When DC rebooted Supergirl in their New 52 series, among other things, people complained that she was too ‘emo’ rather than her sweet and happy counterpart found in previous versions of her. Originally, I was attracted to her in New 52 because the costume was interesting and unique compared to the other versions of Supergirl in the past. I read all of the comics and I don’t particularly see the problems that many others see. I think the reason behind my disagreement with criticism is that as a transgender woman, I relate to Kara in a lot of ways.

Her first steps on planet Earth are greeted with humans in metal suits treating her like a threat. She’s a stranger in a strange land and unlike her cousin who was raised on this planet from a young age, she comes from entirely different world with different language and culture.

Similarly, when I was in my late 20s, I was struggling with the realization that I was transgender. Up until that point I had lived in the ignorance that I just needed to ‘man up’ my whole life. I had a lot of friends that were girls but I was never fully accepted among them as one of their own. Meanwhile my masculine peers were also not where I felt comfortable. It’s no wonder I felt mostly introverted and buried myself in MMORPG video game worlds. You could almost say I was locked away in a space pod for many years.