Comic Book / Elseworld's Finest: Supergirl & Batgirl

Two heroes, different as night and day.

Batgirl, fierce protector of Gotham City, trusts no one... least of all super-powered crimefighters.
Supergirl, protégé of Metropolis magnate Lex Luthor and JLA member, trusts far too easily.
When a kidnapping draws Supergirl to Gotham, the two heroes must save Lex Luthor from the clutches of the Joker... if they can find a way to work together.

Elseworld's Finest: Supergirl And Batgirl is an 1998 DC Comics story published under the Elseworlds imprint, written by Barbara Kesel, Tom Simmons and Matt Haley and penciled by Matt Haley. It's also possibly the first Supergirl (Kara Zor-El) and Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) team-up written after the Crisis on Infinite Earths.

A Superman/Batman crossover that takes place in an alternate universe in which Bruce Wayne was never Batman, and the infant Kal-El did not survive long enough to become Superman, the orphaned Barbara Gordon becomes Gotham's near-dictatorial protector, and Kara Zor-El — the Girl of Steel — teams with Lex Luthor and the Justice Society.

After creating her Secret Identity, Batgirl banished parahumans and parahuman crime from Gotham. However, when The Joker kidnaps Lex Luthor, Supergirl decides to defy the ban to rescue her mentor. However she has to convince a distrustful Batgirl to work together.

As they team up, both women will discover several dirty secrets Luthor was keeping from everyone, and they'll find out that they are not so different after all.

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Tropes:

• Action Girl: Almost every woman in this story is an action girl.
  • The two main characters Supergirl and Batgirl are Earth's greatest heroes.
  • Wonder Woman leads the Justice Society. She's also the only hero Batgirl showed some modicum of respect towards.
• Abhorrent Admirer: The Joker has a crush on Batgirl. Batgirl can't stand his guts.
• All Amazons Want Hercules: Subverted. The Joker bulks himself up, hoping that he earns Batgirl's interest when she learns that he's stronger and more muscled. It turns out that she still despises him.
• Alternate Universe: This universe is very different compared with DC’s main Earth:
  • Luthor finds the rocket that brought Kal-El to Earth instead of the Kents, and he kills the baby.
  • Joe Chill murders the Gordons instead of the Waynes. Barbara Gordon becomes Batgirl, and Bruce is her ally, backer and trusty advisor.
    • While most versions have Chill acted alone or hired by crime boss Lew Moxon, in this version, Luthor hired Chill.
  • Earth's main Super Team is the Justice Society, led by Wonder Woman. There is no Justice League.
  • Abin Sur is Earth's main Green Lantern. Hal Jordan is never seen or mentioned. The presence of Jade as a member of the Justice Society does imply Alan Scott's existence however.
  • Dr. Midnite is female. (Although there has been a female Dr. Midnight in the mainstream universe.)
  • There are two Captain Marvels.
  • Tim Drake works for the Justice Society.
  • The local Superboy analog is a Cadmus clone with similar fashion sense to Kon-El but is a clone of Kara rather than Kal-El.
• Amazonian Beauty:
  • Supergirl is tall, muscled, buxom and beautiful.
  • Wonder Woman is a very beautiful, physically imposing, literal Amazon.
  • What little we see of Hawkwoman also shows she is one.
  • Big Barda is also a member of the Justice Society.
• Anti-Hero: Batgirl is the protector of Gotham. Her methods are questionable at best, but she sincerely wants to protect people.
• Anti-True Sight: Emil Hamilton found a way to circumvent the auto-tracking system that monitored each vehicle on Gotham and make the Luthor's limo disappear from Batgirl's "vehicular grid". Batgirl worked around it by setting the system to visual scan and deleting anything with a working auto-trace. Her target was the one left.
• Arc Words: "The eyes of oracle are everywhere."
• The Atoner: Emil Hamilton. Twenty years ago he helped Lex kill baby Kal-El, and he's been trying to expiate his crime since. He doesn't care go to jail as long as he manages to expose his ex-colleague.
  Hamilton: Yes! Thank you! I've worked so hard, thrown everything away, committed terrible crimes... Take me away! I'll gladly accept my punishment knowing Luthor's true nature has been exposed.
• A Tragedy of Impulsiveness: Invoked. After finding out about Luthor's kidnapping, Supergirl decides to fly to Gotham, ignoring Batgirl's ban. Wonder Woman tries to warn her against being impulsive:
  Wonder Woman: No. Let her go. She needs to learn that there can be painful consequences to rash actions.
• Badass Arm-Fold:
  • Supergirl crossed her arms across her chest when she confronted Batgirl for first time.
  • Captain Marvel and Big Barda also do this when they argue with Batgirl after arriving on Gotham.
• Badass Bookworm: Barbara Gordon is a successful novelist, a computer whiz with an eidetic memory... and a superhero and crimefighter.
• Badass in Distress: Supergirl was seized by the kryptonite-doped Joker when she was about to kill Luthor. The Joker nearly killed her thanks to the kryptonite pumped into his blood, but Batgirl showed up and got him distracted. Then Supergirl wrenched herself from his grip and knock him out.
• Badass Normal: Batgirl is a non-powered human. She isn't a meta-human and she doesn't trust them.
• Batman Gambit: Batgirl needed to lure Luthor to Gotham to "bring him, set him up, and take him down", so she announced that she'd allow him build a new factory in Gotham. Her plan worked, but thanks to Supergirl's help.
• Berserk Button: Batgirl has a good number of them:
  • Don't mention that she rules Gotham like a dictator.
  • Family is a touchy subject, too.
• Berserker Tears: Supergirl was crying throughout her fight with Joker and Lex.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Supergirl is nice, kind, polite and good-natured. She even apologized to Batgirl for firing back after Batgirl insulted her and her family. Still, when she discovered that Lex Luthor killed her baby cousin several years ago, she wanted to kill him.
• BFG: Batgirl has a gun that looks like a miniature rocket launcher.
• Big Bad: Luthor killed baby Kal-El and sent a hitman to kill the Waynes, depriving Earth of its greatest heroes who would have saved countless lives and forcing their successors to grow up quick and pick up their slack. He deceived and manipulated the Justice Society and Supergirl. And he allied himself with the Joker, hoping to get rid of both Supergirl and Batgirl.
• Big Brother Is Watching: Batgirl uses Oracle's computer system to watch the whole of Gotham and its locals. She constantly warns: "Remember – Oracle's eyes are everywhere."
• Big Brother Mentor: Bruce helped and mentored Barbara while she was growing and preparing to become Batgirl. He keeps that role now they are grownups, even if Barbara complains about not needing his advice anymore.
• Bittersweet Ending: Barbara knows that Lex Luthor will buy his way out of jail, and her parents haven't been yet avenged. However, Luthor has been exposed, his relationship with the Justice Society has been ruined and the world's greatest heroes are now friends and allies.
• Blackmail: A humorous example. Bruce jokes he'll tell Gotham about Batgirl's Batcave if Barbara is not nice to him. Barbara replies that she's already scheduled his disappearance.
  • Blackmail Backfire: Joked with. Bruce jokingly says he’ll tell Gotham about the Batcave if Barbara isn't nice to him. Barbara replies that his disappearance is scheduled.
• Blue Is Heroic: Both titular heroines wear blue: Kara's outfit is sky-blue, and Barbara's suit is dark-blue. Her first Batgirl costume was indigo.
• Break the Cutie:
  • Kara was an innocent, nice woman. Then she found out that someone who she thought was a very good person murdered her baby cousin several years ago, and was manipulating her all along.
  • Barbara was a sweet, smiling child until she saw her parents being murdered by a punk with a gun. She became a harsh, cynical, paranoid person.
• Broken Bird: Barbara's parents were murdered when she was a child. After being adopted by the Waynes she began preparing and became Batgirl.
  Batgirl: And Kara? ... You'll survive this. He just knocked you off your cloud, that's all.
• Broken Pedestal: Kara befriended Lex Luthor shortly after arriving on Earth. She regarded him as a good friend and a surrogate father and mentor, and she thought that he was a very, very good man who loved helping people. Then she discovered that he was a bigoted, selfish, egomaniac, uncaring, murderous, manipulative bastard.
• Broken Tears: Supergirl weeps when she discovers the corpse of her murdered baby cousin, and she cries again while she buries him.
• Bullying a Dragon: Lex Luthor spent a good while insulting, mocking and taunting Kara after she found out about his Dark Secret. Yup, he taunted an enraged Kryptonian who wanted him dead.
• Canon Foreigner:
  • The Justice Society includes several brand new characters who don't have counterparts in the regular DC Universe, such as Vectron, Revenant, Interceptor, Starbolt, and Asteria. Vectron does contain a resemblance to Metron of the New Gods, though.
  • The current versions of Captain Marvel, Black Canary, Tarantula, and Doctor Mid-Nite don't appear to based on any preexisting bearers of the names, and Word of God states the Flash isn't Barry Allen or Wally West.
• The Cape: Supergirl is nice, good-natured, and trusting. And she always tries to make the right thing.
• Composite Character: The Joker has traits from Bane, Metallo and the Kryptonite Man (he pumps kryptonite-based drugs into his blood to increase his muscle mass).
  • Supergirl is a composite of Supergirl and Power Girl. Tall, muscular, and busty, with short blonde hair with a penchant for impulsiveness and a mean temper, it's clear who she took that from.
• Cool Bike: Batgirl owns a sci-fi bike that resembles a cross between a bike and the Batmobile.
• The Cowl: Batgirl is rude, cynical and bossy; but she wants to protect and help people.
• Crapsaccharine World: Metropolis. Lex Luthor's discoveries, especially his solar battery, had apparently turned the city into a place where pollution, waste, unemployment, and homelessness were no longer a concern. Then it was revealed that his solar battery was a dead baby whom he murdered himself.
• Crazy-Prepared: Invoked when Batgirl states that Lex must be prepared for anything and everything, no matter how unlikely.
  Supergirl: Another door? Who did Lex think would try to break into this building — ME?
  Batgirl: If you were Luthor, wouldn't you prepare for any possibility?
• Cruel Mercy: Why Batgirl doesn't want Luthor dead? Because she wants him to suffer. If he's dead she can't make him pay.
  Batgirl: Stop. I need him alive.
  Supergirl: But why?
  Batgirl: Because... Because he has to suffer for his crimes!
• Dark Secret: Luthor killed baby Kal-El several years ago.
• Deadpan Snarker: Barbara and Bruce have a quite dry, sarcastic sense of humor:
  Barbara: You're ruining my reputation, Mister Wayne.
  Bruce: That's the price you pay for my assistance in crime-fighting, Ms. Gordon.
  Barbara: Down here, that's Batgirl.
  Bruce: As you command, but be good to me, or I'll tell Gotham about this cave hidden under its civic center.
  Barbara: Threat noted. Your disappearance scheduled.
• Death Glare: Kara's glare after finding her cousin's corpse is... scary.
• Defrosting the Ice Queen: A non-romantic example. Barbara was a Jerkass who trusted no one, was constantly angry, was cold to other crimefighters and could be stubborn and irrational. However, Kara managed to befriend her.
• Determined Expression: Kara wears this expression -brow furrowed, eyes often narrowed, lips tight, body tense- when she confronts Luthor.
• Domed Hometown: Several years before the beginning of the story, Batgirl enclosed Gotham under a domed force-field and declared that no one would enter or leave her city without her permission.
• Doomed Hometown: As seen in a flashback, Kara lost her planet... and then her home city.
  Kara: First Krypton died. Then, I was the only one to escape the destruction of Argo City...
• Dramatic Irony: Luthor saw himself as the man who opened Gotham. However, it was Supergirl who opened Gotham. Even in universes where he gets rid of Superman, the Man of Steel and his family always manage to wreck his plans.
• Elseworld: It takes place in a universe in which Bruce Wayne was never Batman, and the infant Kal-El did not survive long enough to become Superman.
• Engineered Public Confession: When Supergirl confronted Lex Luthor and called him out on what he had done, Luthor admitted that he murdered Kal-El and had planed killing Supergirl all along. And then Batgirl said she was recording and broadcasting everything.
• Evil Mentor: Lex was this to Kara. He befriended her and became her friend and father-like figure in order to manipulate her and kill her when she outlived her usefulness.
• Expy: This Supergirl is essentially actually her world's version Power Girl but in a world where she never had her cousin around so she never felt the need to change her codename to stand out.
• Eye Beams: Kara's heat vision. She uses it to lit up an incense burner set on top of Kal-El’s grave.
• Eyed Screen: When Kara finds Kal-El's body, the screen zeroes in on her death glare.
• False Reassurance: After discovering Lex's filthy secrets Supergirl asks whether he's going to kill her now. Luthor replies he will not kill her... because the Joker will do so.
  Supergirl: So what are you going to do now that I know? Kill me?
  Luthor: Oh, no — I'd never do that... [The Joker] will.
• Fantastic Racism:
  • Lex Luthor hates aliens. As far as he's concerned, killing a “Xeno” isn't murder.
  • Batgirl is very bigoted against parahumans. To be fair, though, she didn’t trust normal people either, and at the end of the story, she appears to have gotten over her prejudice a bit.
• Faux Affably Evil: Even when he's being a monster, Lex Luthor remains smiling, cool and polite.
• Fiery Redhead: Barbara is a temperamental, passionate, headstrong redhead.
• Fight Off the Kryptonite: The Joker was pumped with Kryptonite serum when Supergirl fought him. She had to resist the K-poisoning until Joker dropped his guard, and then she mustered her strength and decked him.
• Freudian Slip: The Joker is obsessed with Batgirl:
  The Joker: Phone home. "Lexcorp, honey, don't wait up. I'll be late. I've decided to stay in Gotham for a Bat — a bit — visit old friends."
• Funetik Aksent: When Joker meets Batgirl for the first time after his Venom injection, he attempts some sort of accent (not helped by the rose he has clenched in his teeth) to woo her.
• Funny Background Event: During a ceremony, while Luthor is beginning his speech, Barbara wipes her hand which he has just kissed.
• Gendered Outfit: Supergirl and Batgirl's teen costumes played it straight (Kara wore skirt and boots; Barbara wore high-heeled boots and her cowl let her long hair flow) but their adult costumes avert it.
• Giving Someone the Pointer Finger: Kara points at Batgirl when she calls her out on being more interested in keeping a well-meaning metahuman out of Gotham than in rescuing a hostage.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: Supergirl's eyes glowed red when she wanted to kill Luthor.
• Grammar Nazi: Batgirl corrects Bruce when he says "by who", noting it's whom.
• Grave-Marking Scene:
  • After exposing Lex Luthor's crimes, Supergirl visits her cousin's grave.
  • A flashback shows Barbara Gordon visiting her parents' grave before becoming Batgirl.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Batgirl is quite short-tempered, although she usually keeps calm when someone is trying her patience.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: Supergirl and Batgirl don't get along well at the beginning, but they turn into this over the course of the story.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Luthor hired a hit-man to kill the Wayne family. Joe Chill murdered the Gordons instead, and their daughter prepared to take Luthor down. He also made a fortune researching the cells of baby Kal-El whom he killed. However, his super-powerful puppet turned against him right away when she found out about it.
• Hopeless Suitor: The Joker has a crush on Batgirl. Batgirl despises him utterly.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Kara thought Luthor was "the most wonderful man in the world". To be fair, he deceived everyone but Batgirl and Bruce.
• Hot-Blooded: Both Kara and Barbara count, both being emotional, passionate, and stubborn women. Kara tends to be more impulsive and Batgirl is angrier, though.
• If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him!: Batgirl gives Supergirl the speech when the latter wants to kill Lex Luthor. She even says: “Don't drop to his level, Kara”.
  Batgirl: Stop. I need him alive.
  Supergirl: But why?
  Batgirl: Because… Because he has to suffer for his crimes! And because you — you're better than vengeance! You're… Hope. If you let him change that… If you let him bring you down… Then he really has destroyed the last child of Krypton.
• I Kiss Your Hand: During a ceremony, Lex Luthor kissed Barbara's hand before giving his speech. As soon as he turned around, Barbara wiped her hand, disgusted.
• I Know You Know I Know: In the last scene Supergirl implies she figured out Batgirl's secret identity, and she knows Batgirl deduced hers. And Batgirl knows Supergirl knows she knows.
• I'm Standing Right Here: The Joker doesn't like when someone does that. When Luthor asks Hamilton who he is, Joker threatens him in a... not quite veiled way.
  The Joker: Don't talk about me like I'm not right here. It makes feel so... petty and vindictive.
• Inhumanable Alien Rights: When confronted about murdering Kara's cousin, Luthor calmly -and smugly- states killing an alien can't be considered a crime.
• In Spite of a Nail: In spite of all of Lex Luthor's manipulations, Barbara Gordon becomes Batgirl, Kara Zor-El is sent to Earth and mentored by Wonder Woman. Then she becomes Supergirl, joins a super-team, and makes friends with Barbara, just like in the mainstream universe.
• Interspecies Romance: Subverted. Most people think Supergirl and Lex Luthor are together, but their relationship isn't romantic at all (and after this story's events, it's non-existent).
• Is This Thing Still On?: After Lex Luthor rants about his evil actions to the faces of Supergirl and Batgirl, the latter points to a TV set and says his words are being broadcast everywhere right now.
• It's Personal:
  • Batgirl wants to take Luthor down because he ordered her parents murder.
  • When Supergirl discovers that Lex slaughtered her baby cousin she wants to kill him.
• I Work Alone: Barbara admits to Kara that she's not a good partner because she's used to working alone.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: It's well-hidden but Barbara has one. Although she spends a good while complaining and ranting about metahumans, she doesn't want Kara to kill Luthor -even though she also hates Luthor!- because Supergirl is "a symbol of hope, not revenge".
• Just Friends: Kara insists that she and Lex are just friends despite a number of rumors claiming otherwise.
  Barbara: My secrets may be the key to saving your boyfriend.
  Supergirl: Don't be trite — We're just friends.
• Karma Houdini: Downplayed. Luthor has committed awful crimes and Barbara knows that he will buy his way out of jail. And the Gordons haven't been avenged yet. However he has been exposed, the Justice Society no longer trusts him, and Supergirl has turned against him and has allied herself with Batgirl.
• Kryptonite Factor: Supergirl feels weak and sick several times without knowing why… until Lex Luthor reveals that Kryptonite emits radiation lethal to Kryptonians.
• Kryptonite-Proof Suit: Batgirl's cape was made of lead-impregnated silk. She wrapped Supergirl in it to shield her from an anti-Kryptonian trap set in Luthor's lair (a Kryptonite-lined doorframe).
• Kryptonite Ring: Lex Luthor has a Kryptonite ring that he plans to use against Supergirl... until Batgirl steals it from him and takes it to a lead-lined vault, saying "I see it as insurance... which I hope I never need to use."
• Kubrick Stare: After she discovered Kal-El's corpse, the next panel was a close-up of Kara's eyes.
• Last of His Kind: Kara is truly the last Kryptonian… because Lex murdered her baby cousin.
• Like Brother and Sister: Barbara and Bruce have this kind of relationship. The Wayne family took her in after she became an orphan, and although she changes clothes around Bruce, there doesn't seem to be sexual tension between them.
• Little Miss Badass: Barbara saved the Wayne family's lives when she was a little girl. After Joe Chill murdered her parents she picked her dad's gun, aimed at the man who had just slaughtered her family and ordered him frozen.
• Lovely Angels: In spite of their differences, both super-heroines manage to work together and become a very effective crime-fighting duo.
• Love Makes You Dumb: The Joker's intelligence drops down to negative digits when Batgirl is nearby.
• Manipulative Bastard: Lex befriended Kara and made sure that they bonded because he wanted to watch her closely and manipulate her.
  Supergirl: How could you? I… trusted you!
  Luthor: Like a father. I know — I worked on that. I had to make sure we bonded.
• Man of Kryptonite: The Joker pumped kryptonite-based drugs into his bloodstream. It weakened Supergirl when she fought him.
• Mission Control: Bruce Wayne acts like this, supplying Batgirl with information and advice from the Batcave when she's out on the streets.
• Mistaken for Romance:
  • The media think Supergirl and Luthor are together. However, Kara regarded him as a friend and surrogate father.
  • Rumor also has it that Bruce and Barbara are together, but they're just friends… although Bruce actually encourages those rumors.
• Most Common Superpower: All female superheroes are big-busted, especially Supergirl (being an adult, she's now as buxom as Power Girl).
• Mr. Exposition: Kara explains how she showed up on Earth, joined the Justice Society and met Lex Luthor… giving much needed background information which everyone knows about in-universe. Lampshaded by Batgirl:
  Supergirl: He was there for me from the day I reached Earth, you know...
  Batgirl: Everybody knows this story.
• Ms. Fanservice: Batgirl shows up almost naked in two scenes.
• The Multiverse: This is Earth-1098 and it was called "Reverse Gender Universe" in Convergence. It would also be revisited as part of Hypertime in the Superboy storyline Hyper-Tension.
• Mythology Gag:
  • In two different flashback scenes, Supergirl and Batgirl show up with their original costumes. The Justice Society also show up in their classic costumes during Supergirl's flashbacks, with Wonder Woman getting both of her most iconic outfits.
  • Lex calls himself “The Man of Tomorrow”.
  • Bruce Wayne acts like his classic Millionaire Playboy self, only here it's not entirely an act.
  • Lex has a Kryptonite ring like post-Crisis Lex Luthor.
  • One of Barbara's books narrates how Batgirl captured Killer Moth. Killer Moth was the first villain encountered and fought by pre-Crisis Batgirl in Detective Comics #359.
  • Several of the reporters harassing Lex work for the Daily Planet and WGBS.
• Neck Lift: Kara does this to Lex. Several times.
• Nerves of Steel: Luthor is an utter, rotten bastard… who is never fazed by anything. The Joker has kidnapped him? He looks calm. A mad Kryptonian is after his blood? He looks calm. His Kryptonian deterrent is gone? He looks calm. Kara is about to crush his windpipe? He looks calm. Batgirl has just exposed him? He looks calm.
• Nice Girl: Kara is kind, polite, compassionate, and likes trusting people… too easily.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Ambush Bug had actually noticed the Joker's attack on Lex's car... but he was taken down by Batgirl's anti-parahuman measures before he could do anything about it. If Barabara had been a little less dictatorial and worked more with the other heroes, the whole plot could have been avoided.
• Noble Bigot: Batgirl is very biased against parahumans ("No parahumans. No parahuman crime"? Really?), and she doesn't even trust super-powered crimefighters. Even so, she's a crimefighter who is committed to protecting people. In her defense, she isn't as bad as Luthor (she merely wants parahumans out of her city. Luthor wants them dead and doesn't even regard them as humans), she at least respects Wonder Woman a bit and comes to call Supergirl a friend, and at the end, she appears to have gotten over her bigotry a bit.
• No Social Skills: As disturbing as it sounds, this universe’s Barbara makes canon Batman seem psychologically stable in comparison. She is rude, harsh, and tactless, and she doesn't work well with other people.
• Not What It Looks Like: The Joker said this when Batgirl saw him holding a sick Supergirl in his arms. He quickly spouted that it was not what looked like and he was just trying to kill her.
  Joker: This — us — it's not what you think! She means nothing to me! She's just... just the victim!
• Off Hand Backhand: Supergirl, in a fit of rage, does this to Batgirl when the latter first tries to stop her from killing Lex.
• Oh, Crap!: The only time Lex looks genuinely worried about Supergirl coming after him is when he finds out his kryptonite ring is missing and the only thing standing between him and a murderous Kara is Batgirl, whom Supergirl tossed out a window just a moment before.
• Parental Substitute:
  • Wonder Woman became Kara's surrogate mother when she showed up on Earth.
  • The Wayne family took Barbara in after her parents' murder.
• Powered by a Forsaken Child: Batgirl is trying to take down Lex Luthor, and elicits a reluctant Supergirl's help. They both travel deep underground Metropolis, trying to find the 'clean fuel source' that Lex Luthor discovered for the city years ago. It turns out that it's her cousin Kal-El...who never got to grow up, but died as an infant in a jar. But considering that this is Lex Luthor, are we truly surprised he'd stoop so low?
• Professional Killer: In this universe, Luthor hired Joe Chill to murder the Wayne family. However, he was so incompetent that he murdered the wrong family and was arrested by a child.
• Pun-Based Title: The title of the book, Elseworld's Finest, is a play on World's Finest (1941), the book that first team up Batman and Superman.
• Race Lift: Captain Marvel and Black Canary are African-American in this timeline.
• Rank Scales with Asskicking: Wonder Woman leads the Justice Society. Before the arrival of Kara, she was arguably Earth's most powerful hero.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Supergirl gave Batgirl a short and to the point speech after Batgirl insulted her family and her idealistic mindset:
  Supergirl: They mean the world to me: Lex… my family…
  Bagirl: Spare me! The Society's not a family. It's the gods of Olympus looking down on the little people below. You have no clue what real life is!
  Supergirl: And you do? Living like a worm underground?
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Supergirl's eyes glow red when she is seconds away from killing Luthor.
• Red Is Heroic:
  • Supergirl wears red cloak and boots.
  • Batgirl is a Fiery Redhead.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Subverted. After discovering her baby cousin's corpse, Kara wants to kill Lex, but Barbara talks her out of it.
• Sarcastic Confession: During a book signing, a customer asks Barbara how she gets so many details:
  Guy: Ms. Gordon — your books are so real! How do you get so many details?
  Barbara: I'm secretly Batgirl.
  Girl: No, really!
  (laughs)
• Say My Name: Supergirl states "Luthor" when she's about to attack him. Lex dispassionately notes that they are no longer on a first-name basis.
• Secret Identity: Batgirl's secret identity is of course Barbara Gordon. Supergirl's is Linda Lee Danvers, the then current Supergirl in the main DC universe.
• Secret-Keeper: Supergirl and Batgirl are implied to have figured out each other's identities at the end. Batgirl also implies she knows Captain Marvel's secret identity, when she calls him "little boy" to his surprise.
• Shoe Phone: Barbara wears a miniaturized super-computer disguised as a bracelet.
• Silly Rabbit, Cynicism Is for Losers!: Mild example, but when Batgirl says Supergirl has no clue what real life is, Supergirl replies that Batgirl doesn't know the real world as well as she likes to believe.
• Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: Subverted. Barbara thinks the Justice Society are gods looking down on the little people, refuses to believe that they can be a family, and thinks that Supergirl is clueless. However she talks Supergirl out of killing Luthor because she's a hero and a symbol of Hope, so she shouldn't drop to his level.
• Sinister Surveillance: Batgirl created her "Oracle" network to watch Gotham. She isn't interested in spying on average, honest people, and she only wants to stop criminals quickly and keep parahumans out of her city, but it's creepy.
• Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: No Superman and no Batman means the universe is a darker place -no big surprise there-: Lex Luthor manipulates the Justice Society to his heart's content, and Batgirl has turned Gotham into her own nation-state. However, Supergirl is very trusting and idealistic as opposite to Batgirl who is pretty cynical and mistrustful. Batgirl's cynical visions appear to be validated when Luthor reveals his true self, but then she says Supergirl represents Hope.
• Spanner in the Works: Batgirl's trap to expose Luthor worked -ironically- thanks to the Joker and Emil Hamilton setting their own trap.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: Batgirl does this to Supergirl after helping her expose Luthor.
• Superman Stays Out of Gotham:
  • Batgirl reinforces this: she closed Gotham off and banished all parahumans from her city.
  • Defied by Supergirl, who flew to Gotham to help whether Batgirl liked or not.
• Super-Strength: Kara has several chances to show off her tremendous Kryptonian strength: lifting cars, crushing bombs, ripping heavy vault doors off their hinges.
• Talking to the Dead: In the second-to-last scene, Kara kneels in front of Kal's grave and mutters she hopes that he'll like that spot she picked out for him.
• There Was a Door: Supergirl breaks through several ceilings when she goes after Luthor.
• They Would Cut You Up: Sadly proved right when it's revealed that Luthor found and dissected baby Kal-El many years ago.
• Thou Shalt Not Kill: Zigzagged. Supergirl didn't like to kill… but when she discovered that Luthor had done to her cousin, she wanted to kill him. However, Batgirl talked her out of it, stating that she's a hero and she mustn't drop to his level.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Supergirl is the tomboy to Batgirl's girly girl. Kara is more masculine and aggressive, has a crew cut, and wears trousers and sweaters. Batgirl is more feminine, has long hair, and wears dresses and jewelry.
• Took a Level in Idealism: After spending a good chunk of the story ranting on about superpowered crimefighters and being cynical, paranoid and distrustful… Barbara calls Kara a friend, and says Supergirl shouldn't get her hands dirty because she's a hero who represents "hope".
• Tranquil Fury:
  • Once she finds out about her cousin's fate, Supergirl alternates between hot-blooded rage and informing Luthor quietly and calmly that she's going to kill him.
  • Batgirl always remains cool and controlled, even when she's confronting someone who pisses her off.
• Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: A sadly understandable case. When Joe Chill murders the Gordons a very young Barbara picks up her father's service weapon and draws it on the man. He lives to old age but it's left open whether or not that means she pulled the trigger or not.
• The Unapologetic: Why should Luthor feeling sorry for murdering a baby? It was only a filthy alien!
• Underestimating Badassery: Batgirl is constantly reminding the Justice Society that she should not be crossed. Wonder Woman is the only one who doesn't.
• Unstoppable Rage: Once she found out that Luthor murdered her cousin and had lied to everyone the whole time, Supergirl decided that she was to going to kill him, and no one would stop her.
• Unwitting Pawn: Supergirl and the whole JSA were Lex Luthor's pawns, who was using them to increase his power, popularity and fortune.
• Upbringing Makes the Hero: Commissioner Gordon was a real cop. He swore to protect the good people of Gotham from criminals and took his duty very seriously. And so does his daughter.
• Villain with Good Publicity: Lex Luthor. He was a murderous, megalomaniac, heartless, xenophobic Manipulative Bastard. And yet civilians regarded him as a selfless and brilliant philanthropist, Supergirl thought he was a very good man, and the Justice Society was proud of calling him their friend and benefactor. When the truth came out, Supergirl feared that no one would believe her due to the power of his reputation.
• Villainous Breakdown: The only time Luthor loses his composure is after he notices his kryptonite ring is missing, and the only thing standing between him and a murderous Supergirl is Batgirl.
• Villainous Crush: In a twisted mirror of the main Joker's obsession with Batman, this Joker is just as lovingly obsessed with Batgirl, if not even more so. And as usual, it is entirely one-sided.
• We Used to Be Friends:
  • Luthor and Hamilton's friendship broke off because Hamilton felt guilty for helping Luthor murder a baby and wanted to expose him.
  • Supergirl regarded Luthor as a kind of father… until she learned that he murdered her baby cousin.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Batgirl's actions (virtually taking over Gotham, running it as her own private kingdom with spy eyes installed everywhere, banning parahumans from her city...) is questionable, but her goal is always protecting the good people of Gotham.
• What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Luthor justifies killing a baby because it was an alien.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Supergirl can't believe Batgirl appears more interested in keeping her out of Gotham than in catching the Joker.
  Batgirl: Pay attention — you are violating my borders. Leave now, and you'll avoid further pain.
  Supergirl: What?! Lex Luthor is being tortured somewhere in Gotham, and you're attacking ME? Is keeping me out of Gotham worth his life?
  Batgirl: You know the rules. No paranormals in Gotham.
  Supergirl: You're sick! This is Lex Luthor we're talking about! Or are people who live in Gotham the only ones worth protecting?
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: Batgirl and the Justice Society agree on one thing: Supergirl is too trusting and naive. Her naïveté nearly gets her killed by Lex Luthor.
• You Killed My Father:
  • Batgirl wants to take Luthor down because he hired the hitman who accidentally murdered her parents.
  • Supergirl wants to kill Luthor after finding out that he murdered her cousin.

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Batgirl: And Kara? ... You'll survive this. He just knocked you off your cloud, that's all.
Supergirl: And you... you came out of your cave to help.

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