Image from Supergirl Rebirth #1 by Emmanuela Lupacchino.

An excellent argument was made here to give one of Superman’s greatest moments to Supergirl. It’s a compelling argument, sure, but at the end of the day, it is still one of Superman’s greatest moments — so shouldn’t they try to adapt Supergirl’s greatest moments? Which brings up the question: what is Supergirl’s greatest moment?


Figuring that out is a lot harder than figuring out Superman’s greatest moment — after all, there are a lot more books out there about Superman than there are about Supergirl, and a lot more great writers writing great moments about the Man of Steel rather than the Girl of Steel. Hell, Supergirl didn’t even have her own comic book when the TV show started airing — DC had to bring it back with DC Rebirth (consciously making it more like the show, too). And even though that run has only had around six issues, there are great moments to it. But I’d argue that the greatest Supergirl moment is one that really can never be adapted.

For one thing, the greatest Supergirl moment (in my opinion) is very unusual, because it takes place at a moment in comics history where things were very much in flux: post-Crisis on Infinite Earths, in a holiday annual called Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2. And the story itself is so specific to that era that I don’t think it can be recreated in other circumstances.


In fact, the story isn’t even a Supergirl story; it’s a story about Boston Brand, Deadman, called “Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot,” written by Alan Brennert, with art by Dick Giordano. In it, Deadman is lonely and depressed on Christmas — after all, he is without a body and the only people who can see him are people who have enough trouble in their lives without him intruding in on the holidays. After almost spending an entire Christmas in a man’s body, Boston realizes he’s stealing this special moment from him and leaves. Afterwards, he yells upward at Rama — the Hindu god who made him a ghost — and finally meets someone.



“My name is Kara. Though I doubt that’ll mean anything to you.”

Remember: after Crisis on Infinite Earths, Kara Zor-El was not just dead, she had been erased from existence. There had never been a Supergirl. Nobody remembered her or her sacrifice. Nobody.


And here she is, returning for one night only (the 30th anniversary of the introduction of Supergirl, actually), reminding Boston Brand about why they are heroes. “We do it because it needs to be done. Because if we don’t, no one will. And we do it even if no one knows what we’ve done. Even if no one knows we exist. Even if no one remembers we ever existed.”

And that is Supergirl’s greatest moment. One which can probably never be adapted.