Supergirl’s Most Daring, Risky, And Crazy Costumes

By Sofia Yang
| Updated 1 hour ago

Since her first appearance in Action Comics #252 in the late fifties, Supergirl has undergone nearly 30 costume changes. Mostly, she’s stuck with the trademark blue and red, but every now and then, she changes up her color palette, as recently when she went all red to become the new Red Lantern. 

Sometimes daring, sometimes risky, sometimes boring, sometimes oh so 80s, Supergirl never disappoints. Here’s a look back at some of the riskiest, craziest, most interesting superhero fashion choices of DC’s most powerful female hero.

Supergirl In Adventure Comics #409

This 1971 Supergirl costume featured a bold and, for the time, even shocking design that leaves both sides of her body completely bare of fabric. Her costume was part of a series in which fans submitted their own designs to DC Comics.

It’s not exactly battle-ready; it’s hard to imagine her going toe to toe with Satan Girl and keeping everything PG in his outfit. It’s also out of character for Kara Zor-El, who doesn’t usually skew towards blatant sexuality in her costume. This Supergirl costume belongs more oo someone like Poison Ivy, but maybe she deserves props for being daring.  

Supergirl in Adventure Comics #410

Supergirl Adventure Comics #410 costume had three different variations. For simplicity’s sake, we’re grouping them as one look here.  It features a pretty deep v-neck and it’s the only time Supergirl ever comes close to displaying décolletage. After this design, all future Supergirl costumes avoided V-necks.

Supergirl in Superman: The Animated Series

The first time Kara bared her midriff was for the Superman: The Animated Series in 1996. Since then, that crop-top style has proven a popular design choice for comic book writers. Numerous future costumes have used variations on this bare midriff design.

Supergirl in Superman/Batman #13

One of the edgiest versions of Supergirl was drawn by the now-deceased artist Michael Turner. His design features the bare midriff that first debuted on Superman: The Animated Series but is drawn more realistically and, in some sense, skimpier.

This is consistent with all of Turner’s female character sketches. This particular issue was also noteworthy for retelling Supergirl’s origin in the DC comic universe.

Supergirl in Superman/Batman 8 (German Edition)

In this case her costume is being used more as draping, than as an actual costume. So, maybe it shouldn’t count. Still, this is Supergirl’s most revealing cover design. Like the Superman/Batman #13 design, this too was drawn by the late Michael Turner.

The book itself is a rare find, having only been published in German as a cover variant to the German edition of Superman/Batman #8. Prices for this book are over $300 and you won’t often find a copy available on Ebay.