NPR reports that after over 50 years of flying over people's heads in a miniskirt, Supergirl is finally going to put on some bike shorts and stop flashing panty shots at the good people of Metropolis every time she fights crime.

DC Comics editor Matt Idelson initiated the change with eight words that changed the DC Universe forever: "I never want to see Supergirl's panties again."

I admit to being genuinely surprised by the decision, since this kind of visual pandering is so common in comics that it's the equivalent of working in a bell factory -- after a while, it's hard to even notice it anymore.

As NPR suggests, this could be a sign "that superhero comics may at long last stand ready to evolve beyond the adolescent objectification of the female form in which they have so gleefully wallowed for long decades."

P.S. Congrats to CBR for running a class act poll that asks whether she should go commando instead.