Precursors
Many Superman stories had featured one-time appearances of a female version of Superman as a story gimmick.
- Lois Lane (Superwoman) — The first comic to feature a female counterpart to Superman is "Lois Lane - Superwoman", a story published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943), in which a hospitalized Lois dreams she has gained Kryptonesque superpowers thanks to a blood transfusion from the Man of Steel. She begins her own career as Superwoman, complete with copycat costume. Similar stories with Lois Lane acquiring such powers and adopting the name "Superwoman" periodically appeared later. One such story is in Action Comics #156 (May 1951), in which Lois accidentally gains those powers through an invention of Superman's arch-foe, Lex Luthor. In the story, Lois wears a short blond wig in her crime-fighting identity, giving her an appearance almost identical to the later version of Supergirl after the latter's real name was specified as Kara Zor-El.
- Queen Lucy, Super-Girl — In Superboy #5 (November–December 1949) in a story titled "Superboy Meets Supergirl", Superboy meets Queen Lucy of the fictional Latin American nation of Borgonia. She is a stellar athlete and scholar. Tired of her duties and wanting to enjoy a normal life, Queen Lucy travels to Smallville, where she meets Superboy and soon wins his heart. Superboy puts on a show with her where he uses his powers to make her seem superhuman; during this contest, she is called Super-Girl. As Super-Girl, Queen Lucy wears a tan dress with a brown cape and Superboy's "S" symbol. Superboy later saves her from a scheming minister. She returns to her throne, leaving Superboy to wonder if she ever thinks of him.
- Claire Kent — In the Superman #78 story titled "Claire Kent, Alias Super-Sister", Superman saves an alien woman named Shar-La from a life-threatening crash. After he ridicules her driving, Shar-La turns Superman into a girl. In Smallville, Clark Kent (Superman's alter ego) claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents. When in costume, he plays Superman's sister, Super-Sister, and claims the two have exchanged places. As a girl ridiculed and scorned by men, he wants to prove he is as good as he always was. In the end, it is revealed that the transformation is just an illusion created by Shar-La. Superboy learns not to ridicule women.
- Super-Girl — In Superman #123 (August 1958), Jimmy Olsen uses a magic totem to wish a "Super-Girl" into existence as a companion and helper for Superman; however, the two frequently get in each other's way until she is fatally injured protecting Superman from a Kryptonite meteor that a criminal has dropped towards him. At her insistence, Jimmy wishes the dying girl out of existence. DC used this story to gauge public response to the concept of a completely new female counterpart to Superman. In the original issue, she has blond hair and her costume is blue and red like Superman's; indeed, it closely resembles the uniform that actress Helen Slater would later wear in the 1984 movie. Early reprints of this story show her with red hair and an orange and green costume to prevent readers from confusing her with the then current Supergirl character. Much later, the story was again reprinted in its original form.
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