Supergirl Was Secretly a Clone for Years and Nobody Noticed

Supergirl is known for being Superman’s cousin Kara Zor-El. While there have been a few variations of this story over the years, by and large, that’s the origin everyone who watched the CW Supergirl show and reads DC Comics is familiar with. Except there was a big period of time when this wasn’t the case. During the late twentieth century, Supergirl wasn’t even Kryptonian but a genetically engineered clone… of Superman’s long-time flame Lana Lang.

To fully appreciate this, it’s worth acknowledging that there have been many different versions of Supergirl in DC Comics. Indeed, the first “Super-Girl” was a magically-created construct wished into existence by Jimmy Olsen in Superman #123. Shortly after, Kara Zor-El was introduced in Action Comics #252 and became a mainstay of the DC Universe for almost thirty years. By the time the original Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline came around, however, DC decided to reimagine Superman’s origin and make him the sole survivor of Krypton. Supergirl/Kara Zor-El was killed off in Crisis on Infinite Earths #7 and erased from the timeline even as Superman got rebooted in John Bryne’s Man of Steel miniseries.

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Only comic book fans still wanted a Supergirl in the DC Universe. To make this work in the new continuity, Byrne created a storyline in Superman #21 where a “Supergirl” from a “pocket universe” Earth journeyed to the mainstream DC Universe seeking Superman’s help. However, this Supergirl was not Kara but a super-powered clone of Lana Lang created by her world’s Lex Luthor. On that version of Earth, Lex Luthor is a benevolent scientist and the only champion on a world decimated by Kryptonian criminals. This world had been protected by Superboy/Clark Kent, but he had died years earlier helping the Legion of Superheroes. Seeking to create a new superhero, Lex used his artificial “protoplasmic matrix” to grow a super-powered clone of his love Lana Lang, who had died in this universe. The clone, Matrix, had all of Lana’s memories and was identical to her down to the molecular level, but was clad in a variation of the classic Supergirl costume.

“Matrix” also had several unique non-Kryptonian powers. While she was strong, fast, bulletproof, and capable of flight, she could also move objects with her mind and turn invisible. Since she was composed of malleable protoplasm, she could shapeshift into other people (including different genders), which enabled her to assume the more familiar blonde-haired, blue-eyed appearance of the Supergirl most readers knew. She used these powers to assist Superman in defending her home world, but although the villains were defeated, the world was destroyed and Matrix was left with severe mental trauma.

 

Returning with Superman to the mainstream DC Universe, Matrix recuperated under the care of Jonathan and Martha Kent (who named her “Mae”) and even shapeshifted into Clark Kent to cover for the real Clark’s absences. Eventually, she recovered enough to function on her own, but became infatuated with the mainstream universe’s evil Lex Luthor (who had gained a younger, red-headed form thanks to cloning) and became his lover. When she saw what this Lex was really like, however, she left him and decided to become more independent. This led to a very strange chapter in Matrix’s life where she merged with a dying girl named Linda Danvers and became a new version of Supergirl who discovered she was an Earth Angel of Fire. Later, Matrix became separated from Linda (who still possessed certain Supergirl powers) and merged with the New God Twilight, leaving Linda to carry on the Supergirl mantle.

Matrix’s time as Supergirl was a radical reimagining of the Girl of Steel. Interestingly, while some writers and artists acknowledged her artificial origins, many chose to ignore the fact that she was a clone of Lana Lang. Matrix herself strove to become her own person and often seemed very different from the mainstream Lana Lang. Considering that Lana has served as the host body of Superman’s mother Lara in the CW television series Superman & Lois and may become the Arrowverse’s version of Superwoman as she did in the comics, perhaps it’s time to acknowledge that another version of Lana was once the official Supergirl for an entire generation of DC Comics fans.

Next: Superman is Sacrificing Himself For Krypton’s Secret Survivors

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August 01, 2021 at 12:05AM