Is Supergirl more iconic than Superboy?

[Wild_Child]

Is she?Supergirl was around longer and a lot of things happen to her like when she died to anti-monitor.

[stephens2177]

No question at all imo.kon is half clone with TK,he will always be the black sheep of the SUPER family.kara has been around for decades and decades,kon has only been around since 1993,and has retconed/soft reboot/and relaunched,while kara is for the most part always been the same.

[Quinnhop]

Yeah, she's way more iconic.

[mmehshow]

Doesn't matter. They BOTH will always be second fiddle to the man of steel himself.

[super1man]

She's more iconic than Kon El Superboy but less so than Superman when he was a boy, i.e. Clark Kent Superboy.

[MajorHoy]

She's more iconic than Kon El Superboy but less so than Superman when he was a boy, i.e. Clark Kent Superboy.

I agree. I grew up with Superboy as the adventures of Superman as a boy pre-CoIE.

When they eliminated that angle after CoIE, the new version of Superboy was different, but still fun. (And, since they originally eliminated Supergirl as Kal's cousin Kara and turned her into Matrix for the post-CoIE world, those two were sort of on equal footing for me.)

Now, Superboy is (to me) an unrecognizable mess, but the New 52 Supergirl is somewhat different from her pre-CoIE version, but definitely has been intriguing.

[Kizmet]

IMO that the title Superboy is identified with both Kon-El and a young Clark Kent makes it much less iconic.

Sure there have been a number of Robins, but Robin is always Batman's side-kick. Superboy could be Superman as a teen or a clone of Superman who's relationship with Superman is ambiguous. Kon himself has been Superman's clone, a genetically modified human clone who's TTK mimicked Superman's abilities, and a human-Kryptonian hybred clone. It doesn't seem like fans have any strongly fixed notion of what Superboy is supposed to be besides young, male and wearing an S-Shield.


Supergirl is almost always a younger, female version of Superman, Kal-El's cousin. Sure the Mae/Matrix/Linda Danvers version was different, but DC went back to Kara, Clark's cousin because there is a fixed idea of what Supergirl is supposed to be.

[Kymeric]

Kara has more history and was more of a novel concept when created (literally supermans family). When they made superboy a 50/50 clone of Clark and Lex superboy caught up a bit. Clone of superman and some random dude = mildly interesting, clone of superman and his arch nemesis = fascinating.

Im glad they stepped away from the 'bad girl' take on supergirl, her idealism and innocence really was fundamental. Just like superboys good vs evil is a basic part of his appeal.

[The World]

Yes .

[tony]

I'd say so, since they fixed her from a shape changing blob to his flesh and blood. I think prior to that it was a toss up. I prefer my super family to come from a doomed planet vs a lab.

[stephens2177]

Kara has always been kals cousin,and she has been around since 1959 ppl,1959 compared to 1993,almost 40 years,and ppl are wondering who could possibly be more iconic,come on ppl.
Not to mention SB went from a human clone with TTK,to a human/kryptonian hybrid with kryptonian and "limited" TTK,and now a hybrid trans terristal clone with massive TK/TTK powers,and thats just in the comics.smallville was a human/kryptonian hybrid with all kryptonian powers,and the YJ show,where he was also a human/kryptonian hybrid clone,but with "limited" kryptonian powers.there is almost no consistency,even his attitude is different from version to version.
This doesnt mean kon isnt cool ormore intersting,cause he is,just means kara is burned into our subconscious more.

[Desaad]

Certainly more than any non-kryptonian version of Superboy.

Maybe it is arguable in regards to young-Clark as Superboy; he had a TV show, I suppose old schoolers would remember him, he had a long running book of his own, was an important part of the Legion lore, etc.

But cousin Kara, and the whole Supergirl aesthetic, is far more recognizable than Kon El/Conner Superboy. Given Superboy's absence from bigger popular culture stuff like the Donner films, she maybe more recognizable than Young Clark Superboy, too.

[MajorHoy]

Kara has always been kals cousin,and she has been around since 1959 ppl,1959 compared to 1993,almost 40 years,and ppl are wondering who could possibly be more iconic,come on ppl.

Kara may have always been Kal's cousin, but Supergirl hasn't always been Kara.
(Kara was out of the picture for, what, almost 20 years? She was killed in CoIE, and a new version of Kara didn't return on a regular basis until Superman/Batman #8 in 2004.)

As for Kal-El as Superboy,



he dates back to 1945. (Well before I was born, or even before my parents first met.)

[stephens2177]

What is your point? So they killed her off,doesnt mean she was out of the comic consciousness,and like i said 1959,a movie,merchandising,yadda yadda yadda,you get the point.
Maybe if SG and SB were created at the same time it would be different,cause they both have been on smallville,and hell he might be a bigger deal,cause he is in YJ show.

[MajorHoy]

What is your point? So they killed her off,doesnt mean she was out of the comic consciousness,and like i said 1959,a movie,merchandising,yadda yadda yadda,you get the point.
Maybe if SG and SB were created at the same time it would be different,cause they both have been on smallville,and hell he might be a bigger deal,cause he is in YJ show.

But the concept of a Superboy is older than Supergirl.