Kara's spacecraft was hit by a wave of the Krypton explosion and was taken off course to the Phantom Zone, a region in space where time doesn't pass. She stayed there for 24 years, and when the spacecraft escaped for the Phantom Zone and arrived at Earth, she still looked like a 13-year-old girl. Her cousin, Kal-El, had grown up and became Superman. Superman took Kara to be adopted by his friends, the Danvers family. The series begins eleven years old later when the now 24-year-old Kara is learning to use her powers after previously hiding them, while at the same working as a normal person.