Supergirl (comic book)

Supergirl is the name of six comic book series published by DC Comics, featuring various characters of the same name. The majority of the titles feature Superman's cousin Kara Zor-El.

Volume 1 (1972-1974)
The first series featured the original Supergirl, Superman's cousin Kara Zor-El. It began publication in 1972, following a 44-issue run of Supergirl stories in Adventure Comics, ending with issue #424 (October 1972). The series lasted for 10 issues until 1974, after which the character began appearing regularly in Superman Family commencing with issue #165. The release of the last issue of Supergirl was delayed for several months due to a nationwide paper shortage.

Volume 2 (1982-1984)
During its first year of publication, the second Kara Zor-El series was titled The Daring New Adventures of Supergirl. With issue #13, the name was shortening to Supergirl, and the title continued monthly publication for a total of 23 issues.

Volume 3 (1994)
In 1994, DC Comics published a four-issue limited series featuring a new Supergirl who was introduced early in the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths era. Sometimes referred to as Matrix, this new character was a protoplasmic duplicate of an alternate universe Lana Lang, granted superpowers by an alternate Lex Luthor. Having been brought to the mainstream DC Universe by Superman, she became romantically involved with the mainstream Luthor, who was posing as his own fictitious son Lex Luthor II. This limited series resolved many of the threads remaining from that plotline.

Volume 4 (1996-2003)
The fourth series featured a third Supergirl. This character was a fusion of the Matrix Supergirl and Linda Danvers (a Post-Crisis version of Linda Lee Danvers, Kara Zor-El's Pre-Crisis secret identity). The series ran for 81 issues, ending with the main character journeyed to an alternate universe, following the re-emergence of the original version of Kara Zor-El.

Volume 5 (2005-2011)
In 2004, DC Comics introduced an updated version of Kara Zor-El in the pages of Superman/Batman. The following year, she began appearing in her own ongoing series, with Superman/Batman #19 being republished as issue #0 of Supergirl. Sterling Gates took over the title in mid-to-late 2008 with issue #34. Amy Reeder Hadley was announced as the new cover artist for the series in May 2010.

Volume 6 (2011–present)
DC Comics relaunched Supergirl with issue #1 in September 2011 as part of the The New 52 reboot.