Supergirl has been a popular character in DC Comics for over sixty years. While there have been many versions of the character, most people accept that the original (and “official”) Supergirl is Superman’s Kryptonian cousin, Kara Zor-El. Kara is definitely the best known version of Supergirl and, thanks to her CW television series, animated appearances, and feature film, has appeared in more media than any other Supergirl.
Weirdly, however, Kara was not the first Supergirl DC created. One year before Kara Zor-El debuted, DC experimented with a different “Girl of Steel” just to see how readers would respond to such a character. This character, known as “Super-Girl” appeared back in 1958 in Superman #123 and was not only identical in appearance to the better known Supergirl – she wore a future Supergirl costume as well!
The story, entitled, “The Girl of Steel” showed Jimmy Olsen obtain a magic totem pole from an archeologist (who apparently just loved giving rare artifacts to boy photographers). Hearing a legend that the totem grants its owner three wishes, Jimmy wished, “that a Super-Girl with super-powers equal to Superman’s would appear and become his companion!”
Unknown to Jimmy, the totem produces a magical construct in the form of a blond-haired girl identical in appearance to Kara Zor-El. This “Super-Girl” also wears a blue costume with the S-emblem and a red skirt, identical in appearance to the one worn by Melissa Benoist in the CW Supergirl TV show and Helen Slater in the earlier Supergirl film.
Since Jimmy wished that Super-Girl would be Superman’s “lifelong companion,” Super-Girl displays romantic interest in Superman (something that would have been seen as disturbing for her later version). Unfortunately, the combined powers of both Superman and Super-Girl prove too much for certain rescues, causing them to go awry (for instance when they blow out a fire with their super-breath, they accidentally blow off the roof of a different warehouse). She also accidentally calls Clark Kent “Superman” jeopardizing his secret identity.
Feeling she’s become a hindrance to Superman, Super-Girl decides to stay out of his way – but when a criminal uses a kryptonite meteor against him, she flies to the rescue and carries the meteor away. However, because Jimmy’s wish made Super-Girl and exact duplicate of Superman, the Kryptonite eventually poisons the magical girl and she crawls back to Jimmy, begging him to nullify his wish so that she can disappear. Heartbroken, Jimmy wishes her away and promises “we’ll never forget you!” (Everyone promptly forgets about this Super-Girl by the very next issue).
Despite her brief appearance, Super-Girl proved popular with readers and DC later reimagined her character into Kara Zor-El for Action Comics #252 in 1959. Notably, while Kara looked identical to Super-Girl (albeit with a blue skirt) nobody ever brought up the first Super-Girl. Reprints of Superman #123 also showed the original Super-Girl with red hair and an orange and green outfit to differentiate her from Kara, although later reprints would show Super-Girl as she originally appeared.
The Silver Age was a time of great experimentation and a period when comic book creators played fast and loose with their stories. Although practically no one remembers the original magical Super-Girl, she should be acknowledged for her part in helping to usher in Kara Zor-El who proved tremendously popular with readers for decades to come.