Poll 3: Which Is Your Favorite Supergirl Costume?

What with all the talk recently about Supergirl's current costume, I figured it might be fun to start a poll asking all visitors here which version they prefer. So, as always, please vote. And feel free to post why you prefer that costume. Poll closes next Wednesday at noon, just in time for the local comic shops to open and sell Supergirl #34 with Jamal Igle's new look.

Here are the costumes for you perusal. I tried to pick a couple of covers which featured the costume in a positive way and in some different angles.

1) 'The Original' or 'The Blue Skirt' - This is the version that Kara was wearing when she burst from that rocket on the cover of Action Comics #252. It's old school in a good way, harkening back to adventures when Kara was a girl young enough to be embarassed about her crush on Jerro the Mer-boy, riding a super-horse, and just finding her way in the world.

2) 'The Hot Pants' - Shortly after Supergirl graduated from being the back-up feature in Action Comics to headlining Adventure Comics, she switched to the 'Hot Pants' costume, complete with V-neck puffy sleeve shirt. This was the primary costume for Supergirl until the mid-80's.

Now certainly there were some minor changes, beaded short bottoms vs athletic shorts, slippers vs boots, choker vs no choker. But overall, the design remained fairly constant. This is the Supergirl I grew up with. The first Supergirl I read and enjoyed, making her my favorite character.


3) 'The Variants' - During her Adventure Comics run, the editors actually invited readers to design new versions of Supergirl's costume (see the cover the Adventure Comics #397 at the top of this post). Some of them were featured in issues!! I cannot imagine anything more engaging to readers, something which of course would never happen today. These versions include bathing suit styles and body suits as seen above but also thigh high boots and funky belts.

None have ever caught on with me, but I am sure there are fans out there.

4) 'The Headband' or 'The Crisis'- In the early 80's, the Supergirl movie was being made and the producers decided her costume needed to be changed. The original movie design included a head band and red shoulders on the shirt as well as a red mini-skirt.

DC Comics decided to change the comic book costume to be more in tune with the movie and so unveiled the costume above. Kara explained that she added the headband as a flourish of Kryptonian culture.

Alas, the movie changed their mind and went with a more Matrix-esque version. DC kept the headband look for the remainder of that Kara's career, cut short in Crisis on Infinite Earths #7.

5) 'The Matrix' - My personal favorite. When John Byrne re-introduced Supergirl as Matrix, the protoplasmic heroine from a pocket universe, he put her in this costume, one which I feel is the most iconic. Here with a flowing skirt of decent length and the classic blue shirt with S-Shield, she exudes presence and strength.

Flourishes I like are the pointy sleeve ends and the pointy belt. Supergirl just looks like a hero in this costume.

6) 'The White Shirt' or 'The Timm' - In the late 90's, DC Comics was enjoying great success with animated versions of their properties. Bruce Timm was the mastermind behind Batman: The Animated Series and the Superman: The Animated Series.

In the Superman animated series, a Supergirl was introduced, a young girl named Kara from the planet Argo, a planet in Krypton's solar system. She lands on Earth and befriends Superman, living with the Kents and fighting crime. She dons an updated costume with a white belly-shirt and blue dress.

In a case of 'history repeating itself', DC decided to take advantage of the animated branding by having the comic book Supergirl, a conflicted and now slightly depowered girl named Linda Danvers, don the white shirt costume. She wore this costume throughout the remainder of her run as Supergirl.

7) 'The Turner' or Current- In 2004, DC decided to re-introduce Supergirl as Superman's cousin. Suddenly my beloved Matrix/Linda Danvers version was ret-conned out of existence, paving the way for a young Kryptonian with a 'simple origin' to take on the mantle of Supergirl.

With a new design by uber-fan-favorite Michael Turner and written by Jeph Loeb, a conflicted Kara lands on Earth and dons this version, apparently designed by Ma Kent. Again, Supergirl is in a belly shirt, now the more classic blue, with gold trim and a blue mini-skirt. There have been slight variations along the way different belts and different lengths and sizes of shirt and skirt, but the overall design remains Turner's.

All versions have their plusses and minuses. And I am sure I have missed or not mentioned some of the rarer or seldom seen costumes (adult Linda Danvers full white shirt version from Many Happy Returns comes to mind immediately) but I think I covered the big ones.

I hope people vote. I really enjoyed hearing people's thoughts about the Final Crisis #3 cover.