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.