The CW recently released the first pictures of Tyler Hoechlin as Superman in the upcoming second season of "Supergirl," allowing the Man of Steel to team up properly with his cousin for the first time on the series. During Season One, they only communicated through instant messaging or through shadowy cameos. Of course, this won't be the first time the characters have teamed up on television. Season 7 of "Smallville," the network's previous Superman-based series, saw Laura Vandervoort basically playing the role of Supergirl opposite Tom Welling's Clark Kent (plus a few guest-appearances later on). Superman and Supergirl are obviously a natural team beyond their family ties.

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10 "Power"





"Supergirl" (2005 series) #1-5 (by Jeph Loeb, Ian Churchill and Norm Rapmund)

The opening arc of the Post-Crisis Kara Zor-El's ongoing series involved Supergirl trying to get out of Superman's shadow (her cousin kept trying to keep an eye on her, almost to the level of being a stalker) and trying to establish her own identity. However, she went about this in what could be described as "not the best way possible." She ended up being manipulated by Lex Luthor and soon found herself split into a good and an evil version of herself. She went up against the rest of the DC Universe hero by hero (the Justice Society, the Justice League and more) until finally Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman were able to snap her back to reality and allowed her to fully embrace her Supergirl identity, and the fact that Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman each exemplify part of her characteristics (her "dark" side, her good side and her warrior side, respectively).

9 "Mighty Maid!"





"Action Comics" #260 (by Otto Binder and Al Plastino)

In this bizarrely awesome story (as it involved Superman and Supergirl kissing on the lips), Superman enlisted the help of Supergirl (then still hidden from the rest of the world) to fake the world into believing that he had fallen in love with a new female hero known as Mighty Maid and that he was going to marry her and leave Earth behind. As it turned out, this was all just a ruse to make a group of aliens believe that Superman had left Earth, because they were determined to destroy Earth as revenge for what Krypton had done to their planet years earlier. Superman leaving Earth distracted them long enough for the Man of Steel to show up and explain to the aliens that their hatred of Krypton was misguided. He returned to Earth and explained to Lois Lane that he had to break up with Mighty Maid because she turned out to be just 15.

8 "The Supergirl From Krypton"





"Superman/Batman" #8-12 (by Jeph Loeb and Michael Turner)

Jeph Loeb and Michael Turner brought Kara Zor-El to Earth again for the first time in this Post-Crisis update on Supergirl's original classic debut. This time around, Kara was unsure about what to do with her life. Batman distrusted her, seeing it as awfully convenient that Superman's cousin just happened to show up on Earth. Wonder Woman trained her with the Amazons and Superman came to terms with the fact that he now had another survivor from Kypton to share experiences with. Sadly, the evil Darkseid kidnapped Kara and brainwashed her into becoming his servant. Superman had to defeat her one-on-one to break her free of Darkseid's spell. In the end, Kara decided to follow in her cousin's footsteps and become a hero -- Supergirl (complete with a costume made by Superman's Earth mother, Martha Kent).

7 "Supergirl's Farewell to Earth!"





"Action Comics" #258 (by Otto Binder and Jim Mooney)

In this story, Superman showed that it was not just Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen that he would subject to elaborate scenarios where he appeared to be a jerk but was actually trying to do some good (in his own mind, at least). In this tale, Supergirl revealed her identity to Krypto the Superdog. Superman determined that the revelation broke the promise she made when she arrived on Earth to keep her identity a secret. As a result, Superman exiled her to live on an asteroid for a year. However, kryptonite passed by the asteroid, stripping Kara of her powers temporarily, so she had to return to Earth and be Linda Lee again after being gone for just a week. As it turned out, this was all a test to see if Supergirl could keep her "Linda Lee" identity intact despite the great difficulty of explaining where she had been for a week. The point of the test was actually to see if Supergirl could be trusted with Superman's secret identity, mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent. Amusingly, though, Supergirl figured out his identity before he had a chance to reveal it himself!

6 "Superman's Super-Courtship!"





"Action Comics" #289 (by Jerry Siegel and Jim Mooney)

This story was also pretty bizarre, but awesome in its own right. It involved Supergirl deciding that she needed to find Superman a wife. She traveled through time to try to hook Superman up with two different women: Helen of Troy in the distant past and Saturn Woman in the distant future. After neither worked out, Superman then oddly explained that he would like to marry someone like Supergirl herself (them being cousins was apparently the only thing keeping Superman from going for Kara). So Supergirl found another planet where there was a female hero, Luma Lynai, who was like Supergirl, just older. Superman fell for her big time, but discovered that she could not live on Earth due to the Earth's sun being as deadly to her as kryptonite was for him. Even though he offered, she knew he could never truly leave Earth behind, so they broke up. Supergirl then vowed no longer to work as a super-matchmaker (although Queen Cleopatra was an enticing next target).

5 "Maelstrom"





"Superman/Supergirl: Maelstrom" #1-5 (by Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray and Phil Noto)

Just on the surface, this miniseries was an action-packed blast, as a woman from Apokolips showed up on Earth ready to prove herself worthy of becoming the bride of Darkseid. To do so, though, she planned on bringing Darkseid the head of Superman! Superman and Supergirl then ended up in an inter-stellar adventure, ranging from Metropolis to Apokolips and more! However, while the action was excellent in and of itself, the best part of the series was the interactions between Superman and Supergirl. They didn't get many chances to interact after the events of "Power," so it was nice to see Superman being able to import some wisdom to his cousin (mostly a variation of "With great power comes great responsibility").

4 "The Supergirl From Krypton!"





"Action Comics" #252 (by Otto Binder and Al Plastino)

This classic story was the first appearance of Kara Zor-El, Superman's cousin, Supergirl. Al Plastino's design of Supergirl was outstanding, as she appeared extremely charming right from the get go. Her origin was a clever one, explaining that she was part of a city that managed to initially survive the destruction of Krypton, but as their atmosphere began to deteriorate, they sent Kara to Earth to save her life (giving her a costume based on Superman so he would more easily accept her). Binder then embroiled her in a classic set-up. She lived in an orphanage (choosing a "Double L" name, Linda Lee) and worked as Superman's secret weapon, kept hidden from the rest of the world and only to help Superman in an emergency. Can she keep her powers a secret from the rest of the orphanage? That was the basic set-up of her series and it was a good one.

3 "Many Happy Returns"





"Supegirl" #75-81 (by Peter David, Ed Benes and Alex Lei)

As mentioned before, the alien Matrix merged with a human named Linda Danvers. They became essentially one person, just with Matrix's powers and mostly Linda's personality. Over time, Supergirl's powers were reduced a bit and she began wearing a new costume inspired by the costume Supergirl wore on the Bruce Timm and Paul Dini "Superman" cartoon series. In the final arc of the series, Supergirl met the Supergirl from before "Crisis on Infinite Earths" (before her identity was revealed to the world). This Supergirl was destined to die in "Crisis," but Linda decided to save Kara by taking her place on the alternate Earth. When there, she became close to Superman and, because they were not related, their relationship was able to go a little bit further -- they got married and had a kid! However, Linda's presence on this Earth was destabilizing time and space. Ultimately, Kara returned to Pre-Crisis Earth to accept her destiny. Linda was so traumatized by the whole experience that she retired as Supergirl.

2 "The World's Greatest Heroine!"





"Action Comics" #285 (by Jerry Siegel and Jim Mooney)

After less than two years as Superman's "secret weapon," and after proving herself against an evil Kandorian who had taken her identity for a number of issues leading into this one (while also dealing with Mister Mxyzptlk taking her powers away), Supergirl was finally given the go-ahead by Superman to reveal her identity to the entire world in this "novel-length" issue. She received the adulation from the whole planet (and many more, as alien worlds also celebrated the news as a result of Superman's fame across the galaxy)! However, she was quickly pressed into action when a villain from another dimension attacked while Superman was away on a mission in the future. Supergirl managed to show off her ingenuity and save the day, receiving plaudits from millions, including then-President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jackie Kennedy! It was a truly wonderful day to be Supergirl.

1 "Beyond the Slient Night!"





"Crisis on Infinite Earths" #7 (by Marv Wolfman, George Perez, Dick Giordano and Jerry Ordway)

The universe was in great peril as the Anti-Monitor was about to merge the last five remaining Earths together, destroying them all. A small group of superheroes, led by Superman and including his powerful cousin, Supergirl, headed off to stop the Anti-Monitor. During the battle, the cynical new superhero known as Doctor Light was inspired by Supergirl's selflessness. She realized that if a young woman could be this unselfish, then so could she. They took the fight directly to the almost omnipotent Anti-Monitor, and he hurt Superman badly. With her cousin injured, Supergirl decided that she had to make the ultimate sacrifice and stop Anti-Monitor at all costs. She succeeded -- the Anti-Monitor retreated and the Earths were temporarily safe, but Supergirl lost her life in the process. She was given a funeral unlike one the worlds had never seen to honor her courage and heroism.

Did your favorite Superman and Supergirl team-up make the list? Did it land in the right spot? Let us know!