara, and shot her towards Earth, where they’d learned that one other Kryptonian survived.
The backstory is important to Supergirl, because while they don’t harp on the point very often, Supergirl is a very different kind of survivor of Krypton from Superman. She’s young (fifteen when she arrives on Earth), and unlike Superman, she was orphaned recently; Superman was a baby when he was rocketed away from Krypton, but Supergirl understood perfectly what was happening when she watched Argo City perish. She’s lost everything of her home, her family, and her entire existence except for one person–her cousin, Kal. Superman becomes, in essence, a surrogate father figure, a substitute for her homeworld, and in general every possible symbol of authority a person could have, all wrapped up in one person…who’s Superman, on top of that. Supergirl’s whole character revolves around being afraid of disappointing her idol, and around trying to be the best person she can be to make him proud. (This also explains the occasional creepy romantic subtext to a few stories; anyone in that situation would probably develop at least a bit of an Electra complex. After all, if you’re always comparing your romantic interests to your father figure, who’s going to look good compared to Superman?)
Again, it’s important to note that they don’t make a big deal of this. Whenever a story brings up a character trait, the reader automatically assumes that said character trait will be important by the story’s end. If, for example, I write about a character who’s got a fear of snakes, the audience can pretty much take it as a given that at some point, that character will be trapped in a room full of snakes, and will overcome his fear in dramatic fashion to demonstrate his growth as a person. This is the sort of thing that readers talk about when they say they want to see “character growth” in comics; people overcoming their prominent negative character traits.
But in the real world, we don’t always do that. In fact, it can be argued that we very rarely do. Sure, we’ll work on curing something like a phobia or a bad habit, but in general, when it comes to something as deeply rooted as Supergirl’s insecurities and her need for approval, we don’t “overcome” them, we find ways to make positive use of them. So does Supergirl; she tries to be a good person, and a good super-hero, because at every turn she can imagine how it would feel if Clark was disappointed in her. (Which isn’t to say that Clark is disappointed in her; there are a few stories where he expresses disappointment in specific things she’s done, but on the whole, he’s pretty supportive…for a guy who stuck his only living relative in an orphanage for a year or two while she learned how to use her super-powers.)
This character-driven engine has two major advantages; one, it automatically makes Supergirl a sympathetic character. Insecure characters always gain the sympathy of the audience quickly, because we notice the good things about them before they do; we believe them to be a good person who just needs to realize that. (Humility is always a sympathetic character trait, and insecurity is just an extreme form of humility.) Of course, eventually we expect them to overcome their insecurities, which is why (again, I can’t stress this enough) it’s important not to harp on how insecure Supergirl is. If it’s not introduced as a plot point, the reader won’t expect a plot payoff later on.
Two, it’s open-ended. Supergirl’s original status quo is a false one; she’s staying in the orphanage while Superman teaches her how to use her powers, conceal her secret identity, familiarize herself with Earth culture, and be an effective super-hero. But there’s only so long that writers can find good reasons why Supergirl should be kept a secret. In the end, they have to reveal her (and they do, in a surprisingly moving story.) But because Supergirl’s need for Superman’s approval is psychological, it doesn’t “go away” when Superman tells the world how proud of her he is. All that means, to Supergirl, is that if she fails her cousin now, the whole world will know about it. Superman’s praise means something to her, of course, but she’s motivated by wanting to get more of it. That need isn’t ever going to be “fulfilled” permanently. Which means she’s always working, always striving, always trying to be the best Supergirl she can be. Which, in turn, drives her stories.
By contrast, the post-Crisis Supergirl (the post-Crisis Kara Zor-El, that is, not the 1990s version that was actually a shapeshifter from a pocket universe) is directionless. She never had to earn the right to call herself “Supergirl”, she never cared about Superman’s approval, and she already believes herself to be super-powerful, faster, smarter, stronger, better, and generally just amazing. She doesn’t have the motivation to become a better person or a better super-hero, and any attempts to make her actually heroic tend to come off as authorial fiat, rather than rooted within the character. By taking away her flaws, they’ve actually made her a more flawed character.
8 Comments
T.
February 6, 2008 at 9:35 am
I think the proper term for the modern Supergirl is neither plot-driven or character-driven but hack-driven. Which explains why she’s more flawed.
Edward Liu
February 6, 2008 at 2:35 pm
One of the most interesting storytelling engines yet, IMO. I was wondering if you’d given much thought to the animated Supergirl, who shares some stuff with the Silver Age character, but not all. I know a lot of fans of the animated series didn’t like her much, but I thought she was a blast, mostly because she seemed to be what a real super-powered teenager would be like.
M Bloom
February 6, 2008 at 2:36 pm
I’d actually go one further and call her un-driven. The only reason we have a new Kara Zor-El is because Loeb decided that DC needs to have a Kara Zor-El. She exists solely because she used to exist in the Silver Age, and her book really only exists because Supergirl should have her own comic book. Nobody knows what to do with her, and nobody really even knows how to write her – her personality fluctuates widely from writer to writer. At this point, the only purpose to the character is to just maintain her own existence.
Dean
February 6, 2008 at 3:57 pm
I agree with most of this, but the romantic subtext is more than occasional in the stories that I’ve read. The possibility of Superman and Supergirl getting together comes up a LOT. For example, it is the sole subject of Action Comics #289.
Frankly, it is natural. They are (despite being cousins) the last male and female survivors of Krypton. It is a classic Sci-Fi trope for those two people to get together. It adds a tension to the subtext, since it reveals potential flaws in BOTH characters.
Introducing Kara Zor-El after the resolution of Clark-Lois-Superman love triangle removes that dimension entirely.
Scavenger
February 6, 2008 at 4:25 pm
The animated Supergirl was really just the Silver Age one updated. Still craving approval, but not admitting it like a modern teen. Course, Superman was more of a big brother figure than a father figure, as she was living with the Kents, ala Matrix.
Citizen K
February 7, 2008 at 11:28 pm
The post modern Kara Zor-El knows she has flaws, and IS admitting them to herself, but she’s just not as prone to admit it to everyone else.
She does want Clark to be proud of her, and she has stated that to the Kents in recent issues. The difference from her previous incarnation is that she doesn’t CRAVE it so. [She also wouldn't be as forgiving if Kal were to suddenly exile her to an asteroid in space for revealing her existence to Krypto.]
Yes, Kara strove to take her place out of the shadows of her cousin, and when she died, the narrative literaly was in one comic that she had succeeded.
In her animated and her modern incarnations, she has more “attitude” because she doesn’t want to be in her cousin’s shadow … doesn’t want to be constantly compared to her cousin. She likes being “Supergirl,” but doesn’t want to be thought of as a sidekick.
In the animated universe, Kara at first chooses the more Power Girl-esque costume to set her self apart, but then changes into the blue and red because she is proud of who her cousin is. Still, she ultimately decided to live in the future with the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she could be herself and didn’t feel the pressure to “just be Superman’s kid cousin.”
Like many teenagers, mainstream Kara now is rebellious, and so if Kal might not want her to do it, then she’s going to want to find out why.
During her “identity crisis” storyline, she had to face up to the fact that she was indeed flawed. Although her previous incarnation had flaws, still, she didn’t have to wrestle with issues as much as she does now. Lesser so than Superman, Pre-Crisis Kara didn’t have to think much between black and white … at least in her Silver Age tales … she knew what was right and automatically did it. (At first, Kara strove to do what was right even if it meant being a secret weapon or not having any real life of her own, and was Supergirl first, Linda second … if at all. Then, towards the end of her days, she strove to have a more equal life. She still wanted to what was right, and she wanted her cousin … who had become almost brother-like … to be pleased with her, but she also realized that to truly live and to help others she had to have a full life.)
What set her apart from Superman Pre-Crisis as well was that Clark Kent was merely a disguise. Linda Lee Danvers was closest to who Kara really was, and after living for 15 years as a normal girl … well as normal as one on a chunk of rock that may die any day if those lead shields came off the ground were.
Kara still has the more intimate knowledge of her world’s destruction than Kal does, and her TV incarnation even had to deal with the horror when she woke up that Krypton was gone … when she left it was supposed to be still there.
Although I agree that the writer’s are sometimes missing something, still, they’re trying to show that this Kara may not be solely what you should aspire to be like, but that you can relate to her a lot more.
Kara is still growing and they are trying to show that. She hasn’t completely adjusted to being on a new world, with her baby cousin suddenly an adult and the world’s greatest hero, who is now also her foster dad … along with Batman, and a foster mom Wonder Woman, who was facing her own identity issues up to very recently. Not to mention murder charges.
This Girl of Steel has had to face her home and “sisters” disappearing and then coming back but as enemies.
She’s also just had to find out that her best friend was subconsciously using her; she was just a substitute for her dead cousin Superboy. Not to mention only recently remembering that she had been for months living in the future with a whole pile of people she may not see again.
So, she knows she has issues, and she tried to correct them, but when she faced herself … or rather another incarnation of herself in Power Girl, that it wasn’t going to be so easy. She had hurt people and being sorry wasn’t always going to wrap it up.
Oh yeah, she was also stalked and abused by her boyfriend, so I mean she has issues to contend with. She doesn’t think she’s perfect, but if she did think she was amazing, well, she’d be right.
All I know is that at age nine, I lost my favorite hero ever, and comics were never the same for me when they killed Kara off. I might have handled it better if it had been like my other favorite, Barry Allen, but she was wiped out of continuity and thought.
Although I fell in love with her onetime reincarnation of Linda Mae Danvers, it still wasn’t completely the same.
I’ve been into comic books for 28 of my 31 years of living, and I’ve never been so happy as the day I saw Kara return. She may have changed in some ways, but she’s still got her fiery don’t mess with her pissed off rage, and I like that she is willing to get down and dirty. Break some bones, spill some blood!
So give her (and me!) a break, and lay off the girl. She’s still growing and finding herself. DC has said that she will ultimately become “America’s Sweetheart” like she once was, but like a lot or most people it won’t happen overnight.
John Trumbull
February 7, 2008 at 11:52 pm
Perfectly said, John. This essay should be required reading for anyone who ever writes Supergirl at DC.
red-Ricky
February 8, 2008 at 1:15 am
Yeah
I wonder, how long ’til she gets pregnant, marries a white rapper and shaves her head.
Wait, Wha…?!?!?
TOO, SOON???