Power Girl is confusing

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Official Name

Power Girl Is Confusing

Creators

First Appearance
All-Star Comics #58 (February, 1976)

Power Girl has had a long and complicated history in the DC Universe caused by the character's Multiversal origin. She is an alternate universe version of Supergirl who has come to live on the same Earth.

History

Introduction

Bronze Age: Earth-Two

Kara Zor-L, a.k.a. Power Girl, was introduced in 1976 in All-Star Comics #58 as the Earth-Two counterpart of Supergirl and first cousin to Kal-L.

Power Girl 0074 — Kara Zor-L's journey to Earth

Like Supergirl, Kara was sent to Earth from the dying planet of Krypton by her parents to protect her younger cousin Kal, but her symbioship travels more slowly, and she arrived on Earth decades after her cousin has landed. She later became a super-hero and a computer programmer known as Karen Starr at Starrware Industries.

Her symbioship was designed to keep her in stasis during her development through the prolonged voyage and by the time she arrives on Earth, Kara is shown to be in her early 20s. However, her age at arrival has been retconned to about 18 in the Post-Crisis continuity.^[1]

Modern Age: Atlantean

Unlike other big Earth-Two characters like the Huntress and Robin, who did not survive the Crisis on Infinite Earths, Power Girl was used extensively on New Earth. She was written into stories where the now-erased Supergirl had been, like the origin of the second Doom Patrol.^[2] Superman was declared to be the only surviving Kryptonian, so Power Girl's origin was separated from Krypton. Now, she was a descendant of Arion with ties to Atlantis.^[3].

Later, during Infinite Crisis, it was revealed that her original origin was intact, she was indeed the original Earth-Two Kara Zor-L from before the Crisis, and that her Atlantean origin had been the result of the universe trying to find a way to fit her into the history of the new world.

52: Earth-2

After Mr. Mind went on a rampage, eating years from and altering universes, Earth-2 was recreated, along with its own Power Girl, who eventually even met her previous incarnation when searching for her missing cousin.

The New 52

Kara Zor-El of Earth 2

Eventually, Flashpoint would cause permanent shifts to Prime Earth's timeline, which also affected all other Earths, resulting in a new Earth 2. This Earth 2 had its own Power Girl, Kara Zor-El, originally going by Supergirl. She would visit Earth 0 from time to time.

Tanya Spears

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DC Rebirth/Infinite Frontier

After DC Rebirth, the original Power Girl, whose history appears to be similar (if not identical) to her Pre-Flashpoint history, reappears. She was temporarily erased from history when Doctor Manhattan prevented Alan Scott from becoming Green Lantern and, as a consequence, his death prevented the creation of the Justice Society of America. Later, Doctor Manhattan undid his manipulations of the timeline and allowed Alan Scott to become once again Green Lantern and form the Justice Society.^[4]

Restored to history, Kara fought alongside the JSA, helping Superman defeat the metahumans who were ravaging Washington, D.C.. During the Dawn of DC, Power Girl no longer wants to be called Karen Starr, so her "cousin" Jon Kent began refer to her as Paige.^[5]^[6]

Notably, in The New Golden Age, Power Girl is established as having been present for Earth-0's version of the events of All-Star Comics #61, which are labelled as taking place in 1976, the comic's publication year. While consistent with the original comic, this does present an odd wrinkle wherein Power Girl potentially predates Superman as an active hero.

Adaptations

If a pre-existing character's origin is confusing, complicated or convoluted, there might be need for some changes or adjustments to said origin (potentially supplying the character with a brand-new origin). Usually, however, whatever origin Power Girl has been given is completely ignored/never established. She is just there. The changes can also spark confusions themselves. DC vs. Vampires (Earth 63) and Another Nail (Earth 898) feature her with no explanation, and since they are part of the main multiverse, her existence implies there are alternate versions of Earth 2.

In 2004, the DCAU introduced Galatea, an evil Supergirl clone (whose more mature physical appearance and outfit is based on Power Girl), created by Project Cadmus.^[7] Meanwhile, the Justice League Unlimited comic book series featured Power Girl as a member of the Justice League,^[8] with no origin given.

Timeline

1958: The first Power Girl is created. Lois Lane suffers a head injury and dreams about getting a blood transfusion from Superman. In the dream, the blood transfusion causes Lois to develop Kryptonian powers, and she becomes a super-heroine under the alias "Power Girl".^[9]
1976: Power Girl is created by Gerry Conway and Ric Estrada The character is presented as a native of Earth-Two and Superman's cousin, who dislikes being seen in any way as a copy of her cousin (opting for the name "Power Girl", and declines wearing any symbol that even resembles the Superman Symbol). However, at that time, the character is only known as "Power Girl". No real name or origin is given to the readers. The character quickly joins the Justice Society of America.^[10]
1978: Power Girl's birth name is revealed to be "Kara Zor-L", in Showcase #97, which also reveals her origin.^[11] In Showcase #99, she acquires the human identity of computer programmer "Karen Starr".^[12]
1985-1986: Crisis on Infinite Earths. Earth-Two and all alternate Earths are destroyed. A change in policy within DC Comics called for Superman to be the sole survivor of Krypton. Supergirl of Earth-One was killed off, while Power Girl was to be given a new (non-Kryptonian) origin.
1987: Power Girl is revealed to be the granddaughter of Arion, and was from Atlantis (with her powers now being magical in origin).^[3]
1989: Power Girl is badly wounded, forcing Superman to help out in a lifesaving operation that causes Power Girl's powers to be drastically reduced.^[13]
2003: Power Girl encounters the soul of Arion, who reveals that he is not actually her grandfather. He says "I promised your mother I would protect you," and promises that she will soon know the truth.^[14]
2005-2006: Power Girl is revealed to be a survivor from the original Earth-Two, who had survived the Crisis on Infinite Earths, restoring her Kryptonian roots.
2011-2012: Flashpoint occurs and alterations to the timeline of Earth 0 echo out into the Multiverse, resulting in The New 52.^[15] Prime Earth becomes home to another iteration of Power Girl, Kara Zor-El of the revised Earth 2. Similar to her Earth-Two counterpart, she was adopted by her cousin Kal-El and his wife Lois Lane, only this time she started her heroic career as Supergirl, only to become stranded on Earth-0 alongside her friend, Helena Wayne, following an invasion of their world by its aspect of Darkseid.^[16]
2014: When Kara returned to Earth 2, she left the title of Power Girl to Tanya Spears. It is never made clear where Tanya got her powers, but she had been developing them for a while.^[17] Though Kara spent most of her time on Earth 2, she would occasionally return to Earth 0. Despite this, she shared the Power Girl title with Tanya.^[18]
2020-present: Following the timeline changes done by Doctor Manhattan, a third Power Girl emerged. This Power Girl was once again Kara Zor-L and resembled the original to the point that she may as well be.^[19] For the sake of simplicity, we here at the DC Database treat her as hailing from an undetermined reality in the current Multiverse, while simultaneously listing her as an inhabitant of Earth-Two. It remains unclear whether or not the restoration of the original Power Girl into existence effected the New 52 version's history with Earth 0.