The Superman Dailies '49-'59: Super Myrtle!
Superman’s crimefighting cousin, Kara Zor-El, first appeared in May 1959 (Action Comics #252, “The Supergirl from Krypton,” story by Otto Binder and art by Al Plastino), but she’s far from the first superheroine in Superman’s life to adopt the name of “Supergirl.” In fact, the newspaper strips beat her to the punch by a solid year! The comic books frequently explored the idea of a female counterpart to the mighty Man of Steel. A 1940 story by Jerry Siegel and George Roussos in Action Comics #60 is just one of many depicting Lois Lane as receiving unexpected powers and flying into action as Superwoman! (Likewise, there were a few other Super-Women floating around outside of Superman’s inner circle). The first Super girl appeared in 1949’s Superboy vol 1 No.5, “Superboy Meets Supergirl,” by writer William Woolfolk and the art team of John Sikela and Ed Dobrotka. Boasting no superpowers of her own, the teenaged Queen Lucy of the fictional nation of Borgonia showed tremendous intelli...