Power Girl Comics: Justice League Era

Jump To

Secret Origins #11 (1987)

At the end of Crisis on Infinite Earths, all Kryptonians except for the Earth-1 Superman were eliminated from the timeline. DC allowed Power Girl to continue to exist but retconned her origin so that she was no longer Kryptonian. A new origin was created for her in Secret Origins #11. She was told that she was the descendant of the Atlantean sorcerer Arion, and had been frozen in suspended animation for millennia until the present day. Power Girl would continue to believe that this was her “true” identity until she learned the truth in Infinite Crisis (2006) – that she really was Kryptonian as she’d originally believed, but the sole survivor of an entire universe which no longer existed. This retcon was tremendously unpopular and never really worked for Power Girl.

The Power Girl story from Secret Origins #11 has been reprinted in the 2006 Power Girl trade paperback, together with Power Girl’s pre-Crisis origin and the JSA: Classified #1-4 story which laid the groundwork for restoring Power Girl’s pre-Crisis origin in Infinite Crisis. Book description on DC Comics.

Download Secret Origins #11

Power Girl (1988)

Power Girl Miniseries #1 cover

The four issue Power Girl miniseries was published shortly after Secret Origins #11. The story attempted to expand on Power Girl’s new origin as the grand-daughter of an Atlantean sorcerer, while exploring her civilian identity of Karen Starr.

Download Power Girl (1988)

Justice League Europe/Justice League International (1989-1994)

Justice League Europe #3 cover

Publication dates at Comic Book DB

Power Girl was inducted into the Justice League in Justice League International vol. 1 #24 (1989) (republished in Justice League International TPB #4). She became a charter member of the “Justice League Europe” division and starred in Justice League Europe which ran from April 1989 – May 1993 before being renamed Justice League International vol. 2 for June 1993 – September 1994. Only two trade paperbacks of Power Girl’s time in the Justice League have been reprinted, spanning 1989-1990.

Power Girl suffered from poor characterization, frequent revamps and some questionable storylines during the JLE/JLI era and these issues are not recommended reading for her.

Note: The New 52 relaunch of Justice League International, which began in September 2011, stars many of the characters from this incarnation of the Justice League (in revamped form), but Power Girl is not one of them.

I Can’t Believe It’s Not the Justice League (2005)

Many of the members from the Justice League International era appeared in a “getting the band back together” miniseries called Formerly Known as the Justice League (2003) and the sequel I Can’t Believe It’s Not the Justice League (2005). Power Girl appears in the latter.

Next