History ComicBook / PowerGirl

* (2022) ''Comicbook/LazarusPlanet: Assault on Krypton''

In 2020-2022, the events of Comicbook/DoomsdayClock, Comicbook/DarkCrisis and Comicbook/FlashpointBeyond meant that the JSA was back in continuity, and a Power Girl very close to the pre-Flashpoint version was part of that. Shortly after she was reestablished, however, the MassEmpoweringEvent in ''Comicbook/LazarusPlanet'' gave her telepathic powers. She then had an ''Comicbook/ActionComics'' back-up strip in which she used these powers as a superhuman shrink, with the help of Omen. She also took the name "Paige" in this strip (representing a "new page" in her life and also playing on "PG"), feeling disconnected from both "Kara Zor-L" and "Karen Starr". She then got a one-shot where she burned through those powers to defeat Johnny Sorrow, leading to another ongoing series.

* WaterIsWomanly: In her 1988 four-issue series, Power Girl faced off against three villains named Pyro, Hydra, and Hurricane who had each been granted control of an element by Weaver, [[GodOfChaos God of Madness]]. Hydra had control over water and was the only one of the three who was a woman.

* Mythology Gag: She affectionately refers to Streaky as "Stinky", the name she eventually gave her cat in pre-''Flashpoint'' continuity.

* GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe: Well, they do not have green skin, but other than that...
* HandOrObjectUnderwear: In issue 9, Karen runs from the shower and starts chasing after the kid blackmailing her and dashes down the stairs after him, runs past a neighbor, and literally collars the kid, at which point her towel drops, giving the kid and neighbor a good look at her naked body (the reader is not so lucky, due to a strategically placed bunch of carrots and an arm). She covers herself with bread and a pie pan.

* JustForPun: "Oh yeah, this ''[[DishingOutDirt rocks]]!''"

* (1988-1992) ''ComicBook/{{Starman}}'' Vol 1 [-intermittent appearances-]

* (1989-1996) ''[[Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica Justice League America]]'' Vol 1 [-intermittent appearances-]

* (1999-2006) ''ComicBook/{{JSA}}'' Vol 1

* CloningBlues: Power Girl discovers that fighting an exact duplicate of herself is not very fun. On the plus side, apparently Krypto is ''[[IncorruptiblePurePureness so damn heroic]]'' that [[HeroicDog even his evil clone comes to Karen's aide]].

* EvilBrunetteTwin: "Divine," the [[EvilTwin evil]] [[CloningBlues clone]] of Power Girl, has black hair opposed to PG's blonde, but is otherwise identical in every way.

* GirlsAreReallyScaredOfHorrorMovies: Averted and played straight. Karen loves them, but Atlee can't handle even the PG-13 ones.

* (2005-2008) ''ComicBook/JSAClassified'' Vol 1 [-"Power Trip"-]
* (2005-2011) ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl|2005}}'' Vol 5 [-intermittent appearances-]

And then ''ComicBook/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths'' hit and not only wasn't there an Earth-2 anymore, but Superman was now again the last Kryptonian. Power Girl still existed, but she was given a new origin as an Atlantean. After some silly {{retcon}}s, including [[DorkAge one period where she was vulnerable to "natural, unprocessed materials,"]] ''ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis'' and a Power Girl mini-series finally cleared up her origin by having her be... [[StatusQuoIsGod the cousin of the Earth-2 Superman]] (after reality got {{Cosmic Retcon}}ned again).

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* BalefulPolymorph: Power Girl, Superman and Zatanna are briefly turned into rock people by Siphon, who can copy Zatanna's powers.

** After Power Girl, Superman and Zatanna are [[BalefulPolymorph turned into rock people]] she looks down at her new rocky body and comments that "this is wrong on many, '''''many''''' levels."

* VerticalKidnapping: Turned UpToEleven when Ultra-Humanite does this to ''Manhattan''.

* RantInducingSlight: One of Satanna's minon's goes nuts ranting about how much emphasis people put in sports and celebrities rather than science.

* PantyShot: Not of the usual sort, but Terra does not quite get the whole thing about wearing your costume under your clothes and winds up taking off her pants and fighting in her lady bug underwear.

After the "ComicBook/New52" Franchise/DCUniverse reboot, a young-adult Power Girl reappeared as Karen Starr, at first in a supporting role for ''Mister Terrific'', and later in an ongoing series with the ComicBook/{{Huntress}}, [[http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=36367 a new volume of ''World's Finest'']], where she is revealed to be... [[RunningGag the cousin of the Earth-2 Superman.]] This time, however, she has been explicitly described as the Supergirl of Earth-2, having started her superhero career as Supergirl when she was younger, before coming to Prime Earth together with Huntress (who served as the Robin of Earth-2). Controversially, the New 52 version of Power Girl lacked her iconic costume for the year or so, but before long the writers (either because they planned it all along or because of public demand) had her sporting the famous cleavage window again.

* FunnyBackgroundEvent: Amanda Conner's artwork is full of these, such as [[AnimalReactionShot PG's cat not liking who she is interviewing]] or stealing shrimp from their Chinese take out. When a flasher [[WhatAnIdiot tries to expose himself to PG and Terra]] PG uses her [[BreathWeapon freeze breath]] on his exposed areas; after she calls for a cop the next panel pans back to reveal that they are standing in front of a dermatology clinic whose current special "will freeze off your..." When PG and Terra change out of their regular clothes into their costumes, a bum can be seen enjoying the show.

* EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys: Not if the [[strike:monkey]] gorilla is the Ultra-Humanite.

She was a member of the ComicBook/JusticeSocietyOfAmerica and had her own comic book, started in 2009, originally written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti and beautifully drawn by Amanda Conner. After issue #12 the original creative team left the series, replaced by Creator/JuddWinick and Sami Basri, and the series shifted both its [[ArtShift visual]] and writing style. In her series, she reestablished her SecretIdentity of Karen Starr and established the company Starrware, all the while mentoring Atlee, the new Terra, and trying to stop [[EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys the Ultra-Humanite]] or [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe really hot aliens]] from destroying [[BigApplesauce New York]]. The series took a LighterAndSofter approach to the character and the DC Universe at large, at first focusing on Power Girl's attempts to reintegrate into living a normal life and forming a stable relationship with Terra. After the creative team change, the book focused less on Power Girl's personal life, instead revolving around her heroic activities and how they ''affected'' her personal life, and also dealt with the reappearance of Maxwell Lord. The story was heavily tied into the ''ComicBook/BrightestDay'' event, though not published under the ''Brightest Day'' banner, and had interweaving plotlines with ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueGenerationLost''.

* ArtShift:
** When the original creative team left her series in 2010 there was a change in style adapted by the new pencilers and inkers. The bright colors of Amanda Conner were dropped, replaced with the more subdued palette of Sami Basri, and the character designs became slimmer, losing the pronounced curves of the early issues.
** In her 40-year history the depiction of Power Girl has varied wildly, from artists who choose to embrace her traditional build, to those who prefer to draw her as a woman with more normal proportions.

!! Power Girl provides examples of the following tropes: