What is the origin of Supergirl?

Supergirl is a DC Comics superhero, generally considered the female counterpart to Superman. First appearing in Superman #123 (1958), she was created by writer Otto Binderand artist Al Plastino. Binder also created female counterparts for Captain Marvel (Mary Marvel) and Captain America (Miss America). Due to a somewhat disjointed continuity, several different versions of Supergirl have appeared in comic books throughout the years. However, the most well-known incarnation is Kara Zor-El, Supermans cousin, also sent to Earth when their home planet Krypton was destroyed. Like her cousin, Kara can fly and possesses superhuman strength and abilities, and has a civilian identity to allow her to live amongst humans (that of Linda Lee). In 1985, the miniseries Crisis on Infinite Earths featured Supergirl's heroic death and then rebooted DC Comics continuity, originally changing it so Superman was the only survivor of Krypton. This began a 20-year stint in which several incarnations of ...  more