Power Girl

Power Girl
Power Girl, from Justice Society of America #9 (2007), art by Alex Ross.
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	All Star Comics #58 (January/February 1976)
Created by	Gerry Conway Ric Estrada Wally Wood (based upon Supergirl by Otto Binder and Al Plastino)
In-story information
Full name	Kara Zor-L
Species	Kryptonian
Place of origin	Krypton-Two
Team affiliations	Justice Society of America Justice League Infinity, Inc. Birds of Prey Suicide Squad Sovereign Seven
Partnerships	Huntress (Helena Wayne) Superman (Earth-Two) Terra (Atlee) Harley Quinn
Notable aliases	Karen Starr, Kara of Atlantis, Nightwing
Abilities	Superhuman strength Superhuman speed Superhuman endurance Superhuman agility Healing factor Superhuman hearing Freeze breath Telescopic vision Microscopic vision Heat vision X-ray vision Invulnerability Flight
Power Girl
Cover art to Power Girl vol.2, #1. Art by Amanda Conner.
Series publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
Schedule	monthly
Format	Ongoing series
Genre	Superhero
Publication date	(Vol. 1) June – September 1988 (Vol. 2) July 2009 – October 2011
Number of issues	4 (Vol. 1) 27 (Vol. 2)
Main character(s)	Power Girl
Creative team
Writer(s)	Vol. 1: Paul Kupperberg Vol. 2: Jimmy Palmiotti (#1–12) Justin Gray (#1–12) Judd Winick (#13–25) Mathew Sturges (#26–27)
Artist(s)	Vol. 1: Rick Hoberg Arne Starr Vol. 2: Amanda Conner (#1–12) Sami Basri (#13–23) Hendry Prasetya (#24–27)
Letterer(s)	Vol. 1: Bob Pinaha Vol. 2: John J. Hill (#1–24) Travis Lanham (#25–27)
Colorist(s)	Vol. 1: Julianna Ferriter Vol. 2: Paul Mounts (#1–13) Sunny Gho (#14–20) Jessica Kholinne (#16–27)
Collected editions
Power Girl: A New Beginning
Power Girl: Aliens & Apes
Power Girl: Bomb Squad
Power Girl: Old Friends

Power Girl (real name Kara Zor-L, also known as Karen Starr) is a fictional DC Comics superheroine, making her first appearance in All Star Comics #58 (January/February 1976). Power Girl is the cousin of DC's flagship hero Superman, but from an alternative universe in the fictional multiverse in which DC Comics stories are set. Originally hailing from the world of Earth-Two, first envisioned as the home of DC's wartime heroes as published in 1940s comic books, Power Girl becomes stranded on the main universe where DC stories are set, and becomes acquainted with that world's Superman and her own counterpart, Supergirl.

In common with Supergirl's origin story, she is the daughter of Superman's aunt and uncle and a native of the planet Krypton. The infant Power Girl's parents enabled her to escape the destruction of her home planet by placing her in a rocket ship. Although she left the planet at the same time that Superman did, her ship took much longer to reach Earth-Two. On Earth, as with other Kryptonians, Power Girl discovered she possessed abilities like super strength, flight, and heat vision, using which she became a protector of innocents and a hero for humanity. Though the specifics of how vary over subsequent retellings, Power Girl is later stranded on another Earth when a cosmic crisis affects her home of Earth-Two, and later carves out a separate identity for herself from her dimensional counterpart Supergirl once they are forced to coexist.

Though they are biologically the same person, Power Girl behaves as an older, more mature, and more level-headed version of Supergirl, with a more aggressive fighting style. She also adopts a different secret identity from her counterpart. These changes are reflected in their differing costumes and superhero names as well; Power Girl sports a bob of blond hair; wears a distinctive white, red, and blue costume with a cleavage-displaying cutout. The name Power Girl reflects that she chooses not to be seen as a derivative of Superman, but rather her own hero and this choice is reflected in the strong independent attitude of the character. Over various decades, Power Girl has been depicted as a member of superhero teams such as the Justice Society of America, Infinity, Inc, Justice League Europe and the Birds of Prey.