She’s known as many things – Superman’s cousin, Linda Lee, The Girl of Steel, The Maiden of Might. But, Supergirl became synonymous with so much more than eponymous nicknames. To young, impressionable girls and women, she became synonymous with strength, joy and endurance. In a world long-protected by Superman, Batman and Aquaman, Kara Zor-El shattered the glass ceiling to bring her citizens newfound hope and security.
Stepping out of her cousin’s shadow led Supergirl on a lengthy path of progression and change. From her humble beginnings as Superman’s hidden secret to the upcoming rebellion of her 2026 solo movie, Kara has known what it is to struggle – and to prevail each and every time. Supergirl has faced existential threats, grappled with the grief her cousin never saw, sacrificed herself to save the fate of every universe – and still had the time to be a working woman, in roles like a student advisor and actor. She could do everything Superman could – and be a shining example of female empowerment, all at the same time.
But, as we all know, creating a female character that has for so long been sheltered under the male gaze has its blind spots. Whether it’s a less progressive outfit-choice, various misadventures born from love interests or just simply her name ‘Supergirl,‘ a lot of work has gone into crafting a more modern heroine, reflective of true female representation.
This is Supergirl’s comic-book legacy, as she blazed her trail from conception in the 1950s through to her glorious uprising in 2026.
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IGN once described Supergirl as “much more than simply another marketing ploy to slap an ‘S’ on.” And since her creation in the 1950s, Kara has been charting a course of individuality across the universe. She was the brainchild of Otto Binder, best known for his work on Superman titles and the Legion of Super Heroes and designer Al Plastino, one of the original designers of the classic Superman. During the 1950s, their work spawned many iconic characters and stories, including evil genius Brainiac – and the Supergirl we all know and love. Plastino’s wife also had a hand in her creation, giving the heroine a uniquely female origin.
Supergirl first made her debut, under their collective hand, in May 1959 in Action Comics #252, entitled The Supergirl from Krypton. During this feature, Supergirl’s origin story began to take shape and form, granting her a harder edge than her more silver-spoon-fed cousin. It detailed how Kara was born and raised in Argo City, a shard of Krypton that survived destruction. However, after the city is doomed by a meteor shower, she is sent to Earth to be raised by Superman. It is in this story that she donned her iconic identity as orphan Linda Lee. However, she was unable to completely be freed of Superman’s mighty shadow. Wanting to keep her on the down-low, Superman promised that Kara would be a ‘secret weapon,’ and that he would call on her when she was needed. However, this doesn’t stop Supergirl from covertly using her powers, saving her cousin on many occasions! It was a debut that cemented Supergirl as a formidable source of power, but yet again had her hiding under the forces of her cousin.
Throughout the 60s, Supergirl would become a familiar name in Superman’s stories. After her debut, she became a regular fixture with captivating tales to tell; she would join the Legion of Super-Heroes, just like Superman, as well as becoming a partner-in-crime (not literally!) of Batgirl, after their first meeting in 1967. And, after becoming Linda Lee Danvers following her adoption by the Danvers family, Superman would go onto introduce her – to her Super-family and to the entire world. In this February 1962 edition of Action Comics, she would come into her own, an equal force to that of her cousin. With a scarlet cape and punching fist, Supergirl hit the headlines. And it wasn’t long until she was flying solo.
After sharing a decade of comic book pages with her cousin, Supergirl was transferred to become the lead of Adventure Comics. At the end of the 60s, Supergirl was entering the 70s a strong, independent woman. Well, with some slight hiccups. After Joe Orlando and Mike Sekowsky structured her 1971 reboot, Linda was now a camera operator in San Francisco, with a girlish crush on her boss. However, this innocence was shattered by the arrival of an era-defining villain, Lex Luthor‘s niece, Nasty. Linda would out her own battles against fresh villains for the rest of the decade, which would later see her merge with Lois and Jimmy Olsen in The Superman Family. This short-running magazine would last two years before Supergirl was rebooted once more in 1982, now a psych student in Chicago.
During the 80s saw the introduction of a revolution, where DC’s comic book characters were ripped apart, erased to be drawn fresh once more. It was during this time that Supergirl lost her life, during the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths event. After fighting the Anti-Monitor, Supergirl makes the momentous decision to sacrifice herself, to save not only Superman but the entire multiverse.
“Our goal was to make Superman unique,” said writer Marv Wolfman, about the culling of such a significant character. It is a shame to learn that Supergirl’s erasure came at the price of Superman’s continued elevation. And, as DC’s former Vice President and Executive Editor Dick Giordano once said, “She was created essentially as a female Superman… but she never really did add anything to the Superman mythos.” It can perhaps be viewed as regressive, the fact that these male creators sought out to define this new heroine only by her male counterpart. But, there is something extraordinarily progressive in the fact that Supergirl was already too big to be contained by the Superman narrative – and they didn’t even seem to know it yet.
All went quiet for Supergirl for several years after her demise, with only small cameos being made. But, 2004 saw the relaunch of a ‘back-to-basics’ Supergirl. And what was the best way to simplify her character? Well, once again, Supergirl was boiled down to simply being Superman’s cousin. However, in the Superman/Batman #8 2004 issue, Kara was given a modern rebirth. Kara’s journey prioritised self-discovery, once which leads her to take up the mantle as ‘The Girl of Steel.’ Made to look 16 due to suspended animation, she still views Superman as her kid sibling, giving her an edge of superiority. Her image was made ‘more respectable’ too, with the replacement of her red panties with biker shorts. This was a modern Supergirl, a woman to be respected – and revered.
2011 saw a major revamping for DC comics, known as The New 52. This represented a considerable switch-up for the company, as they cancelled all their monthly hero titles and relaunched 52 brand-new ones. This, of course, included Supergirl. During yet another reboot, we see Kara having to come to terms with her grief, over her lost home planet. She is angsty, almost giving into manipulation by another Kyrptonian into destroying Earth, to somehow save her own planet. Her rage almost consumes her, attracting her a Red Lantern Ring that requires Guy Gardner to recover her from her strong emotions. And, yet again, she sacrifices herself to prevent the dastardly leader of the Worldkillers from taking her body as his host – except, this time, she discovers her immortality. It was a Supergirl born from fire and revenge, an almost uncontrollable force of steely emotion.
She would continue to be remade during the 2010s, in titles such as Future State: Kara Zoe-El, Superwoman and Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow – which forms the basis of the upcoming 2026 movie. She would become a guardian of the Moon, live in National City, battle the Zor-El cyborg, help other young aliens and humans alike. And now, releasing in June 2026, DC has announced Supergirl: The World, an anthology made by creators in 15 different countries.
It is clear that Supergirl’s comic book journey has been one of immense transformation, as her creators have tried to strike the delicate balance of elegance and strength. During some of these more male-dominated years, she has fallen prey to the male-gaze, becoming a creature with emotions to be controlled and clothes to be monitored. But, throughout each of her reboots, she has battled both intergalactic threats and internal conflict – and even in death, she prevailed. Supergirl was a defining symbol of female empowerment to young girls and women who were tired of muscled-men, carrying the weight of the world on their backs.
Warner Bros. Pictures and DC Studios releases Supergirl in cinemas across the UK and Ireland on June 26, 2026.
