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Alura (DC Comics)

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Alura
Variant cover art of Supergirl #47 (Jan. 2010), art by Joshua Middleton
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceAction Comics #252 (May 1959)
Created by
In-story information
Full nameAlura In-Ze
SpeciesKryptonian
Place of originKrypton
Team affiliations
Supporting character of
Notable aliasesAlura In-Zee
Abilities(Under a yellow sun):
  • Superhuman strength, stamina, endurance, speed, agility, reflexes, intelligence, longevity, and hearing
  • Solar radiation absorption and projection
  • Enhanced vision
    • EM spectrum vision
    • Microscopic vision
    • X-ray vision
    • Telescopic vision
    • Infra-red vision
  • Invulnerability
  • Ice and wind breath
  • Flight
  • Heat vision
  • Vocal mimicry

Alura In-Ze is a character appearing in media published by DC Comics, usually those involving Superman. Alura is the Kryptonian daughter of In-Zee, wife of Zor-El, mother of Supergirl/Power Girl, and paternal aunt (by marriage) of Superman. Created by writer Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino, the character first appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959).[1]

The character has appeared in media adaptations of the Superman and Supergirl comics, including live-action films, television programs and video games.

Alura was portrayed by Mia Farrow in the 1984 film Supergirl. In the first two seasons of the Arrowverse series Supergirl, Laura Benanti portrayed Alura until Erica Durance took over the role.

Publication history

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The character Alura appeared unnamed in Action Comics #252 (May 1959) as part of the origin of Supergirl (Kara Zor-El).[2] She was created by Otto Binder and Al Plastino. Her role was similar to that of what Lara was to Superman. She and her husband, Zor-El, send her to a spaceship from Argo City to Earth to survive.[3][4]

Fictional character biography

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Pre-Crisis

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Earth-One

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In pre-Crisis continuity, Alura supported her husband Zor-El, one of the only scientists to believe his older brother Jor-El's predictions about the impending destruction of Krypton. When the planet exploded, Argo City was somehow blown safely into space with a life-giving bubble of air around it (a later version of the story in Action Comics #316 (September 1964) has the city saved by a weather dome that Zor-El had constructed). The explosion had turned the ground beneath Argo City into Kryptonite, but Alura, Zor-El and the other survivors covered the surface with lead sheets. The Kryptonians managed to stay alive for many years, and Kara was born years after the destruction of Krypton. After a meteor destroyed the lead sheets, the survivors were exposed to the deadly kryptonite radiation, with Kara escaping on a rocket and her parents entering the Survival Zone (similar to the Phantom Zone). After Supergirl rescues them in Action Comics #310 (March 1964), Zor-El and Alura move to Kandor. Later, when the city is enlarged, the two move to New Krypton/Rokyn.

Earth-Two

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In the alternate universe of Earth-Two, Allura In-Z (note different spelling) is married to Zor-L, and they send their daughter Kara Zor-L to Earth Two where she becomes Power Girl. This Zor-L was an expert in psychology, and created a virtual reality chamber for Kara inside her spacecraft. As she aged inside the rocket on her way to Earth-Two, she experienced the type of life she would have had on Krypton with Allura and Zor-L. Zor-L and Allura were killed when Krypton exploded. This version of Allura lived in Kandor and not Argo City. Allura only made one appearance, in Showcase #98 (March 1978).

Post-Crisis

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In "The Supergirl from Krypton" story-arc in Superman/Batman #8-13 (May–October 2004), Alura and Zor-El rocketed their daughter away from Krypton before Kal-El left. It was expected that she would reach Earth first and could help raise Kal from his infancy. However, she stayed in stasis and her ship did not reach Earth until years later, so the infant she expected to help raise was a grown man when she arrived still in her teens.

After Lex Luthor uses Black Kryptonite to split Kara into good and evil parts, the evil Kara claims that Zor-El actually sent his daughter to Earth to kill his nephew, since he resented his older brother and hated the idea of Jor-El's lineage continuing past Krypton's destruction. This tied together and explained fragmented flashbacks that had suggested Zor-El was a villainous character, including his dismissal of schoolchildren taunting Kara as "the dead" (they had already been possessed) and Alura telling Kara to kill her and "make your father proud" (she had also been possessed by Phantoms from the Phantom Zone, and this was not a taunt but a genuine request from what remained of her original personality) as well as the original idea that he wanted Kara to kill Kal-El. As the story ended, it was revealed that the house of El was cursed by the phantoms as they saw them as their jailers. Wherever one of the El blood line went, the Phantoms would follow. To save Earth, he needed to send Kara to remove Kal and stop the El blood line from ever growing. At the end of this story arc, however, it was revealed that the images of Zor-El and the Phantoms subsequently invading Earth as predicted were all a ruse by the Monitors to see if Supergirl belonged in the New Earth universe. Upon discovering she was truly that universe's Supergirl she was left to her own devices to reconcile with all the people she harmed in the wake of the "test". The Monitor does, however, assert that the memories of Zor-El and the phantoms on Krypton were nevertheless real.

A subsequent flashback in issue #24 apparently contradicts the Monitor, revealing that "New Earth" Zor-El was not a scientist, although Alura was. In current continuity, Zor-El was a Ranger, and got on well with his brother. With his encouragement, Alura designed the ship that sent Kara to Earth, as both Kal-El's protector and the last living being who remembered Krypton (since Kal-El was an infant).

In Action Comics #869 it is revealed that Alura saved Argo City from Krypton's destruction by engineering a protective dome with her husband Zor-El. However, Brainiac who was the culprit for Krypton's explosion, returned to finish the job. He merged Argo with the Bottle City of Kandor and killed those he considered to be duplicate information. Superman finds the city in Brainiac's ship. Zor-El and Alura are able to make contact with Kal-El to enquire about their daughter. The Bottle City of Kandor reverts to its full size in the North Pole at the end of the "Brainiac" story arc, which leads directly into "New Krypton".

A rather minor character historically, Alura has a major role in the on-going "Superman: New Krypton" storyline. She is shown not to trust Earth people, and does not approve of her daughter or nephew's choices. Zor-El is a voice of reason to her, and when he is murdered by Reactron, she is beside herself with grief and anger. After Zor-El's death she takes command over the Kandorian people, putting as many Superman's enemies as she can in the Phantom Zone and waging war over the human race in retribution for Reactron's attack. When a coalition of human heroes, led by Superman, manages to stop her plan de-powering some of the Kryptonian Army, Alura uses Kryptonian Sunstones to turn Kandor into a new planet, the so-called "New Krypton" and put it into orbit around the Sun, at the opposite side of Earth. It is later revealed that she freed General Zod to help manage the planet and lead its military.

As part of his participation in Project 7734 (a covert U.S. military operation dedicated to neutralizing the Kryptonians), Luthor sends a robot double of himself with Brainiac on an mission to attack New Krypton. While there, the Luthor robot tampers with the body chemistry of the previously captured Reactron.[5] Shortly thereafter, Reactron kills himself, initiating a chain reaction which destroys New Krypton and all but seven thousand of its 100,000 Kryptonian inhabitants, including Alura.[6]

Powers and abilities

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Alura In-Ze has all the powers and weaknesses of a Kryptonian from exposure to Earth's yellow sunlight.

In other media

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Television

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  • Alura appears in the Super Friends episode "The Krypton Syndrome".
  • Alura appears in Supergirl, portrayed initially by Laura Benanti in the first and second seasons,[7] and later by Erica Durance in the third and fifth.[8][9][10][11][12][13] This version is a member of the Kryptonian Science Council and has a twin sister named Astra In-Ze (also portrayed by Benanti).[14] Towards the end of the third season, Supergirl discovers that Alura is still alive and is part of Argo City's High Council, with Zor-El having built a fail-safe around Argo City to protect it from Krypton's destruction.
  • Alura appears in the DC Super Hero Girls episode "#DCSuperHeroBoys", voiced by Kari Wahlgren.[15] This version is a member of the council of Krypton and imprisoned General Zod, Ursa and Non in the Phantom Zone.

Film

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Video games

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Alura appears in Injustice 2, voiced by Grey DeLisle.

References

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  1. ^ Greenberger, Robert; Pasko, Martin (2010). The Essential Superman Encyclopedia. Del Rey. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-345-50108-0.
  2. ^ Fleisher, Michael L. (2007). The Original Encyclopedia of Comic Book Heroes, Volume Three: Superman. DC Comics. p. 3. ISBN 978-1-4012-1389-3.
  3. ^ Otto Binder (w), Al Plastino (p). "The Supergirl from Krypton" Action Comics, no. 252 (May 1959). DC Comics.
  4. ^ "10 Facts You Need to Know About Supergirl | ScreenRant". screenrant.com. 10 September 2015. Retrieved 16 November 2019.[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ Supergirl (vol. 5) #52 (June 2010). DC Comics (New York).
  6. ^ Superman: War of the Supermen #1 (July 2010). DC Comics (New York).
  7. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (February 20, 2015). "Laura Benanti To Play Supergirl's Mom In Greg Berlanti's CBS Pilot". Deadline Hollywood.
  8. ^ "'Supergirl' star Erica Durance previews major Alura reveal". EW.com.
  9. ^ "Does 'Supergirl' Recasting Alura Have Anything To Do With Mon-El?". Bleeding Cool News And Rumors. 1 August 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  10. ^ Wickline, Dan (29 May 2018). "Erica Durance Talks Her Return to Supergirl and the Future of Alura". Bleeding Cool News And Rumors. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  11. ^ Petski, Denise (7 July 2017). "'Supergirl': Erica Durance To Take Over Alura Role From Laura Benanti". Deadline. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  12. ^ "Who Is Alura On 'Supergirl'? Kara's Mother Can Do Big Things From Beyond The Grave". Bustle. 9 November 2015. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  13. ^ Swift, Andy (22 May 2018). "Supergirl Photos: Alura Lives! What Brings Kara and Her Mom Together?". TVLine.
  14. ^ Abrams, Natalie (October 26, 2015). "Supergirl postmortem: Get the scoop on that villain twist and what's next". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
  15. ^ a b c d "Alura Voices (Superman)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved February 21, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
  16. ^ Couch, Aaron (October 13, 2022). "DC's 'Legion of Super-Heroes' Sets Voice Cast With Meg Donnelly and Harry Shum Jr. to Star (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
  17. ^ Harvey, James (February 21, 2024). ""Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths, Part Two" Arrives April 23, 2024". The World's Finest. Retrieved February 21, 2024.
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