Super-Spinoffs: Girl Power! Part IV: Supergirls of the Comic Book Crossover Universe!

TVCU-2: This is the timeline for reboots and remakes. I make this the location for LOIS & CLARK, and conflate that with crossovers that involve a post-Crisis version of Superman. This could also be called the Comic Book Crossover Universe.

1937--On Krypton, Jax-Ur destroys Kandor’s lunar colony. The alien Brainiac takes notice, soon attacking and stealing the city of Kandor itself from the planet’s surface.  Action #866-67 <8-9.08>, Action Annual #12 <2009> [the depictions do not match perfectly, especially as regards Ursa’s role]. In issue #867 Kara Zor-El describes this as having happened only “months” before she (and her cousin Kal-El) narrowly escaped Krypton’s destruction [in 1938]. Issue #866 captions it “35 years ago,” but that clearly cannot be accurate given other known history about Krypton (and about Clark Kent’s age).

1939--[Spring]--Brainiac finds Argo City floating in space and attacks, integrating it into Kandor. Teenage Kara Zor-El escapes in a rocket, encased in Kryptonite rubble, headed for Earth.  Action #869, Supergirl v5 #35 <1.09> [the events depicted do not quite match perfectly]. Date approximate. Action #867 captions Brainiac’s attack on Kandor as “35 years ago,” while in Supergirl #35 Kara, after three years on earth, says “I was trapped in Kryptonite for thirty years.” While neither figure can be taken at face value given other known facts of Superman’s backstory, nevertheless the net difference between them does point toward a rough estimate of time elapsed on Argo City, and it seems a good match for Kara’s differing ages there as depicted in the Supergirl flashback. Obviously Kara spends a longer time in hyperspace suspended animation than does Kal-El, arriving years later.

(Adventures of Superman #444, Sept. 1988)--THE SUPERGIRL SAGA--In the Pocket Universe, Lex Luthor creates a protoplasmic lifeform called "Matrix." Fashioning her in the likeness of Lana Lang and outfitting her with a costume reminiscent of Superboy's, he dubs her Supergirl. After Pete Ross recalls meeting Superman years earlier, Luthor sends Supergirl to the real universe 200 years in the past, erroneously assuming that Superman can travel through time to find her. NOTES: Luthor created Supergirl two years before Superman's second visit to the Pocket Universe. She originally believed that she was Lana Lang, imbued with super-powers; it's unclear if anyone other than Luthor knew the truth. The "protoplasmic lifeform" is an allusion to the lifeform created and destroyed in Adventure Comics #271 (Apr. 1960).

Superman v.2 #16 (Apr. 1988)--The Pocket Universe Supergirl is unearthed in Antarctica.

Adventures of Superman #442 (July 1988), Superman v.2 #20 (Aug. 1988)--After regaining consciousness, Supergirl finds herself with partial amnesia. She flies from Antarctica to Smallville and encounters Lana Lang and the Kents, who she is surprised to find are still alive. She then sets out after Superman. NOTES:Adventures of Superman #444 explains that the Pocket Universe's Luthor had deliberately suppressed her memories to reduce the risk of their enemies discovering their plan.

Superman v.2 #21 (Sept. 1988)--Superman encounters Supergirl in the air above Kansas. After an initial skirmish, Superman deduces that she is from the Pocket Universe, which causes her memory to return. She transports them both to her universe, where Superman meets the alternate Luthor.

Superman v.2 #22 (Oct. 1988)--In the Pocket Universe, the three Kryptonian villains wipe out all remaining life on Earth, including Pete Ross and the Pocket Universe counterparts of Bruce Wayne, Hal Jordan, and Oliver Queen. Supergirl is blasted back to protoplasmic form and the Pocket Universe Lex Luthor is killed. Superman uses Gold Kryptonite to strip the three villains of their powers and executes them with a piece of Green Kryptonite. He returns to his own universe with the badly wounded Supergirl, leaving her in the care of his parents.

Christmas With the Super-Heroes #2 (1989)--Deadman is given advice by the spirit of the Super Friends Universe Supergirl. She says: "My name is Kara, though I doubt that'll mean anything to you." He admits that he's never heard of her.

The JLA and Titans each regroup yet again. The main JLA uses Overmaster’s orbital pod as a headquarters, while J’onn runs a training-oriented “JL Task Force,” and Captain Atom soon forms a breakaway team unofficially called “Extreme Justice.” Arsenal takes over Titans leadership, meanwhile, with new members, a new HQ, and government support.  JL #0, JLTF #0, New Titans #0 <10.94>, Extreme Justice #0 <1.95>. The JLA includes a core of Wonder Woman, Nuklon, Obsidian, and Hawkman III. The JLTF includes J’onn, Gypsy (age 19), the Ray, and other heroes. EJ includes Beetle and Booster, Maxima, Amazing Man II, and a Ron-Raymond-only Firestorm. The Titans include Supergirl, GL, Donna (Darkstar) Troy, Impulse, and Damage, plus Terra and Mirage [the only “Team Titans” remaining in the main timeline—see NT Annual #11 <95>].

SUPERMAN/ALIENS # 1 - 3 (DC AND DARK HORSE COMICS)

Release Date: July - September 1995 (Contemporary Setting)

Series: Superman (modern age/Post-Crisis); Alien

The Story: Superman finds a ship in space from Krypton. The last survivors of Argo City had managed to escape before Krypton’s destruction, but they had been overtaken by Aliens, and now only the young girl Kara has survived. Superman and Kara fight to survive in a Red Sun environment, in which the Man of Steel is slowly losing his powers.

Notes: For TVCU purposes, this is Superman, as portrayed in LOIS & CLARK: THE NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN. This Kara is not Superman's cousin Kara, but another Kara.Regarding Supergirl in SUPERMAN/ALIENS # 1 - 3 (DC AND DARK HORSE COMICS): But now for the really cool stuff, let’s forget about the Horror Crossover Universe and talk about the now deceased Post-Crisis DCU. Dan Jurgens wrote this to be part of DC canon. In pre-Crisis canon, Kara came to Earth and became Supergirl. In post-Crisis canon, at this point, there was no Kara. Supergirl was a protoplasmic being given life and power by a Lex Luthor of a Pocket Earth. So Jurgens intended this to be Kara. At the end of this tale, Superman thinks that she died, but she escaped in a small craft in suspended animation. So a year later, during the Final Night mega crossover, Superman goes to Luthor to borrow that craft he previously used to fight those Aliens. Jurgens wrote that story too, and he was specifically referring to this inter-company crossover in a mainstream DC title! But wait, there’s more. Cut to ten years later. In Superman/Batman, Supergirl comes to Earth in a the pod, having escaped from Argo. The Superman/Aliens crossover is forgotten, so one would think it’s not canon any more. But the protoplasm Supergirl is also forgotten. Also not canon? During the mega Infinite Crisis it’s explained that another Superman doppelganger, while trying to break through the barriers of the multiverse, managed to keep making history rearrange itself, causing the protoplasm Supergirl to be forgotten. (Actually, Peter David continued her story for another company as Fallen Angel). So it would make sense that this also caused the previous encounter with Supergirl to have been forgotten, but this is the same Kara he met in Superman/Aliens, and she was now arriving on Earth in the pod she escaped from then. Sadly, there’s too much DC intertwined complexity there to include, even if it is all tied to Superman/Aliens. And DC recently decided they don’t like the DC Universe, and got rid of it, and started over with something loosely resembling my favorite heroes.



Supergirl merges body and mind with Linda Danvers, a teenager in Leesville, VA.  Supergirl v4 #1 <9.96> et seq. Her status thus far remains uncertain in “New Earth” canon, but I still consider her canon for the Comic Book Crossover Universe timeline.

1999--SUPERMAN VS. THE TERMINATOR: DEATH TO THE FUTURE--Sarah and John Connor have been travelling the nation hiding from Terminators. When in the Metropolis of New York, the mother and son are attacked by a Terminator who teleports in from the year 2032. This is noticed by Superman (Clark Kent II) who flies in and ends up teleported to the future. There he finds a future of the Terminators, and discovers John Henry Irons (Steel) still alive and part of the resistance. In the present, Sarah is aided by Lois Kent (they're married now), Supergirl II, and the current Superboy. (See notes.) Meanwhile, "Cyborg Superman" gives information to the Terminators on how to create upgraded Terminators to fight Superman, and Lex Luthor reveals that he helped fund Skynet under the belief that should it get activated, he would be able to control it. NOTES: TERMINATOR--THIS IS PART OF THE TIMELINE THAT FOLLOWS THE FIRST TWO MOVIES. EVENTUALLY I'LL COVER THE VARIOUS TERMINATOR TIMELINES IN ANOTHER POST. THE THIRD FILM ISN'T REALLY CANON OUTSIDE THE "TERMINATOR CINEMATIC UNIVERSE". THE FINAL MOVIE IS CANON WITH ALL THE TIMELINES. SUPERMAN--SUPERMAN HERE IS CLARK KENT WHO IS FROM LOIS & CLARK. LOIS LANE--THIS IS ACTUALLY LOIS KENT. (THEY GOT MARRIED IN THE COMICS AND TELEVISION SERIES AT THE SAME TIME.) STEEL--AS PORTRAYED BY SHAQ. SUPERBOY--THIS IS THE CLONE OF SUPERMAN. HE WAS CREATED BY PROJECT: CADMUS. SUPERGIRL--THIS IS A CLONE THAT WAS CREATED IN AN ALTERNATE "POCKET REALITY", BUT THEN MERGED WITH A GIRL AND GIVEN A SOUL BY GOD, AND THEN REVEALED TO BE A FALLEN EARTH ANGEL. AFTER PETER DAVID LEFT SUPERGIRL AND DC, HE WENT AND WROTE FALLEN, WHICH WAS HIS CONTINUATION OF THE STORY AND WHICH HAS LOTS OF CROSSOVERS, SO I CONSIDER THIS SUPERGIRL AND FALLEN TO BE THE SAME. CYBORG--THIS IS HANK HENSHAW. HE WAS TRANSFORMED AFTER LEADING A FAILED MISSION FOR LEXCORP. HE BECAME A CYBORG WITH POWER OVER COMPUTERS AND METALS WHO BLAMED SUPERMAN FOR THE DEATH OF HIS FANTASTIC FAMILY. LEX LUTHOR--THIS LUTHOR IS ALSO THE SAME CHARACTER FROM LOIS & CLARK.

June 2000--GEN 13 meets Superman and Supergirl. The Supergirl at this time was not Superman's cousin. She was Linda Danvers, a girl who merged with a being from a pocket reality created by the Time Trapper, who combined turned into an Earth Angel.

Green Arrow and Black Canary rekindle their romance, and Dinah leaves the JSA, replaced by Power Girl.  GA v3 #12-13 <3-5.02> [also including the first meeting between the revived Ollie and the revived Hawkman] and JSA v3 #31 <2.02>.

Superman/Batman #6 (Mar. 2004)--Captain Atom sacrifices himself while piloting a Composite Superman/Batman Rocket Ship and destroys a huge kryptonite meteor. NOTE: Parts of this meteor still crash to Earth; one large chunk carries Superman's cousin, Kara Zor-El of Krypton (appears #13). Much of the kryptonite is recovered by Kord Industries and S.T.A.R. Labs, but Kord's is later stolen by Luthor (DC Countdown). CONTINUITY: Both Captain Atom and Lex Luthor's battlesuit meet their end in this issue. The suit reappears in Identity Crisis #1. Atom returns Superman/Batman #20.

Superman/Batman #13 (Oct. 2004)--Kara Zor-El crash lands in Gotham city inside her ship from Krypton. She is introduced to the world as Superman's true cousin, Supergirl (IV). Occurs before Identity Crisis because in JSA #67, an Identity crossover, Power Girl comments on Supergirl's arrival.

Black Adam defeats the Doom Patrol in Pisa, Italy. Meanwhile:Supergirl is hurled back from the future, her memory wiped, landing in Metropolis.  WW III, Bk 2, and 52 #50, D4. Re: Supergirl: Legion of Super-Heroes v5 #16-36 <5.06-1.08>.

Supergirl and Power Girl travel into Kandor, setting up identities as Flamebird and Nightwing.  Supergirl v5 #6 <4.06>

Supergirl and Power Girl leave Kandor, having almost (but not quite) rescued it from the totalitarian rule of Ultraman and Saturn Queen. Supergirl returns to Metropolis, to fill in for the still-missing Superman.  Supergirl v5 #7-8 <6-7.06> and Superman #650 <5.06>. The former story sets this approximately “one month” after they entered the miniature city, above. The latter story implies that she’s been in Metropolis for a while, but that obviously can’t be so.

Supergirl decides to relocate to New Krypton, while Agent Liberty is killed by the mysterious new Superwoman.  Action #873 <3.09>, in two epilogues set some time after the main action.

Supergirl returns to Earth at her mother Alura’s orders to hunt her father’s killer, Neutron, but winds up fighting Superwoman. Her mission is further derailed when the U.N. votes to ban all Kryptonians (except Superman) from Earth.  Supergirl v5 #37-39 <3-5.09>.The story establishes that Kara has been living on New Krypton for “weeks,” creating a continuity break from earlier issues that neatly acommodates FC and other recent events. A phone conversation also establishes that this story begins the same day as Superman’s encounter with the Parasite.

2009--FLANDER'S COMPANY--"Party Party"--The main element of the series is Flander's Company , a company dedicated to the recruitment and placement of super villains, whose talents will be exploited to give work to the superheroes.  Massive Multiplayer Crossover: Considering all the Lawyer-Friendly Cameos and some occasional references in dialogues, Flander's Company is set in an universe which mixes the Marvel, DC, Men in Black, Saint Seiya, Harry Potter, Naruto, Star Wars, Inspector Gadget and Super Mario Bros. franchises. There are some cross-over with Damned, Noob and Le Visiteur du Futur (three other French webseries), too.  also according to the tv tropes page in one episode they go to an alt earth were Superman's spaceship has landed in North Korea instead of America. presumably ssnice word of god says every superman, Expy and Stand in were in ther army of Supermen in final crisis he'd have been there too.  In the "Power Party" episode, we can see Elektra, Captain America, Scarlet Witch and Supergirl. Can you identify other superheroes or supervillains ? At 3:45 is the briefest shot of a TMNT, orange bandana (which would make it Mikey), 3:46 shows what may be the Silver Surfer, 3:47 the red tights belong to one of the Incredibles (most probably Violet), but at 5:57 there are two female members of The Incredibles (meaning we have both Violet and ElastiGirl), at 6:15 we may have Catwoman, at 6:43 is a female Spider-Man (not Spider-Girl, at least, not a very good one), and of course there are others I didn't recognize. In the overall series, There are cameos of:

Seiya

Mario and Luigi

Harry Potter

Captain America

Elizabeth Bathory

Vegeta

Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke

Doctor Doom

Magneto

Lex Luthor

Darth Vader

Reed Richards and Susan Storm

Green Lantern

Dr. Claw

Spider-Man

Black Cat

Batman

V

SuperdupontNightrunner

First picture below :

1 : Scarlet Witch

2 : Magneto*

3 : Electro*

4 : Storm*

Second picture below :

1 : Doctor Doom*

2 : Daredevil 

3 : Wolverine*

4 : Thor*

5 : Loki 

6 : Mr. Fantastic*

7 : Spider-Man*

8 : Doctor Octopus 

9 : Hulk 

10 : Green Goblin*

11 : Man-Bat

12 : Vulture*

13 : The Thing*

14 : Wonder Woman*

15 : Archangel*

16 : Thor*, again

17 : Silver Surfer*

[Thanks to the combined efforts of Jonathan Gysen, Ivan Ronald Schablotski, and Matt Hickman for helping me to compile the list of crossovers in this entry, with additional research aid from Wikipedia and TV Tropes]

OTHER ALTERNATE REALITIES: Time travelers, when they jump through time, mess things up. Nature abhors time travel and tries to right itself. This must be what is going on in the D.C. television universe. But the time stream is muddied.

Ivan's Adjacent Timeline, A World He Made

2015 OCT 21 Adjacent - TRAPPED IN A WORLD HE MADE

Ivan's adventures in 1942 (THAT WAS THE YEAR THAT WASN'T) resulted in the Allies ending World War 2 much earlier than intended and with no Hydrogen Bomb explosion. As a result much has changed when Ivan returns from the past. The Middle East is a nuclear wasteland, Japan is the 52nd State, and superheroes are a normal part of everyday life. 

Ivan emerges from the Stargate in 1942 through a portal generated by an experimental Portal gun, normally used for creating tiny, temporary worm holes. Ivan briefly skirmishes with the gun's user, a test subject named Nerinea before they join forces against a group of flesh-eating super-powered zombies. They are aided by members of a teenage supergroup called Big Hero 6. They help Ivan get to Salem MA, but there he finds that in this altered timeline his name is David Danvers, which is the alter ego of a super hero called the Leaping Lycosa. Discovering that he isn't even real in this reality unnerves Ivan, and he determines to return to 1942 and set things right. 

Finding people that can help is difficult, as so few of the individuals and organizations he remembers exist now, at least, not in the way he remembers them. Ivan learns of some beings with reality-warping powers, such as Freakazoid and Q, but none of them are accessible and from what Nerinea tells him, they are all too unstable to trust. Instead they visit Universal Constance, a woman who can access the abilities and memories of her alternate reality selves. Constance recognizes that in Ivan's own timeline, she's a Ghostbuster, and agrees to help. Acknowledging that they have to go back to before Ivan changed the timeline Nerinea and Constance help Ivan revisit his first day in 1942, returning to 2015 via a Hellmouth in Cleveland Ohio.

Constance vs Ivan

The Portal technology and test subjects are from the PORTAL games. The Stargate is from the STARGATE movie and television franchise.The undead superheroes are from MARVEL ZOMBIES (Zombie Thor) and BLACKEST NIGHT (Black Lantern Supergirl... and yes, I know that the character depicted is based on the 'Evil' Supergirl; remember, these are not the versions that exist in the Marvel or DC Comics). Big Hero 6 is from the animated film BIG HERO 6 based loosely on the Marvel comics. Freakazoid is from the animated series FREAKAZOID. Q from STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION. The Hellmouth in Cleveland was first mentioned on the season 7 series finale of BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER.

Earth-0/Prime Earth (New 52)