Earth-Two (also Earth 2 ) is a setting for stories (a " fictional universe ") appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics . First appearing in The Flash #123 (1961), Earth-Two was created to explain differences between the original Golden Age and then-current Silver Age versions of characters such as the Flash , and how the current ( Earth-One ) versions could appear in stories alongside earlier versions of the same character concepts. Earth-Two includes DC Golden Age heroes, including the Justice Society of America , whose careers began at the dawn of World War II , concurrently with their first appearances in comics. Earth-Two, along with the four other surviving Earths (Earth-One, Earth-Four , Earth-S , and Earth-X ) of the DC Multiverse , were merged into one in the 1985 miniseries Crisis on Infinite Earths .
185-487: Characters from DC Comics were originally suggestive of each existing in their own world, as superheroes never encountered each other. This was soon changed with alliances being formed between certain protagonists. Several publications, including All Star Comics (publishing tales of the Justice Society of America ), Leading Comics and other comic books introduced a " shared universe " among several characters during
370-471: 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 ,
555-466: A mythical realm. Since the 1940s, when Superman, Batman, and many of the company's other heroes began appearing in stories together, DC's characters have inhabited a shared continuity that was later dubbed the " DC Universe " by fans. With the story " Flash of Two Worlds ", in Flash No. 123 (September 1961), editor Schwartz (with writer Gardner Fox and artists Infantino and Joe Giella ) presented
740-434: A March 1937 cover date. The themed anthology that revolved originally around fictional detective stories became in modern times the longest-running ongoing comic series. A notable debut in the first issue was Slam Bradley , created in a collaboration between Wheeler-Nicholson, Siegel and Shuster. In 1937, in debt to printing-plant owner and magazine distributor Harry Donenfeld —who also published pulp magazines and operated as
925-502: A Saturday morning live action TV adaptation and gained a prominent position in the mainstream continuity of the DC Universe . As the popularity of superheroes faded in the late 1940s, DC Comics focused on such genres as science fiction, Westerns , humor , and romance . The company also published crime and horror titles, although relatively tame contributions that avoided the mid-1950s backlash against such comic genres. A handful of
1110-679: A Super Squad to assist the Justice Society in defeating Brainwave and Per Degaton , who were causing disasters around the world. She pushes their base towards the Sun , the heat causing the villains to fall unconscious. 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
1295-527: A Superman." 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. In the " One Year Later " storyline in Supergirl , Kara takes up
1480-507: A complete reboot of the concept, with superheroes only just now appearing, similar to the "young hero" concept for the New 52 continuity, and with revamped costume designs. In Earth 2 , Superman , Batman , Wonder Woman , and Catwoman seemingly gave their lives in order to repel the Apokoliptan invasion, leaving behind a world with no heroes. Supergirl and Robin (Helena Wayne) end up stranded in
1665-469: A conceptual mechanism for slotting the 1930s and 1940s Golden Age heroes into this continuity using the explanation that they inhabited an other-dimensional "Earth 2", whilst the modern heroes exist on "Earth 1", consequently laying the foundations of what was later called the DC Multiverse . DC's introduction of the reimagined superheroes did not go unnoticed by their competitors. In 1961, with DC's JLA as
1850-484: A copy of Superman. This extended to DC suing Fawcett Comics over Captain Marvel , who was at the time the top-selling comic character (see National Comics Publications, Inc. v. Fawcett Publications, Inc. ). Faced with declining sales and the prospect of bankruptcy if it lost the lawsuit, Fawcett capitulated in 1953 and ceased publishing comics. Years later, Fawcett sold the rights for Captain Marvel to DC Comics, and in 1972
2035-563: A drug-fueled storyline in writer Dennis O'Neil and artist Neal Adams ' Green Lantern , beginning with the story " Snowbirds Don't Fly " in the retitled Green Lantern / Green Arrow No. 85 (September 1971), which depicted Speedy , the teen sidekick of superhero archer Green Arrow , as having become a heroin addict. Jenette Kahn , a former children's magazine publisher, replaced Infantino as editorial director in January 1976. As it happened, her first task even before being formally hired,
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#17328510720472220-509: A featured member of Justice League Europe (a spin off from Justice League International ) for the run of the series. After the cancellation of JLI, the character joined Chris Claremont 's creator-owned series Sovereign Seven and appeared in several issues of Birds of Prey . She eventually rejoined the Justice Society in JSA #31 and became a regular part of that series and its follow-up, Justice Society of America vol. 3. Power Girl played
2405-471: A few years, it yielded the popular animated series Static Shock . DC established Paradox Press to publish material such as the large-format Big Book of... series of multi-artist interpretations on individual themes, and such crime fiction as the graphic novel Road to Perdition . In 1998, DC purchased WildStorm Comics, Jim Lee 's imprint under the Image Comics banner, continuing it for many years as
2590-407: A fictional world in earlier Barry Allen stories. Superman was introduced in the 1930s and was the archetype for the modern superhero, and so is depicted in stories set on Earth-Two as the first major reliable costumed superhero on that world, discounting earlier part-time heroes and "mystery men" such as Doctor Occult (who first appeared in 1935). Most of the following costumed mystery men history
2775-468: A ghost-like "paradise dimension" tangential to the new universe. Following the end of the known Multiverse, more alternate realities were discovered. Even though Earth-Three was destroyed in the Anti-Monitor 's anti-matter wave attacks, a new Crime Syndicate (called the "Crime Syndicate of Amerika") developed in the antimatter universe of Qward , which was very different in background and power base from
2960-499: A handful of thematically-linked series he called collectively "The Fourth World" . In the existing series Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen and in his own, newly-launched series New Gods , Mister Miracle , and The Forever People , Kirby introduced such enduring characters and concepts as arch-villain Darkseid and the other-dimensional realm Apokolips . Furthermore, Kirby intended their stories to be reprinted in collected editions, in
3145-547: A home in South America to stay until they can get back to their home planet. Following a massive battle that ends in the destruction of the Justice Society's HQ, the team decides to split up into two separate squads. Power Girl partners with Magog to start a more youth-oriented team dubbed the JSA All-Stars . Using Stargirl as leverage, the two are able to convince all of the teen JSA members except Jennifer Pierce to join
3330-459: A machine that may be able to dampen the Starheart's power. Nonetheless, the Starheart takes control of Miss Martian 's body and transforms into her White Martian form, causing her to attack her comrades again. Batman ultimately tells her to stay on Earth and try to fight the other metahumans being controlled by the Starheart, explaining that bringing her along would jeopardize the mission. During
3515-456: A major slump, while manufactured " collectables " numbering in the millions replaced quality with quantity until fans and speculators alike deserted the medium in droves. DC's Piranha Press and other imprints (including the mature readers' line Vertigo , and Helix , a short-lived science fiction imprint) were introduced to facilitate compartmentalized diversification and allow for specialized marketing of individual product lines. They increased
3700-454: A new Superman ( Val-Zod , a Kryptonian and a childhood friend of Power Girl's who had been imprisoned by Terry Sloan). Towards the end of the series, Darkseid launches a second invasion of Earth, which is depicted in both Earth 2 and the weekly series Earth 2: World's End . Another weekly series, The New 52: Futures End , depicts a possible future in which refugees from a destroyed Earth 2 come to Earth 0 and prompt society to fracture. Over
3885-867: A non-Kryptonian origin for a number of years. Power Girl's abilities have fluctuated since 1986. For some time, Power Girl believed she was an Atlantean . At one point, Power Girl possessed telekinesis ; at another she was vulnerable to attacks by certain natural elements (for example, wooden weapons). After sustaining severe injuries from a magic attack Power Girl retained only a degree of super strength, speed and durability. However, she later recovered her ability to fly, and writers have gradually restored her superpowers. Power Girl's original Wally Wood artwork (1976) showed her as relatively busty but otherwise her figure and build conformed in appearance to other contemporary comic book women. However, in Wonder Woman (vol. 3) #34 (2009), written by Gail Simone , Dinah Lance,
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#17328510720474070-470: A period of time. Following the events of Infinite Crisis , a new Multiverse is created. Among them is an Earth-2 from which its Power Girl and Superman are both missing. The Power Girl of this Earth returns to Earth-2 after failing to find her cousin. The Power Girl of New Earth is accidentally sent to the pre- Crisis Earth-2 by the Third World god Gog . The Power Girl of New Earth faces off against
4255-471: A planet, she must take a deep breath and hold it for several hours until she needs a new oxygen source. Power Girl needs to sleep or she will experience disorientation due to fatigue. However, as recently shown in " Brightest Day ", she now draws her superpowers from yellow sunlight, just like Superman. The reason for this change has not yet been explained. Since she is from an alternative universe (pre-Crisis Earth-Two ), Kryptonite has no effect on her, but she
4440-517: A primer. They would get artists ... and they taught them the ABCs, which amounted to learning Jack Kirby ... Jack was like the Holy Scripture and they simply had to follow him without deviation. That's what was told to me ... It was how they taught everyone to reconcile all those opposing attitudes to one single master point of view. Given carte blanche to write and illustrate his own stories, he created
4625-416: A principal in the magazine distributorship Independent News —Wheeler-Nicholson had to enter into partnership with Donenfeld to publish Detective Comics No. 1, and Detective Comics, Inc. (which helped inspire the abbreviation DC) was formed, with Wheeler-Nicholson and Donenfeld's accountant Jack S. Liebowitz listed as owners. As the company continued to experience cash-flow problems, Wheeler-Nicholson
4810-435: 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. Although she and Supergirl are biologically the same person, there are vast differences between
4995-415: A publishing format that was later called the trade paperback , which became a standard industry practice decades later. While sales were respectable, they did not meet DC management's initially high expectations, and also suffered from a lack of comprehension and internal support from Infantino. By 1973 the "Fourth World" was all cancelled, although Kirby's conceptions soon became integral to the broadening of
5180-639: A romantic interest for Batman named Julie Madison , as well as the Batarang weapon that Batman commonly uses, and the fictional aircraft called the Batplane . The story of Batman's origin was first shown in Detective Comics No. 33 (November 1939), which depicted the death of Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne by a mugger . The origin story remained crucial for the fictional character after its inception. The Daily Planet (a common setting of Superman)
5365-623: A significant role in the continuity-changing events of Infinite Crisis (2005), which tied into her starring role in the first JSA Classified story arc "Power Trip" in 2005 (issues #1–4 of the series). These stories heavily featured the revelation that Power Girl was in fact the Earth-Two Power Girl and a Kryptonian, who survived Crisis , and that her Atlantean backstory had been a lie. Starting in July 2009, Power Girl received her first ongoing series , simply titled Power Girl (vol. 2), with
5550-535: A six-issue run. Due in part to her being one of the more popular characters in All Star Comics at the time, she was given a solo tryout in Showcase issues 97–99, which expanded on her pre-Crisis origin. During this time, she was a regularly featured character in the annual Justice Society crossovers in the original Justice League of America series. She was a founding member of Infinity Inc. , appearing in each of
5735-527: A son (supposedly named Equinox), who ages rapidly. Finally he disappears, and has never been mentioned again in DCU . Power Girl appeared in later issues of the Sovereign Seven series, 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
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5920-475: A son, Hal (the third Air Wave). The history of Earth-Two is slightly different from both real world history and the history of other versions of Earth from DC Comics stories. For example in classic Earth-Two stories, by the 1970s, Quebec is shown to be an independent nation autonomous from Canada . South Africa abolished apartheid sooner than in the real world. The fictional countries of Dukalia, Luxor, Napkan, Nastonia, Oxnalia, Thornia and others existed on
6105-495: A story titled "Earth 2 Chapter One: Golden Age", in which the New Earth Power Girl arrives on post- Crisis Earth-2. Thinking that she has returned home to her long destroyed pre- Crisis Earth-Two. Power Girl crash lands and unconscious, on the closest parallel of the 52 Multiverse, the post- Crisis Earth-2, which appears similar to the pre- Crisis Earth-Two. She is found by the post- Crisis Earth-2 Huntress, who thinks she
6290-523: A subsidiary of Time Warner. In June, the first Tim Burton-directed Batman film was released, and DC began publishing its hardcover series of DC Archive Editions ; these were collections of many of their early, key comics series, featuring rare and expensive stories previously unseen by the majority of modern fans. Much of the restoration work was handled by Rick Keene, with colour restoration performed by DC's long-time resident colourist Bob LeRose . The Archive Editions attempted to retroactively credit many of
6475-567: A sudden they've got Power Girl. Oh, boy. How unfair." Ironically, Marvel had previously published Thor #207, written by Power Girl co-creator Gerry Conway , in which Len Wein 's character says, "Whoever heard of Powergirl, anyhow?" After All Star Comics was canceled as a part of the DC Implosion , the character would continue to appear along with the rest of the JSA in Adventure Comics for
6660-462: A superhero origin story with the reveal of an unnamed planet, later known as Krypton , where he is said to have originated . The issue also contained the first essential supporting character and one of the earliest female characters in any comic, with Lois Lane as Superman's first depicted romantic interest . The Green Hornet -inspired character known as the Crimson Avenger by Jim Chamber
6845-554: A supporting character called James Gordon , the police commissioner of what would later become Gotham City Police Department . Despite being a parody, All-American Publications introduced the earliest female character who became the female superhero Red Tornado (though disguised as a male) in Ma Hunkel who first appeared in the "Scribbly" stories in All-American Comics No. 3 (June 1939). Another important Batman debut
7030-542: A time in which the Superman of Earth-Two was at a similar age to the then-present-day Superman of Earth-One. In the 1980s DC published All-Star Squadron , which covered the war time history of various superheroes during World War II. Infinity, Inc. , a group made up of the children and heirs of the Justice Society, was introduced in All-Star Squadron #25 (September 1983). There was an eponymous comics series starring
7215-512: A weakening of scientific laws within Earth-Two's universe. Because Earth-Two as presented did not match up with the actual comics of DC's Golden Age, other alternative Earths were used to explain the discrepancies. Earth-Two-A (also known as Alternate Earth-Two) was where Clark Kent worked for the Daily Planet under editor Parry White in the 1940s and 1950s (on regular Earth-Two Kent worked for
7400-501: A wholly separate imprint (and fictional universe) with its own unique style and audience. As part of this purchase, DC also began to publish titles under the fledgling WildStorm sub-imprint America's Best Comics (ABC), a series of titles created by Alan Moore which included The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen , Tom Strong , and Promethea . Moore strongly opposed this move, and DC eventually stopped publishing ABC. In March 2003, DC acquired publishing and merchandising rights to
7585-560: 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. Originally, by
Earth-Two - Misplaced Pages Continue
7770-561: Is based on the Earth-Two Superman's initial appearance, where these previously independent operating heroes begin to reliably interact. In order to distinguish him from the later primary version of the character, this Superman was called "Kal-L", using the spelling of Superman's Kryptonian name in his early appearances. He was specifically introduced as an Earth-Two character in Justice League of America #73 (1969). Most superheroes from
7955-439: Is confronted by Superboy-Prime, who renders her unconscious. 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. After the reappearance of the created Earth-Two, everyone associated with that Earth
8140-447: Is dead as well. The JSI interrogate Power Girl for information on the post- Crisis Earth-2 Superman's whereabouts. The post- Crisis Earth-2 Power Girl assumes that the Superman the New Earth Power Girl said was dead was the post- Crisis Earth-2 Superman (rather than Kal-L who was killed by Superboy-Prime ) and that the New Earth Power Girl had killed him. The Justice Society of New Earth arrives to stop her torture. Starman reveals that
8325-399: Is depicted in the follow-on series Earth 2: Society (August 2015 – March 2017). It also debuts versions of Hourman and Mist . The final arc of the series recreates Earth 2 again making it appear similar to their universe's first Earth through use of an Amazon artifact known as Pandora's Casket by Ultra-Humanite . This Earth has had no history of Wonders with Ultra-Humanite controlling
8510-452: Is explained as existing in the multiverse too. A number of characters, heroes and villains, had counterparts on both Earth-One and Two. Generally speaking, the older Earth-Two versions were phased out or incorporated into their younger, Earth-One versions following Crisis on Infinite Earths . Several others were rebooted almost entirely, with their new versions having nothing in common with the old ones. For instance, Jim Corrigan of Earth-Two
8695-627: Is freed with the assistance of newspaper reporter Andrew Vinson, at which point she disables the ship. 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
8880-457: Is her long-missing best friend, the Power Girl native to this world. In this new reality, the Justice Society of America has merged with Infinity, Inc. and is now known as Justice Society Infinity. Initially, Power Girl believes she has returned home, until the missing post- Crisis Earth-2 Power Girl reappears and declares that the other Power Girl is an impostor, and has caused the disappearance of
9065-475: Is left with a new "astral punch" ability that creates doorways to the astral realm. In the ongoing series, she establishes her new civilian persona as Dr. Paige Stetler, technology specialist and columnist for the Daily Planet . In issue #12, the newspaper's editor-in-chief, Lois Lane , who is privy to Paige's dual identity, offers her a field-reporter position to enable her to both write longer-form stories from
9250-822: Is revealed that the recreation of the Multiverse created a new Earth-2 and duplicates of its heroes, including its own Power Girl. The Power Girl of New Earth then returns home with the JSA. Power Girl briefly appears in the Final Crisis crossover event, battling the forces of Darkseid after he conquers the Earth using the Anti-Life Equation . After deciding to once again use the Karen Starr identity, she moves to New York City and begins rebuilding Starr Enterprises while continuing solo superheroics. She eventually takes teenaged hero-in-training Terra as her sidekick following
9435-428: Is significantly weaker, as she lost her vision powers and could not fly for a time. However, she regained them all as time went on. Power Girl adopts a one-eyed mangy cat, an animal which would affect much of the team. One aspect of this is her beloved cat is used to spy on the group by intelligence gathering criminals. During the 1994 Zero Hour event, Power Girl experiences a mystical pregnancy and gives birth to
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#17328510720479620-511: Is still being used. The company created a second recurring title called New Comics , first released in December 1935, which was the start of the long-running Adventure Comics series that also featured many anthology titles. By 1936, the group had became Nicholson Publishing. Wheeler-Nicholson's next and final title, Detective Comics , was advertised with a cover illustration dated December 1936 but eventually premiered three months late with
9805-477: Is still vulnerable to magic. As Karen Starr, she is an accomplished businesswoman and is regarded by Mr. Terrific as a first rate scientist. Even though Power Girl is from an alternative universe, her biology is still similar to Superman's. As one of a handful of characters who survived the Crisis on Infinite Earths , DC editorial was initially uncertain how to portray the character and attempted to portray Power Girl with
9990-488: Is the cousin of the superhero Superman, but from an alternate 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 in 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
10175-472: 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
10360-525: Is the result of a single mission in which she served as one of Oracle's agents, which ended badly. However, Power Girl does come to Oracle's aid against the new female Spy Smasher 's attempt to take over the group in Birds of Prey #108. The appearance of the Earth-22 Superman (and his resemblance to Kal-L) upsets Kara greatly when he first arrives on New Earth. However, they adopt each other as family after
10545-444: Is third. In 1934, entrepreneur Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson founded National Allied Publications , intended as an American comic book publishing company. Its debut publication was the tabloid -sized New Fun: The Big Comic Magazine #1 (the first of a comic series later called More Fun Comics ) with a February 1935 cover date . An anthology title, essentially for original stories not reprinted from newspaper strips , it
10730-508: Is told by Huntress that if the JSA goes down that path, they should start by recruiting Solomon Grundy. Power Girl accompanied Mister Terrific and Jakeem Thunder in visiting Icicle II in Belle Reve Penitentiary to offer him a second chance by joining the JSA. When Icicle II states that he'll take the offer if they can get him away from the heat lamps, Power Girl warns him that she'll use her own "built-in heat lamps" if he crosses
10915-405: Is transported onto it (although Power Girl remains on New Earth because of her proximity to the tower). After being brought to the 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
11100-516: Is urged by Jon and Kara to get over her imposter syndrome and "accept" the love and family that the Superman Family so readily want to give her. Kara's diary reveals she feels the most profound personal connection with Karen and longs for them to be closer friends. Karen adopts Streaky the Supercat at Kara's behest. Though she loses her psychic abilities in a confrontation with Johnny Sorrow , she
11285-481: The Convergence miniseries. Over the course of the series, Batman dies and Dick Grayson, inspired by his Batman counterparts from other worlds, takes up the mantle from Thomas Wayne. Ultimately, the planet Telos is terraformed into a new Earth-like planet and sent to the Earth 2 dimension as a new home for its refugees. The heroes' fraught attempts at forming a new society, rapidly augmented by Terry Sloan's technology,
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#173285107204711470-532: The Infinite Crisis limited series. Immediately after this event, DC's ongoing series jumped forward a full year in their in-story continuity, as DC launched a weekly series, 52 , to gradually fill in the missing time. Concurrently, DC lost the copyright to "Superboy" (while retaining the trademark) when the heirs of Jerry Siegel used a provision of the 1976 revision to the copyright law to regain ownership. In 2005, DC launched its " All-Star " line (evoking
11655-469: The Black Canary , mentions Power Girl as having the top bosom of DCU , describing her assets as a "national treasure". Her most common outfit is a leg-baring, figure-hugging, long-sleeved white leotard with a keyhole cut-out opening in the chest. According to character writer Jimmy Palmiotti , "Okay. When the character was created, Wally Wood was the artist that drew Power Girl, and he was convinced that
11840-507: The Cosmic Treadmill as shown in Justice Society (vol. 3) #11) and Monarch selected Jay Garrick of this Earth (amongst others) in a Multiversal arena tournament . Based on comments by 52 co-writer Grant Morrison , this alternate universe is not the pre- Crisis Earth-Two. This separation between the pre- Crisis Earth-Two and post- Crisis Earth-2 is formally established in Justice Society of America (vol. 3) Annual #1 (2008), with
12025-597: The Daily Star , his editor was George Taylor, and Perry White was a reporter). Earth-Two-B (also Earth-Forty-Six ) is a world referenced but not described in the Crisis on Infinite Earths: Absolute Edition . Earth-E ( Earth-216 ) is the world where the Super-Sons adventures happened and was used to explain 1950s Batman and Superman stories that didn't fit with either Earth-One or Earth-Two history. Mark Gruenwald assigned it to
12210-750: The Flash , Cyborg , and Aquaman ; as well as famous fictional teams, including the Justice League , the Justice Society of America , the Teen Titans , and the Suicide Squad . The universe contains an assortment of well-known supervillains , such as the Joker , Lex Luthor , Deathstroke , the Reverse-Flash , Brainiac , and Darkseid . The company has published non-DC Universe-related material, including Watchmen , V for Vendetta , Fables , and many other titles, under
12395-654: The Green Lantern character, the introduction of the modern all-star team Justice League of America (JLA), and many more superheroes, heralding what historians and fans call the Silver Age of Comic Books . National radically overhauled its continuing characters—primarily Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman—rather than just reimagining them. The Superman family of titles, under editor Mort Weisinger , introduced such enduring characters as Supergirl , Bizarro , and Brainiac . The Batman titles, under editor Jack Schiff , introduced
12580-475: The Phantom Stranger ) rose from art director to become DC's editorial director. With the growing popularity of upstart rival Marvel Comics threatening to topple DC from its longtime number-one position in the comics industry, he tried to direct DC's focus towards marketing new and existing titles and characters with more adult sensibilities, aimed at an emerging older age group of superhero comic book fans; this
12765-754: The Silver Age , the comics of the 1970s and 1980s became known as the Bronze Age, as fantasy gave way to more naturalistic and sometimes darker themes. Illegal drug use, banned by the Comics Code Authority , explicitly appeared in comics for the first time in Marvel Comics' story " Green Goblin Reborn! " in The Amazing Spider-Man No. 96 (May 1971), and after the Code's updating in response, DC offered
12950-530: The Sovereign Seven , and the Birds of Prey . Power Girl's origin has gone through revisions, but over time has reverted to her original conception as the Supergirl of Earth-Two. The 1985 limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths eliminated Earth-Two from history, causing her to be retconned as the granddaughter of an Atlantean sorcerer known as Arion . This was an unpopular change and writers depicted
13135-748: The Spirit which it then used, along with some DC heroes, as part of the First Wave comics line launched in 2010 and lasting through fall 2011. In May 2011, DC announced it would begin releasing digital versions of their comics on the same day as paper versions. Power Girl Power Girl , also known as Kara Zor-L , Karen Starr , and Paige Stetler , is a superheroine appearing in American comic books by DC Comics , making her first appearance in All Star Comics #58 (January/February 1976). Power Girl
13320-497: The line further, increasing the number of titles and story pages, and raising the price from 35 cents to 50 cents. Most series received eight-page back-up features while some had full-length twenty-five-page stories. This was a move the company called the "DC Explosion". The move was not successful, however, and corporate parent Warner dramatically cut back on these largely unsuccessful titles, firing many staffers in what industry watchers dubbed "the DC Implosion ". In September 1978,
13505-622: 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. 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
13690-563: The 1940s. By the 1950s, as the popularity of superheroes was waning, comics shifted to horror, westerns and war. Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman were among the few DC continued to publish. Beginning in the early 1960s, the popularity of superheroes began to grow. DC introduced more modern versions of its heroes. For example, Hawkman was an alien policeman instead of a reincarnated Egyptian prince. Older versions of DC characters were assigned to an "alternative reality" Earth that existed within its own fictional "universe" and could communicate with
13875-470: The 1951–1960 period of those books. New 52 Earth 2 : Following the events of " Flashpoint ", the setting was revised, and was now identified as "Earth 2 " (instead of "Earth Two" or "Earth-Two"). While it still houses a team of superheroes , its membership is younger than before. Earth 2 also has a tragic backstory, having been invaded by an alien horde from Apokolips five years prior to the reboot, ahead of Darkseid 's attempted invasion of Prime Earth. In
14060-649: The 1970s and 1980s period known as the Bronze Age of Comics . Marvel Comics ' then-publisher Stan Lee said in 1978 that when DC Comics created Power Girl after Marvel had introduced Power Man , "I'm pretty annoyed about that. ...I've got to ask the Marvel lawyer – she's supposed to be starting a lawsuit about that and I haven't heard anything. I don't like the idea. ... You know, years ago we brought out Wonder Man , and [DC Comics] sued us because they had Wonder Woman , and ... I said okay, I'll discontinue Wonder Man. And all of
14245-424: The 2010–2011 storyline " Brightest Day ", Power Girl attacks her comrades, and after being subdued, is discovered to have been possessed by the Starheart (the cosmic entity that gave Alan Scott and Jade their powers) to which she was vulnerable because of her Kryptonian heritage, as Kryptonians draw their abilities from the sun. Staying out of action in order avoid another possession, she helps Mr. Terrific work on
14430-531: The All-Stars. During the team's inaugural press conference, they are attacked by a group of mercenaries led by the villainous nephew of Sylvester Pemberton . Karen and her team emerge victorious, only to discover that Pemberton has kidnapped Stargirl during the confusion of the battle. The team eventually rescues Stargirl. During the 2009–2010 " Blackest Night " storyline, both JSA teams gather in Manhattan to stave off
14615-456: The American comic book market was shared by DC Comics and its long-time major competitor Marvel Comics (acquired in 2009 by Warner Bros. Discovery's main competitor, The Walt Disney Company ), though this figure may be distorted by the fact that sales of graphic novels are excluded. When all book sales are included, DC is the second largest publisher of comic books, after Viz Media ; and Marvel
14800-600: The Atom ( Al Pratt , now nuclear-powered), the Sandman (Wesley Dodds), Mister Miracle , and Big Barda . In addition, the heroes of the Earth get supported by the World Army . Villains include Solomon Grundy, a now-villainous Terry Sloan , Wotan , Steppenwolf and what was thought to be a surviving, Darkseid-brainwashed Superman, which turned out to be a very powerful but genetically unstable Bizarro -type clone. Writer James Robinson left
14985-951: The Axis side in WW2 (though most of these disappeared when the US entered the war). Unlike other DC Comics depictions of Atlantis, the Atlantean countries of Poseidonis and Tritonis were ruled by a queen, not a king (along with its inhabitants displaying surface dweller features and no capacity for underwater survival, as the Atlantis continent had been raised). In addition, masked crimefighters are introduced decades earlier than in other universes later identified within DC Comics, and these participated in such historic conflicts as World War II. Franklin Delano Roosevelt founded both
15170-486: The Bible as the foundation of his own new company, EC Comics . At that point, "Liebowitz promptly orchestrated the merger of All-American and Detective Comics into National Comics... Next he took charge of organizing National Comics, [the self-distributorship] Independent News, and their affiliated firms into a single corporate entity, National Periodical Publications ". National Periodical Publications became publicly traded on
15355-588: The Black Lantern Lois Lane-Kent of pre-Crisis Earth-Two. Black Lantern Lois sacrifices herself by removing her ring and giving it to Kal-L to reanimate him. During the battle between Kal-L and Power Girl, Mr. Terrific invents a machine to destroy the Black Lanterns. He activates the machine and it wipes out the Black Lantern ring connection and Kal-L and completely dissolves Kal-L's corpse. In
15540-466: The Changing Man , as well as an increasing array of non-superhero titles, in an attempt to recapture the pre- Wertham days of post-War comicdom. In 1977, the company officially changed its name to DC Comics . It had used the brand "Superman-DC" since the 1950s, and was colloquially known as DC Comics for years. In June 1978, five months before the release of the first Superman film , Kahn expanded
15725-530: The Cosmic Treadmill used by Barry Allen to open a portal to New Earth. The Power Girl of New Earth returns home, followed by the Justice Society Infinity, who kidnap her and take her back to post- Crisis Earth-2. During the confrontation, Green Lantern and Jade are initially confused when they see each other, as the post- Crisis Earth-2 Jade's father, Alan Scott, is dead, and New Earth's Jade
15910-528: The DC Universe, especially after the major toy-company, Kenner Products , judged them ideal for their action-figure adaptation of the DC Universe , the Super Powers Collection . Obligated by his contract, Kirby created other unrelated series for DC, including Kamandi , The Demon , and OMAC , before ultimately returning to Marvel Comics in 1976. Following the science-fiction innovations of
16095-598: The Earth from Darkseid's second invasion attempt. This Earth's Supergirl and Robin were transported to Prime Earth during the war, where they assumed the identities of Power Girl and the Huntress ; they later relocate to Earth-2 in Earth-2: World's End Following the destruction of Earth-2 by Darkseid, the assembled heroes restart human civilization on a new planet in Earth-2: Society (2015–2017). They eventually reboot
16280-449: The Earth of the current, revised versions of those characters. Alternative-reality Earths had been used in DC stories before, but were usually not referred to after that particular story. Most of these alternative Earths were usually so vastly different that no one would confuse that Earth and its history with the so-called real Earth. That would change when the existence of another reliable Earth
16465-452: The Earth-2 concept has been revived and is covered in two series; Worlds' Finest , which focuses on the adventures of the Huntress and Power Girl on New Earth written by Paul Levitz , and Earth 2 , originally written by James Robinson and then by Tom Taylor , which features the formation of the Justice Society. James Robinson, the original writer of Earth 2, describes the new Earth 2 as
16650-453: The Golden Age later followed this trend of operating publicly, while wearing distinctive costuming and interacting in a largely shared universe. The primary characters of Superman and Batman still largely worked independent of team environments. In the 1970s, as the now annual team up between the Justice League of America and the Justice Society of America had proven popular, DC published
16835-532: The Justice Society of America and the All-Star Squadron . Other events taking place decades earlier include the destruction of Krypton and the advent of advanced technology such as interstellar transportation and time travel. Thousands of years ago, the Guardians of Earth-One's Universe expelled the vast majority of magic from their universe, sending it to Earth-Two. This resulted in a predominance of magic and
17020-585: The Multiverse, which was Earth 2, explaining the recurrent tragedies faced by this world in comparison to others. In the end, Darkseid is successful, and the Earth is destroyed, and attempts to take Earth 2's refugees to Earth 0 are prevented by a time traveling Tim Drake in Futures End . Just as the world ends, several of the Wonders are sent to the planet Telos by Brainiac , where they confront their counterparts from various parallel worlds, both present and extinct, in
17205-532: The Power Girl and Justice Society Infinity of the new Earth-2, due to the Earth-2 Power Girl's grief and rage over the loss of her cousin prompting her to believe that the 'other' Power Girl is an impostor with some role in Superman's absence. Power Girl returns to New Earth with the help of the Earth-2 Michael Holt , until the Justice Society Infinity follow her and take her back to Earth-2, where it
17390-539: The Silver Age Teen Titans led DC's editors to seek the same for the wider DC Universe . The result, the Wolfman/Pérez 12-issue limited series Crisis on Infinite Earths , gave the company an opportunity to realign and jettison some of the characters' complicated backstory and continuity discrepancies. A companion publication, two volumes entitled The History of the DC Universe , set out the revised history of
17575-689: The TV series. This change in tone coincided with the prominent "Go-Go Checks" cover-dress that featured a black-and-white checkered strip at the top of each DC comic (all cover dates between February 1966 and August 1967), a misguided attempt by then-managing editor Irwin Donenfeld to make DC's output "stand out on the newsracks". In particular, DC artist Carmine Infantino complained that the distinctive cover made it easier for readers to spot DC's titles and avoid them in favor of Marvel's titles. In 1967, Infantino (who had designed popular Silver Age characters Batgirl and
17760-500: The Wonders; Superman is succeeded by Val-Zod, a black-skinned Kryptonian pacifist; Aquawoman (Marella) is the Queen of Atlantis; Terry Sloan, formerly known as Mr. 8, is a universe-hopping villain; and Oliver Queen is the Red Arrow. The ensuing Earth-2 (2012–2015) and Earth-2: World's End (2014–2015) stories depict the formation of a new group of heroes ("Wonders") who try and fail to save
17945-658: The alternative imprint Vertigo and DC Black Label . Originally at 432 Fourth Avenue in Manhattan , New York City, the company offices have been located at 480 and later 575 Lexington Avenue , 909 Third Avenue , 75 Rockefeller Plaza , 666 Fifth Avenue , and 1325 Avenue of the Americas . DC Comics was located at 1700 Broadway in Midtown Manhattan until April 2015, when DC Entertainment transferred its headquarters to Burbank, California . DC Comics books are distributed to
18130-587: The antihero. These titles helped pave the way for comics to be more widely accepted in literary-criticism circles and to make inroads into the book industry, with collected editions of these series as commercially successful trade paperbacks . The mid-1980s also saw the end of many long-running DC war comics , including series that had been in print since the 1960s. These titles, all with over 100 issues, included Sgt. Rock , G.I. Combat , The Unknown Soldier , and Weird War Tales . In March 1989, Warner Communications merged with Time Inc. , making DC Comics
18315-619: The background alongside Supergirl. Following the Lazarus Planet storyline, Power Girl is given new psychic abilities by the Lazarus rains, and forges a bond with fellow psychic Omen , who becomes her "best friend", with whom she opens a superhero counselling service. Exploring her identity, Power Girl also changes her human alias from "Karen" to "Paige". In the Power Girl Special (2023) to set up her own self-titled series, Power Girl and
18500-553: The bookstore market by Penguin Random House Publisher Services . The comics shop direct market was supplied by Diamond Comic Distributors until June 2020, when Lunar Distribution and UCS Comic Distributors (who were by then dominating direct market distribution on account of the disruption to Diamond caused by the COVID-19 pandemic ) replaced Diamond as the direct market distributor. In 2017, approximately 70% of
18685-413: The brand's popularity, like the presence of the color red or word balloons on the cover, or that the perceived crudeness of the interior art was somehow more appealing to readers. When Lee learned about DC's subsequent experimental attempts to imitate these perceived details, he amused himself by arranging direct defiance of those assumptions in Marvel's publications as sales strengthened further to frustrate
18870-424: The character was revived in DC's new title Shazam! , which featured artwork by Captain Marvel's creator C. C. Beck . In the meantime, the abandoned 'Marvel' trademark had been seized by Marvel Comics in 1967, with the creation of their Captain Marvel , preventing DC from using the name in the title of their own comic series. While DC's Captain Marvel failed to recapture his earlier popularity, he later appeared in
19055-429: The comic book limited series . This publishing format allowed for the deliberate creation of finite storylines within a more flexible publishing format that could showcase creations without forcing the talent into unsustainable open-ended commitments. The first such title was World of Krypton in 1979, and its positive results led to subsequent similar titles and later more ambitious productions like Camelot 3000 for
19240-477: The company. The resulting influx of sophisticated horror-fantasy material led to DC in 1993 establishing the Vertigo mature-readers imprint, which did not subscribe to the Comics Code Authority . Two DC limited series, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller and Watchmen by Moore and artist Dave Gibbons , drew attention in the mainstream press for their dark psychological complexity and promotion of
19425-482: The competition. However, this ignorance of Marvel's true appeal did not extend to some of the writing talent during this period, and attempts were made to emulate Marvel's narrative approach. For instance, there was the Doom Patrol series by Arnold Drake (who had previously warned DC's management about Marvel's strength), a superhero team of outsiders who resented their freakish powers, which Drake later speculated
19610-519: The course of the series, several new characters are introduced, such as Yolanda Montez , an Avatar of the Red who is a counterpart of Alan Scott; a second Red Arrow, an Earth 2 equivalent of Oliver Queen ; Ted Grant , a former boxer; and Dick Grayson , a journalist who goes on a mission to find his son after his wife Barbara Gordon is killed during the invasion. Others change alignment; Wonder Woman and Steppenwolf's daughter Fury sides with Mister Miracle and
19795-760: The course of their search, during which Power Girl encounters Divine, a raven-haired clone of herself, she manages to regain her memory of Lord. As she attempts to inform the Justice Society of this, Lord uses his powers to take control of her and attack the Justice League International, but manages to convince the others of his existence through the exhumation of Ted Kord 's corpse. In the post- DC Rebirth DC Universe , Power Girl (Karen Starr) appears to be trapped in some sort of interdimensional void between earths. Tanya Spears tries to get Karen Starr out by using an etheric transponder that allows her to travel there in an incorporeal state, but her physical body
19980-547: The direct market in 1982. These changes in policy shaped the future of the medium as a whole, and in the short term allowed DC to entice creators away from rival Marvel, and encourage stability on individual titles. In November 1980 DC launched the ongoing series The New Teen Titans , by writer Marv Wolfman and artist George Pérez , two popular talents with a history of success. Their superhero-team comic, superficially similar to Marvel's ensemble series X-Men , but rooted in DC history, earned significant sales in part due to
20165-504: The distribution of NPP's shows. A 1966 Batman TV show on the ABC network sparked a temporary spike in comic book sales and a brief fad for superheroes in Saturday morning animation ( Filmation produced most of DC's initial cartoons) and other media. DC significantly lightened the tone of many of its comics—particularly Batman and Detective Comics —to better complement the "camp" tone of
20350-522: The editors were not paying attention to anything he did. So, his inker said "Every issue, I'm going to draw the tits bigger until they notice it. It took about seven or eight issues before anyone was like, "Hey, what's with the tits?" And that's where they stopped. True story." Power Girl was at one time portrayed as having a highly athletic but slender physique. Artists Bart Sears (in the Justice League Europe series), and later Alex Ross (in
20535-540: The end of Crisis on Infinite Earths . Appalled by the rapidly deteriorating state of affairs on the contemporary Earth, their goal is to replace the post- Crisis Earth 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. Soon after this revelation, Power Girl
20720-704: The end of 2009. By 2007, DC was licensing characters from the Archie Comics imprint Red Circle Comics . They appeared in the Red Circle line, based in the DC Universe, with a series of one-shots followed by a miniseries that led into two ongoing titles that each lasted for ten issues. In 2011, DC rebooted all of its running titles following the Flashpoint storyline. The reboot called The New 52 gave new origin stories and costume designs to many of DC's characters. DC licensed pulp characters including Doc Savage and
20905-471: The events of Justice League: Generation Lost , Power Girl assists her fellow heroes in a global manhunt to track down Maxwell Lord , the former head of Justice League International and the murderer of Ted Kord , who had been restored to life at the end of "Blackest Night". Lord uses his powers to erase his existence from the minds of everyone on the planet, including Power Girl. She subsequently helps Booster Gold find proof of Lord's existence. Through
21090-450: The example of Atlas/Seaboard Comics and such independent companies as Eclipse Comics —DC began to offer royalties in place of the industry-standard work-for-hire agreement in which creators worked for a flat fee and signed away all rights, giving talent a financial incentive tied to the success of their work. As it happened, the implementation of these incentives proved opportune considering Marvel Comics' Editor-in-Chief, Jim Shooter ,
21275-584: The first 12 issues and making later guest appearances. After DC's continuity-altering Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline, her origin was retconned in Secret Origins (vol. 2) #11 and she became a magic-based character with ties to ancient Atlantis, leading to appearances in The Warlord . The character did not receive her own self-titled series until the Power Girl miniseries of 1988. The character became
21460-463: The first comic book to feature the character archetype later known as the "superhero", Action Comics was a sales hit that brought to life a new age of comic books, now affectionately termed the "Golden Age" . Action Comics #1 is credited as featuring the first appearance of Superman, both on the cover illustration and inside the issue, and is now one of the most valuable and sought-after comic book issues of all time. The first Superman tale included
21645-668: The first mention of Batman's utility belt by Gardner Fox . Outside of DC's publishing, a character later integrated as DC was introduced by Fox Feature Syndicate named the Blue Beetle released in August 1939. Fictional cities were a common theme of DC; the first revealed city was Superman's home city of Metropolis , originally named in Action Comics No. 16 (September 1939). Detective Comics No. 31 (September 1939) by Gardner Fox, Bob Kane and Sheldon Moldoff introduced
21830-628: The first recurring Superman enemy referred to as the Ultra-Humanite ; created by Siegel and Shuster, this is commonly cited as one of the earliest supervillains in comic books. The Superman character had another breakthrough when he was given his own comic book series , which was previously unheard of. The first issue, published in June 1939, helped directly introduce Superman's adoptive parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent , also created by Siegel and Shuster. Detective Comics No. 29 (July 1939) included
22015-563: The first six issues of the 2009 series. " Power Girl: Aliens & Apes" ( ISBN 978-1401229108 ) collects issues 7 through 12, and " Power Girl: Bomb Squad" ( ISBN 978-1401231620 ) covers 13 to 18, and " Power Girl: Old Friends" collecting issues 19–27. The entirety of the Palmiotti/Grey/Conner run is contained in " Power Girl: Power Trip" ( ISBN 9781401243074 ) which collects JSA Classified #1–4 and Power Girl #1–12. Kara's father discovers that Krypton
22200-452: The first twelve issues written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray , drawn by Amanda Conner , and colored by Paul Mounts . According to Comic Book Resources , the series has been "wildly praised for its fresh and fun approach." When Palmiotti, Grey and Conner left the series after issue #12, Palmiotti said, "Amanda always said she could just commit to the book for a year, and as we got into
22385-521: The flagship unit of DC Entertainment , a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery . DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book series first published in 1937. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, the first comic under the DC banner being published in 1937. The majority of its publications are set in the fictional DC Universe and feature numerous culturally iconic heroic characters , such as Superman , Batman , Wonder Woman , Green Lantern ,
22570-500: The groundwork for a full continuity-reshuffling sequel to Crisis on Infinite Earths , promising substantial changes to the DC Universe (and side-stepping the 1994 Zero Hour event which similarly tried to ret-con the history of the DCU). In 2005, the critically lauded Batman Begins film was released; also, the company published several limited series establishing increasingly escalating conflicts among DC's heroes, with events climaxing in
22755-535: The group, which ran from March 1984 through June 1988. Crisis on Infinite Earths (1985–1986) was an effort by DC Comics to clean up their continuity, resulting in the multiple universes combining into one. Since then, a handful of characters originating from Earth-Two have consistently remained part of the merged Earth, including Power Girl , Jay Garrick , and Alan Scott . Superman and Lois Lane from Earth-Two (along with Superboy from Earth Prime , and Alexander Luthor Jr. from Earth-Three ) were transported into
22940-474: 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 the pre- Crisis Earth-Two, Power Girl's closest friend is the Huntress , the daughter of the Earth-Two Batman and Catwoman . The first contact between Power Girl and Earth-One 's universe
23125-510: The horrific events depicted in the Terror Titans mini-series. After the duo fight off a robot invasion of the city, Power Girl is kidnapped by the new Ultra-Humanite , who plans to transplant his brain into her body. Using her ice breath to destroy her gravity enhanced shackles and gag, Power Girl easily defeats the villain and saves New York. She also helps a trio of lost alien princesses and their bodyguard adjust to life on Earth, buying them
23310-538: The invading Black Lantern Corps . Several of the team members examine the corpses of Kal-L and Psycho Pirate, both of whom had been reanimated as Black Lanterns only to be killed again during a battle with Superboy and Superman. Karen breaks down in tears upon seeing the twisted corpse of Kal-L, and swears vengeance upon whoever is behind the creation of the Black Lanterns. While on her way to the streets of Manhattan to assist her teammates, Karen hears Ma Hunkel screaming. She rushes to her side, only to see Ma being attacked by
23495-446: The line was dramatically reduced and standard-size books returned to 17-page stories but for a still increased 40 cents. By 1980, the books returned to 50 cents with a 25-page story count but the story pages replaced house ads in the books. Seeking new ways to boost market share , the new team of publisher Kahn, vice president Paul Levitz , and managing editor Giordano addressed the issue of talent instability. To that end—and following
23680-554: The line. As the biological cousin of Superman, Power Girl exhibits all of the classic Kryptonian powers: super strength; flight; super speed; invulnerability; x-ray, telescopic, microscopic and heat vision; freeze breath; and super-hearing. Over the years various writers have given Power Girl's Kryptonian power differing levels, reflecting the lower powers of the Earth-Two Superman Kal-L . For example, Power Girl can fly through space, but has to breathe, so before she leaves
23865-540: The long-running fantasy series Elfquest , previously self-published by creators Wendy and Richard Pini under their WaRP Graphics publication banner. This series then followed another non-DC title, Tower Comics ' series T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents , in collection into DC Archive Editions. In 2004, DC temporarily acquired the North American publishing rights to graphic novels from European publishers 2000 AD and Humanoids . It also rebranded its younger-audience titles with
24050-481: The mainstream universe towards the end of the invasion. When the Earth-2 Solomon Grundy threatens the world, three new heroes team up to defeat him: the Flash (Jay Garrick), Hawkgirl ( Kendra Saunders ), and Green Lantern (Alan Scott). In later issues, Mister Terrific (Michael Holt) from the mainstream universe joins the team. Other heroes who have made appearances include Dr. Fate (Khalid Ben-Hassin),
24235-556: The major DC characters. Crisis featured many key deaths that shaped the DC Universe for the following decades, and it separated the timeline of DC publications into pre- and post-"Crisis". Meanwhile, a parallel update had started in the non-superhero and horror titles. Since early 1984, the work of British writer Alan Moore had revitalized the horror series The Saga of the Swamp Thing , and soon numerous British writers, including Neil Gaiman and Grant Morrison , began freelancing for
24420-568: 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. 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
24605-446: The mascot Johnny DC and established the CMX imprint to reprint translated manga . In 2006, CMX took over from Dark Horse Comics ' publication of the webcomic Megatokyo in print form. DC also took advantage of the demise of Kitchen Sink Press and acquired the rights to much of the work of Will Eisner , such as his The Spirit series and his graphic novels. In 2004, DC began laying
24790-408: The most popular superhero titles continued publication, including Action Comics and Detective Comics , the medium's two longest-running titles. In the mid-1950s, editorial director Irwin Donenfeld and publisher Liebowitz directed editor Julius Schwartz (whose roots lay in the science-fiction book market) to produce a one-shot Flash story in the try-out title Showcase . Instead of reviving
24975-446: The new female Crimson Avenger , Power Girl is severely wounded by supernatural bullets fired from the vigilante's cursed handguns. Despite being saved by Doctor Mid-Nite , Power Girl comments that her near-death experience has shown her that she needs to make more personal connections outside of the superhero community. The Psycho-Pirate shows Kara multiple versions of her origin in an effort to drive her insane. Eventually, he reveals
25160-516: The old character, Schwartz had writers Robert Kanigher and John Broome , penciler Carmine Infantino , and inker Joe Kubert create an entirely new super-speedster, updating and modernizing the Flash's civilian identity, costume, and origin with a science-fiction bent. The Flash's reimagining in Showcase No. 4 (October 1956) proved sufficiently popular that it soon led to a similar revamping of
25345-496: The other heroes after Big Barda reveals her loyalty to Darkseid. Huntress and Power Girl return to Earth 2 as well to take part in a mad scramble to save the Earth and then later, to save its people along with a computerized record of human culture and life on Earth created by Bruce Wayne. In Earth 2: World's End #11, it is revealed that Highfather made a deal with Darkseid that he would not interfere with Darkseid's plans for conquest so long as Darkseid only preyed upon one Earth of
25530-464: The other imprints was Impact Comics from 1991 to 1992 in which the Archie Comics superheroes were licensed and revamped. The stories in the line were part of its own shared universe. DC entered into a publishing agreement with Milestone Media that gave DC a line of comics featuring a culturally and racially diverse range of superhero characters. Although the Milestone line ceased publication after
25715-405: The post- Crisis Earth-2 Superman. This turn of events results in the post- Crisis Earth-2 Power Girl and the Justice Society Infinity to go after the New Earth Power Girl. The Power Girl of New Earth recruits the post- Crisis Earth-2 Michael Holt, who is a physics professor and father and has never become a costumed hero, to help her return to her source Earth. Holt constructs a device similar to
25900-705: The pre- Crisis Earth-Three group, though same in the number of members. After the Kingdom event , Hypertime and divergent realities were revealed, but never supposed to be accessed, as stated in the Zero Hour event. They were later revealed when a directly-parallel Flash ( Walter West aka the "Dark Flash") entered the mainstream DC Universe and threatened to destroy it. These alternate realities are usually addressed as "Elsewhere" and "Elseworld" stories. Kal-L, Lois Lane-Kent, Superboy-Prime , and Alexander Luthor Jr. returned during Infinite Crisis . Unknown to Kal-L, Luthor's plan
26085-490: The process, this reality's Superman of Earth-Two , Batman of Earth-Two and Wonder Woman of Earth-Two all died, while its Supergirl and post-Flashpoint Robin of Earth-Two ( Helena Wayne ) were swept through a dimensional warp to Prime Earth where they became known as Power Girl and Huntress . Other notable character differences include a younger version of Alan Scott, the Golden Age Green Lantern, who leads
26270-468: The re-creation of the Multiverse led to the creation of a Power Girl and Superman native to this new universe, post- Crisis Earth-2 and that the post- Crisis Earth-2 Superman is still alive. The Power Girl of New Earth then returns home along with her Justice Society but with no apology from her counterpart nor from the post- Crisis Earth-2 Huntress for their actions against her. In September 2011, The New 52 rebooted DC's continuity. In this new timeline,
26455-612: The realigned world is called "New Earth". In the final issue of the 52 weekly series, it is revealed that fifty-two duplicate worlds have been created and all but New Earth have been altered from the original incarnation. The post- Crisis Earth-2 made its first appearance in a single panel of 52 Week 52 where it resembled the pre- Crisis Earth-Two, where a newspaper article says that this world's Superman and Power Girl are missing. The Flashes of New Earth ( Jay Garrick and Wally West ) briefly glimpsed this world with Robin (Dick Grayson) and Huntress in action (during their travel with
26640-533: The rest of the Justice Society that Huntress is heading to Gotham City. Power Girl is among those that catch up to Huntress and Batman as Per Degaton attacks with his time clones. It took the different Doctor Fates from across time to trap Per Degaton in Huntress' snow globe which erases Huntress' possible future. Huntress later spoke to Power Girl about how the ranks of the Justice Society of America are filling up and how her erased future had redeemed villains. Power Girl
26825-457: The revised Power Girl inconsistently. The 2005–2006 Infinite Crisis limited series then restored her status as a refugee from the Krypton of the destroyed Pre-Crisis Earth-Two universe. This has been her consistent depiction ever since. Power Girl was introduced in All Star Comics #58 in 1976, and was a member of the superhero team the Justice Society of America through the remainder of
27010-432: The scene of crises and act as Power Girl to resolve them. In the pages of " The New Golden Age ", Power Girl was with the Justice Society when they fought Angle Man and an army of Bizarros when a Huntress from a possible future arrived. Per Degaton tried to use a Kryptonite ring on Power Girl only for Huntress to shoot off his finger causing him to retreat. Power Girl tells Deadman , Detective Chimp , Madame Xanadu , and
27195-698: The series we realized that we just couldn't do the same type of book with another artist at this point and decided it was a good idea to leave with her and give another team a shot." Judd Winick took over as writer with artist Sami Basri beginning with issue #13. Winick stated that the tone of the book will continue, and the premise of the character in New York. The trade paperback " Power Girl" ( ISBN 978-1401209681 ) collects Showcase issues #97–99, Secret Origins (vol. 2) issue #11, JSA issues 32 and 39, and JSA Classified issues #1–4. " Power Girl: A New Beginning" ( ISBN 978-1401226183 ) collects
27380-434: The series with issue #16 and Tom Taylor became the new writer at #17. Other new characters introduced as the series progresses include a female Red Tornado (an android with the consciousness of Lois Lane that was uploaded into it by Sam Lane and Robotman ), a hyper-intelligent knowledge-assimilator known as Accountable ( Jimmy Olsen ), a new Batman ( Thomas Wayne using Miraclo), a new version of Aquawoman (Marella), and
27565-449: The specific inducement, Marvel Comics' writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby ushered in the sub-Silver Age "Marvel Age" of comics with the debut issue of The Fantastic Four . Reportedly, DC dismissed the initial success of Marvel's editorial change until its consistently strengthening sales—albeit also benefiting DC's parent company Independent News, as Marvel's distributor—made it impossible to ignore. This commercial situation
27750-504: The stability of the creative team, who both continued with the title for six full years. In addition, Wolfman and Pérez took advantage of the limited-series option to create a spin-off title, Tales of the New Teen Titans , to present origin stories of their original characters without having to break the narrative flow of the main series or oblige them to double their work load with another ongoing title. This successful revitalization of
27935-490: The stock market in 1961. Despite the official names "National Comics" and "National Periodical Publications", the company began branding itself as "Superman-DC" as early as 1940 and became known colloquially as DC Comics for years before the official adoption of that name in 1977. DC Comics began to move aggressively against what it saw as copyright-violating imitations from other companies, such as Fox Comics ' Wonder Man , which (according to court testimony) Fox started as
28120-493: The successful Batwoman , Bat-Girl , Ace the Bat-Hound , and Bat-Mite in an attempt to modernize the strip with non-science-fiction elements. Schwartz and Infantino then revitalized Batman in what the company promoted as the "New Look", with relatively down-to-earth stories re-emphasizing Batman as a detective. Meanwhile, editor Kanigher successfully introduced a whole family of Wonder Woman characters having fantastic adventures in
28305-572: The then present day adventures of the Justice Society in the revived All-Star Comics with issue #58, resuming the numbering from the series' original run. The story continued in Adventure Comics #461–466, which featured the death of the Earth-Two Batman in issue #462. Mr and Mrs Superman , a feature in Superman Family (1974–1982), featured stories of the adventures of married Superman and Lois Lane of Earth-Two. These stories were set at
28490-462: The time she arrives on Earth, Kara is shown to be in her early twenties. However, as mentioned in JSA Classified #1, her age at arrival has now been retconned to eighteen in post- Crisis continuity. 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
28675-465: The title of the 1940s publication ), designed to feature some of the company's best-known characters in stories that eschewed the long and convoluted continuity of the DC Universe. The line began with All-Star Batman & Robin the Boy Wonder and All-Star Superman , and All-Star Wonder Woman and All-Star Batgirl was announced in 2006, but neither of these stories had been released or scheduled as of
28860-422: The truth: Power Girl is a survivor of Krypton from the dimension which contained the pre- Crisis Earth-Two . In the " Infinite Crisis " storyline, Kal-L himself returns to the post- Crisis DC Universe after breaking down the walls of the paradise dimension in which he, Lois Lane Kent (of Earth-Two ), Alexander Luthor, Jr. (of Earth-Three ), and Superboy-Prime (of Earth-Prime ) had been living since
29045-482: 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". While attempting to save her teammate Ted Grant from
29230-560: 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. Power Girl remains a core member of the Justice Society . 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
29415-470: The two. Power Girl is much older than her Prime-Earth counterpart, and as such has a more curvaceous and voluptuous figure, with her most notable feature among fans being her large breasts. Compared to Supergirl she is more level-headed due to her maturity, and her fighting style is more aggressive. 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
29600-422: The use of non-traditional contractual arrangements, including the dramatic rise of creator-owned projects, leading to a significant increase in critically lauded work (much of it for Vertigo) and the licensing of material from other companies. DC also increased publication of book-store friendly formats, including trade paperback collections of individual serial comics, as well as original graphic novels . One of
29785-420: The world behind the scenes. Following Ultra-Humanite's defeat, the Wonders becomes the world's new defenders and hopes that this Earth is the Earth they can protect. At the end of Doomsday Clock #12 (December 2019), Doctor Manhattan reverses the actions that created the "New 52" universe, restoring Alan Scott and the Justice Society's original full histories as before "Flashpoint", and the original Earth-Two
29970-537: The world's history, resulting in a dieselpunk world where the Ultra-Humanite suppressed the Wonders until the survivors from before the reboot re-emerged. This Earth is the current Earth 2 of the modern Multiverse, as confirmed in Dark Crisis: Big Bang . DC Comics This is an accepted version of this page DC Comics, Inc. (later simply known as DC ) is an American comic book publisher and
30155-401: The writers and artists who had worked for DC without receiving much recognition during the early age of comic books when individual credits were rare. The comics industry experienced a brief boom in the early 1990s, thanks to a combination of speculative purchasing—mass purchase of the books as collectible items, with the intention to resell at a higher value (as the rising value of older issues
30340-585: Was a murdered police detective who served as the human host for the Spectre , while his Earth-One counterpart was a Metropolis police officer who often assisted Daily Planet cub reporter Jimmy Olsen and superhero Black Lightning . Many characters would often travel from one Earth to the other and interact with its natives or even immigrate. For example, Larry Jordan, the first Air Wave and native of Earth-Two, traveled to Earth-One under yet-unexplained circumstances, married Helen (the second Air Wave) and raised
30525-412: Was alienating much of his company's creative staff with his authoritarian manner and major talents there went to DC like Roy Thomas , Gene Colan , Marv Wolfman , and George Pérez . In addition, emulating the era's new television form, the miniseries while addressing the matter of an excessive number of ongoing titles fizzling out within a few issues of their start, DC created the industry concept of
30710-444: Was charging fifteen cents. At this time, the senior DC staff were reportedly unable to explain how this small publishing house was achieving its increasingly threatening commercial strength. For instance, when Marvel's product was examined in a meeting, the emphasis on more sophisticated character-based narrative and artist-driven visual storytelling was apparently overlooked. Instead, superficial reasons were put forward to account for
30895-487: Was disconnected from the machine by an unaware Kid Flash (Wallace West) , so both women remain trapped as a result. In the " Watchmen " sequel " Doomsday Clock ", the "original" Power Girl returns to the DC Universe when Doctor Manhattan , inspired by Superman , undoes the changes that he made to the New 52 timeline that erase the Justice Society and the Legion of Super-Heroes . She can be seen talking with Blue Beetle on
31080-430: Was established in a story titled " Flash of Two Worlds " in which Barry Allen , the modern Flash later referred to as the Flash of Earth-One (the setting of the Silver Age stories) first travels to another Earth, accidentally vibrating at just the right speed to appear on Earth-Two, where he meets Jay Garrick, his Earth-Two counterpart. He claims Gardner Fox's dreams were tuned into Earth-Two, explaining their depiction as
31265-628: Was featured in Detective Comics No. 20 (October 1938). This character is known to be the first masked vigilante published by DC. An unnamed "office boy", retconned as Jimmy Olsen 's first appearance, was revealed in a Superman story by Siegel and Shuster in Action Comics No. 6 (November 1938). Starting in 1939, Siegel and Shuster's Superman was the first comic-derived character to appear in other formats, later featuring in his own newspaper comic strip , which first introduced his biological parents Jor-El and Lara . All-American Publications' debut comic series, All-American Comics ,
31450-684: Was first named in a Superman newspaper strip around November 1939. Doll Man was the first superhero to be produced by Quality Comics , which DC now owns. Fawcett Comics was formed around 1939 and became DC's original competitor company over the next decade. At the end of 1944, All-American titles began using its own logo to distinguish it from the National comics. All-American Publications , an affiliate concern co-owned by Gaines and Liebowitz, merged with Detective Comics, Inc. on September 30, 1946, forming National Comics Publications . The previous year, in June 1945, Gaines had allowed Liebowitz to buy him out and had retained only Picture Stories from
31635-411: Was first published in April 1939. The series Detective Comics made history as being the first to feature Batman —a Bob Kane and Bill Finger creation—in issue No.27 (March 1939) with the request of more superhero titles. Batman was depicted as a masked vigilante who wore a caped suit known as the Batsuit and drove a car that was later referred to as the Batmobile . The Batman story also included
31820-581: Was forced out after the first year. Shortly afterwards, Detective Comics, Inc. purchased the remains of National Allied (also known as Nicholson Publishing) at a bankruptcy auction and absorbed it. Meanwhile, Max Gaines formed the sister company All-American Publications in 1939. Detective Comics, Inc. soon launched a new anthology title called Action Comics ; the first issue , cover dated June 1938, featured new characters such as Superman by Siegel and Shuster, Zatara by Fred Guardineer , and Tex Thompson by Ken Finch and Bernard Baily . Considered as
32005-418: Was highlighted by Marvel's superior sell-through percentage numbers which were typically 70% to DC's roughly 50%, meaning that DC's publications were barely making a profit after returns from the distributors were factored in, while Marvel was making a healthy profit by comparison. Also in 1961, both DC and Marvel increased their cover price from ten cents to twelve cents, while the rival publisher Dell Comics
32190-457: Was in response to Marvel's efforts to market their superhero line to college-aged adults. Infantino also recruited major talents such as ex-Marvel artist and Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko , and promising newcomers Neal Adams and Denny O'Neil , and he replaced some existing DC editors with artist-editors, including Joe Kubert and Dick Giordano , to give DC's output a more artistic critical eye. In 1967, National Periodical Publications
32375-467: Was on the crossover Justice League of America #147, written by Paul Levitz & Martin Pasko , where the character shows her attraction to that reality saying, "It has a much nicer brand of Superman, y'know?". The 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths limited series erased the existence of the Earth-Two Superman, and Power Girl's continuity was thus substantially disrupted. Initially she believed herself to be Superman's cousin, as she had been before
32560-414: 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, being disgusted that Oracle would sacrifice hundreds of lives & herself following orders. Although she has worked with her again on a few occasions when needed, the relationship between
32745-419: Was plagiarized by Stan Lee to create The X-Men . There was also the young Jim Shooter who purposely emulated Marvel's writing when he wrote for DC after studying both companies' styles, such as for the Legion of Super-Heroes feature. In 1966, National Periodical Publications established its own television arm, led by Allen Ducovny, to develop and produce TV projects, with Superman TV Corporation handling
32930-456: Was purchased by Kinney National Company , which purchased Warner Bros.-Seven Arts in 1969. Kinney National spun off its non-entertainment assets in 1972 (as National Kinney Corporation ) and changed its name to Warner Communications Inc. In 1970, Jack Kirby moved from Marvel Comics to DC, at the end of the Silver Age of Comics , in which Kirby's contributions to Marvel played a large, integral role. As artist Gil Kane described: Jack
33115-405: Was the introduction of the fictional mansion known as Wayne Manor first seen in Detective Comics No. 28 (June 1939). The series Adventure Comics followed in the footsteps of Action Comics and Detective Comics by featuring a new recurring superhero called Sandman who first appeared in Adventure Comics No. 40 (July 1939). Action Comics No. 13 (June 1939) introduced
33300-417: Was the only returning world that was devoid of most people, except the Justice Society, Kal-L, and his wife Lois Kent. This world was a copy, new and recently manufactured by Alexander Luthor Jr. of pre- Crisis Earth-Three, instead of resurrected. This copy Earth-Two was recombined with the primary Earth to form the primary DC reality termed as "New Earth". At the end of the Infinite Crisis limited series,
33485-417: Was the single most influential figure in the turnaround in Marvel's fortunes from the time he rejoined the company ... It wasn't merely that Jack conceived most of the characters that are being done, but ... Jack's point of view and philosophy of drawing became the governing philosophy of the entire publishing company and, beyond the publishing company, of the entire field ... [Marvel took] Jack and use[d] him as
33670-408: Was thought to imply that all comics would rise dramatically in price)—and several storylines gaining attention from the mainstream media. DC's extended storylines in which Superman was killed , Batman was crippled , and Green Lantern turned into the supervillain Parallax , resulted in dramatically increased sales. However, the increases were temporary, and sales dropped off as the industry went into
33855-421: Was to convince Bill Sarnoff, the head of Warner Publishing, to keep DC as a publishing concern, as opposed to simply managing their licensing of their properties. With that established, DC had attempted to compete with the now-surging Marvel by dramatically increasing its output and attempting to win the market by flooding it. This included launching series featuring such new characters as Firestorm and Shade,
34040-430: Was to resurrect the pre- Crisis Multiverse. He wanted to mix and match elements from each reality to create a "perfect world". The fallout of the conflict brought the short-lived return of an Earth-Two copy and the deaths of Kal-L, Lois Lane-Kent and Luthor Jr. of Earth-Two. It is unclear what happened to the aged Diana Trevor, the Earth-Two Wonder Woman , though she faded from her ghostly existence. Inexplicably, Earth-Two
34225-449: Was unlike many comic book series before it. While DC Comics is now primarily associated with superhero comics , the genres in the first anthology titles consisted of funnies , Western comics , and adventure-related stories. The character Doctor Occult —created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in December 1935 and included in issue No. 6 of New Fun Comics —is considered to be the earliest recurring superhero created by DC that
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