DC Comics Just Gave Supergirl Her Coolest (And Most Dangerous) Upgrade Ever

Just months until her next big cinematic adventure, Supergirl is getting a new form that’s both incredibly cool and incredibly terrifying. For the last year, Kara Zor-El has been reconnecting to her roots and returned to Midvale, where she’s met old and new friends, as well as dealt with a handful of strange threats. It hasn’t been anything Supergirl can’t deal with, but it has been a lot looking after Lesla-Lar, a young Kryptonian woman whom Kara has been mentoring in the ways of being a hero. At least, until Lesla was called back home to the bottled city, Kandor.

Not too long after Lesla returned to Kandor, she came into contact with her cousin, Zora Vi-Lar, aka the Black Flame. Together, they unleashed a powerful plague called Rust on Kandor in the hopes of getting Supergirl’s attention, which was successful. Kara miniaturized herself and found Lesla and Zora, the latter of whom was intent on defeating Supergirl. The Black Flame stole Supergirl’s solar ring, the only thing that kept Kara’s powers going, and delivered a merciless beatdown before throwing her off a cliff. Thankfully, the best scientists and Kandor are prepared with a fix to aid Supergirl.

DC Comics Unleashes Supergirl’s ‘Cyborggirl’ Form

In Supergirl #12 by Sophie Campbell, Tamra Bonvillain, and Becca Carey, Kara wakes up in a Kandorian laboratory. Scientist Kim-Da tries to keep Supergirl calm, telling her that they had to take drastic measures to save her life. It isn’t until Supergirl wakes up that she sees the extent of the damage she suffered. The left side of Supergirl’s body has been given augmentations, with her leg, arm, and eye all fitted with cybernetic enhancements. Kim-Da mentions that these are only temporary and that they actually run on solar tech, allowing Supergirl to regain most of her powers.

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Supergirl meets with the Science Council, who discuss the Black Flame and Lesla-Lar situation. Kara really lets them have it, saying that their rebellion is all because of the council’s hiding of a genetic anomaly that prevented young Kryptonians from leaving Kandor. Supergirl discovers that the council’s sins run even deeper, as they’ve cloned Superman’s former ward, Boy Thunder, and created a team of heroes that they control, with the idea of using them to bring the Black Flame down. Unfortunately, Zora and her army of Kryptonian youths storm the Science Council’s bunker, prepared to overthrow them for good.

Despite being warned against it, Supergirl steps into the fray, taking on the Black Flame directly. Thanks to the solar ring, Zora is at peak fighting shape and effortlessly crushes Supergirl’s cybernetic arm. However, the arm automatically repairs itself and shape-shifts into a canon, aiming itself at the Black Flame. Supergirl realizes that the tech is programmed for combat, and it unleashes a bunch of different weapons on Zora, from a shoulder-mounted laser to a turret gun in her knee. Supergirl tries to get control over her new implants, but she simply can’t figure out how.

Cyborggirl is Cool, But It’s the Last Thing Kara Needs Right Now

Honestly, I appreciate Campbell’s direction here. In the current continuity, Supergirl’s father, Zor-El, became the second Cyborg Superman. So to see Kara become ‘Cyborggirl’ is a pretty neat nod. It’s also just a really cool design (but I’m always a sucker for heroes getting cyborg enhancements, temporary or otherwise). That being said, as interesting as I find this direction for her, being armed with enhancements that Supergirl can’t control is absolutely the last thing she needs right now.

Kandor is a powder keg waiting to go off. The youths are rebelling over the Science Council’s decision not to disclose the genetic anomaly. The Black Flame is going mad with power now that she has Kara’s solar ring. A bottled city can only hold onto so much drama, and while in normal circumstances, Supergirl could help, her new enhancements are putting herself and everyone at risk. If her cybernetics have a mind of their own and have no qualms about killing (young people at that), then that could bring this situation to a terrifying and gruesome end.

Thankfully, Kara has been in tougher scrapes than this, and I’ve got no doubt she’ll find some way to resolve this situation. But that being said, Supergirl has to know that her enhancements are a serious liability. They could kill Black Flame, Lesla-Lar, or anyone else the cybernetics deem a threat. And if anyone dies during this confrontation, that will only make the generational schism in Kandor worse. Hopefully, Supergirl can get control of herself and her enhancements and find some way to end this confrontation peacefully.

What do you think about Supergirl’s new cybernetic upgrade? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts on the ComicBook Forum!