Supergirl is known for her dramatic entrances – often using her flying ability, super strength, and invulnerability to smash through buildings when she’s in a hurry, showing criminals everywhere why she’s called “The Girl of Steel.” However, Kara Zor-El has a more subtle way of getting into (and out of) places when she needs to – thanks to some lessons from her friend, The Flash!
Yes, just like in the CW Supergirl and Flash series, Kara is good friends with the Fastest Man Alive. In fact, while training together, Flash took it upon himself to teach Supergirl one of his most useful tricks – the ability to phase through solid matter!
The lesson happened in a flashback scene from Supergirl #55. Shortly after Supergirl arrived on Earth and established herself as a new superhero, several Justice League members decided to help show her the ropes. These included Wonder Woman, who trained Kara in combat on Paradise Island and Superman who instructed Supergirl on how to use her powers the way he did. When it came to the Flash, however, the Scarlet Speedster had a very different lesson to teach Supergirl. Telling Kara that she would frequently be up against cold-based villains like Mr. Freeze, Captain Cold, Minister Blizzard and others, Flash gave Kara a useful defense she could use if she was ever frozen in ice. Showing her how he could vibrate his molecules at superspeed, Flash revealed that he could slip his molecules between whatever freezing substance a villain might use against him.
Kara initially thought that even her super speed couldn’t match the Flash’s – but Flash assured Supergirl that he had run alongside Superman and was well aware of Kryptonian speed capabilities. Stating that if the situation was dire enough, Kara’s Kryptonian adrenaline would boost her speed up to more than adequate levels, Flash went on to drill Supergirl in the art of phasing.
The lesson paid off big time later when Supergirl found herself fighting a Bizarro duplicate of herself. As Bizarros were imperfect duplicates of Superman and his supporting cast and had backwards versions of Kryptonian powers, Kara’s double had flame breath instead of freezing breath and cold vision instead of heat vision. However, her most unexpected power was her reverse X-ray vision – instead of being able to see through objects, Bizarro Supergirl had “Solid Vision” that could turn anything she stared at into stone. She used this power against Supergirl, apparently turning her into a solid stone statue.
Moments later, however, Kara broke free, having used Flash’s lessons to vibrate her molecules free of her prison. This was a completely unexpected use of her super-speed and one Supergirl has rarely duplicated since (hinting she might enjoy smashing through walls a lot more than she likes phasing through them). Nevertheless, her mastery of this power puts Kara in an exclusive club that includes not only the Flash but also Marvel heroes like Vision and Kitty Pryde!