Alura (DC Comics)

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Wikipedia

Alura
Variant cover art of Supergirl #47 (January 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. Laura Benanti portrayed the character in the first two seasons of the Arrowverse series Supergirl, with Erica Durance taking over the role in season three.

Publication history

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]

Fictional character biography

Pre-Crisis

Earth-One

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 Krypton exploded, Argo City was blown safely into space with a life-giving bubble of air around it. A later version of the story had the city saved by a dome that Zor-El created.[4] The explosion turns the ground beneath Argo City into Kryptonite, which is covered with protective lead sheets. The Kryptonians manage to stay alive for many years, with Kara being born several years after the destruction of Krypton. When Kara is a teenager, a meteor storm damages the lead sheeting, exposing the survivors to kryptonite radiation and forcing Kara to be sent to Earth in a rocket. It is later revealed that Zor-El and Alura survived by teleporting into the Survival Zone, a dimension similar to the Phantom Zone. Kara rescues her parents, who relocate to New Krypton/Rokyn.[5]

Earth-Two

In the alternate universe of Earth-Two, Allura In-Z is married to Zor-L and lives in Kandor rather than Argo City. The two do not survive Krypton's destruction.[6]

Post-Crisis

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.

It is later revealed that Alura saved Argo City from Krypton's destruction by engineering a protective dome with her husband Zor-El. However, Brainiac merges 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".

Alura has a major role in the "New Krypton" storyline. She is shown not to trust Earth people, and does not approve of her daughter or nephew's choices. After Zor-El is murdered by Reactron, Alura takes command of Kandor, putting many Superman's enemies in the Phantom Zone and waging war on humanity. Alura uses Kryptonian Sunstones to turn Kandor into a new planet, "New Krypton", and put it into orbit around the Sun at the opposite side of Earth. 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 to attack New Krypton. While on Krypton, the Luthor robot tampers with the body chemistry of the previously captured Reactron.[7] Shortly afterward, Reactron kills himself, initiating a chain reaction which destroys New Krypton and kills all but seven thousand of its inhabitants, including Alura.[8]

Powers and abilities

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

In other media

Television

  • Alura appears in the Super Friends episode "The Krypton Syndrome".
  • Alura appears in Supergirl (2015), portrayed initially by Laura Benanti in the first and second seasons,[9][10] and later by Erica Durance in the third and fifth seasons.[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). 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.[14] This version is a member of the council of Krypton and imprisoned General Zod, Ursa, and Non in the Phantom Zone.

Film

Video games

Alura appears in Injustice 2, voiced by Grey DeLisle.

References

  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. ↑ Action Comics #252 (May 1959)
  4. ↑ Action Comics #316 (September 1964)
  5. ↑ Action Comics #310 (March 1964)
  6. ↑ Showcase #98 (March 1978)
  7. ↑ Supergirl (vol. 5) #52 (June 2010)
  8. ↑ Superman: War of the Supermen #1 (July 2010)
  9. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (February 20, 2015). "Laura Benanti To Play Supergirl's Mom In Greg Berlanti's CBS Pilot". Deadline Hollywood.
  10. ↑ Abrams, Natalie (October 26, 2015). "Supergirl postmortem: Get the scoop on that villain twist and what's next". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
  11. ↑ Abrams, Natalie (May 23, 2018). "Supergirl star Erica Durance previews major Alura reveal". Entertainment Weekly.
  12. ↑ Petski, Denise (7 July 2017). "Supergirl: Erica Durance To Take Over Alura Role From Laura Benanti". Deadline. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  13. ↑ Swift, Andy (22 May 2018). "Supergirl Photos: Alura Lives! What Brings Kara and Her Mom Together?". TVLine. Archived from the original on 16 November 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 "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.
  15. ↑ 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.
  16. ↑ 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.
  17. ↑ Lang, Robert (March 31, 2025). "James Gunn Shares New BTS Photo Of Milly Alcock From The Set of 'Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow'". Deadline. Retrieved November 1, 2025.