Background Info on Cir-El

[TriSaber]

Can anyone please explain who Cir-El is, where she came from, and what her powers are? If not, can anyone direct me to an online resource where I could find the answers to these questions?

[Super Monkey]

Funny, but it seems that even in pro-reboot sites, no one seems to care enough about her to write up any info.

This is the most I could find :

CIR-EL [Supergirl]

First Appearance: Superman: The 10-Cent Adventure #1 (March 2003)

A new hero who has debuted in Metropolis, Cir-El believes herself to be the daughter of Superman and Lois Lane, brought to this time period by the beings known as the Futuresmiths.

Source : http://www.dcuguide.com

[Psi]

As a sidenote... A young girl who looked a lot like Cir-El first appeared in Supergirl: Many Happy Returns as the daughter of Linda Danvers and Silver Age Superman.  In fact, Linda losing the life that she had made for herself for 8 years is what caused her to leave being Supergirl behind.  And in the last page, it showed Cir-El cruising the spaceways...

[dto]

Psi, that was not Cir-El.  Linda's daughter in Many Happy Returns was Ariella, and Peter David linked her to the R'E'L character in Supergirl One Million.  Both were inspired by his own daughter Ariel.  I personally dislike Ariella becoming R'E'L, since the latter was a overly cute disaster area.  Ariella showed more spunk and brains.

As for Cir-El, she originally believed she was Lois and Clark's future daughter.  It was later shown that she was actually a homeless Metropolis girl, Mia, who was abducted by the mysterious Futuresmiths and genetically altered with a DNA sample from Superman's hair.  In a "Jekyll and Hyde" twist, she would spontaneously change from Superman-adoring Cir-El to resentful Mia, who despised her naive alter-ego and blamed Superman for indirectly causing the deaths of her parents.  (The B-13 modernization of Metropolis demolished Mia's home.)

After a near-disastrous debut in Metropolis (in which she publicly declared herself Superman's daughter, much to Lois' surprise), Cir-El partially redeemed herself by saving Superman's life from a spectral ninja (along with street mage Traci Thirteen and Natasha Irons, the new Steel).  But a cyborg Superman from the future warned that the Futuresmiths were spiking Yes! coffee with micromachines intended to turn humans into Brainiac 13's slaves -- in fact, the Futuresmiths were also Brainiac's creations.  Horrified, Cir-El jumped into the timestream to "erase herself" and eliminate her unknowing participation in Brainiac 13's plot.  (Superman #200)  In the resulting battle with Brainiac 13, Superman himself got lost in the timestream, and thus he now recalls his Birthright origin rather than Byrne's Man of Steel.

But here's a continuity glitch -- Cir-El was also seen in Superman/Batman #5 attacking Luthor's White House.  But she really shouldn't have existed at that point in time.  Luthor was deposed in S/B #6, but he's still President in Superman #200 -- so Cir-El "erased herself" prior to raiding the White House.  Something's seriously amiss here, and I wonder if it's more than just sloppy editorial oversight between the titles.

Cir-El's powers closely mimicked the original Golden Age Superman -- she couldn't fly, but could super-leap, for example.  (Though it looked like she was flying in S/B #5 -- either she got more powers or was bouncing off the White House corridors.)  She also had a "red sun burst" which was rather unique.  This could actually affect Superman, and I suspect this would seriously mess up a pre-Crisis Kryptonian.

Will we see Cir-El again?  Her unpopularity makes it unlikely, but if Superman got lost in the time stream, how could a novice successfully "erase herself"?  This might explain the S/B #5 anomaly -- Cir-El WASN'T able to undo her creation, and may still be lost somewhere in time.

Hmm... did anyone notice that if Cir-El wore her cape askew she looks a lot like Legion Academy cadet Laurel Kent?  ;-)

[TELLE]

I think Peter David has a lot to answer for.

[dto]

Telle, while Peter David's "Earth Angel" concept certainly has his critics, at least Cir-El wasn't his fault.  In fact, it's strongly suggested that the introduction of Cir-El was a contributing cause for cancelling PAD's Supergirl run.

[TELLE]

Sorry.  I'm sure I could look it up somewhere, but who is responsible then?  I haven't read any Supergirl-related story written in the last 15 years.  I mean, spectral ninja?

Are you saying that we would still be having this discussion if PAD hadn't written a Sipergirl series?

[Psi]

If PAD hadn't written a Supergirl series, then we'd probably still have the Matrix running around in a million little back up stories.  With no direction, and no popularity.  He did exactly what he was supposed too.  He gave Supergirl a history, a life, and made her stand out on her own.  And if you remember, that Supergirls series he wrote was one of the most popular for a few years.
   I'm just as excited about Kara getting her own series as well.  But look at Karas past with comics.. they didn't sell, they had poor writing, and her stories were horrible.  I don't think I'd pass judgement on PAD until you've read every Supergirl story that appeared in one of Karas books.
    It wasn't his fault that Cir-El was made, he didn't make her.  And since his book was ending when he created Ariella... you can't really blame him if she was ever used after that series...