Supergirl (also known as Kara Zor-El) is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Otto Binder and designed by artist Al Plastino. Supergirl first appeared in a story published in Action Comics #252 (May 1959) titled "The Supergirl from Krypton".
Kara Zor-El is the biological first cousin of Kal-El (Superman). During the 1980s and the revolution of the Modern Age of Comics, Superman editors believed the character's history had become too convoluted, and desired to re-establish Superman as "The Last Son of Krypton". Supergirl was thus killed during the 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths and retconned out of existence. In the decades following Crisis, several characters unrelated to Superman used the Supergirl alias.
Kara Zor-El re-entered mainstream continuity in 2004 when DC Comics Senior Vice President and Executive Editor Dan DiDio, along with editor Eddie Berganza and comic book writer Jeph Loeb, reintroduced the character in the Superman/Batman storyline "The Supergirl from Krypton". The title paid homage to the original character's 1959 debut. As the current Supergirl, Kara Zor-El stars in her own monthly comic book series. With DC's 2011 relaunch, Kara, like most of the DC Universe, was revamped. 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 series Supergirl debuted on CBS and then moved to The CW after the first season. Supergirl is portrayed by Melissa Benoist on the show and also appears on other Arrowverse shows.
