Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)

Supergirl (Kara Zor-El)

Kara Zor-El is an American fictional character appearing in comic books published by DC Comics and related media. The character was created by writer Otto Binder and designed by artist Al Plastino. As Supergirl, Kara Zor-El serves as the biological cousin and female counterpart to DC Comic's iconic superhero Superman, created by writer Jerome Siegel and designed by artist Joseph Shuster. Since her introduction in 1959 Supergirl has become one of the most iconic and recognizable characters in comics.

The Supergirl character first appeared in a story published in Action Comics #252 (May 1959) entitled "The Supergirl from Krypton." Since the character's comic book debut, Kara Zor-El's Supergirl has been adapted into various media relating to the Superman franchise including merchandise, television, and feature film. However, during the 1980s and the revolution of the Modern Age of Comics, Superman editors believed the character’s history had become convoluted, and desired to re-establish Superman as "The Last Son of Krypton." Supergirl was thus killed during the 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths and retconned out of existence. Since Crisis, several characters unrelated to Superman have used the alias "Supergirl."

Kara Zor-El entered mainstream continuity again in 2004 when DC Comics Senior Vice President and Executive Editor Dan DiDio, along with editor Eddie Berganza and comic book writer Jeph Loeb reintroduced the character in the Superman/Batman storyline "The Supergirl from Krypton". The title paid homage to the character’s 1959 debut. As the current Supergirl, Kara Zor-El stars in her own monthly comic book series. With DC's 2011 relaunch, Kara like most of the DC Universe was revamped. She is currently featured in her own series Supergirl, as well as related comics like Superman.