Of all the DC animated series in the modern era, Legion of Superheroes just may have drawn the shortest straw. The show ran just 26 episodes over two seasons, and was cancelled before a planned third season could be produced. To this day, the second season has not been released on home video. Although the series was affected by the end of the Kids WB programming block on the CW network, the series also suffered from less than super ratings. And while Superman's shield symbol was prominent on the series logo, perhaps a title like Superman and the Legion would have drawn larger audiences.
While not quite his oldest foe, the android Brainiac has been plaguing the Man of Steel for over 50 years, first appearing in Action Comics #242 way back in 1958. And yet, Brainy has had a hard time coming into his own and stepping out of the shadow of Lex Luthor. Nevertheless, Brainiac has an awfully impressive resume of his own. Shall we proceed?
Booster Gold first appeared in the 1986 issue, Booster Gold #1. The hero from the future brought high tech gadgets to our time to help fight crime while gaining fame and glory.
Old Booster first appeared onscreen in Justice League Unlimited's 2004 episode, The Greatest Story Never Told. In the tale, Booster failed to get recognition from League leadership as a true hero, but he ended up saving the day regardless.
Booster Gold was next spotted by eagle-eyed viewers in 2006 during a cameo appearance in the pilot episode of the Legion of Superheroes season in which the hero (likely still in pre-hero mode) could be seen as a janitor of the future.
Beginning in 2009, Goldie made several appearances in Batman: The Brave and the Bold, as usual accompanied by his hovering robot Skeets.
In 2010, Imaginext posted an online ad / cartoon for their upcoming line of toys titled The Joker's Playhouse. This love letter to Super Friends fans featured your typical Justice League first stringers in action but was generous enough to give Booster a shout out as a pitchman from cereal on a billboard.
In perhaps his highest profile appearance to date, Booster Gold is set to appear, along with long time buddy Blue Beetle, for the first time in live-action on the April 22, 2011 Smallville episode Booster. In the episode, Booster arrives from the future eager to claim the fame that Superman is so reluctant to accept. Things are looking up for Booster Gold, all this exposure only ensures that he isn't going anywhere soon.
Supergirl first appeared in 1959. Since that time several characters have assumed the name despite various origins - sometimes not even being Kryptonian. Supergirl was one of the few heroes to make her media debut in her own self-titled feature film. The 1984 movie was a bomb then and has virtually been forgotten by now.
In the movie, Kara Zor-El becomes Earth's hero when her cousin Superman is off on an intergalactic mission.
Kara would next appear in Superman: The Animated Series in 1998, this time as Kara In-Ze from Krypton's sister world Argos (keeping Superman as the lone survivor of Krypton).
This Supergirl would befriend Batgirl in a crossover with The New Batman Adventures.
In "Girls Night Out" the two heroines took down team-up villainesses Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy.
This same incarnation of Supergirl would also appear in Justice League Unlimited in 2004 where she would have to fight her clone Galatea who was based on the design of the comic book character Power Girl, herself an alternate world version of Supergirl.
In JLU's final season, Kara grew up a bit, getting a more traditional look and going 1,000 years in the future to join the Legion of Superheroes.
Two Karas have appeared on Smallville. The first in 2004 claimed to be a Kryptonian messenger and had super powers, though she did not claim to be his relative. She even wanted to repopulate their race with him. It turned out she was just a puppet of Jor-El trying to get Clark to start his hero training (which I am not sure he has done yet).
The real Supergirl appeared in 2007 as a series regular for a season. This Kara, Kara Zor-El was in fact Kal-El's actually cousin and had his same powers. She has since gone looking for other Kryptonian survivors.
Supergirl also cameoed in 2008's Justice League: The New Frontier, though 2 seconds of screen time may not even count as a cameo.
It really doesn't seem too likely that we will be seeing much of Supergirl in the future, which is a shame for such a recognizable character. She may appear again on Smallville but she probably wont be getting her own series any time soon. And it is doubtful after the 1984 debacle that she will get her own film, at this rate Superman himself's film career is uncertain. Her best shot is probably at appearing in an adaptation of the historic DC Crisis story, where the head banded Supergirl died. Good luck with that Kara...
Update: June 30 2010
In the year since the original post, the Superman Batman movie series has expanded the exposure of Supergirl. First Power Girl appeared in Public Enemies.
In September, Supergirl is slated to be the focus of Apocalypse.
