Supergirl’s Disguise Is Even Worse Than Clark Kent’s Glasses

Superman’s disguise may be infamously paper-thin, but Supergirl’s method of concealing her identity is – amazingly enough – even more obvious than her cousin’s. The Man of Steel is well-known for using little more than a pair of glasses to convince the world that Clark Kent and Superman aren’t one and the same; writers have valiantly attempted to explain this method with varying degrees of success. But unfortunately, when it comes to rushed retcons, there’s no saving Supergirl.

Kara Zor-El arrived on Earth in a one-person spaceship similar to Superman’s in Action Comics #1, but she was already a teenager whereas her cousin Kal-El was an infant. Upon emerging from her craft, she encountered Superman – who quite surprisingly denied Kara’s request to live with him (he explained it might jeopardize his secret identity as Clark Kent), and placed her in an orphanage instead. The orphanage took her in after hearing Superman explain that “Linda Lee” was orphaned after a disaster destroyed her community (which was technically true, but on a planetary scale), and Kara began her life on Earth…but not before donning one of the sorriest excuses for a disguise in DC Comics history.

Before arriving at the orphanage, Superman delivers some nondescript human clothes to Kara, along with a brown wig. “There!” says Superman, putting the wig on his cousin’s head. “That wig of pigtails makes you look like a different girl entirely who was born on Earth!” While it covers her blonde hair completely, it fails utterly to conceal her face. At first Supergirl’s early adventures revolve around Kara using her powers to save others while hiding the fact that a “super-girl” even exists, but in Action Comics #265, Supergirl makes her public debut anyway, her face on full display.

Supergirl continued to use the brown wig to hide her identity, but it was eventually jettisoned by the writers; perhaps the editorial staff thought that no disguise would somehow be more plausible than a terrible one. For his part, Superman’s Clark Kent disguise would be elaborated on by writers in the 70s and 80s: in addition to his signature oversized glasses, he deliberately wore oversized and wrinkled suits, walked with a hunched-over posture, and never looked people directly in the eye for long. This method was popularized by Christopher Reeve in 1978’s Superman and transferred well to the comics – but again, Supergirl never uses this technique.

Superman’s disguise has always been a point of ridicule among comic book fans (and most non-comic books fans). He’s since transformed his lack of masks from a weakness into part of his identity: no mask means no hidden agendas or secret beliefs. Supergirl has done much the same…she’s simply forgot to do the bare minimum like Superman when it comes to concealing one’s identity and cover her face – at least partially.