Supergirl Supporting Character Superman

Supergirl has been a major player in Superman's life for decades.  After all, Supergirl is Superman's cousin, and arrived on Earth in Action Comics #252 (May, 1959) in "The Supergirl From Krypton" by Otto Binder and Al Plastino, under a Curt Swan/Stan Kaye cover, where Superman helped young Kara Zor-El find a life as Linda Lee in Midvale.  Superman kept her as his secret weapon, until Action Comics #285 (February, 1962), where Supergirl's existence was revealed to the world in "The World's Greatest Heroine" by Jerry Siegel and Jim Mooney, under a cover by Curt Swan and George Klein.

Supergirl's Adventure Comics

Supergirl stayed close to her cousin, as a back-up feature in Action Comics until Action Comics #376 (May, 1969), and then...

.....Supergirl had her own series in Adventure Comics, starting with Adventure Comics #381 (June, 1969), where Supergirl faced off against "The Supergirl Gang" by Cary Bates, Win Mortimer and Jack Abel (with a cover by Neal Adams).  Superman's appearance was a small one, as this was more of a team-up of Supergirl and Batgirl, bringing down a school of female thieves.

Superman often appeared in a supporting role in Supergirl's Adventure Comics adventures, and other guests included Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Lex Luthor, Brainiac, Mr. Mxyzptlk and the Phantom Zone villains like Jax-Ur and General Zod. 

This continued on until Supergirl's run in Adventure Comics ended in Adventure Comics #424 (October, 1972), but Supergirl did work with the Justice League of America, including Superman, Flash, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Atom, Hawkman and more in Adventure Comics #423 (September, 1972) in "Treachery" by E. Nelson Bridwell, Steve Skeates, Mike Sekowsky and Bob Oksner under a cover by Bob Oksner.

Supergirl On Her Own

Superman stopped by Supergirl's 10-issue solo series of the 1970s, with likely the most notable being Supergirl #8 (November, 1973) where the girl of steel sprouted "A Head Full Of Snakes" in a story by Cary Bates and Art Saaf (under a Bob Oksner cover), and the story also featured appearances by JLAers Batman, Green Lantern and Hawkman (well, okay, it was only a quick one page cameo, but still, it is an awesome cover, and it ties in nicely with our theme....). 

There is also issue #9, by Cary Bates and Art Saaf with a cover by Bob Oksner, which has Supergirl working with Wonder Woman's mom, Queen Hippolyta, and step-sister, Nubia, as Supergirl becomes "The Super-Amazon!" for an issue.


Supergirl also had team-ups with Zatanna, the mistress of magic, and Prez, the teen-age President, during this run (both of whom will likely get more coverage in a later column...).

Supergirl In Superman Family

Supergirl moved over to the combined Superman title of Superman Family, with her first new story in Superman Family #165 (June-July, 1974), which Superman had a small part in, but Superman and the JLA had a major part in Superman Family #171 (June-July, 1975) fighting against "Cleopatra Queen Of America" by Elliot S! Maggin, Curt Swan and Vince Coletta (under an Ernie Chan cover), which featured Batgirl as well.

Supergirl took part in a multi-issue epic, crossing over with Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, and even the Kryptonian Nightwing and Flamebird (Kandor's answer to Batman and Robin), ending in the "Finale" in Superman Family #190 (July-August, 1978) by Jack C. Harris, Jack Abel and Frank Giacoia.

Later issues of Superman Family had Supergirl facing Superman foes like Lex Luthor, Blackrock and the Master Jailer, as well as future Suicide Squad member, the Enchantress, before Superman Family ended with Superman Family #222 (September, 1982) as Supergirl slowly took over the title.

The Daring New Adventures Of Supergirl

Supergirl started her new series, the Daring New Adventures of Supergirl in November, 1982 (with Lois Lane back-up through issue #12), and this was the series that introduced Psi, the Gang, Reactron, and Blackstarr...even facing off against new Superman foe, Ambush Bug!

Supergirl even met up with Superman in Action Comics #555 (May, 1984) in a "Reunion" with Superman (by Paul Kupperberg, Curt Swan, and Dave Hunt) facing off against the Parasite, with the Justice League and the New Teen Titans having a "Celebration" for the anniversary of Supergirl's arrival on Earth in Supergirl #20 (June, 1984) (by Paul Kupperberg, Carmine Infantino and Bob Oksner), before that Supergirl title ended with Supergirl #23 (September, 1984).

So, for those worried about Superman being a supporting character for Supergirl....he already has been! 

It's no Crisis!