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Power Girl

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Power Girl
Power Girl, from Justice Society of America #9 (2007),
Art by Alex Ross.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceAll Star Comics # 58 (January/February 1976)
Created byGerry Conway
In-story information
Alter egoKara Zor-L
Place of originKrypton-Two
Team affiliationsJustice Society of America
Justice League
Infinity, Inc.
Birds of Prey
Suicide Squad
Notable aliasesKaren Starr, Kara of Atlantis, Nightwing
AbilitiesSuper strength, speed & stamina, multiple extra sensory and vision powers, invulnerability, flight.

Power Girl (real name Kara Zor-L, also known as Karen Starr) is a DC Comics superhero, making her first appearance in All Star Comics #58 (January/February 1976).

Power Girl is the Earth-Two counterpart of Supergirl and the first cousin of the Pre-Crisis Earth-Two Superman. The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of Krypton. Although she left the planet at the same time that Superman did, her ship took much longer to reach Earth-Two.

Possessing superhuman strength and the ability to fly, she is a member of the Justice Society of America and the team's first chairwoman. Power Girl sports a bob of blond hair, wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume, and has an aggressive fighting style. Throughout her early appearances in All Star Comics, Power Girl was frequently at odds with Wildcat, who had a penchant for talking to her as if she were an ordinary Earthling female (instead of a superpowered Kryptonian), which she found annoying.

The 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths eliminated Earth-Two and rewrote Power Girl’s origin; she became a granddaughter of the Atlantean sorcerer Arion. However, story events culminating in the 2005-2006 crossover Infinite Crisis restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed Pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe.

Fictional character biography

Journey from Krypton-Two

Kara's father discovers that Krypton is about to explode, and places her in a spacecraft directed towards the Earth. Although this occurs at the same time that Kal-L's ship is launched, Kara's ship travels more slowly, and she arrives on Earth decades after her cousin has landed. Kara’s Symbioship is designed to keep her in stasis during the journey and provide her with life experiences and education in the form of virtual reality. The Symbioship allows her to interact with virtual copies of her parents and fellow Kryptonians within her home city of Kandor. By the time she arrives on Earth, Kara is in her early 20's (as referenced in JSA Classified, her age at arrival has been retconned to about eighteen).

In Showcase #97, Kara is reclaimed by the sentient Symbioship and reimmersed into Kandorian society for a time. Several years of virtual time elapse, in which Kara is married and has a child. She is freed with the assistance of newspaper reporter Andrew Vinson, at which point she disables the ship.

Debut of Power Girl

File:PowerGirl1st.png
Power Girl's first appearance in All Star Comics #58, layout by Ric Estrada, inks by Wally Wood.

Power Girl's existence is not revealed to the general public until much later; her cousin Clark and his wife Lois Lane provide her a family environment to assist her transition towards real life relationships. In her first recorded adventure, Kara assists Justice Society members Flash and Wildcat with containing an artificially induced volcanic eruption in China. She then joins Robin and Star-Spangled Kid to form a Super Squad to assist the Justice Society in defeating Brainwave and Per Degaton. Later, she becomes a full member of the Society when Superman retires from active membership.

Having been raised by the Symbioship with artificial Kryptonian life experiences, Power Girl finds it difficult to adapt to life on Earth. However, with the help of reporter Andrew Vinson, she adopts the secret identity of computer programmer Karen Starr (she obtains her knowledge in this field from exposure to Wonder Woman's Purple Ray on Paradise Island). On Pre Crisis Earth-Two, Power Girl's closest friend is Helena Wayne (the Huntress), the daughter of the Earth-Two Batman and Catwoman.

Atlantean

The 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths erased the existence of the Earth-Two Superman, and Power Girl's continuity was thus substantially disrupted.[1] Initially she believed herself to be Superman's cousin, as she had been before the reboot. However, her background was retconned; she was told that she was the descendant of the Atlantean sorcerer Arion, and was frozen in suspended animation for millennia until the present day.[2]

After the Justice Society disbands, Power Girl would join the Justice League. Later, while a member of Justice League Europe, she suffers a near fatal injury while battling a mystical being. Superman must assist in her medical treatment, using his heat-vision to perform surgery on her otherwise-invulnerable tissues. Although she recovers, Power Girl is significantly weaker, as she lost her vision powers and could not fly for a time.

During the 1994 event, Zero Hour, Power Girl experiences a mystical pregnancy and gives birth to a son, Equinox, who ages rapidly. He disappears, and has never been mentioned again.

Power Girl appeared in later issues of the Sovereign Seven, Chris Claremont's creator-owned comic book for DC. However, the final issue revealed that the entire series had been a story appearing in a comic book, and events in the book have had no bearing upon DC continuity.

Power Girl was one of Oracle’s first agents. Their short-lived partnership ended after a disastrous mission which resulted in a large loss of life. Power Girl believes that Oracle's poor leadership was responsible for the tragedy. Although she has worked with her again on a few occasions when needed, the relationship between the two is tense. In Birds of Prey #35, Power Girl admitted that she is primarily to blame for the tension, but is unable to overcome the memories of the deaths.

Power Girl is a key member of the Justice Society, which she joined when it was reformed in the late 1990s. During an adventure with the JSA, she meets Arion who reveals her Atlantean heritage to be a lie he concocted at the behest of Power Girl's "mother".[3]

Infinite Crisis

Main article: Infinite Crisis

JSA Classified: Power Trip

The Psycho-Pirate shows Kara multiple origins in an effort to drive her insane. He reveals that the Kryptonian origin is her true origin: Power Girl is not only a survivor of Krypton, she is the only other person from Pre Crisis Earth-Two to have survived the Crisis on Infinite Earths (aside from Psycho-Pirate and a few others includings Per Degaton). How she survived and retained her pre-Crisis origin is unclear, since other redundant Earth-Two figures, such as the Huntress and Robin did not, and has not been formally explained instory as of 2009. Some suggest that Power Girl's survival is possibly connected to the fact that Kal-L, her surviving relative from her Pre-Crisis Earth-Two existence remained alive in the Alexander Luthor-created "paradise" dimension until the 2006 series Infinite Crisis.[4]

The other survivors

In the pages of Infinite Crisis, Kal-L himself returns to the post-Crisis DC Universe after breaking down the walls of the paradise dimension[5] in which he, Lois Lane Kent, Alexander Luthor, Jr., and Superboy-Prime had been living since the end of Crisis on Infinite Earths.[6] Appalled by the rapidly-deteriorating state of affairs on the contemporary Earth, their goal is to replace the post-Crisis planet with a recreated Earth-Two. Kal-L's first order of business is to track down Power Girl and explain the events of the original Crisis to her. Kal-L also reiterates her Pre-Crisis history as his cousin. A touch from the ailing Lois of Earth-Two inexplicably restores Power Girl's memories of Pre-Crisis Earth-Two.[7]

Soon after this revelation, Power Girl is confronted by Superboy-Prime, who renders her unconscious.[8] She is attached to a ”tuning fork,” a device controlled by Alex Luthor whose purpose is to bring back the multiple Earths. Alex Luthor and Psycho Pirate coerce Black Adam (who is also attached to the machine) into saying "SHAZAM!," and use the now-raw magical energy to power the tower.[9] After the reappearance of the created Earth-Two, everyone associated with that Earth is transported onto it (although Power Girl remains on New Earth because of her proximity to the tower).

After being brought to this barren created Earth-Two by Kal-L, Lois Lane Kent collapses and dies. A violent confrontation between the two Supermen ensues, at the end of which Kal-L comes to the realization that this created Earth-Two had not been a perfect world, since "a perfect earth doesn't need a Superman."[10]

Power Girl is freed by Wonder Girl and Kon-El, and joins them in fighting Superboy-Prime and Alex Luthor. During a savage battle on Mogo, Superboy-Prime beats Kal-L to death and is later subdued by Kal-El. Power Girl is brought to Mogo by the Green Lantern Corps just in time to bid a tearful farewell to her dying cousin.[11]

Following the events of Infinite Crisis, a new multiverse is created. Among them is an Earth-2, from which Power Girl and Superman were both missing.[12] The Power Girl of this Earth returned to her source Earth after failing to find her cousin for several years when the Power Girl of New Earth/Earth-Two was accidentally sent to Post Crisis Earth-2. The Post Crisis Earth-2 Superman remains missing which has adversely effected the Post Crisis Earth-2 Power Girl's attitude as shown dealing with the New Earth/Earth-Two Power Girl.[13]

One Year Later

File:NightwingKandor.jpg
Power Girl as Nightwing, the defender of Kandor. Art by Ed Benes.

In a "One Year Later" storyline in Supergirl, Kara takes up the mantle of Nightwing in an attempt to free the natives of Kandor. Ultraman, masquerading as Kal-El and working in concert with the Saturn Queen, has taken control of the bottle city. Kara Zor-El is the city's Flamebird; she prevents Ultraman's forces from executing the captured Power Girl.[14] Power Girl is forced to leave Kandor with Kara (against her better judgment) after Saturn Queen reveals to Supergirl information about Supergirl's past and purpose. This causes another rift to grow between the two women, as Power Girl feels Supergirl left an entire city of people to suffer, all because of her own selfish desires. This animosity is still on display when she next encounters Supergirl.[15]

Power Girl remains a core member of the Justice Society.[16] The former JSA series concluded with issue #87 and has been relaunched; Power Girl is selected as the chairwoman of the team after Mr Terrific steps down.

Power Girl is invited to rejoin Oracle's Birds of Prey, but refuses, stating that she would do so only "when Hell freezes over." Her ill will toward Oracle is the result of a single mission in which she served as one of Oracle's agents, which ended badly.[17] However, Power Girl does come to Oracle's aid against the Spy Smasher in Birds of Prey #108.

The recent appearance of the Earth-22 Superman (and his resemblance to Kal-L) had upset Kara greatly when he first arrived on New Earth. But they adopted each other as family after a period of time.[18]

In Justice Society of America Annual #1, Power Girl finally journeys to the new Earth-2, sent there by the Third World god Gog [19], in a special issue drawn by All-Star Squadron artist Jerry Ordway. Gog's good will however may have been foiled as Power Girl faces someone who appears to be her New Earth-2 doppelganger, pitting the "Original Earth-Two" Power Girl against the New Earth-2 Justice Society and Infinitors, now collectively known as the Justice Society Infinity. Pursued by the heroes of this earth, Power Girl visits Michael Holt, in this reality a college professor, and asks for his help. Holt succeeds in returning Power Girl to New Earth, but she is followed by the Justice Society Infinity.[20] It is revealed that, when the Multiverse was recreated, Earth-2 was repopulated with all of its heroes, including its own Power Girl. The original Power Girl returned to New Earth with the JSA. [21]

DC Comics has announced a new ongoing series that will reestablish Power Girl's secret identity of Karen Starr, as well as her software company StarrWare[citation needed]. The book will be written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti and drawn by Amanda Conner.[citation needed]

In the Terra limited series Power Girl is shown using again her secret identity, reprimanding the young Terra about the necessary secrecy [22]

Powers and abilities

Main article: Powers and abilities of Superman

Power Girl exhibits all of the classic Kryptonian powers of Superman: super strength, flight, super speed, invulnerability, x-ray vision, heat vision, and super-hearing.

Although Power Girl is a survivor of an alternate universe, her biology is similar to Superman's. As one of a handful of alternate-universe characters who survived the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Power Girl's abilities have fluctuated in the period after 1986. For some time, Power Girl believed herself to be an Atlantean.[23] At one point, Power Girl possessed telekinesis;[24] at another she was vulnerable to attacks by earth and nature elements (for example, she was vulnerable to wooden weapons). After sustaining severe injuries from a magic attack during her Justice League Europe membership, Power Girl retained only a degree of super strength, super speed, and enhanced durability. However, she later recovered her ability to fly, and writers have gradually restored her panoply of super powers.

Conflicts

In Infinite Crisis #6, her powers are equivalent to those wielded by Kal-L and Kal-El; when Power Girl and Supergirl fight in Supergirl #2, Power Girl is shown as stronger. This is passed off as some type of glitch in reality from Power Girl and Supergirl being the same person. This glitch never occurs after this though; why it happened in the first place was never really explained. Power Girl has also displayed an occasional weakness to kryptonite before regaining her Kryptonian powers as an Pre-Crisis Earth-Two Kryptonian, in Infinite Crisis #3 it is shown that the kryptonite available in the mainstream DCU does not affect Kryptonians from alternate universes, such as Kal-L or Superboy-Prime and the Pocket Universe Superboy. In Brave and the Bold #7, Power Girl is immune to the Kryptonite that affects Superman but she was affected by the same material that effected the New Earth Superman and Supergirl as shown in Superman #670. Further complicating the New Earth/Earth-Two Power Girl's background is the fact that kryptonite from the new Earth-2 does affect her, even though that world is not the one she came from.

In Superman: The Third Kryptonian, Power Girl cannot be detected as a Kryptonian by some scanners which identify Supergirl and the others as such.

According to Jimmy Palmiotti Power Girl's official backstory will clarify these conflicts and specify her present official powers and abilities in the upcoming series with a retelling of her formal background and abilities in the first few issues.

Physical appearance and costumes

Power Girl's original Wally Wood artwork showed her as relatively busty but otherwise her figure and build conformed in appearance to other contemporary comic book women.

Power Girl was at one time portrayed as having a highly athletic but slender physique[citation needed]. Artists Bart Sears (in the series Justice League Europe), and later Alex Ross (in the limited series Kingdom Come) restored Power Girl's extremely busty shape. Ross rendered her as a heavily muscled Power Woman (as if an ardent bodybuilder). This approach has been carried forward by most other artists. Power Girl is consistently depicted as a curvaceous young woman, and her physique is one of her most recognizable attributes — to the extent that various writers have acknowledged it in both serious and humorous ways.[25]

For example, Justice League Europe #37 attempts to explain Power Girl's revealing costume by having Crimson Fox question her about it; she receives the reply that the costume "shows what I am: female, healthy, and strong. If men want to degrade themselves by staring and drooling and tripping over themselves, that's their problem, I'm not going to apologize for it."

Conversely, in JSA: Classified #2 (written by Geoff Johns), Power Girl explains her cleavage-window to Superman, revealing that "the first time I made this costume, I wanted to have a symbol, like you. I just… I couldn’t think of anything. I thought eventually, I’d figure it out. And close the hole. But I haven’t." At the same time, however, the issue highlights the humorous element when a man who Power Girl has rescued is so fixated upon her chest that he doesn't even look her in the eye to thank her. A similar treatment of the character can be seen in Superman/Batman #4 (written by Jeph Loeb), in which the heroes need to distract the Toyman while Batman and Superman battle Captain Marvel and Hawkman. Seeking a way to accomplish this task, Batman notes that their opponent is a thirteen-year-old boy, and all attention goes to Power Girl, prompting her response: "What's everyone looking at me for? How am I supposed to distract... oh."

The character's costume design has varied greatly over the years. Her classic costume design from All-Star Comics #58 is that which is in use today - a red cape and belt, blue gloves and boots, and a white bodysuit sporting a cleavage-exposing window on her chest (its variable size and shape determined by the artist depicting her). During her time with Justice League Europe/America it transitioned to a capeless yellow and white bodysuit, followed by a blue and white costume with a short mini-cape, headband, with a diamond shaped opening on her chest. She has also worn a headband, as had Supergirl prior to her death in Crisis on Infinite Earths. In a guest appearance in Green Lantern, Kara is seen in her large wardrobe closet with every costume design she has ever worn in DC continuity, deciding which costume to wear for that mission. Her original costume[citation needed] returned when Geoff Johns had her rejoin the JSA.

Other versions

Main article: Alternate versions of Supergirl
  • The first use of the name Power Girl was a story in Superman #125 (1958). In this story, Lois Lane has a dream where she is a superhero named Power Girl who is constantly coming to the aid of a bumbling Clark Kent whom she dreams as a superhero named Power Man.[26]
  • In the final issue of 52 (2007), a new Multiverse is formed, consisting of 52 identical realities; among the parallel realities is Earth-2. As a result of Mister Mind "eating" aspects of this reality, it takes on aspects of the pre-Crisis Earth-Two. This version of Earth-2 has a Power Girl who has spent years in space searching for her long lost cousin Superman.
  • In the Tangent Comics imprint, Powergirl is a vastly powered genetically-engineered superhero created by the Chinese government. This Powergirl is of Chinese decent and is married to that reality's Superman who is an African-American man with vast psionic powers. This powerful couple have conquered the Earth in the reality of Earth-9.
  • The graphic novel JLA: Another Nail features a version Power Girl who is an ally of that reality's Black Canary and Black Orchid. Though visually identical to her Earth-2 counterpart, her relationship to Superman or if she is even a Kryptonian at all is never mentioned in the story.
  • In Kingdom Come, Power Girl is renamed Power Woman, and assists her cousin Kal-El in reforming the League.
  • While she isn't slated for a televised appearance, she appeared in the first issue of Batman: The Brave and the Bold. She helps Batman to stop Lex Luthor.
    • Much like her mainstream comic counterpart, she came from an alternate universe's Krypton. In her civilian identity, she goes by the name Karen Starr and is a programmer. Her goal is to create a device to monitor Earth's condition, so that the planet won't befall the fate of Krypton.[27]

Other media

Television

Galatea from Justice League Unlimited
  • Power Girl has not directly appeared in any licensed media other than DC's own comics. A similar character based on Power Girl does appear in the Justice League Unlimited animated series. The character Galatea (voiced by Nicholle Tom) is an evil clone of Supergirl created by scientists from Project Cadmus as a contingency plan in case the Justice League turned against America. However, although the clone resembles Power Girl and wears a similar costume and hairstyle, her personality and origin are significantly different. Galatea's first appearance is in the season three episode "Fearful Symmetry" and is last seen in season four's "Panic in the Sky." Power Girl herself does appear as a member of the Justice League in the comic book adaptation of the series, also titled Justice League Unlimited, in issues #8 and #16.
  • The seventh season of the live-action television series Smallville Introduces Kara Zor-El into its regular cast. Although implicitly based on the most recent iteration of the Supergirl version of Kara, her in-show origin contains an homage to Power Girl's Symbioship in the form of her diamond-shaped vessel being distinctively colored red and keeping her in suspended animation while training her to assimilate into Earth culture en-route via a form of mental interface.

Video Games

References

  1. ^ Crisis on Infinite Earths #11
  2. ^ Secret Origins #11
  3. ^ JSA #50
  4. ^ JSA: Classified #1-4
  5. ^ Infinite Crisis #1, 2006
  6. ^ Infinite Crisis Secret Files & Origins 2006
  7. ^ Infinite Crisis #2, JSA #82 (2006)
  8. ^ Infinite Crisis #3, 2006
  9. ^ Infinite Crisis #4, 2006
  10. ^ Infinite Crisis #5, 2006
  11. ^ Infinite Crisis #7, 2006
  12. ^ 52: Week Fifty-Two (2007)
  13. ^ Justice Society 2008 Annual, 2008
  14. ^ Supergirl #8, 2006
  15. ^ Supergirl #19, 2007
  16. ^ JSA #85, 2006
  17. ^ Birds of Prey #100, January 2007; and Birds of Prey #42
  18. ^ Justice Society (Vol 3) #7, 2008
  19. ^ Justice Society of America #17
  20. ^ Justice Society of America (vol. 3) #19
  21. ^ Justice Society of America (vol. 3) #20
  22. ^ Terra #4
  23. ^ Infinite Crisis #2
  24. ^ Birds of Prey #42
  25. ^ Superman/Batman, "Public Enemies."
  26. ^ Carol Strickland's Power Girl Index
  27. ^ Batman: The Brave and the Bold #1 Secret Batfiles
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