Wanted: Master Villains

It’s a well-known fact to comic-book gee… er, enthusiasts that behind every great hero there’s a great villain. Superman wouldn’t seem quite so super without Lex Luthor, Wonder Woman would be less wonderful without Dr. Psycho and Batman would be “batty” if the Joker wasn’t bopping about.

As for Supergirl, well, let’s just say she never had a villain quite worthy of her powers and abilities. Oh sure, she shrugged off Luthor or Brainiac every once in a while and her “beloved” cousin put up more than his share of obstacles, but Kara never received an archenemy who truly took her to task.

Surprisingly, there were a few contenders over the character’s 30-year publishing history. With a little creative TLC, any of could have climbed to the upper echelon of villainy. But, much like their would-be nemesis, none were given a serious shot and disappeared from the DC Universe long before Crisis ever hit.

Supergirl’s two most notable rivals were doppelgangers of the heroine - distorted mirror images who sought to shatter their own constraints by eliminating the Girl of Steel.

The first, Lesla-Lar, was a brilliant scientist trapped in the bottle city of Kandor. Jealous of Kara’s achievements, the evil look-alike kidnapped the Maid of Might and usurped both her civilian and heroic identities on Earth.

Striking a secret alliance with Lex Luthor, the faux Supergirl concocted an elaborate scheme where she would eliminate both Superman and his archenemy - leaving her free to “conquer or destroy Earth as I please.”

It was a bloodthirsty ambition that, frankly, outstripped most of the schemes the Man of Steel dealt with back in the Silver Age. And it would have worked too, if it weren’t for that meddling canine …

Krypto.

Yes, Krypto was the only character smart enough to see through Lesla-Lar’s disguise and send her back to Kandor, where the master scientist was subsequently captured by authorities. Supergirl regained her rightful identity, but due to an untimely bout of amnesia never quite realized how much she owed to the Dog of Steel.

Although Krypto is way-cool, it admittedly doesn’t add much to a super-villain’s resume when an elaborate master plan to conquer the world is foiled by a dog wearing a red cape.

(At least it wasn’t Streaky. That would really be humiliating.)

Lesla-Lar returned a few more times, to little effect. At one point, she was betrayed by the Phantom Zone criminals and blasted to smithereens - again, a big strike if you’re applying for membership in the Secret Society of Super-Villains.

In her final battle with Supergirl, Lesla-Lar was reduced to a disembodied stalker intent on taking over Supergirl’s body. Apparently, disintegration can jumble one’s brains a bit and this incarnation of the villain believed she was Kara’s sister or some such nonsense.

Naturally, she lost and was never heard from again.

(Lesla’s pal in Kandor, Zora Vi-Lar, also took on Supergirl as the “Black Flame.” However, she was stripped of her powers through exposure to Gold Kryptonite and subsequently reformed. Another potential foe dusted.)

At least Lesla-Lar had more than one shot. Supergirl’s other evil doppelganger - a ruthless, masked menace known only as Satan Girl - only appeared in one adventure. However, in that sole appearance she nearly took out the Legion of Super-Heroes.

Satan Girl was the result of one of Kara’s frequent collisions with Red Kryptonite meteors. The twin emerged from the unconscious Supergirl and - deducing she would fade away once the Kryptonite wore off - decided to do whatever it took to ensure her continued existence.

Satan Girl’s plan involved shedding the Red K radiation from her own body by passing it on to the female Legionnaires, an effort that put her on a collision course with the original Girl of Steel.

Since it was DC and not Marvel, the resulting battle was over quickly and Satan Girl faded from existence. Another rival gone, but the name and outfit were memorable enough to be revisited by Peter David in the post-Crisis Supergirl title. She also survives in fanfic throughout the Internet, but this is a family blog so …

We move on to artist-writer Mike Sekowsky’s attempt to revitalize Supergirl in the ’70s by stripping Kara of her powers, throwing a bizarre collection of garish uniforms at the luckless heroine and introducing a few recurring bad guys.

Both were intriguing but had little staying power. One, a master spy named Starfire, slipped Kara a Mickey that caused the Maid of Might’s powers to behave erratically and even disappear altogether at inopportune moments.

Wearing a Kandorian exo-skeleton (which, fortunately, resembled a garish early-’70s super-suit), Kara was forced to rely upon her own ingenuity and physical skills against Starfire’s minions.

Although it was another example of a once-mighty super-heroine losing her powers, the arc was fairly entertaining and validated Kara as a character who was more than a pale reflection of an established male hero.

Around the same time, Sekowsky also introduced Nasthalthia - better known as “Nasty” - the niece of Lex Luthor.

As described in the Obscure DC Characters Guide, her initial adventure involved a plot by Luthor to “have Nasty infiltrate the campus of Stanhope to discover Supergirl’s secret ID. Once it is uncovered, Luthor plans to catch Supergirl off-guard and shoot her with Kryptonite tipped bullets.”

Not bad as far as evil plans go, but as usual Supergirl put a quick stop to such thoughts. At the end, Nasty vows “I understand you, Supergirl! Next time, you won’t be so lucky! And I promise you, there WILL be a next time.”

There were several more times, in fact. Nasty became a regular thorn in Kara’s side as the Supergirl finally graduated from college and took a job as a camera operator for a TV news station in San Francisco.

The rivalry continued until Kara finally had enough with television journalism, calling it a business that “exploits people.” (Ouch. Take that, Clark…) At that point, she left San Francisco and Nasty behind forever.

The most notable villain after that period was the Master Jailer, who managed to appear in more than one issue of Superman Family.

His big gimmick was, um, imprisoning people. However, he did sport a somewhat cool outfit (obviously crafted by the same tailor who worked for Chronos and the Atomic Skull) and remains a candidate for revitalization by either Howard Chaykin or Frank Miller. Maybe some British guy could snag the Jailer a gig at Vertigo…

And that was essentially that for 30 years. Kara’s last - and perhaps greatest - opponent was the Anti-Monitor, who she basically pound to a pulp before losing her life.

Since that time her primary nemesis has been DC’s editorial policy, which insisted that Kara of Argo City never, ever existed. But policies change, and in the last year or so the post-Crisis DC universe finally has a Kara to call its own.

Unfortunately, the only major nemesis the new Kara has fought to date has - once again - been an evil doppelganger. The Keeper hopes this is not a sign of history repeating itself, with the latest incarnation of Kara Zor-El meeting her end 30 years from now in a “Crisis Of Infinite Retcons.”

Although it would be nice to see Nasty again…