Lara Lor-Van is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, Lara first appeared in the Superman newspaper comic strip in 1939. She is the late biological mother of Kal-El (Superman), the wife of Jor-El, the sister-in-law of Zor-El and Alura In-Ze, and the paternal aunt of Kara Zor-El (Supergirl) who like her husband, in-laws, and all Kryptonians perished in the destruction of their home planet Krypton, with her only son and niece being the sole survivors. Before Krypton's destruction, Lara was a scholar and librarian of Krypton's capital city, Kryptonopolis while her husband was a respectable scientist of Krypton.