Supergirl (Kara Zor-El) Two Supergirls meet What was two super girl's meet? Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made
What was Kara role in Super girls Meet?
What was Kara role in Super girls Meet?
Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns. The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series. In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states: Although it had always been in the back of my mind that doing a Kara-related storyline might be fun, the impetus at this point was, frankly, sales...I was trying to figure out who currently wasn't reading the series, and came up with two groups that we'd have a shot at getting: Those who'd become bored with the current storyline, and those who didn't accept any Supergirl save Kara. By doing 'Many Happy Returns,' I sought to pull in both potential audiences. In the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 48 and 49 in 2001, the original dead Kara appears as Linda's "guardian angel". Then in issues 75 to 80, "Many Happy Returns", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis. The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where "no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean." This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads. Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl. This story arc is usually cited as one of the best Supergirl stories ever written. The series ended with issue 80. CANNOTANSWER
Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity,
Kara Zor-El, also known by her adoptive names of Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Kent, Linda Lang, and Kara Danvers, and the superhero name of Supergirl, is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. She was created by Otto Binder and designed by Al Plastino. Danvers first appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959)'s "The Supergirl from Krypton" story. Kara is the biological cousin of Kal-El, who went on to adopt the name of Clark Kent and the superhero Superman. During the 1980s and the revolution of the Modern Age of Comics, Superman editors believed the character's history had become too convoluted, thus killing Supergirl during the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and retconning her out of existence.

DC Comics Senior Vice President Dan DiDio re-introduced the character in 2004 along with editor Eddie Berganza and writer Jeph Loeb, with her the Superman/Batman storyline "The Supergirl from Krypton". As the current Supergirl, Kara stars in her own monthly comic book series. With DC's The New 52 relaunch, Kara, like most of the DC Universe, was revamped. DC relaunched the Supergirl comic in August 2016 as part of their DC Rebirth initiative.

In live-action, Supergirl appeared in the 1984 film based on her character and was portrayed by Helen Slater. She also appeared in the series Smallville, played by actress Laura Vandervoort. In 2015, the live-action Arrowverse series Supergirl debuted on CBS and then moved to The CW after the first season. Supergirl was portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appeared on other Arrowverse shows. Sasha Calle will appear as Supergirl in the upcoming DC Extended Universe film The Flash (2022).

Publication history

Early life
Although Kara Zor-El was the first character to use the name "Supergirl," DC Comics tested three different female versions of Superman prior to her debut. 

The first story to feature a female counterpart to Superman was "Lois Lane – Superwoman," which was published in Action Comics #60 (May 1943). In the story, a hospitalized Lois Lane dreams she has gained superpowers thanks to a blood transfusion from the Man of Steel. She begins her own career as "Superwoman", complete with a version of Superman's costume.

In the Superboy #78 story entitled "Claire Kent, Alias Super-Sister", Superboy saves the life of an alien woman named Shar-La, who turns Superboy into a girl, in retaliation for his disparaging thoughts about women drivers which she picked up telepathically. In Smallville, Clark claims to be Claire Kent, an out-of-town relative who is staying with the Kents. When in costume, he appears as Superboy's sister, Super-Sister, and claims the two have exchanged places. Once Superboy has learned his lesson about feeling more respect for women, Shar-La reveals the episode to be a dream which she projected into Superboy's mind.

In Superman #123 (August 1958), Jimmy Olsen uses a magic totem to wish a "Super-Girl" into existence as a companion and aid to Superman; however, the two frequently get in each other's way until she is fatally injured protecting Superman from a Kryptonite meteor. 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 super-powered female counterpart to Superman.

The Kara Zor-El version of Supergirl finally appeared in Action Comics #252 (May 1959). Otto Binder wrote and Al Plastino illustrated her début story, in which Kara was born and raised in Argo City (unnamed until later issues), a fragment of Krypton that survived destruction. When the city is doomed by a meteor shower, Kara is sent to Earth by her parents, Zor-El and Alura (the latter unnamed until later issues), to be raised by her cousin Kal-El, known as Superman. Supergirl adopted the secret identity of an orphan "Linda Lee", and made Midvale Orphanage her home. Supergirl promised Superman that she would keep her existence on Earth a secret, so that he may use her as a "secret weapon", but that didn't stop Supergirl from exploring her new powers covertly. Action Comics #255 published reader's letters-of-comment to Supergirl's first appearance; she had allegedly generated a sizeable and mostly positive reaction.

Supergirl, from her debut onwards, became a regular backup strip in Action Comics. She joined the Legion of Super-Heroes, like her cousin had done as a teenager, and in Action Comics #279 (July 1961) she was adopted by Fred and Edna Danvers, becoming "Linda Lee Danvers". Supergirl acted for three years as Superman's secret weapon, and her adventures during that time have been compared to contemporary developments in feminist thinking in work such as Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. She was at last introduced by her super-powered cousin to an unsuspecting world in Action Comics #285 (February 1962).

During her first quarter of a century, Linda Danvers would have many professions, from student to student advisor, to actor, and even TV camera operator. She shared Action Comics with Superman until transferring to the lead in Adventure Comics at the end of the 1960s. In 1972 she finally moved to her own short-lived eponymous magazine, before DC merged its Supergirl, Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen titles into a single anthology title named The Superman Family. In 1982 Supergirl was relaunched into her own magazine.

Death during Crisis on Infinite Earths

In 1985, the maxi-series Crisis on Infinite Earths was conceived as a way to reduce DC continuity to a single universe in which all characters maintained a single history. Despite Supergirl's continued popularity and status as a central member of the "Superman Family", the editors at DC Comics and the creators of the maxi-series decided to kill Supergirl off during the Crisis. According to Marv Wolfman, writer of Crisis on Infinite Earths:

The idea of killing Supergirl was first conceived by DC's vice president/executive editor Dick Giordano, who lobbied for the death to DC's publishers. He later said he has never had any regrets about this, explaining, "Supergirl was created initially to take advantage of the high Superman sales and not much thought was put into her creation. She was created essentially as a female Superman. With time, writers and artists improved upon her execution, but she never did really add anything to the Superman mythos—at least not for me." The poor initial reception of the 1984 film Supergirl was also blamed by some sources.

In 1989, in the tale "Christmas with the Super-Heroes" the soul of Kara appears to Boston "Deadman" Brand, cheers him up, and then disappears from continuity until 2001 (see below).

Several characters unrelated to Superman soon took on the Supergirl persona, including the Matrix (a shapeshifting genetically engineered life-form that 'defaulted' as Supergirl), Linda Danvers (the result of Matrix merging with the dying Linda Danvers and becoming an Earth-bound angel of fire), and Cir-El (Superman's apparent daughter from a possible future).

A heroine resembling the Pre-Crisis Kara would later appear in Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #5, along with an entire army of Legionnaires gathered from alternate worlds, times, and realities, to battle the Time Trapper.

Two Supergirls meet 
Prior to the post-Crisis introduction of Kara Zor-El into mainstream continuity, the pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El made an appearance in Peter David's Supergirl: Many Happy Returns. The then-current Supergirl series, at the time starring Linda Danvers, was in danger of cancellation and Peter David thought a story arc involving Kara Zor-El would be enough to revitalize the series. In an interview with Cliff Biggers of Newsarama, David states:

In the Linda Danvers' Supergirl series issues 49 and 50 (October and November 2000), the original dead Kara appears as Linda's "guardian angel". Then in issues 75 to 80, "Many Happy Returns", a young Kara appears from an earlier time long before the Crisis. The paradox becomes a moral crisis for Linda who tries to take her place as the Crisis sacrifice, living for years in a Silver Age universe where "no one swears, the villains are always easy to defeat, and everything's very, very clean", eventually marrying the Silver Age Superman and having a daughter with him, before she is forced to return to her universe by the Spectre when he reveals that her efforts to replace Kara as the sacrifice will not succeed. This run was illustrated by Ed Benes who had also illustrated Gail Simone's Birds of Prey which had a similar whimsical camaraderie between its female leads.

Linda's inability to ultimately save Kara, coupled with the loss of her daughter, is so devastating that it ends her own career as Supergirl, Linda leaving a note for Superman where she explains that she feels that she has failed to live up to the standards of a true Supergirl and choosing to go somewhere she cannot be found. This story arc is usually cited as one of the best Supergirl stories ever written. The series ended with issue 80.

Revival 

After the launch of the Superman/Batman comic book series, executive editor Dan DiDio had been looking for a way to simplify the Supergirl character from her convoluted post-Crisis history; the simplest version, of course, was Superman's cousin. Jeph Loeb and editor Eddie Berganza found an opening to reintroduce the character following the conclusion of the first story arc of Superman/Batman. Loeb states:

The modern version of Kara Zor-El made her debut in Superman/Batman #8 (2004). Kara takes the mantle of Supergirl at the conclusion of the storyline. The Supergirl comic book series would later be relaunched, now starring Kara Zor-El as "The Girl of Steel". The first arc of the new series was written by Jeph Loeb and illustrated by Ian Churchill. Loeb would later describe the appeal of writing for Supergirl:

As the character continued to be reinvented, steps towards regarding the iconic character were some of the most prominent changes. Artist Jamal Igle and editor Matt Idleson moved to transition the character away from red panties under her skirt to biker shorts, feeling such a change was a logical progression and "more respectable."

The New 52
In September 2011, DC Comics began The New 52, in which it canceled all of its monthly superhero titles and relaunched 52 new ones, wiping out most of its past continuity in the process. One of the new titles was a new Supergirl series (Volume 6) that featured a new origin for Kara and was published between 2011 and 2015. Artist Mahmud Asrar designed a new costume for the character which strongly deviated from her classic, "cheerleader" suit, a change which generated criticism from some readers.

DC Rebirth
The 2016 DC Comics title relaunch Rebirth incorporates several elements (such as the costume, the name, the setting, and some characters) from the Supergirl television series. The DC Rebirth initiative undid the New 52's modern recreations, bringing DC's heroes back to their more classic iterations. Supergirl's new series (Volume 7) was titled Supergirl: Rebirth, written by Steven Orlando. The first arc was penciled by Brian Ching, who also redesigned Supergirl's costume in reference to a more classic look. In April 2018, it was announced that the title would be canceled after issue #20, only to be revived in August that year under a new creative team, with new writer Marc Andreyko and artist Kevin Maguire. The series ended with its 42nd issue.

Future State: Kara Zor-El, Superwoman
The Future State comics propose a possible future for Kara Zor-El, now an adult and having taken the alias of Superwoman. She leaves Earth to become a guardian of the Moon, which has become a refugee colony for aliens from the entire universe. The series was written by Marguerite Bennet and penciled by Marguerite Sauvage.

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow
Under the Infinite Frontier brand, Kara's next series Woman of Tomorrow debuted in June 2021, written by Tom King and penciled by Brazilian artists Bilquis Evely and Mat Lopes. The arc introduces Supergirl to new character grounds as she begins the story as a young woman, celebrating her 21st birthday and helping a young alien in her quest for revenge. The "mentor-mentee journey on revenge" plot is, according to King, inspired by the original novel and both versions of  True Grit. 

In this series, the creators paid homage to Linda Danvers, as Kara manifests flame wings and powers after taking a red kryptonite drug, in order to save her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon.

Fictional character biography

Silver Age
In her debut story, Kara Zor-El is the last survivor of Argo City of the planet Krypton. Although Argo, which had survived the explosion of the planet, drifted through space as a self-sustaining environment, the soil of the colony eventually turned into Kryptonite; and though Kara's father Zor-El placed lead sheeting above the ground to protect the citizens from radiation, meteorites pierced the sheeting, and the Kryptonians died of radiation poisoning instead of replacing the metal.

In Supergirl's subsequent backup feature in Action Comics drawn by artist Jim Mooney for ten years until 1968, Supergirl adopts the identity of Linda Lee, an orphan at Midvale Orphanage presided over by headmistress Miss Hart. She disguises herself by hiding her blond hair beneath a brunette wig; Supergirl interacts with humans on a person-to-person basis performing good deeds and saving the world by helping one person at a time, and she also devises clever schemes as "Superman's Secret Weapon," saving him many times and avoiding adoption before Superman can introduce her publicly.

While temporarily powerless due to the scheming of Kandorian scientist Lesla-Lar, who is out to supplant her on Earth, Linda allows herself to be adopted by engineer and rocket scientist Fred Danvers and his wife, Edna. In time, she reveals her secret identity to her adoptive parents on the same day her cousin Superman finally introduces her to the world in the finale of then-DC's longest playing series ever (eight chapters) aptly called "The World's Greatest Heroine".

When frequent dreams about her parents being alive turn out to be real, she builds a machine aided by her engineer father's talent, and brings them both back alive from the "Survival Zone" where they had both teleported during Argo City's final moments. Zor-El and Allura eventually end up living in Kandor, and when the city in the bottle is enlarged, they both go on to live in Rokyn/New Krypton, where they have the sad duty of receiving her mortal remains after "Crisis" for burial.

Graduating from high school in 1965, Linda Lee goes to college on a scholarship and stays in Stanhope College until she graduates in 1971. During this era, she is helped by her pet cat Streaky, her Super-Horse pet Comet, and befriends Lena Thorul, who had first appeared in the Lois Lane series. Kara is also a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, where she becomes close to Brainiac 5. In addition, Linda has boyfriends from the orphanage (Richard "Dick" Malverne) and from Atlantis (Jerro the merboy).

In 1967, Supergirl meets Batgirl for the first time in World's Finest Comics. Developing a strong friendship, the two characters teamed up many times again, as in Superman Family #171, or Adventure #381.
In 1969, Supergirl left Action Comics and became a featured character in Adventure Comics beginning with issue #381 (June 1969).

During the 1970s, Supergirl's costume changed frequently, as did her career in her civilian life. In her secret identity as Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Zor-El took a variety of jobs including graduate student in acting, television camera operator, and student counselor, and finally became an actress on the TV soap Secret Hearts.

Bronze Age
After long-time Superman family editor Mort Weisinger retired in 1971, the character underwent revitalization under editor Joe Orlando and artist Mike Sekowsky. Wearing a series of new outfits, leaving her adopted foster home with the Danvers family, Linda goes on to San Francisco where she works for KSF-TV as a camera operator and develops a crush on her boss, Geoffrey Anderson. These stories introduced Supergirl's most memorable villain from this period: Lex Luthor's niece Nasthalthia, or Nasty. Nasty had made two appearances towards the end of Linda's college years, then pursued her to KSF-TV, trying to secure proof of her dual identity.

Supergirl starred in her first solo eponymous monthly series beginning in 1972 until October 1974, when her monthly title merged with Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane, and Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen to produce a new title: then-highest DC selling series called The Superman Family, where she eventually became the steady lead story. Linda worked as a student advisor at New Athens Experimental School, before leaving for New York to follow a career in acting with daytime soap Secret Hearts.

In 1982 Supergirl received a second monthly solo series titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl, relocating the character to Chicago as Linda became a mature student of Psychology. Industry legend, and former DC Publisher, Carmine Infantino provided the penciled art (Bob Oksner inked). With issue 13 the title was revamped, with a new costume design (sporting a red headband) and the title shortened to just Supergirl. The series ran until sudden cancellation in 1984, only two months before the character's debut in a big-budget Hollywood film starring Helen Slater.

In the Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985), the greatest heroes from Earth-One, Earth-Two, Earth-Four, Earth-S, and Earth-X join forces in order to defeat the Anti-Monitor. When Superman comes face to face with the Anti-Monitor and is knocked unconscious, Supergirl rushes to save him before he is killed. She is able to fight him off long enough for Dr. Light to carry her cousin to a safe distance, but is killed by the Anti-Monitor. A public memorial service for Supergirl takes place in Chicago, where Batgirl (Barbara Gordon) delivers the eulogy. In her remarks, she states "Kara is a hero. She will not be forgotten." Superman then gives his late cousin burial by taking her corpse to Rokyn/New Krypton to Zor-El and Allura. A Superman issue the next month reveals that Kara had experienced a premonition about her own passing. However, when the universe is rebooted, the timeline is altered. Kara Zor-El and all memory of her is erased from existence.

Echoes
After these events, the soul of Kara Zor-El made another appearance in continuity three years later in a story titled "Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot" in Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2 (1989). Within the story, Boston "Deadman" Brand tries to feel the warmth of Christmas by possessing revelers' bodies. Feeling guilty upon the realization that he has been stealing others' Christmases, he flies off feeling sorry for himself for being denied a reward after a year of helping people. A warmly dressed blonde woman approaches Brand, startling him. Somehow seeing the normally invisible Brand, she converses with him, reminding him,

She reminds Brand that even though he is dead, he is still human, and he should rejoice because it means his spirit is still alive. As the woman leaves, Brand asks her who she is, to which she replies, "My name is Kara. Though I doubt that will mean anything to you." The story, written by Alan Brennert and penciled by Dick Giordano, is dedicated to Otto Binder and Jim Mooney, adding: "We still remember."

Finally, the soul of Kara Zor-El appeared twice during Peter David's run, specifically in issues #48 and #49 when she appears before a defeated and imprisoned then-Supergirl, Linda Danvers from Earth, and comforts her. Linda acknowledges she has been helped three times by her phantom-friend, and when she asks her name she is told by the smiling figure: "I have gone by many names, but the one I am most fond of is: Kara!"

Modern Age

In 2004, Jeph Loeb reintroduced Kara Zor-El into post-Zero Hour (Birthright timeline) continuity during a storyline in the series Superman/Batman. She is the biological cousin of Superman, and although chronologically older than him, the ship in which she traveled to Earth was caught in a large green Kryptonite meteorite which held her in a state of suspended animation for much of the journey, making her have the appearance of a 16-year-old girl. Still, Supergirl sometimes saw Superman as a child, due to last carrying him as a baby. DC Comics relaunched the Supergirl, the first story arc of which was written by Loeb. showcases Supergirl on a journey of self-discovery. Along her journey, she encounters Power Girl (Kara Zor-El's counterpart from another universe), the Teen Titans, the Outsiders, the Justice League of America, and arch-villain Lex Luthor.

During the company-wide crossover series Infinite Crisis (2005), a sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths, Supergirl is transported to the 31st century, where she is revered as a member of the Superman family and joins the Legion of Super-Heroes. DC Comics renamed the monthly series Legion of Super-Heroes to Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes. Beginning with issue #16. In the limited series 52, which chronicles the events that took place during the missing year after the end of Infinite Crisis, Donna Troy recalls the original Kara Zor-El and her sacrifice to save the universe. Supergirl returns to the 21st century during the course of 52. After briefly filling in for a temporarily depowered Superman as guardian of Metropolis, she assumes the identity of Flamebird to fight crime in the bottle city of Kandor with Power Girl as Nightwing in Greg Rucka's arc Supergirl: Kandor.

In 2007, Supergirl appeared in the miniseries Amazons Attack! That same year, she joined the Teen Titans for five issues.

Conversations with other heroes who maintain secret identities lead Kara to the conclusion that she needs to make a deeper connection with human beings. She accepts Lana Lang's proposal to present her to the Daily Planet staff as "Linda Lang", Lana's teenaged niece.

In the 2008–2009 "New Krypton" story arc, in which Superman discovers and frees the real Kandor and a large number of its citizens, Supergirl is reunited with her father, Zor-El and mother, Alura, though Zor-El is killed by the villain Reactron. When a planet is formed that the Kryptonians call New Krypton, Kara is torn between her life on Earth, and her obligation to her mother, eventually joining the New Krypton Science Guild.

Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2009 miniseries Justice League: Cry for Justice, and the 2009–2010 storyline "Blackest Night". The New Krypton storyline would later be resolved in the "World of New Krypton", "Superman: Last Stand of New Krypton", "War of the Supermen" storylines, resulting in the destruction of New Krypton and seeing Supergirl mourn her people.

Supergirl subsequently appears in the 2010 "Brightest Day" storyline, the follow up to "Blackest Night"., where she joins the Justice League along with  Jesse Quick & Jade.

The New 52
In this continuity, Kara's ship lands in Smallville, Kansas but hurtles through the Earth and emerges in Siberia.

Kara has no memory of the destruction of Krypton, and believes it is only three days since her spacecraft was launched. She learns the truth about Krypton's destruction from Superman, and later journeys through a wormhole to Argo City, which she finds in orbit around a blue sun. She finds the city in ruins, with no explanation of how it met that fate, and is attacked by a female Worldkiller named Reign before the city plummets into the sun. When Reign and her fellow Worldkiller plan to enslave the Earth, Supergirl returns there to defeat them, and thus adopts Earth as her new home.

After several battles with supervillains, including the Worldkillers, superweapons of Kryptonian design, she accepts Krypton's destruction, but continues to grapple with her grief. Her desire to restore Krypton results in her being manipulated into nearly destroying the Earth by another Kryptonian whom she falls in love with. Upon realizing his manipulation, she kills him by driving Kryptonite through his heart, and succumbs to Kryptonite poisoning.

Following her poisoning, Supergirl departs the Earth to die alone. While adrift in interstellar space, she encounters a planet under attack by monsters, and quickly intervenes to save them, unaware that the entire planet is a trap by Brainiac. She is captured and restrained by Cyborg Superman, but after a struggle, manages to escape both Brainiac and Cyborg Superman. Returning to Earth, she is sent into the past by the Oracle alongside Superman and Superboy, where she ensures that a resurrected H'el cannot save Krypton, and sacrifices the planet and her family in order to save the universe.

Back on Earth, she encounters the assassin Lobo. Initially eager for a peaceful resolution, seeing a kind of kinship with him in their both being lone survivors of their respective worlds (although not truly aware of Lobo's circumstances), Kara's encounter with the Czarnian would reveal deep mental wounds, resulting in the unleashing of her rage and transformation into a Red Lantern. Driven insane by rage, Kara wanders space, attacking everyone in her way, until captured by several Green Lanterns and brought to Hal Jordan. Immediately recognizing a Kryptonian and unable to remove the power ring without killing her, he brings her to Guy Gardner, the leader of one of the two Red Lantern factions, who manages to restore her sanity.

After some time under Guy Gardner's tutelage and protecting the galaxy as a Red Lantern, after being discharged from the Red Lantern Corps (because Guy did not want for her to die needlessly against Atrocitus' splinter group), on her way back to Earth, Kara encounters the leader of the Worldkillers, who are revealed to be parasitic suits of armor. He attempts to assimilate Kara as his host, but she voluntarily subjects herself to Kryptonite poisoning in order to stop him, and eventually flies into the Sun and removes her power ring, killing her and removing him from her body. However, Kara is revealed to be immortal while in the Sun's core, and is restored to life without the power ring or any Kryptonite poisoning, immediately destroying the Worldkiller. She later helps Guy against Atrocitus and his Red Lantern splinter group.

Convergence and return of the Pre-Crisis version
During the Convergence story arc, the original Kara Zor-El who had sacrificed her life during Crisis on Infinite Earths makes an appearance on the amalgamated planet of Telos. At the end of the saga she volunteers herself to once again fight the Anti-Monitor but this time, with the help of her timeline's Barry Allen, the Pre-Flashpoint Superman (in tow with his pregnant wife, Lois Lane), and a repentant Parallax (Zero Hour Hal Jordan), vows to defeat him for the sake of the multiverse's continued existence. Without it being seen, those left on Telos discover the group was successful and all previous timelines (with the mysterious exception of the pre-Flashpoint/pre-New 52 DC universe) from DC history had been re-established, though the fate of the original Kara Zor-El and her fellows went unmentioned.

A few more details of the battle against the Anti-Monitor are later revealed during the New 52 comic mini-series (leading into DC's Rebirth event). After the defeat of Anti-Monitor, Pre-New 52 Clark and Lois decide to start life anew in the closest universe they can find (mysteriously yet unable to see their old universe even though the rest of the multiverse had been restored) while Pre-Crisis Kara Zor-El, along with her contemporary Barry Allen and Zero Hour Parallax/Hal Jordan, decide to find their place in the universe and go off to do so. Her fate as of that story arc is yet to be revealed.

DC Rebirth
After the events that led to the death of the New 52 version of Superman, 16-year-old Kara lives in National City with her adoptive parents, D.E.O. agents Jeremiah and Eliza Danvers, where she attends high school and works with the agency as led by Cameron Chase. As part of her civilian identity, Kara receives special glasses that darken her blond hair when posing as Kara Danvers. Kara also goes on an internship at Cat Grant's CATCO alongside Ben Rubel, whom she befriends.

In her opening arc "The Reign of the Cyborg Supermen", Kara discovers that the cyborg Zor-El, whom she had battled in her New 52 title, is still active and has rebuilt other Kryptonians (her mother Alura included), planning to take over Earth. Supergirl defeats them but vows to help her father regardless of his actions. After National City discovers Supergirl has kept Zor-El's "living" status a secret, they become untrustful of her. Director Bones takes advantage of the heroine's impopularity and, after taking control of the D.E.O., sends villains in an attempt to bring Kara down. She defeats all of them and regains trust from National City with Ben's help.

The Supergirl Who Laughs
Kara is later infected by The Batman Who Laughs toxin, causing her to turn evil and joining other infected as part of Laughs Secret Six before later being cured. She is fired from CatCo by Cat Grant and starts working at S.T.A.R. Labs.

Woman of Tomorrow
Journeying throughout the universe with Krypto, Kara celebrates her 21st birthday alone on a distant planet. Drunk in a bar, she is approached by a little girl named Ruthye and is asked to kill Krem (her father's murderer) in vengeance. Supergirl refuses but, when she is about to leave the planet, Krem attacks and severely wounds both her and Krypto, fleeing in Kara's ship. Kara begins her journey alongside Ruthye and, powerless, saves her space bus crew from a Karpane dragon by taking a red kryptonite drug which causes her to manifest flame wings.

Powers and abilities

Like all Kryptonians under a yellow sun, the current version of Kara Zor-El possesses virtually unlimited strength, stamina, and durability. She is able to fly and with super speed that she can also use on foot, similar to Superman and The Flash. Also like Superman, Supergirl possesses super senses, super-breath, and freeze breathe, as well as multiple forms of supervision (including X-Ray, Infrared, Telescopic, and Microscopic). Kara also has a bio-electric aura that enhances her near invulnerability and also protects her skin and her costume from dirt and tear; as such, Kara is perpetually clean. The Sun also provides Kara with a longer lifespan than that of a human being, to the point that she is effectively a biological immortal. Kara doesn't require food, water, or sleep to survive. She is also immune to most diseases, mental and physical, and would require a very strong strain to have a chance at affecting her.

In the rare instances that Kara is harmed by someone matching her strength or by the use of one of her weaknesses, she can heal almost instantaneously. Her power surpasses most other beings, though she can be overpowered by those who rival her strength such as Black Adam, Darkseid, Despero, Doomsday, Bizarro, Wonder Woman, and Superman.

In reality, Kara is actually older than her cousin, Clark, and spent time on Krypton before its destruction. As such (unlike Superman), she possesses memories of Kryptonian culture as well as her cousin's parents.

Continued exposure to a yellow Sun will slowly increase abilities. Many characters in the DC Universe have noted that Supergirl appears, at times, to be even more powerful than Superman himself. In answer to this, Superman states that this is because he has spent his entire life subconsciously suppressing his full powers in order to avoid hurting others, having been absorbing solar radiation since his infancy. Kara, not having such practice or experience, simply uses the full magnitude of her powers.

Abilities
Unlike her cousin, Kara was taught to fight in Krypton as part of her tests, and at the Crucible Academy, being adept at various Kryptonian fighting styles like Klurkor and Torquasm Rao. Supergirl also learned the art of Bagua under I-Ching's instructions. She practiced how to manipulate her Chi or Qi in order to gain better control of her powers due to them becoming overwhelmed after her conflict with the Fatal Five. Superman recommended guardianship with I-Ching to Supergirl first. In addition to training in Krypton, Kara was trained by Batman in advanced martial arts and trained with the Amazons in Themyscira in unarmed and armed combat, Amazonas martial arts, fencing, Shield handling, and other Amazon weapons. She trained with Wonder Woman and Artemis extensively.

Other versions

There are numerous alternate versions of Supergirl. The most notable is Power Girl (real name Kara Zor-L, also known as Karen Starr) who first appeared in All Star Comics #58 (January/February 1976).

Power Girl is the Earth-Two counterpart of Supergirl and the first cousin of Kal-L, Superman of the pre-Crisis Earth-Two. The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton. Although she left the planet at the same time that Superman did, her ship took much longer to reach Earth-Two.

She has superhuman strength and the ability to fly and is the first chairwoman of the Justice Society of America. She sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume; and has an aggressive fighting style. Throughout her early appearances in All Star Comics, she is often at odds with Wildcat because his penchant for talking to her as if she were an ordinary human female rather than a superpowered Kryptonian annoys her.

She also fought alongside the Sovereign Seven team, replacing Rampart after his death though that series is not considered to be part of canon in the DC universe.

The 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths eliminated Earth-Two, causing her origin to change; she became the granddaughter of the Atlantean sorcerer Arion. However, story events culminating in the 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe.

Like the original Kara's Streaky, Power Girl has a cat, featured in a story by Amanda Conner in Wonder Woman #600.

Reception
This version of Supergirl is ranked as the 153rd-greatest comic book character of all time by Wizard magazine.

IGN also ranked this version of Supergirl as the 94th-greatest comic book superhero, stating "for a character born of the Silver Age that saw everything from a Super Baby to a Super Monkey, Kara Zor-El grew into something much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an 'S' on." In 2013 IGN ranked Supergirl as the 17th-greatest DC comic superhero, stating "she was an early example of a female sidekick developing a large fanbase in her own right", and "Supergirl has been one of DC's most powerful heroes, and a standard to hold other female heroes against."

Appearances

Pre-Crisis
 1959 to 1969: Action Comics #252 to #376.
 1969 to 1972: Adventure Comics #381 to #424.
 1972 to 1974: Supergirl #1 to #10.
 1974 to 1982: Her comic merges with Jimmy Olsen's and Lois Lane's to become Superman Family #164 to #222.
 1982 to 1984: The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl #1 to #13, Supergirl (vol. 2) #14 to #23.
 2015: Convergence

Kara Zor-El appeared in over 750 stories published by DC from 1959 to 1985.

Post-Crisis

 2004 to 2005: Superman/Batman #8 to #13 and #19
 2005 to 2011: Supergirl (vol. 5) #0 to #67
 2006 to 2008: Supergirl and the Legion of Super-Heroes (Legion of Super-Heroes vol. 5) #16 to #37
 2007: Action Comics #850
 2008: Final Crisis
 2011 to 2015: New 52: Supergirl (vol. 6) #1 to #40
 2016 to current: Rebirth: Supergirl (vol. 7) #1 to current

Kara Zor-El also appears as a supporting character in several issues of other DC Comics, including Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Amazons Attack, World War III, and Wonder Girl. She has also appeared in many issues of Superman, Action Comics, and Superman New Krypton starting with the World Without Superman event in 2009, and continuing with the World Against Superman event going into 2010.

Collected editions
Listed in chronological order. All ages titles are not in continuity with the original or modern Kara.

In other media

Television

Live-action

Smallville
Prior to the seventh season (2007–2008) of the WB/CW show Smallville where she is introduced into the cast and is portrayed by Laura Vandervoort, a woman claiming to be Kara (portrayed by Adrianne Palicki) is briefly introduced in the season 3 finale. It is later revealed her real name is Lindsey Harrison, and had been given false memories and powers by the artificial intelligence of Clark Kent's (Tom Welling) father Jor-El as part of a series of tests. Vandervoort portrays the real Kara, Clark's cousin whose spaceship had been trapped in stasis until the events of the season 6 finale. Much of season 7 is concerned with Kara's attempts to adjust to life on Earth, especially after learning of Krypton's destruction. Her storyline sees her simultaneously become the object of Lex Luthor's (Michael Rosenbaum) obsessions and Jimmy Olsen's (Aaron Ashmore) affections, suffer a bout of amnesia, discover her father's (Christopher Heyerdahl) sinister motives and become a target of evil android Brainiac (James Marsters). The season finale sees Kara become trapped in the Phantom Zone. Starting with season 8, Vandervoort ceases to feature as a series regular, but reprises the role three more times. In her first guest appearance, "Bloodline," Kara is freed from the Phantom Zone and later departs Clark's hometown of Smallville to search for Kandor, her birthplace, as it is rumored to have survived their home planet's destruction. She appears again in the season 10 episode "Supergirl", in which she formally adopts her superhero moniker. Her off-screen adventures are alluded to thereafter. Vandervoort makes a final appearance in the show's penultimate episode, "Prophecy", in which she helps Green Arrow (Justin Hartley) locate the "Bow of Orion" to use against Darkseid. She is then called to the Fortress of Solitude, where she learns from Jor-El that her job on Earth is done. Using a Legion of Super-Heroes flight ring, she travels to the future to seek her own destiny. The Season Eleven comic book continuation of the show later depicts Kara's continued story in the 31st century, subsequent return to the present and joining the Justice League.

Arrowverse

 In September 2014, a 22-episode television series centered around Supergirl was in development at Warner Bros. Television, set to premiere on CBS with a January 2015 air date. Melissa Benoist was cast as the titular character. In May 2016, the series moved to The CW and was later integrated into the Arrowverse, a shared universe consisting of shows including Arrow, The Flash and Legends of Tomorrow. In the series, Kara Zor-El was sent to Earth to protect her cousin Kal-El, following her homeworld Krypton's destruction. However, she is knocked into the Phantom Zone, where she is stranded for 24 years. She eventually crash lands on Earth and is found by her already grown-up cousin Kal, now known to the world as the iconic superhero "Superman". Superman brings Kara into the custody of Jeremiah Danvers, director of the Department of Extranormal Operations (D.E.O.), and his daughter Alex. Growing up, Kara struggles to maintain her Kryptonian abilities as well as balancing her relationship with her adoptive sister. Eventually, the two bond when Kara's powers are exposed. However, Jeremiah decides it's best to isolate her abilities. As an adult, Kara is forced to use her powers again when her sister's plane almost crashes. She is later dubbed "Supergirl" by the media and dons a costume like her cousin. Kara decides to use her abilities to fight alien invaders such as Kara's aunt Astra and her husband Non, Mon-El's rogue parents, the Worldkiller Reign, anti-alien activist Ben Lockwood, and later the shadowy organization Leviathan, with the help of her sister Alex, now an agent of the D.E.O., her best friend and tech-expert Winn Schott, last of the Green Martians J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter, and Kal's best friend Jimmy Olsen. She is later joined by Lex Luthor's sister Lena, Prince of Daxam Mon-El, former Legion of Superheroes member Querl "Brainy" Dox / Brainiac 5, Nia Nal / Dreamer, James' younger sister Kelly, and reporter Willam Dey face against these rival forces. After joining the Arrowverse, which contain annual crossover, Kara assists Barry Allen, Oliver Queen and the Legends of Tomorrow against threats on their designated earth "Earth-1" while Kara’s is designated as "Earth-38. Later, Kara is selected by The Monitor as the Paragon of Hope to participate in the coming crisis and fight against the Anti-Monitor, whose goal is to destroy the multiverse. After doing so, the Paragons are sent to the Vanishing Point where Oliver, now a Spectre, helps them escape. The Paragons appear at the dawn of time in the anti-matter universe where they have their final confrontation with the Anti-Monitor. Eventually, Oliver sacrifices himself to kill the Anti-Monitor, and as a result, a new multiverse is born with Earth-38 and Earth-1 merged into "Earth-Prime". Following the crisis, Kara is forced to deal the after-effects of Crisis which include working with Lex, now owning the D.E.O. while Leviathan continue their covert operations under Gamemnae. The sixth season sees Kara and her allies expose Lex's crimes, but are then forced to deal with Nyxlygsptlnz, a fifth-dimensional imp who tricked the heroes into releasing her from the Phantom Zone. Eventually Nyxlygsptlnz joins forces with Lex Luthor and the two kill William, but Kara's assembled allies are able to defeat the two, culminating in Lex and Nyxlygsptlnz being trapped in the Phantom Zone when one of their own plans backfires. The series concludes with Kara revealing her dual identity so that she can live a full life as one person.

Animation

DC Nation Shorts
Supergirl appears with Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, voiced by Nicole Sullivan.

DC Super Hero Girls
Supergirl appears as a central protagonist in the web series DC Super Hero Girls voiced by Anais Fairweather, and is a student at Super Hero High, is very kind and caring and extremely powerful but she's also very clumsy.

She also appears as a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts. In this version, she is also a rebel and is known as the "cool kid" in school. She may be tough but she can easily express her emotions and is very open-minded as well. She can be a cool friend and a helpful one, but she can also be jealous sometimes and she dislikes her cousin's prominence.

Justice League Action
Supergirl appears in Justice League Action, voiced by Joanne Spracklen. She has the appearance of a wide-eyed human teenager with blonde hair and wears her traditional costume except that it has thigh-high boots and a pleated skirt. As a person, she is youthful, responsible, and shows much affection for her cousin Superman. In "Party Animal", she appears as a cameo at this Christmas party with the Justice League. In "Keeping up with the Kryptonians", Supergirl becomes a star of the popular reality show "That's So Kara", and Superman a Kasnian who rules from one place to another on Earth, all being a reality caused by Mister Mxyzptlk. In "Unleashed", Supergirl accompanies Justice League in stopping Red Lantern Corps, unaware that it was a distraction made by Dex-Starr to invade Earth, until it was ultimately resolved by Krypto, Streaky, and Plastic Man. In a short "The Goddess Must Be Crazy", Supergirl trains with Wonder Woman in Paradise Island, until she is possessed by Felix Faust, to destroy the island.

Film

Superman film series
 A live action depiction of Supergirl first appears in the eponymous 1984 film starring Helen Slater as Supergirl. The film is a spin-off from the Superman film series starring Christopher Reeve, to which it is connected by Marc McClure's character of Jimmy Olsen.

DC Extended Universe
 Kara Zor-El / Linda Danvers / Supergirl exists within the DC Extended Universe, as she was referenced in Man of Steel when Kal-El / Clark Kent / Superman discovers an empty pod within the Kryptonian scout spaceship. Though Zack Snyder confirmed in August 2018 that even though the character does exist, that pod was not intended for her.
 In August 2018, a film centered around the character was announced to be in development, with Oren Uziel hired as screenwriter for the project. The studio intends to hire a female director, with Reed Morano—who has expressed interest in the project—being its top choice. Filming was expected to start production in early 2020.
Sasha Calle will play Supergirl for the DC Extended Universe in The Flash.

Animation
 Summer Glau voices the post-Crisis version of Kara Zor-El in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, which is based on the Superman/Batman storyline "The Supergirl from Krypton". Despite this, it was confirmed by director Lauren Montgomery that Supergirl's name was removed from the title due to the much slower sales of the previous Wonder Woman animated movie, and the character was not permitted to appear on the cover in her trademark outfit.
 Molly Quinn voices Supergirl in Superman: Unbound.
 Supergirl appears in Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Cosmic Clash, voiced by Jessica DiCicco.

Video games
 Supergirl appears in DC Universe Online, voiced by Adriene Mishler. In the villain campaign, the players help Doctor Psycho capture Supergirl using Kryptonite. In the hero campaign, the players fight Doctor Psycho to save Supergirl. Under the thrall of Brainiac, she must be defeated in the Fortress of Solitude: Power Core raid.
 Supergirl is unlockable in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, voiced by Bridget Hoffman.
 Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card.
 Supergirl appears as a playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, voiced by Kari Wahlgren. She is playable in her default variant which is designed after her appearance in The New 52 and in her Classic attire. Her Classic variant is unlocked in a VR Mission while her New 52 variant is unlocked in a Hub Quest in Nok where she requests players to defeat a number of enemies she accidentally releases from their cells.
 Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington.
 Supergirl appears as a playable character and the central protagonist in Injustice 2 by NetherRealm Studios, the sequel to Injustice: Gods Among Us, voiced by Laura Bailey. Here her origin is much like in the comics where she is sent along with her cousin Kal-El to Earth by her mother after Krypton is destroyed but on separate pods where hers veers off-course after sustaining significant damage, stranding her in space for many years until she lands on Earth, unaged. When the main storyline starts, she is residing on Black Adam's kingdom of Khandaq, apparently under his and Wonder Woman's protection. When Brainiac who was responsible for Krypton's destruction attacks, she, Wonder Woman, and Black Adam attempt to free Superman and the remaining members of the Regime, while being interrupted in their efforts by new Insurgency recruits Blue Beetle and Firestorm until Batman himself arrives and releases Superman, leading to a temporary alliance between the Regime and Insurgency against the alien warlord. Over the course of the story, she learns the truth about her cousin's tyranny and at the end of the game sides with Batman, Green Lantern and Flash in letting Brainiac live in order to restore the lost cities but is defeated. In Batman's ending, she laments her cousin's tyranny and sees him leave to be imprisoned in the Phantom Zone and is offered membership by Batman in his Justice League. In Superman's ending, she is imprisoned aboard Brainiac's ship and to her shock discovers her cousin has bonded with it and when she refuses his offer to join him in leading his new legion of imprisoned species. He attempts to coerce her by revealing a brainwashed Batman, who had also been captured, further shocking her.
 Supergirl appears as a limited-distribution minifigure for the toys-to-life video game Lego Dimensions, with Kari Wahlgren reprising her role. She has the ability to transform between her classic and Red Lantern forms.
 Supergirl appears as a playable character in DC Unchained.
 Supergirl appears in the PSP version of Justice League Heroes.
 Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains.

See also
 Alternative versions of Supergirl
 Laurel Gand

References

External links
DC Comics

Pre-Crisis Supergirl Chronology

Supergirl
Characters created by Otto Binder
Comics characters introduced in 1958
Comics characters introduced in 1959
DC Comics aliens
DC Comics American superheroes
DC Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds
DC Comics characters with accelerated healing
DC Comics characters with superhuman strength
DC Comics deities
DC Comics female superheroes
DC Comics film characters
DC Comics television characters
DC Comics extraterrestrial superheroes
Female characters in television
Fictional characters with superhuman senses
Fictional actors
Fictional extraterrestrial–human hybrids
Fictional orphans
Fictional photographers
Fictional refugees
Fictional reporters
Fictional school counselors
Fictional American secret agents
Fictional waiting staff
Kryptonians
Superheroes who are adopted
Vigilante characters in comics
The Incheon Korean Music Wave is an annual music festival held at the Incheon Munhak Stadium in Incheon, South Korea and broadcast on MBC. The event is organized by HH Company and features South Korea's top artists.

History 
The first festival was held at the Incheon Munhak Stadium on September 5, 2009. The event was organized to commemorate the Visit Incheon 2009 campaign and was also part of the Global Fair & Festival Incheon 2009 event calendar. The concert was originally scheduled to take place on August 22, but due to the death of former South Korean president, Kim Dae-jung, it was moved to September 5.

Festivals

2009
Date: September 5, 2009
Hosts: Tiffany and Yuri of Girls' Generation, Oh Sang-jin
Performers: Girls' Generation, Kara, Shinee, Super Junior, Rain, M, 2PM, F.T. Island, Brown Eyed Girls, Jewelry, Baek Jiyoung, Younha, Lee Jung-hyun, Chae Yeon

2010
Date: August 29, 2010
Hosts: Tiffany and Yuri of Girls' Generation, Oh Sang-jin
Performers: BoA, SE7EN, Super Junior, Taeyang, 2PM, Girls' Generation, Kara, Son Dambi, SHINee, Brown Eyed Girls, SG Wannabe, F.T. Island, After School, CNBLUE, Supernova, U-KISS, 4Minute, BEAST, MBLAQ, SECRET

2011
Date: August 13, 2011
Hosts: Tiffany and Yuri of Girls' Generation, Oh Sang-jin
Performers: Super Junior, Girls' Generation, 2PM, 2NE1, BEAST, Kara, SHINee, 2AM, f(x), miss A, T-ara, MBLAQ, F.T. Island, 4Minute, SECRET, SISTAR, Infinite, Teen Top, ZE:A

2012
The event was cancelled due to expenses. HH Company, the event's organizer, posted an apology on the event's official website and issued refunds.

2013
Date: September 1, 2013
Hosts: Tiffany and Yuri of Girls' Generation
Performers: Super Junior, Girls' Generation, BEAST, SISTAR, Kara, MBLAQ, miss A, Teen Top, 2AM, ZE:A, SECRET, EXO, B.A.P, Rainbow, Boyfriend, T-ara, BTOB, A-JAX, BTS, Girl's Day, F.T. Island

See also

List of music festivals in South Korea
List of pop festivals

References

   

Incheon
Music festivals established in 2009
Pop music festivals
Music festivals in South Korea
Rock festivals in South Korea
K-pop festivals
Annual events in South Korea The fictional superheroine Supergirl has been adapted into pop culture several times since 1984. This includes a feature film and several animated and live-action television programs.

Film

Supergirl (1984)

A feature film adaptation Supergirl was released in 1984, starring Helen Slater in her first motion picture role. Supergirl was a spin-off from the popular 1978 film Superman, and Marc McClure reprises his role of Jimmy Olsen. The movie performed poorly at the box office and failed to impress critics or audiences; Peter O'Toole received a Golden Raspberry Award nomination for Worst Actor for his performance, while Faye Dunaway received a Worst Actress nomination for hers. Prior to its release, Supergirl was expected to be the first film of a series, and Helen Slater had a contract for three films, but Supergirls failure at the box office cancelled plans for a Supergirl II.

Superman III
Supergirl was originally planned for Superman III, in a treatment written by Ilya Salkind. In a bizarre twist from the comics, Supergirl was to be the surrogate daughter of Brainiac (who later is possessively in love with her) who falls in love with Superman, who in the film was to be portrayed as her lover instead of cousin, contrary to all previous depictions.

Movie 43
Kristen Bell parodies Supergirl in a comedy segment of Movie 43.

DC Extended Universe
A reference of Kara Zor-El is seen in Man of Steel where Clark sees one space pod open in the Fortress of Solitude.

A Supergirl film centered around Kara Zor-El / Supergirl, was announced to be in development with Oren Uziel penning the script. The studio intends to hire a female director, with Reed Morano—who has expressed interest in the project—being its top choice. Filming was expected to start production in early 2020.

The Flash director Andy Muschietti announced that Supergirl will make her debut in the film with Sasha Calle portraying her. Calle was first spotted filming The Flash as Supergirl in London in June 2021, and was compared to the characters of Cir-El and Lara Lane Kent (a Supergirl from the Injustice universe).

Television

Super Friends

Although not appearing in the show, she did appear in some of the related comics with the show.

DC Animated Universe

Superman: The Animated Series

Supergirl first appears, voiced by Nicholle Tom, in the two-part Superman: The Animated Series episode "Little Girl Lost" as Kara In-Ze''' from Krypton's "sister world" of Argos. The character is depicted as a headstrong and independent teenage girl who was placed in suspended animation before the conditions on Argos became inhospitable.

Season Two was extended an extra two episodes solely to accommodate a story with Supergirl; producer Bruce Timm said, "We actually had to steal two episodes from 'Batman'. They had a Supergirl toy coming from Kenner, so they allowed us to do those [episodes]." Bruce Timm and Paul Dini intended to use the original Supergirl, Kara Zor-El, but were denied by DC Comics, due to DC's then-present edict that Superman was to remain the only surviving Kryptonian."We wanted a take on her that was not the current version, (where she was) some sort of alien who is combined with a human girl and is all confused and angst-ridden, and we didn’t want to do the blob of protoplasm that takes the shape of Supergirl’s form. We wanted to do the original version, which is Superman’s cousin from Krypton. We ran into a wall with DC because they insisted that Superman be the last Kryptonian. So we did a compromise: she’s from a small planet in the neighboring system that was colonized by Kryptonians, but they’ve evolved slightly differently. -- Paul Dini, The Justice League Watchtower: Supergirl. Retrieved on 14 September 2008.

The daughter of planetary chief physician Kala In-Ze (In-Ze was the last name of Kara Zor-El's mother Allura), Kara was the only survivor of her world, the rest having died when their suspended animation units suffered damage over time. While on a space exploration trip, Superman discovers Argos and consequently Kara. Clark arranges for the Kents to take Kara in while she adjusts to life on Earth, and upon visiting Clark in Metropolis, she wears glasses and a brunette wig with a ponytail to pose as Clark's cousin Kara Kent. This Supergirl shares Superman's vulnerability to kryptonite; she also suffers from cheimatophobia (fear of cold), due to her experiences prior to her time in suspended animation. Kara is written as eager to take up a position at the right hand of Superman, but Superman thinks she is too young and unready, despite the fact that she and Jimmy Olsen, who struck up a friendship at once, were critical in ferreting out an early connection between Intergang and Granny Goodness. Kara becomes friends with Batgirl in The New Batman Adventures episode "Girls' Nite Out", though their meeting is played for laughs and the girls depicted as somewhat inept.

She has a red, white and blue costume. She continues to use that same costume in her first appearance in the first episode of Justice League Unlimited, where Nicholle Tom reprises her voice-acting role. In the third season of JLU, Supergirl appears in a new outfit, (the more traditional blue shirt with red miniskirt) that resembles Kara Zor-El's post-Crisis costume. Plus, She becomes an excellent hand-to-hand combatant, having trained in various forms of unarmed fighting such as Taekwondo, Kickboxing, Karate, etc.

Justice League
In "Hereafter, Part 1" she appeared as a tearful cameo at her elder first cousin's funeral, on the left of his adopted human parents, Jonathon and Martha Kent, with Lana Lang on their right and was in the procession with thousands others who went to pay their last heartfelt respects to the Man of Steel. Later, when the six remaining members were discussing additional membership, Hawkgirl had asked "is Supergirl old enough?"

In "Comfort and Joy" Kara was seen in a family picture with Clark next to her and John and Martha below. In front of the photograph, Clark asked Johnathon and Martha "Where's Kara?" to which they said that she is "Skiing with Barbara" but would be back for movies. Clark then offered Martian Manhunter her room.

Justice League Unlimited
It is revealed that scientists from Project Cadmus create Galatea, an evil clone of the program's Supergirl (Kara) for nefarious purposes. The clone is a more mature version of Kara, and in appearance and costume is a homage to Power Girl. Kara, accompanied by Green Arrow and Question travel to S.T.A.R. Labs to investigate. From this episode on, Green Arrow becomes a sort of father figure to Kara and frequently discusses her with Superman. In the episode "Far From Home", Green Arrow tells Superman that he and Black Canary planned on bringing Supergirl out to celebrate her twenty-first birthday. With the re-introduction of Kara Zor-El to regular DC continuity, she is also referred to once again as Superman's cousin, but as an adoptive one.

In the episode "Chaos at the Earth's Core", Supergirl has a new costume with a blue shirt and red skirt. This color scheme resembles Superman's costume palette.

In "Far From Home", Supergirl, along with Green Lantern and Green Arrow, encounter Legion of Super-Heroes members Brainiac 5 and Bouncing Boy. They have brought the three modern heroes to the 31st century to aid them in defeating the Fatal Five, who have implanted mind control in all Legionnaires. However, Brainiac 5 tells Green Lantern and Green Arrow that 30th century history says that Supergirl never returned to her own time; Brainiac 5 and Bouncing Boy assume this indicates that she will die while on this mission. As Kara experiences the technology and society of the 30th century, which is similar to that of her lost homeworld, she becomes more and more conflicted about returning to the past, where she has never felt that she fits in. Finally, she and Brainiac 5 develop romantic feelings for each other, and when Green Lantern and Green Arrow prepare to return to the past, she tells them that 30th century history will be fulfilled since she is staying in the future as a member of the Legion. DC Comics introduced Kara into their Legion of Superheroes monthly comic soon after renaming it 'Supergirl and the Legion of Superheroes.' Kara had also been a member of the Legion prior to her first comic incarnation's death in 'Crisis on Infinite Earths.' She also had a relationship with Brainiac 5 during this time. In the universe of the Justice League Unlimited tie-in comics, Kara apparently remains in the 21st Century, as she is still part of the Justice League (wearing her original costume) after Huntress is allowed back into the League (which doesn't happen during the show's run).

Smallville Legends: Kara and the Chronicles of KryptonKara and the Chronicles of Krypton will be the fourth set of videos of the Smallville Legends web series. In these animated shorts, we see Kara during the Kryptonian Civil War which led eventually to her planet's destruction. She is the daughter of Zor-El and lives in the city of Kandor in contrast to previous versions of the character that lived in Argo. Zor-El is a prominent figure in the war and so Kara is in the middle of the chaos. The webisodes are featured on the Smallville Complete Season 7 DVD set as a bonus feature.

Justice League: The New Frontier
Supergirl also appears in a brief background cameo appearance in the Direct-to-DVD animated film Justice League: The New Frontier. She is seen during the famous speech made by John F. Kennedy along with many other characters just before the closing credits.

Superman/Batman Apocalypse
Kara Zor-El appears in Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, based on the second storyline from the Superman/Batman comic series, "The Supergirl from Krypton". The film depicts her arrival on Earth and adjustment to life on the new planet. During the movie she is kidnapped and brainwashed by Darkseid before Superman frees her and takes her back to earth.  She is voiced by actress Summer Glau.

Super Best Friends Forever

Supergirl appears alongside Batgirl and Wonder Girl in Super Best Friends Forever, a series of shorts developed by Lauren Faust for the DC Nation block on Cartoon Network. She is voiced by Nicole Sullivan.

Superman: Unbound
Molly C. Quinn voices Supergirl in Superman: Unbound, an adaptation of Superman: Brainiac. Kara and her parents narrowly escaped Kandor before it was shrunken and abducted by Brainiac, leaving her with PTSD. She arrived on Earth a few months before the film's beginning and is still adjusting to life on Earth and her baby cousin being older than her due to the difference in how long their rockets spent in space. Kara prefers to use her powers to save people from dictators rather than fight ordinary criminals. Kara is greatly reluctant to face Brainiac again, even with super powers, but eventually summons the courage to help her cousin fight him.

DC Super Hero Girls
Supergirl appears as a central protagonist in the web series DC Super Hero Girls where she is a student at Super Hero High. She is voiced by Anais Fairweather.

She also appears a central protagonist in the 2019 TV series, with Nicole Sullivan reprising her role from the Super Best Friends Forever shorts.

Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Cosmic Clash
Supergirl appears as a new member of the Justice League in the animated movie Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Cosmic Clash, voiced by Jessica DiCicco.

Justice League Action
Supergirl appears in Justice League Action, voiced by Joanne Spracklen.

Teen Titans Go! To the Movies
Supergirl appears in Teen Titans Go! To the Movies, voiced by Meredith Salenger. She is at the superhero movie premiere wearing Plastic Man as a dress

Live action

Smallville
A girl calling herself Kara (played by Adrianne Palicki) appears in the Smallville television series episode "Covenant", claiming to be from Krypton, although she does not call herself Supergirl or Kara Zor-El or even claim to be Kal-El's cousin. When Lana Lang asked who she was, Clark Kent claimed she was a visiting cousin. She was revealed at episode's end to be Lindsey Harrison, a human empowered and controlled by Kryptonian technology as part of Jor-El's plan to influence Clark.

The actual Supergirl character appears in the program's seventh season, beginning with the season premiere. She is played by actress Laura Vandervoort. Kara was sent from Krypton at the same time as was Kal-El to look after him, but was trapped under a dam during the first meteor shower and was in suspended animation for the past 18 years. After the dam is broken, Kara Zor-El is freed. As the daughter of Zor-El, she is Clark's Kryptonian cousin, and hence possesses the same powers. Though she has also mastered flight, she, like her comic book counterpart, lacks the control Clark has developed over his years of dealing with humans. For example, she is unaware of the more subtle super-hearing until taught to use it by Clark. Though chronologically older than Clark (she was sixteen years old at the time of Clark's birth), her time in suspended animation leaves her with the appearance of a girl in her mid-to-late teens.

Kara explains that Clark was not made aware of her existence because their respective fathers were not on good terms, exemplified by Jor-El's distrust when informed of her arrival by Clark. The Martian Manhunter AKA John Jones is similarly distrustful of her, as Kara is of him, claiming that Zor-El attempted to have Jor-El assassinated. In the episode "Lara", it is revealed the Martian Manhunter was correct about her father. Zor-El had tried to kill his brother out of the love he had for Jor-El's wife, Lara. Kara witnessed an incident where Zor-El attempted to force Lara to leave Jor-El and love him. Zor-El had erased her memories, causing her to believe he was a good man until now. Realizing she was wrong about her father, she puts her memories of him aside and remains with Clark on the farm. At the end of the episode "Blue", when a double of Zor-El is defeated, Kara is involuntarily teleported to Detroit with a case of amnesia.

After being taken in by a waitress, she works at a diner for several weeks, and eventually takes on the name of "Linda." Her memories and powers remain mysteriously gone, as Clark brings her back to Smallville. However, he decides to hide her Kryptonian identity from her, hiding her Kryptonian bracelet. Because of this, by the episode "Hero" she becomes drawn to Lex, moving in with him, because of Clark and Lana's secrecy.

In the episode "Traveler", Kara's memory and powers are restored by Jor-El making her able to save Clark, who was imprisoned in a Kryptonite cell. In the following episode, entitled "Veritas", Kara attempts to teach Clark how to fly so as to further his chances of surviving a confrontation with the newly restored Brainiac. When Kara resists Brainiac's offer of help in restoring Krypton, Lana falls victim to Brainiac's brain-probe. This, in turn, prompts Kara to voluntarily travel into space with Brainiac, and she is last seen entering hyperspace high above Earth. In the seventeenth episode titled "Sleeper", Kara is discovered to be on Krypton, in the year 1986. In the episode 18, "Apocalypse", we see Kara on an alternative universe where Kal-El never made it to Earth. Kara was found and raised by Lex and Lionel Luthor, and took on the name Linda Danvers, being head of DDS (Department of Domestic Security). There, when she finds Clark from the original Smallville universe, she reveals that was sent to Earth to kill him. Back in the year 1986, Kara is fighting Brainiac, when she is helped by Clark, destroys Brainiac, and make it to Earth again.

It is finally discovered in the season finale "Arctic", that the real Kara never made it back to Earth and is trapped in the Phantom Zone, and that Brainiac had been impersonating her. In episode 8 of season 8, "Bloodline", Clark and Lois are transported into the Phantom Zone where they are mistakenly attacked by Kara. She later reveals a portal that can allow one to exit the Phantom Zone but she has not done so, fearing the escape of other prisoners. She activates the portal to allow Clark and Lois back but both she and Clark are defeated by Faora, General Zod's wife. With Chloe's help, they make it back to Smallville where Kara helps Clark defeat Faora by using the Martian Manhunter's crystal to separate Faora from Lois Lane's body. In the end, she leaves Smallville, flying into space, where she has gone to look for Kandor after hearing rumors of its survival of the destruction of Krypton.

She appears again in the season 10 episode entitled "Supergirl" where she disguises herself as a hero. Later in the episode, she helps Clark by repelling Darkseid and later puts on glasses and a wig to protect her identity. In Episode 20 of that season Jor-El tells Kara she must disappear from this time period, since it must be Kal-El's time only. Reluctantly Kara puts on a Legion ring and goes to the 31st century, never really saying good bye to Clark.

Arrowverse

By September 2014, Warner Bros. Television was looking to create a television series centered around Supergirl. Executive producers for the series include Greg Berlanti (also a creator/producer for Arrow and The Flash), Ali Adler, who are both writing the script, and Berlanti Productions' Sarah Schechter. DC Comics’ Geoff Johns is also expected to be part of the project. Titles under consideration for the series included Super and Girl. Berlanti confirmed the show shortly after, and stated it was in development and had yet to be pitched to networks. On September 19, it was announced that CBS had landed the series Supergirl with a series commitment. The series will see a 24-year-old Kara Zor-El come out of hiding to become a superhero. The series follows Kara Zor-El, who is taken in by the Danvers family when she was 12, after being sent away from Krypton. The Danvers teach her to be careful with her powers, until she has to reveal them during an unexpected disaster, setting her on her journey of heroism. In November 2014, Berlanti stated that the series could also exist in the same universe as Arrow and The Flash. In January 2015, it was announced that Melissa Benoist was cast as Supergirl.

In the series, initially set on Earth-38 in the multiverse as depicted in the Arrowverse, Kara was sent to Earth to protect her cousin, Kal-El. But Krypton's explosion knocked her ship off course into the Phantom Zone, remaining in stasis for twenty years while remaining her age until she reached Earth and was found by a full-grown Kal-El - know publicly as Superman. Kara spends her remaining her teenage years with the Danvers family at Superman's suggestion, deciding to live a normal life while she and her adapted sister Alex move to National City. However, Kara was forced to reveal herself to save an crashing airplane and was later recruited by the Department of Extra-Normal Operations, a secret agency Alex works for. Kara helps the DEO chase down a number of alien criminals that Kara inadvertently helped escaped the Phantom Zone and later threats that include CADMUS, a Daxamite invasion, Reign, and Lex Luthor.

Benoist first appears outside her series in the second season of The Flash, later returning in the Arrowverse's 2016 multi-series crossover Invasion!. When the Arrowverse Earth-1 is attacked by the alien Dominators, Barry Allen recruits to Kara to help him and his Earth's heroes in opposing the invasion. After the battle concludes, Kara is given a device by Cisco Ramon that will allow her to travel back and forth to Earth-1, as well as call the other heroes for assistance if required.

Kara also plays a key role in the 2017 multi-show crossover Crisis on Earth-X, attends Barry and Iris's wedding before the group are attacked by Nazi soldiers from Earth-X under the command of that reality's Oliver Queen with support from Eobard Thawne. The Earth-X Oliver Queen seeks to capture Kara to transplant her heart into his wife and Kara's Earth-X counterpart, 'Overgirl', as she is dying from unintentionally overloading herself with solar energy. But Kara manages to escape being operated and participate in the final battle Earth-1's heroes and Earth-Xs' forces, taking Overgirl into the upper atmosphere as she was about to detonate in a nuclear-level explosion. Kara later returns in the later multi-show crossovers Elseworlds and Crisis on Infinite Earths, with her Earth-38 incorporated into Earth-Prime at the end of the latter.

Video games

Justice League Heroes
Supergirl first appeared in the PSP version of Justice League Heroes as an unlockable character, voiced by Tara Strong.

DC Universe Online
Supergirl appears in the DC Universe Online video game, voiced by Adrienne Mishler.

Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes
Supergirl appears as a playable character in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes, voiced by Bridget Hoffman.

Injustice: Gods Among Us
Supergirl makes a cameo appearance in the IOS version of Injustice: Gods Among Us as a support card.

Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham
Supergirl appears as a playable character in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, voiced by Kari Wahlgren.

Infinite Crisis
Supergirl appears as a playable character in Infinite Crisis, voiced by Camilla Luddington, with the Arcane Supergirl voiced by India de Beaufort.

Injustice 2
Supergirl appears as a playable character in Injustice 2, voiced by Laura Bailey. In the story, her escape pod is retrieved by Black Adam after the events of the first game. She is trained by Black Adam and Wonder Woman into perfecting her powers as they tell her stories of her cousin, inspiring her to become Supergirl. After the Regime and Insurgency ally with each other to take out Brainiac (who was responsible for Krypton's destruction), Kara discovers what the Regime has truly done on the planet and is appalled by her cousin's actions. She and Batman infiltrate Brainiac's ship to stop the tyrant, and when Batman and Superman argue with each other over the Brainiac's fate, she allies herself with Batman, believing that her cousin is behaving more like General Zod than Jor-El. She is also the last opponent defeated by Superman before Batman. She appears in both of the game's endings, where she will either become a part of Batman's Justice League to recapture what her cousin stood for before Lois' death, or will be imprisoned by Superman until she becomes a part of his Regime. In her single player ending, she works with the Justice League to revive the Kryptonian civilizations of Argo City and Kandor.

Lego Dimensions
Supergirl appears as a playable character in Lego Dimensions via a limited-distribution minifigure, with Kari Wahlgren reprising her role.

Lego DC Super-Villains
Supergirl appears as a playable character in the DC TV Super-Heroes DLC pack in Lego DC Super-Villains.

Music
 The song "That's Really Super, Supergirl" appears on the alternative rock/psychedelic band XTC's album Skylarking (1986, Geffen Records).
 Pop singer Krystal Harris sings a song "Supergirl" that appears on the soundtrack of the Disney movie The Princess Diaries.
 Pop singer Jessica Simpson's song "With You" includes the lyrics, "I wish I could save the world, like I was Supergirl!".
 Saving Jane released an album, SuperGirl, which included a song of the same name in 2008.
 The song "Supergirl" is written by Robbie Gennet. John Cougar Mellencamp, Hilary Duff, Reamonn and Papaya have also recorded different songs called "Supergirl". The Gin Blossoms recorded a song titled "Super Girl" for their 2006 album Major Lodge Victory. Multiple references are made to flight and other super powers.
 The song "Super Sexy Woman", appearing on the 2000 album A Sun Came by Sufjan Stevens, is about Supergirl, explicitly referencing "Superman's cousin."
 The musician Donovan recorded a song called "Superlungs (My Supergirl)". It appears on the album Barabajagal, as well as in alternate version bonus tracks on the remastered CD releases of Sunshine Superman and Mellow Yellow.
 "Supergirl" is a pop song recorded by Hilary Duff for her fourth album, Most Wanted'' (2005). It is exclusive to the Collector's Edition of the album and was released as the third single in 2006 in the United States, and was written by Kara DioGuardi and Greg Wells.
 "Supergirl" is a song & titled album by Pop/R&B singer Angela Via in 2007.
 Norwegian rock band Minor Majority have a song named "Supergirl".
 In the song "Superman" by Stereophonics, the lyrics "... so you can sleep with a teenage blonde" can be heard, referencing Supergirl in the comic books.
 Christina Aguilera's song "Keeps Getting Better" contains the lyrics "Next day I'm your Supergirl out to save the world" as part of the chorus.
 "Supergirl" is Suzie McNeil's 4th single from her album Rock-n-Roller released in 2009.
 Graham Bonney had a hit in the UK, Germany and elsewhere with "Supergirl" in 1966.

Literature
In Larry Niven's essay "Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex", he speculated on Supergirl being used as the surrogate mother for a child of Superman and Lois Lane to preserve the Kryptonian race.

References

External links
 www.dccomics.com

Supergirl