Supergirl Publication History

{{DC Database:Publication History Template
 * Image                  = Supergirl v.2 13.jpg
 * OfficialName           = Supergirl
 * Creators               = Otto Binder; Al Plastino
 * First                  = Action Comics Vol 1 252


 * History                =
 * ComicHistory           =

Precursors
Soon after Superman's conception, DC started toying with the idea of creating a "Supergirl" character.

DC's first character named Super-Girl was Lucy of Borgonia, who made her only appearance in (November, 1949). Lucy was a baseline normal human who pretended to have powers with Superboy's help.

During the Golden Age, DC published a number of –imaginary or in-continuity- stories where Lois Lane or Lana Lang gained super-powers and called themselves Superwoman or even Power Girl.

At the beginning of the Silver Age, DC decided to gauge whether or not fans would want see a "Supergirl" character. Thus, a new, temporary Super-Girl debuted in (August, 1958). This Super-Girl was created when Jimmy was given a wish-granting mystical totem staff and wished Superman might find a super-female partner. Super-Girl materialized out of nowhere, possessing the same strengths and weaknesses as Superman. Later she sacrificed herself to save Superman from a Kryptonite meteor, and Jimmy wished her out of existence before she died from Kryptonite poisoning.

Silver Age
Superman 123 sold very well, and DC tasked Mary Marvel creator Otto Binder and artist Al Plastino with creating Supergirl.

In (May, 1959) debuted the primary and best known version of Supergirl: Kara Zor-El, Superman's Kryptonian cousin. Born in Argo City, a Kryptonian city that survived the cataclysm that destroyed Krypton, she was sent to Earth by her parents when Kryptonite radiation threatened the survivors of Argo. Designed to appeal young female readers, Kara had several traits that set her apart from Superman: she was younger and more inexperienced, therefore more flawed and more prone to make mistakes. She was also a true immigrant who struggled to adapt to Earth culture in contrast to his cousin who was a toddler when he came to Earth.

Supergirl proved to be popular among fans, generating a mostly positive reaction. The first letter talking about Supergirl was published in.

"Supergirl" was Action Comics regular backup feature from to  (May, 1969). During those ten years Supergirl's existence became public, was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, became a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, got her first romances and enemies and her own sidekicks, found her birth parents, graduated high school and got enrolled in Stanhope College.

In 1969, "Supergirl" was moved to Adventure Comics, switching places with the "Legion of Super-Heroes" strip. Jim Shooter explains that change in his blog: "Some time around the summer of 1969, I was taken off of Adventure Comics, my one regular title, because the Legion of Super Heroes, my regular feature, was reduced to a second feature in Action Comics. That move made no sense to me. While other National titles had fallen precipitously, Adventure had remained fairly constant during my tenure, according to the statements of ownership printed in one of my first issues and in my last (the way I figured it, the ol’ “Marvel writer” had come through) — but Mort explained that falling sales on Superboy had prompted the shuffling. Supergirl would be put into Adventure, and presumably would hold the half million readers buying the title, while as a back-up, the Legion (which starred Superboy) would no longer “dilute” the sales of Superboy."

"Supergirl" became Adventure Comics' lead strip from (June, 1969) to  (October, 1972).

Bronze Age
It’s generally considered that Superman’s Bronze Age started in 1971 with the publication of [Superman: Sandman Saga]. Supergirl went through a lot of changes during that period: Kara graduated college and moved to San Francisco, working as a junior photographer for news station KSF-TV. Starting with she constantly changed costumes until settling for the uniform she would wear during most of that era. She gained new enemies such like Nasthalthia Luthor, Starfire and Nightflame, and was depowered for a while during which she resorted to wearing an exoskeleton to fight crime. Her classic love interest Dick Malverne disappeared and was not seen again until the early 80’s. Her pets Comet and Streaky were consigned to comic limbo. Accidents stemming from exposure to Kryptonite became less frequent over time. And by and large, her stories’ tone gradually moved away from sci-fi and fantasy plots, shifting to urban crime and horror tales.

In 1972, Supergirl’s strip left Adventure Comics and the character starred her own solo book for first time. Cary Bates wrote the plots and Art Saaf handled art duties. Published from November of 1972 until October of 1974 and spanning a total of ten issues, Supergirl (Volume 1) was an unfortunate victim of DC’s implosion, when DC cancelled all books featuring Superman’s supporting cast. According the Supergirl: Life and Times of Kara-Zor-El website:

“By the mid-70s, DC was looking for a new plan to support its superheroes, and it found it almost by chance when a publishing experiment revealed that readers were enthusiastic about 80 or 100 page comics, with wider profit margins.

Armed with this knowledge, DC developed a three pronged strategy: keep their profitable big-name (licensable) characters in their own regular comicbooks, cancel the worst selling titles outright, and merge everything in-between into super-sized anthology titles. As such, characters with decent sales but limited licensing possibilities found themselves uncomfortably sandwiched together into the pages of titles such as Superman Family, Batman Family, or Super-Team Family. And so inevitably, in March 1974, Supergirl was unceremoniously evicted from her own comic after just nine issues (a tenth would be published posthumously), to be lumped in with Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane in a new 100 page bimonthly anthology.”

Superman Family was published from May of 1974 until September of 1982. The numbering sequence began with issue #164 and the final issue was. Supergirl soon became Superman Family's main feature and was the only surviving title when DC cancelled the book.

However, Supergirl's environment and supporting cast changed each time a new creative team took over. She quit her photographer work, enrolled in Vandyre College to take drama classes, worked as a student adviser and a soap opera actress. An article of "Back Issue!" issue 17 published in 2006 reveals that "each time a new writer came aboard, he was allowed to write what he knew. So, when writer Jack C. Harris had access to a soap opera production studio, Linda Danvers became a soap opera actress. When writer Paul Kupperberg took over, he moved the strip to Chicago, where he had lived for four years."

After the cancellation of "Superman Family", DC launched "The Daring Adventures of Supergirl", later shortened to simply "Supergirl" with issue 13. Paul Kupperberg wrote the plots that were illustrated by Carmine Infantino art. In an interview with Supergirl Comic Box commentary, Kupperberg revealed he was a long-time fan of the character and looked to write her as a strong and confident woman, away from her cousin's shadow. Supergirl (Volume 2) is widely regarded as Pre-Crisis Supergirl's high point.

DC cancelled Supergirl's second solo book with (September, 1984). However, according Kupperberg "At the time I wrote Supergirl #23, we thought the character was going to continue in a new title, DC Double Comics, which she was going to share with a revamp of Superboy. I wrote the first issue (which got as far as being penciled by Eduardo Barreto, and lettered), which has a scene between Linda and Dick; he confesses his lifelong love for her, but she doesn’t want any part of it. After that, Linda took off for what was planned as a six month space adventure on New Krypton, but I don’t remember what we had planned for Dick."

Nonetheless, Superman's books had been declining and selling poorly for a long time. Supergirl was considered expendable by many DC creative types like Marv Wolfman and Dick Giordano, who talked disparagingly about the character and considered that Superman should be the sole survivor from Krypton. Giving the failure of her 1984 live-action feature as an excuse to get rid of the character, they pushed for killing her. In a hand written note] from Dick Giordano to then DC President Jenette Kahn, Giordano asked if they could kill Supergirl in the upcoming Crisis event. Kahn initially said no, but she changed her mind and gave the go-ahead.

In (October, 1985) by Marv Wolfman Supergirl sacrificed herself to save her cousin and the universe from the Anti-Monitor and was mourned by everyone; still, when the universe was rebooted, no one remembered she ever existed. In an interview published in Back Issue #17, Wolfman assures that everyone agreed with his decision and there was zero backlash. However, in a later interview published in Back Issue #84, Jerry Ordway reported fans were actually mad, and Wolfman admitted that there was “some negative feedback”, but he was sure that “90% either approved or understood”.

Although Kara Zor-El was officially exiled from continuity for eighteen years, she still made infrequent appearances in several ways: in a safety belt campaign, as an invisible spirit trying to reassure Deadman, as an imaginary friend to her best friend Barbara Gordon , or a guardian ghost to another Supergirl.

Matrix
After the Crisis, DC hired John Byrne to reboot Superman. Although Byrne supported the mandate upon which Superman was to be the Last Child of Krypton, he decided to create another version of Supergirl: “That was my idea. I felt it was probably not a good idea to let the copyright on the name slip away, and, what the heck! It was a chance to do a storyline guaranteed to mess with some heads, a significant part of my job description! Unfortunately, several coloring errors -- Supergirl being a redhead when she should have been a blonde, etc, tipped the hand and made the story, probably, even MORE confusing than it was meant to be! I planned to have her as a recurrent character in the Superman titles. When I left the book, Roger Stern came up with the "Matrix" angle, and progressed her story from there.”

So, in (April, 1988) debuted Matrix, a protoplasmic, shape-shifting being from a pocket dimension. She starred in the one-shot published in April, 1993 and the short-lived Supergirl’s third volume published in 1994.

Eventually DC felt Matrix had grown stale and hired writer Peter David to retool her.

Linda Danvers
Peter David thought a shape-shifting blob of matter was not relatable, so in (September, 1996) Matrix merged with a troubled human girl called Linda Danvers to save her life.

Supergirl’s fourth solo book is regarded as one of the best eras of the character. Nevertheless, Peter David stated that sales were non-existent and Kara Zor-El was the only Supergirl fans cared about. As a last ditch effort to save his book from cancellation he wrote Supergirl: Many Happy Returns, where the original Pre-Crisis Supergirl returned briefly to the main universe. Peter David explained his plans in his site:

"People have been asking me what my plans were for SUPERGIRL had the series gone past issue #80. I'll tell you, but am putting it in the "extended" section of this entry so as not to spoil the issue for anyone who hasn't read it yet.

When I first embarked on the storyline, I was told by the powers-that-be that I could use Kara for six issues. That was it. Six issues, no more.

I hoped to change their minds. Because I was positive the addition of Kara would bring in readers in droves.

What I was hoping was that support and interest for the series would be so major, so undeniable, so impossible to ignore, that I could use it as ammo to convince the PTB to change their mind and allow me to keep the character around. If that had happened, my intention was to turn the book into, effectively, a team book. The "S" equivalent of "Birds of Prey." Linda would have been Superwoman (for want of a better name), Kara would have been officially Supergirl, and I would have brought in Power Girl to boot. The tone of the book would have been straight up fun--three super blondes getting into adventures. In my truly demented best-case scenario, I would have subtitled the book "Blonde Justice."

That was my "A" plan. Unfortunately, the lack of support up front torpedoed it. Had we seen the kind of support for issue #75 that we wound up getting with issue #80, and built from there, I might have been able to pull it off. As it was, I wasn't.

The "B" plan was a continuing storyline with Linda about which I will not, at this time, go into detail, except to say that "Supergirl" fans should keep reading my DC work."

Although “Many Happy Returns” failed to save the book, sales were very good, suggesting that there was interest in the original Supergirl.

Kara Zor-El
DC attempted to come up with a new non-Kryptonian Supergirl (Cir-El), but the character was rejected by the fandom. Finally, Dan Didio decided that Supergirl’s backstory and origin involving protoplasmic beings and Earth Angels had become too convoluted and confusing, and another Supergirl was needed. According writer Jeph Loeb, Michael Turner played an important part in the return of Kara Zor-El to the mainstream universe.

In 2004 Jeph Loeb and Michael Turner brought Kara Zor-El back in the pages of Superman/Batman Vol 1, retooling her origin slightly. The Supergirl from Krypton story arc was a success, and DC decided to publish a Supergirl’s solo book again, using as a launching point.

hit the shelves in October, 2005. The newest “Supergirl” book sold incredibly well at the beginning, but it lost momentum and began hemorrhaging readers due to a combination of shipping delays and bad editorial decisions.

Sales improved again when Sterling Gates and Jamal Igle took over in (December, 2008). Gates and Igle’s run (Supergirl (Volume 5) 34-59) is considered one of the best Supergirl’s runs ever, clocking in at #69 on The Hollywood Reporter's 100 Best Super-Heroes Comic-Books List. At the same time, Supergirl joined the Teen Titans and the Justice League.

In the meantime, Mark Waid (who has reportedly always been a big Kara Zor-El fan) included Supergirl in his Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes book, and Landry Q. Walker penned the Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade mini-series.

In 2011 DC rebooted their universe again. Supergirl’s fifth book was cancelled in October, 2011 and the next month a new Supergirl volume hit the stands, featuring a new Kara Zor-El with a new, slightly tweaked origin. Supergirl Vol 6 floundered for a while, hitting its stride during the Tony Bedard and Kate Perkins runs. During several praised story arcs -Supergirl: Red Daughter of Krypton and Supergirl: Crucible-, sales rose and Supergirl became a member of the Justice League United, but DC decided to cancel the book in May, 2015; right before the premiere of the Supergirl Tv-show.

Supergirl kept making appearances in Justice League 3001 and the Convergence books, but DC wasn't publishing a Supergirl book for first time in over ten years. In January, 2016 DC commissioned Sterling Gates to write Adventures of Supergirl, a critically-praised digital comic adapted from the TV show. A six-issue print edition was also published as from July, 2016.

In October, 2016 DC published, a DC Rebirth tie-in special issue which served as a launch pad to seventh Supergirl volume, starting publication in November, 2016.

In 2017 Supergirl: Being Super, an out-continuity mini-series by acclaimed writer Mariko Tamaki and Joelle Jones started publication.

Supergirl appeared in the silver screen in the 1984 Supergirl film.
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She also appeared in several animated features: Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, Superman: Unbound, Justice League: The New Frontier, several Lego Batman movies and Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Cosmic Clash

Supergirl was a recurring character in Smallville TV show), played by Laura Vandervoort. Kara Zor-El first appeared in ”Bizarro” (September, 2007).
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Supergirl TV series starring Melissa Benoist in the role of Kara Zor-El started to air in October, 2015.

Supergirl is a regular or main character in Superman: The Animated Series, Justice League Unlimited, Super Best Friends Forever, DC Super Hero Girls and Justice League Action.

She has made appearances in Super Friends, Batman: The Brave and the Bold and Man of Steel comic-book tie-ins.

Several novels have been published narrating stories of the Maid of Might.
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“Supergirl” by Norma Fox Mazer, novelization of the 1984 film.

“Supergirl at Super Hero High” by Lisa Yee, set in the DC Super Hero Girls universe.

“Supergirl: Daughter of Krypton” by Daniel Wallace.

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