Power Girl: Ultimate Respect Thread
In case you’re wondering
The following analysis is based on Power Girl’s appearances from the Pre-Crisis, Post Crisis, and Post DC Rebirth eras. While the New 52 has its own version of Power Girl, she won’t be considered due to her history and information conflicting with the pre-established version.
The events, feats, powers, and equipment from Sovereign Seven will also be covered. Despite the final issue depicting it as an in-universe comic book, Power Girl’s other appearances have her refer to the events of the series, which suggests that it is canon. Later comics also contain subtle references to costumes or powers that only appeared in the pages of Sovereign Seven.
Shortly after being retconned into an Atlantean, Power Girl received injuries that required surgery in order to save her. After this surgery, her strength, speed, flight, invulnerability, and super-vision were all drastically weakened for a short time. She also gained new abilities that are never referenced or revisited after her Kryptonian origin is restored. As such, any feats or powers from this time will be marked under an “Atlantean” subsection.
Background
Power Girl
Real Name: Kara Zor-L
Aliases: Karen Starr, Powergirl (yes, as one word), Nike, Supergirl, Karen Steele, Andromeda, Nightwing, Power Woman, Old Karrie (alternate timeline), Paige Stetler (ugh…)
Nicknames: Maid of Might, PG, Pee Gee, Peej, Peege, Power Chick, Power-Peach, Sweetcakes, Kara-Mia, Miss Vavoom, Busty Airborne Lass, Hot Pants, Princess Peej, Dingus, Punch Girl, Paigey-Girl
Height: 5’7
Weight: 160 lbs
Occupation: Superhero, leader of Starrware Industries and the JSA All-Stars, counselor, journalist, freedom fighter (occasionally)
First appearance: Amazing World of DC Comics #6 (June 1975) (as concept art), All-Star Comics #58 (February 1976) (narratively)
Likes: Superman, cats, the JSA, Aquaman, Atlee, horror movies (especially hard R ones), manga
Dislikes: Worms, Wally West, Supergirl, time travel, romance movies, Superboy-Prime, Vartox, zombies, bubblegum ice cream
Backstory
“My name is Power Girl. I’m the last daughter of the multiverse.”
Our story begins in the universe Earth-Two. It was the early 1900s, and the planet Krypton was on the brink of collapse. Devastating “landquakes” were rocking the planet at a staggering rate, each one worse than the last. Believing this to be a sign of Krypton's destruction, the scientist Jor-L attempted to warn the planet’s council of their impending doom, but his concerns were dismissed as paranoia. The only other person to take his concerns seriously was his brother Zor-L.
Desperate to save his family, Zor-L used his brother’s data to build a spaceship, modifying the plans to ensure a safer flight. Unfortunately, while he was in the middle of building it, Zor-L realized he had miscalculated the amount of time they had left. But if he couldn’t assemble a full-scale ship in time, he could at least ensure the survival of his infant daughter. As he and his wife made peace with their fates, Zor-L and Allura placed Kara inside her ship, sending her offworld as Krypton exploded.
Being designed for slower travel, Kara’s “Symbioship” would spend the next 60 years traveling through space, all the while placing her in a suspended animation that slowed her aging. During this voyage, the ship’s AI would provide her with a virtual reality program, allowing her to live out an entire life on an artificial Krypton.
Eventually the Symbioship reached its destination, and upon waking on Earth, the 20 year old Kara was discovered by a fellow survivor of Krypton: her cousin, Kal-L, aka Clark Kent. The elderly Superman welcomed her into the family alongside his wife, Lois Lane, and with their help, Kara obtained a relationship far different from the virtual reality she knew.
As she grew more accustomed to life on Earth, Kara learned of her cousin’s heroic reputation and decided to follow in his footsteps, albeit against his wishes. Donning her own costume, Power Girl made her debut by helping the Justice Society of America contain an active volcano in Peking, China. She then joined them alongside Robin and Star-Spangled Kid to defeat Brain Wave and Per Degaton’s schemes for world domination.
For these efforts, she was granted full membership into the JSA by Superman himself, who believed it was time for the next generation to take up the mantle. During her adventures with the JSA, Power Girl proved herself a valuable member of the team, helping save the planet and even the universe numerous times. She even had the honor of attending the JSA’s annual meetings with Earth-One’s Justice League.
When she wasn’t saving the world, Kara spent most of her time trying to become more familiar with Earth’s culture, mainly through the civilian disguise of software engineer Karen Starr. These efforts were aided by a growing friendship with Huntress, a fellow JSA member and daughter of the deceased Batman and Catwoman. At one point, they even decided to leave the JSA together, claiming they felt out of place due to their age. They initially tried to make up for this by forming Infinity, Inc, but later rejoined the Society after realizing the Infinitors could handle themselves.
Shortly after this, a being called the Anti-Monitor would begin a quest to wipe out the multiverse. In an effort to save all of existence, Karen teamed up with the heroes and villains from other Earths to confront him. While they proved successful in defeating him, the entire multiverse was lost in the process. Now (supposedly) the only survivor of Earth-Two, and with nowhere left to go, Power Girl was forced to adapt to life on the only surviving Earth.
Fortunately, she wouldn’t have to worry about these alienating circumstances for too long. At the time, DC editorial wanted to make Superman the only survivor of Krypton. So what would they do with Power Girl, whose backstory relied entirely on being another Kryptonian survivor? Why, retcon it, of course!
At the request of one of her creators, Gerry Conway, Power Girl’s origin in the Post Crisis continuity would receive a drastic overhaul. Secret Origins #11 “revealed” that everything she experienced on Earth-Two was actually false memories. Her “true” origin story was that she was an Atlantean born 45,000 years ago (some comics claim it was 50,000 years ago), and her grandfather- the sorcerer Arion- had placed her in suspended animation, sending her to the present so she could escape being slaughtered by his old enemy Garn.
This retcon was not well-received, either by fans or the writers, and it led to Power Girl earning an infamous (and rather unearned) reputation among both for having one of the most confusing backstories in comic book history.
And to those people, I’d just like to point out that Power Girl exists in the same world as Hawkman and Donna Troy. One overhaul to her backstory is nothing compared to those guys.
But anyway, let’s get back on track. In an attempt to rectify the confusion among fans, writer Geoff Johns decided to take Karen back to her roots. He started by planting seeds in JSA #32 where Dr. Mid-Nite reveals her powers are biological, rather than magic like her revised origin claimed. Then in Superman #189, he’d have her being affected by Kryptonite, with both her and Superman questioning how that’s possible. JSA #50 would then have Arion reveal he lied to Power Girl about being her grandfather.
Following this, JSA Classified #1 would establish that Power Girl could still recall her “false” Kryptonian memories, with Issue #4 revealing that fellow Crisis survivor Psycho Pirate still remembered the events of the previous world and that Karen subconsciously remembered her Pre-Crisis history. Psycho Pirate attempted to exploit this by creating psychic illusions of her past friends and enemies, trying to drive her insane by making her doubt her past. His efforts failed, and instead of losing her mind, they only pointed her in the right direction, because right after his attack, she was reunited with the Superman from Earth-Two.
As it turned out, Superman had also survived the Crisis and been living in a paradise dimension with his Lois, Alexander Luthor from Earth-Three, and Superboy from Earth-Prime. During this conversation, Geoff Johns would solidify the restoration of her old history by revealing her Atlantean memories were fabricated and having her regain all of her Pre-Crisis memories.
You’d think this would’ve gotten people to stop complaining about her origin, but even as recently as 2023, there are still people who say her backstory is confusing.
But aside from her restored origin, the survivors also revealed their plan to restore the multiverse, as they felt that the New Earth universe had become too desolate and grim. While she was at first conflicted, Karen came to oppose the idea when she learned that Alexander planned to destroy New Earth to bring the multiverse back. She tried to fight him, but was captured and placed inside of his machine. With the help of Power Girl, among many other unwilling power sources, Alexander successfully restored the multiverse, but his plan to destroy New Earth was stopped by the remaining heroes. Power Girl would later be freed from the machine and take part in the final battle, which ended with a tearful farewell to the dying Earth-Two Superman.
Following the events of Infinite Crisis, Power Girl would help reform the Justice Society and was elected as its chairwoman. She’d help the team out with their missions, serving as their surrogate leader until they encountered the Third World deity Gog. While fulfilling the team’s subconscious desires, Gog sensed Karen’s grief at being the only survivor of Earth-Two and created a warp to send her “home.” Upon passing through the other side, she was met with the familiar faces of Dick Grayson, Helena Wayne and the members of the Justice Society and Infinity Inc. From the looks of things, it was as if Earth-Two had been restored!
Though she was initially overjoyed that she was back home, Karen soon noticed some odd inconsistencies, such as conflicting histories and a more violent and murderous Huntress. But the biggest thing that tipped her off was the presence of another Power Girl!
As it turned out, this wasn’t the Earth-Two Karen had grown up on. It was actually one of Alexander Luthor’s duplicate Earths, and its heroes were somehow worse than what her Superman had feared about New Earth.
Believing her to be an impostor, this world’s more brutal Robin and Power Girl tried torturing information out of her, but she was saved after the New Earth JSA appeared and helped clear up the misunderstanding.
After returning to New Earth and helping defeat Gog, Karen decided it was time for a fresh start. She began devoting more time to her company at Starrware Industries, befriended and mentored a young superheroine named Atlee, and even founded her own branch of the JSA. Everything seemed to be looking up for her… and then DC rebooted everything again.
Thanks to Doctor Manhattan meddling with time, Alan Scott never received the Green Lantern Battery, causing him to suffer an early death. This, combined with Manhattan removing ten years from the metaverse, created a ripple effect throughout the entire multiverse. Entire people were erased from history, memories were altered, and major historical events never happened. Even Power Girl was affected, being completely erased from existence and replaced by Kara Zor-El, the Supergirl (and eventual Power Girl) from Earth 2. That was until Manhattan became inspired by Superman’s heroism and set everything back to the way it was before. Everyone and everything he had erased or altered was completely restored, including the original Power Girl!
Now on the world of Prime Earth, Karen helped the heroes of the multiverse fight against the forces of Pariah, a survivor of the original Crisis who’d gone insane after coming into contact with the primordial embodiment of darkness. After Pariah’s defeat and another restoration of the infinite Earths, Power Girl wouldn’t be seen again until the events of Lazarus Planet.
While helping the other heroes deal with a Lazarus Pit volcano, Karen was accidentally exposed to the volcano’s resin, an otherworldly substance that unlocked her latent psionic potential. She used these new psychic abilities to rescue Omen, a telepathic therapist who she soon befriended.
With Omen’s help, Karen was able to train her psychic powers and helped form a therapy group. With Omen’s years of experience combined with her more headstrong approach, they began helping other heroes overcome their mental and emotional burdens.
Personality
Pre-Crisis
In her initial appearances, Power Girl was portrayed as someone who had to work hard to be recognized in the Justice Society. She often felt the other members- and men in general- treated her like a kid and only saw her as a carbon copy of Superman. The latter was a particular point of ire since she wanted to step out of his shadow and be her own woman, which is why her costume didn’t have a logo.
The treatment she received from the rest of the JSA often led to her refusing their help so she could accomplish tasks on her own, or taking charge against an enemy. This headstrong nature would sometimes cause her to butt heads with her teammates, mostly Wildcat, who looked down on her for being too young and a woman. This attitude would often lead to him being the subject of her anger, teasing, and jabs; and it also made her act a bit harder towards men.
Aside from her frosty relationship with her teammates, she also hated dealing with crowds and reporters, likening the latter to a flock of vultures or “hovering busybodies” like her cousin. Her experiences with Andrew Vinson would later make her reconsider these views and improve her opinion on men. In time, she’d even begin providing them support during emotional moments, like when she and Star-Spangled Kid struggled with survivor’s guilt after the JSA (seemingly) died.
During battle, her early appearances often had her make remarks about women’s liberation or really lame puns. As time went on, there’d be occasions where she’d try to talk things out instead of resorting to violence, but she mainly tended to punch first and ask questions later.
While visiting Earth-One, she was much friendlier toward its Superman because he treated her nicer compared to his Earth-Two counterpart. She also shared his desire to be among beings with powers equal to her own, but realized that even in a place like that, she’d never be able to escape her responsibilities.
While she didn’t have trouble interacting with others, being raised by the Symbioship for most of her life left her occasionally confused by family matters. She’d also have occasions where she was extremely blunt and snippy towards others or said things that could accidentally come across as insulting.
Post Crisis
Following the Atlantean retcon, Power Girl became interested in learning more about her “rediscovered” heritage. She’d look through books on Atlantis and magic and consult other Atlanteans for information, with mixed results. There were even times where she’d put her research above managing Starrware, which strained her relationship with her employees. At one point she even sought Aquaman’s help in reconnecting with Atlantis, to no avail. This caused her to become unsure of herself and her past, and she eventually stopped caring about her heritage.
Early on in this era, it’s established that she’s a firm believer in using her powers responsibly. In her eyes, since they set her apart from regular humans, she needs to control them to prevent others from being hurt. Even later on in the Post Crisis era, it’s shown that she puts the safety of others, even villains, first. She’s dedicated to following through if she gives people her word, and she’s very strict about not letting other heroes kill. Should she fail to save innocent lives, it will haunt her even long after the fact. That last point has even strained her relationships with other heroines, like Oracle and Supergirl.
Speaking of which, there’s her relationship with Supergirl, which is pretty complex. She originally resented the first Post Crisis Supergirl, Linda Danvers, because some people believed Power Girl was supposed to be her replacement, but they soon patched things up. However, she still gets annoyed when people mixed them up. With Kara Zor-El, her arrival caused Power Girl to feel unsure of her own identity, though Superman still accepted her as part of the family. Despite these feelings, she still sympathized with Kara losing her home and did her best to comfort her. She also tried to steer Kara in the right direction by getting her to reign in her temper. Unfortunately, a rift later formed in their relationship after Supergirl abandoned Kandor and its citizens so she could find a way back to Argo. And despite Supergirl’s best attempts to make amends, Karen wouldn’t have it.
During her time with the Justice League, she was initially nervous and excited about joining them. Upon joining their European branch, she quickly came to blows with the team’s leader, Captain Atom, believing he was too inept and incompetent to serve his role. Despite this, she still respected him enough that his unjust firing from the team left her infuriated.
She also became antagonistic towards The Flash for his horndog attitude, at one point even threatening him with violence just because a tabloid claimed she was having his kid. This attitude simmered down over time, and she eventually did grow to respect him, at least somewhat.
But The Flash’s pervertedness wasn’t the only thing that irritated her during this period. Any remarks about her body or any focus on it in general would do the trick. Same with perverted remarks toward women. This persisted even into the early 2000s, as seen when she first met Kyle Rayner.
The only positive traits the early JLE run established are that she’s a cat person, and is rather protective of her pet, Stinky. The writers also set her apart from the other members by having her occasionally crack jokes during battle and giving her a sarcastic sense of humor, as well as (for some reason) an extreme hatred of worms.
The middle of the JLE run then took her in a really weird direction. Starting around issue #32, out of nowhere Power Girl suddenly becomes obsessed with diet sodas, to the point of being addicted to the stuff. These same issues also had her acting more headstrong and aggressive, and suffering violent mood swings. She also became way more assertive, at one point even claiming she should be the JLE’s leader during a mission.
This change in personality was later explained as her having an allergic reaction to diet soda. Even after cutting it from her system, she still felt the need to act abrasively, just because she thought her teammates would look down on her for being worried about feeding her cat.
This run was also the first time Power Girl’s writers decided to retcon her boob window. Instead of being there to set her apart from Superman, now her lack of a symbol was meant to symbolize female empowerment.
The writers also had her develop a crush on Aquaman, who she was really defensive of. This crush eventually culminated in them having a one night stand, which Aquaman immediately regretted because he was still hung up over his dead wife.
Shortly after this, she realized she was pregnant. While she wasn’t sure who the father was, her condition motivated her to try and step down from the Justice League after realizing her continued heroics might endanger her unborn child. Unfortunately, she never got the chance to actually leave, and instead made do by remaining on the sidelines.
After giving birth, she mellowed out a bit, with her temper only coming out whenever her son was threatened. Even after learning the truth behind the baby’s conception (her grandfather mystically impregnating her with demon DNA against her will), it didn’t change her instincts towards him. When he died after fulfilling his purpose, Power Girl fell into a state of depression that left her moody and antisocial. This (and any acknowledgement of this plotline) vanished after Blue Devil tricked her into unleashing her pent-up rage by saying The Flash had spread rumors of them having sex. She then spends the rest of that issue relapsing into her early JLE personality, including her anger at the Flash. Because comedy.
After the JLE’s tenure ended, Power Girl changed, ultimately for the better. She became a lot calmer, more confident, and more level headed. And her time with teams like the Sovereign Seven depicted her as more of a team player and being more willing to take orders.
She even went as far as to unveil her identity as Karen Starr to the world, making it public knowledge they’re one and the same. Apparently this was because she’d already blown her cover several times and didn’t see a point in keeping up pretenses (or at least, that was the case until later writers forgot about it).
Her relationship with Superman during this period is also a bit weird. Despite not being considered his cousin at the time, they still viewed each other that way, and she still considered him an inspiration. This makes it a bit awkward when a later comic reveals she considers him “one of the most handsome, smart, and sexy men I’ve ever met,” but let’s not dwell on that.
One thing that didn’t change over the years was her rivalry with Wildcat. Even after all these years, they still couldn’t really get along. She also never got over her stubborn attitude. She refuses to obey orders without question, and considers it debasing to apologize to others.
Her time with the JSA also led her to decline joining the reformed JLI, since while she loved the idea of joining them again, she had more history with the Society and saw them as family. It was also revealed that she never really believed Arion’s story about Atlantis, and that she’d stopped caring what her real origin was.
By the 2000s, Power Girl’s attitude had drastically improved. She’d now grown used to people staring at her chest and no longer had a problem with it, and it was even implied she deliberately included her boob window to distract people. Regaining her original memories also shook off any lingering negativity and let her take her previous identity crisis in stride. However, she never really got over the loss of her adoptive parents, friends, or universe; and after being rejected by the inhabitants of the fake Earth-2, she decided to start anew.
As part of her journey, she befriended the young heroine Atlee and helped her get used to regular life while also acting as her mentor. This was around the same time as her 2009 series, which helped add a lot more to her character. She became a lot more willing to crack jokes, was given a more sarcastic, no-nonsense attitude; and became something of a straight man during comedic scenes. She’s also established as a huge horror movie fan, and it’s implied she might be into manga.
Despite other comics showing her lack confidence in her diplomacy skills, her own series has her display this pretty well. She’s willing to rehabilitate villains, give them second chances (even letting criminal hackers work for her company), and once helped some stranded aliens set up new identities on Earth. But that doesn’t mean she’s completely nice to her enemies.
Unlike the other members of the Super family, Karen is willing to use powers a bit more pragmatically against villains, and has no problem using underhanded tactics against them.
She also has a really big appetite.
Later on in the Justice League/Justice Society crossover “The Dark Things,” it was revealed that she prefers keeping her civilian identity’s technological skills separate from her superhero life, largely because the JSA already have several geniuses on board.
After the Justice League’s battle with Maxwell Lord ended and she reclaimed control from him embezzling her company, Karen became more directly involved with Starrware. In an effort to revitalize their reputation, she decided to go public and began rolling out products for everyday use. She also decided to put a bit more effort into her disguise as Karen Starr, using a red wig and glasses instead of just slicking her hair back like before.
Post Doomsday Clock
Unfortunately, thanks to DC rebooting everything, we wouldn’t get any development for the above plotline. And thanks to the writers not knowing what to do with her, it’s unlikely we’ll ever see that resolved.
Instead, we get One-Star Squadron, where Power Girl becomes part of the online service Heroz4u. The entire series depicts her as a smug, cold, pragmatic bitch who believes money is more important than superhero work and is solely focused on improving the company. She’s shown to care more about work efficiency and making a profit than saving others, all because she decided- for some godforsaken reason- to take advice from known supervillain and corrupt businessman Maxwell Lord.
When she gets fired from Heroz4U, her newfound belief system comes crashing down on her, but she regains her desire to be a hero by saving some people from a burning building.
After this, Leah Williams took a shot at writing Power Girl, and it’s just awful. The confident, no-nonsense heroine she was before is completely gone. In her place is a mopey, antisocial, self-loathing, insecure loser who completely refuses to embrace anything about her past.
Despite having a perfectly normal relationship before, now she doesn’t see herself as part of Superman’s family because she thinks they don’t care about her. And she doesn’t want to go by “Karen Starr” anymore because Starrware no longer exists (despite previously using the name even long after the company collapsed). Now she wants to go by “Paige” because Superman’s son is a fucking idiot that thinks “Peeg” sounds like “Paige.”
And remember how the previous era established her as a cat person? Now she’s perfectly fine with abusing them, threatening them with it, and is so inept she can’t even remember to feed them! She also no longer has a concept of privacy, lacks any understanding of social cues, and is way more foul-mouthed than any of her previous books.
When she finally gets a new solo series, she’s treated like a rookie superhero, complete with Superman scolding her for endangering innocent lives and having to receive a pep talk to encourage her to do better. And now all of a sudden she’s scared of the Symbioship and worries that she might not be a “real girl.”
The only good thing to come out of this era was the writers finally had her and Supergirl make amends after so long.
Strength
Striking
All-Star Comics #58:
Just by stomping on the ground, she creates a shockwave that knocks an army of Chinese soldiers through the air.
All-Star Comics #59:
Tears through the hull of Brain Wave’s satellite and punches Degaton.
All-Star Comics #61:
Knocks XLK JNN several feet back into some rubble.
All-Star Comics #62:
Sends Zanadu flying with a punch.
All-Star Comics #63:
Tears through miles of rock while underground, then shatters a crate upon reaching the surface.
All-Star Comics #64:
Destroys a castle wall by charging through it.
All-Star Comics #65:
All-Star Comics #66:
Tears through a wall of the JSA headquarters.
Shatters the ice around a frozen Hawkman.
Knocks Wizard out by flicking him.
All-Star Comics #67:
Knocks out Star-Spangled Kid by uppercutting him.
Punches a subterranean, then punches its leader, the Underlord.
Through repeated punches, she eventually breaks through a wall said to be harder than steel.
Punches the Underlord in the face.
Knocks the Underlord out with a right hook.
All-Star Comics #68:
Shatters Alan Scott’s clamp construct with a single punch.
Destroys one of Doctor Fate’s constructs with a right hook.
Justice League of America #147:
Punches the giant super sorcerer Mordru in the chest.
Punches away a group of other-dimensional monsters.
Shatters a massive vault by punching it.
Justice League of America #148:
Hits Wildfire in the back of the head. Wildfire’s powers are stated to equalize against Earth-One Superman’s, meaning they’d be on the same level.
Showcase #97:
Creates a shockwave by stomping, knocking a reporter and cameraman off their feet.
Showcase #98:
Punches her Symbioship hard enough to damage it. and later destroys it beyond repair. According to her, the Symbioship’s metal “could survive the fury of a starstorm.”
Showcase #99:
Kicks through a bubble prison that was designed to withstand her mightiest blows.
Adventure Comics #463:
Harms fire elementals, earth elementals, and dragons with her punches.
Justice League of America #184:
Alongside Orion, knocks out Icicle in one punch.
Wonder Woman #276:
Knocks out The Thinker after Huntress uses a judo flip to turn her full body strength against her.
Wonder Woman #292:
Knocks Plague off his horse by swinging a telephone line at him.
Justice League of America #209:
Destroys a heat-seeking missile with a punch.
DC Comics Presents #56:
Knocks out one of Maaldor’s summoned monsters with a punch. Maaldor himself says these monsters have caused entire worlds to fall beneath them.
Slams into Maaldor from behind, then punches him in the face.
Justice League of America #220:
Double KOs Sargon the Sorcerer while under an illusion. Upon recovering, she knocks out Felix Faust with a single punch.
Infinity Inc #3:
Punches Solomon Grundy through a castle set. She and Fury later punch him simultaneously during a team-wide assault.
Infinity Inc #7:
Punches Superman while taking a punch from him.
Tackles Superman through multiple freight cars, then punches him in the face.
Infinity Inc #10:
Busts into a mountain hard enough to create an entrance for the rest of Infinity, Inc.
JSA #51:
Alongside the rest of the JSA, punches a Mordru-possessed Arion hard enough to knock him back.
Superman/Batman #4:
Punches Captain Atom into the side of a building.
JLA/Avengers #4:
Punches some Marvel villain in the face.
JSA #61:
JSA #64:
Destroys a golem by charging through it.
JLA: Classified #7:
JSA #74:
Drags Black Adam across the ground and punches him twice.
JLA: Classified #8:
Backhands Mistress Mary, then uppercuts her into the sky. Mary is sent flying so fast that she crashes into G’Nort and knocks him out.
JLA: Classified #9:
Knees Billy in the balls and punches him away.
Supergirl (2005) #1:
Punches Supergirl into Stargirl.
JSA: Classified #1:
Creates a massive crater by repeatedly punching an illusory copy of Garn.
JSA: Classified #4:
Kneed Psycho Pirate in the crotch.
JSA #84:
JSA #85:
Knocks Gentleman Ghost around.
Supergirl (2005) #6:
Supergirl (2005) #7:
Punches Ultraman and kicks a cultist.
Supergirl (2005) #9:
Punches Supergirl in the stomach and leaves her winded despite not being at full power.
Superman/Batman #25:
Breaks off part of the Source Wall imprisoning Superman.
Backhands an alternate universe Batman.
52 #3:
Justice Society of America (2007) #4:
Tales of the Sinestro Corps: Superman-Prime:
She and Supergirl make Superboy-Prime bleed by punching him across Metropolis.
Brave and the Bold (2007) #7:
One-shots several armored undead warriors.
She and Wonder Woman send themselves to an alternate dimension by punching a portal.
While possessed, she collapses the Library of Alexandria’s ceiling by destroying a pillar.
Punches Wonder Woman through several pillars and into a wall.
Superman #670:
Knocks one of Amalak’s minions away with a punch.
Crashes through the Fortress of Solitude’s sunstone walls.
With Superman, Supergirl, and Karsta, punches Amalak and knocks him out.
Justice Society of America (2007) #14:
Punches Gog (William Matthews).
Justice Society of America Annual #1:
Punches through reinforced metal doors and wooden doors.
Justice Society of America (2007) #20:
Shoves Earth-2 Power Girl aside after being placed in a chokehold by her.
Kicks Earth-2 Power Girl in the stomach and punches her across the Batcave.
Tangent: Superman’s Reign #9:
Destroys part of an F-185 jet.
Terra #2:
Tackles Silver Banshee through an underground sinkhole.
Justice Society of America (2007) #21:
Punches Gog in the back of the head.
Justice Society of America (2007) #24:
Knocks Magog to the ground with a single punch while sparring.
Trinity #31:
Knocked Zoom through the air with a punch.
Superman #683:
Trinity #39:
Tangent: Superman’s Reign #11:
Draws blood from Scarecrow by punching him.
Tangent: Superman’s Reign #12:
Punches Tangent Power Girl into a nearby power plant, then punches her two more times, with the last one drawing blood.
Trinity #41:
Power Girl (2009) #1:
Destroys several robots by charging into them.
Smashes several robots to pieces by hitting them with a car.
Power Girl (2009) #2:
Kicks Ultra-Humanite away, then repeatedly bashes him in the head with a helmet.
Hits Ultra-Humanite with a knee strike to the jaw.
Headbutts Ultra-Humanite into a wall hard enough to bend metal.
Justice Society of America (2007) #29:
Kicks Blue Moon in the face.
Power Girl (2009) #3:
Tackles Ultra-Humanite into some lab equipment.
Destroys some robots by charging through them.
Justice Society of America (2007) #30:
Dropkicks Da Bomb into the street.
Power Girl (2009) #4:
Shoulder tackles a giant lizard and headbutts him in the snout.
Power Girl (2009) #5:
Destroys an alien robot with a punch.
Justice Society of America (2007) #32:
Shatters part of the Justice Society’s table.
Justice Society of America (2007) #33:
Punches Blue Moon, then knocks her out with a second punch.
Power Girl (2009) #7:
Kicks Blue Snowman in the face.
Brawls with the planet-destroying IX Negaspike, and destroys its body.
JSA All Stars #1:
Topples an army tank with an elbow strike.
Wonder Woman (2006) #40:
Punching Wonder Woman’s bracelet creates a shockwave that shatters windows and knocks people away.
Tackles Wonder Woman through a parking garage.
Power Girl (2009) #8:
Punches an IX Negaspike hard enough to tear off its pincer.
Kicks an IX Negaspike in the face.
Punches Vartox out of his ship.
JSA All-Stars #2:
Charges into Arthur Pemberton’s mechanical suit.
Magog #6:
Punches Magog several times, drawing blood.
Wonder Woman (2006) #41:
Punches Wonder Woman, then punches her to Canada.
Punches Wonder Woman into a truck, then knees her and crushes her beneath a bus.
JSA All-Stars #3:
Punches Magog, then does it again.
Power Girl (2009) #9:
Punches an elephant man in the head, then later uppercuts him and sends him flying with a hammer swing.
Kicks Satanna in the back and slams her face against a wall.
Knocks Satanna off her feet with a punch.
Justice Society of America (2007) Annual #2:
Knocks Magog away, then tackles him and beats him down.
Power Girl (2009) #10:
Slams a Manhawk into the ground.
Power Girl (2009) #11:
While weakened from damaged internal organs, she punches her way out of a makeshift tomb.
Punches Atlee through an underground structure.
Justice League: Generation Lost #1:
Power Girl (2009) #12:
Justice League of America (2006) #45:
Knocks the JSA off their feet by charging past them.
Punches Supergirl into the side of a cliff.
Her clash with Supergirl creates a shockwave.
Superman: War of the Supermen #3:
Knocks out two Kryptonians with a punch.
Power Girl (2009) #13:
Knocks several OMACs away by swinging one of them through the air.
Wonder Woman (2006) #600:
Punches Egg Fu alongside Wonder Woman.
Justice Society of America (2007) #41:
One-shots a possessed Miss Martian.
Power Girl (2009) #14:
Tackles Crash through a support beam and punches him into the ground.
Punches Crash until he’s spitting blood and briefly knocks him out.
Justice Society of America (2007) #42:
Punches Alan Scott while he’s possessed by the Starheart, which made him anywhere from 10, 20, or 100 times stronger.
Power Girl (2009) #15:
Trades blows from Crash for an hour.
Justice Society of America Special:
Shatters NIL-8’s armor with a punch.
JSA: All-Stars #10:
Shatters a massive sword with a punch, then knocks down a building-sized monster.
Power Girl (2009) #17:
Headbutts Divine and punches her in the stomach.
Shatters a block of ice that Divine was trapped in.
Power Girl (2009) #18:
Creates a massive shockwave by colliding with Divine.
Slams Divine against a wall hard enough to crater it.
Punches Divine, lands another punch while being elbowed, then punches her in the gut.
Power Girl (2009) #20:
Dropkicks a giant gorilla into the ground.
Punches a genetic experiment, and later punches a modified elephant and a shark hybrid.
Justice League: Generation Lost #17:
Punches Captain Atom across Tokyo.
JSA All-Stars #14:
Knocks Citizen Steel away while punching with everything she’s got.
Justice League: Generation Lost #18:
While not holding back, she punches Captain Atom across a forest, then continues beating him down.
Knocks Red Rocket and Ice back by uppercutting them.
Launches Booster Gold through the air by punching him.
Knocks Fire and Red Rocket aside by charging into them, then hits Captain Atom in the chest and punches him several times.
Justice Society of America (2007) #49:
Knocks Dr. Chaos on his ass with a punch.
Power Girl (2009) #22:
Power Girl (2009) #23:
Kicks a sasquatch in the face.
Power Girl (2009) #26:
Punches Rana, an alien that copied her powers, knocking her away with a second punch.
Power Girl (2009) #27:
Punches Anubis through a wall and knocks out Devil Dog with a kick.
Punches Da Bomb into the Leaning Tower of Pisa, breaking two of its pillars, then breaks the inside of his knee.
Convergence: Action Comics #1:
Punches Penny Dreadful and Ultra-Humanite in a flashback.
Convergence: Action Comics #2:
Tackles Red Son Wonder Woman through a building, then knocks her off her feet with a punch.
Tackles Red Son Wonder Woman from behind.
Infinite Frontier #6:
Dark Crisis: The Dark Army:
Punches Captain Carrot hard enough to send him bouncing across the room.
Harley Quinn Romances:
Punches Divine and knocks her through a wall.
Power Girl Special:
Slams Johnny Sorrow against a wall.
Kicks Supergirl’s door down and punches Streaky through a wall.
Cracks Johnny Sorrow’s mask by headbutting it.
Power Girl (2023) #1:
Punches Amalak hard enough to draw blood.
Punches through several floors of a ship.
Power Girl (2023) #2:
Destroys a palm tree by punching it.
Tackles Amalak through a wall and later kicks him in the face.
Power Girl (2023) #4:
Craters a broken statue by elbowing it.
Breaks Superman’s nose by headbutting him.
Atlantean
Warlord #118:
Dents the scorpion ship’s armored hull with two punches.
Warlord #122:
While amped by Jennifer Morgan’s magic, she staggers the demon Azmyrkon with a punch. Prior to this, Azmyrkon had matched Power Girl’s strength while she was weakened.
Power Girl (1988) #1:
Punches away a police car thrown by Force, then sends him flying through a tree.
While weakened from his energy-enhanced choke, she still has enough strength to make Force release her.
Her body colliding with another man’s leaves him near death.
Power Girl (1988) #3:
Matches Force’s strength by colliding punches with him.
Kicks Force in the chest and knocks Blaine through the air.
Backhands Force and punches him in the back.
Power Girl (1988) #4:
Punches Khater in the back, then knocks him off a cliff.
Doom Patrol (1987) #13:
Justice League Europe #2:
Knocks out Rising Sun by ramming into him, which leaves him near death.
Justice League Europe #4:
Knocks Jack O’ Lantern on his ass.
Justice League Europe #27:
Kicks Captain Atom while under Starro’s control.
Justice League Europe #28:
Punches Captain Atom, and later punches him through a chimney.
Justice League Europe #33:
Shoulder tackles Despero and uppercuts him.
Justice League America #58:
Justice League Europe #38:
Backhands The Flash off a building.
Tackles a statue of Admiral Nelson hard enough to shatter the pillar behind them, then destroys its arm with a punch.
Justice League Europe #41:
Punches a rock monster that had previously swatted away Hal Jordan, then staggers it with a shoulder tackle.
Shatters two rock monsters by charging into them.
Justice League Europe Annual #3:
Uppercuts Aquaman, backhands Crimson Fox, and tackles Dr. Light
Punches Elongated Man so hard that his neck stretches back, then knocks Aquaman out with a rapid series of punches.
Punches Crimson Fox and kicks Elongated Man off her.
Justice League Quarterly #13:
Punches her dark magic doppelganger in the back.
Shatters her doppelganger with a punch.
Justice League International #56:
Justice League International #59:
Justice League America #93:
Makes Scarabus bleed by kicking him in the face.
Charges into Scarabus and draws more blood by punching him.
Justice League America #94:
Punches Scarabus a bunch of times and disembowels him.
Justice League America #106:
Justice League America #107:
Justice League America #113:
Punches Flicker while enraged and holding nothing back.
Aquaman (1994) #26:
Sovereign Seven #25:
Punches Molly Savoy into a mountainside, then lifts her into the air.
Shatters Cruiser’s psychic shield by smashing into it from above.
Sovereign Seven #27:
Creates tremors by stomping on the ground.
Supergirl (1996) #16:
Smacks Linda Danvers Supergirl into a building.
Sovereign Seven #30:
Sovereign Seven #31:
Punches Guy Gardner into space.
Aquaman (1994) #41:
Shatters Maxima’s force field by punching it, then sends her flying out of the water.
JLA #27:
Birds of Prey #17:
Sends a missile flying off course with a punch.
Green Lantern: Circle of Fire #1:
Sends an armored thug flying with a punch.
Green Lantern/Power Girl #1:
Swings an armored alien into several of his partners.
Wonder Woman (1987) #175:
Punches Mongal and kicks her hard enough to send her flying through a building.
Joker: Last Laugh #3:
Punches Carnivora in the back of the head.
Sends Psycho Pirate flying witb a punch.
JSA #35:
Staggers a mind-controlled Post Crisis Superman, punches Geo Force, then knocks Superman down. Later on in their fight she knocks him out.
JSA #36:
Charges into an army of gorillas.
JSA #39:
Punches Da Bomb hard enough to send him flying across Central Park.
JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice:
Punches Despero in the stomach.
Superman (1987) #189:
Kicks Mr. 103 in the face and punches him hard enough that chips of Kryptonite skin come flying off.
JSA #47:
Tackles a Mordru-possessed Arion through concrete and beats his ass despite him being amped by the combined powers of Doctor Fate and Alan Scott’s Starheart.
JSA #50:
Shatters a golem made of quartz.
Power Girl (2009) #19:
Charges into King of Spades and Ten of Spades.
Kicks Ace of Spades in the crotch so hard he explodes.
Lifting
All-Star Comics #58:
All-Star Comics #59:
Lifts Brain Wave’s ship out of the Sun’s gravitational pull.
All-Star Comics #61:
Lifts and throws a chunk of rubble at XLK JNN.
All-Star Comics #63:
With Earth-Two Superman’s help, she lifts Solomon Grundy through the air and drops him in a volcano.
All-Star Comics #64:
DC Comics Presents #56:
Supports the weight of a crashing plane.
Justice League of America #219:
Caught Firestorm while he was falling.
Infinity Inc #1:
Lifts Star-Spangled Kid by his costume.
Infinity Inc #3:
Supports Huntress and Star-Spangled Kid’s weights while flying.
Lifts a giant piece of a castle set and throws it on top of Solomon Grundy.
Infinity Inc #7:
Lifts the Daily Star’s model star.
JSA #64:
Lifts Sand while drilling through the earth.
JLA: Classified #6:
Lifts Guy Gardner by his shirt.
Supergirl (2005) #1:
Holds back Grundy’s fists, at least until Supergirl’s presence causes her powers to start glitching.
Flings Jay Garrick through the air.
JSA: Classified #1:
JSA: Classified #4:
Lifts a massive ship and slams it onto illusionary copies of Huntress and Robin.
Supergirl (2005) #6:
Wonder Woman (2006) #3:
Countdown #38:
Supports the weight of a falling airplane.
Superman #670:
Helps Supergirl lift the Batplane.
Terra #1:
Lifts Atlee out of a pool of lava and supports her weight while flying.
Justice Society of America (2007) #25:
Power Girl (2009) #3:
Destroys several robots by swinging one of them through the air.
Stops Ultra-Humanite’s city-sized ship from crashing on Manhattan.
Justice Society of America (2007) #31:
JSA vs Kobra #5:
Supports Atom Smasher’s weight while flying.
Power Girl (2009) #8:
Lifts an IX Negaspike by its tail.
Power Girl (2009) #9:
Despite being weakened, she still holds back Satanna’s hammer long enough to push it to the side.
Power Girl (2009) #11:
Supports Atlee’s weight while flying.
Power Girl (2009) #12:
Throws Vartox through the air.
Power Girl (2009) #15:
Lifts and throws a massive metal sphere.
Power Girl (2009) #17:
Justice League: Generation Lost #17:
Lifts Captain Atom through the air.
Power Girl (2009) #23:
Lifts a magic velociraptor by the tail.
Power Girl (2009) #24:
Supports the weight of a falling airplane.
Power Girl (2009) #27:
Lifts a massive rock and throws it into the ocean.
Lifts the Leaning Tower of Pisa and pushes it back in place.
Convergence: Action Comics #2:
Lifts one of Red Son Luthor’s GI robots above her head and smashes it into another.
Dark Crisis: The Dark Army:
Carries Red Canary and later does the same to Robin.
Power Girl (2023) #1:
Power Girl (2023) #2:
Lifts the rooftop off of a warehouse.
Atlantean
Warlord #118:
Supports the weight of a massive ship on her back.
Warlord #121:
Grabs Jennifer Morgan and supports her weight despite being weakened from broken ribs.
Warlord #122:
Lifts and throws a massive Atlantean statue at Azmyrkom.
Power Girl (1988) #2:
Uproots the ground beneath her, tossing Hurricane through the air.
Power Girl (1988) #3:
Lifts and throws Force at Blaine.
Doom Patrol (1987) #14:
While suffering from injuries, she still manages to support the combined weight of the Doom Patrol while flying them to safety.
Justice League Europe #7:
Picks up The Flash and throws him through the air.
Justice League Europe #25:
Carries Rocket Red while flying.
The Flash (1987) #59:
Lifts The Flash with one hand, then tosses him over her shoulder.
Justice League Europe #37:
Justice League Europe Annual #3:
Carries an unconscious Aquaman while flying, then throws him.
Justice League Quarterly #13:
Lifts her dark magic doppelganger by her costume.
Green Lantern Quarterly #7:
Can bench press over 1000 lbs 130 times while pregnant.
Sovereign Seven #26:
Supports Cascade’s weight while flying.
Casually lifts a car while flying.
Supergirl (1994) #16:
With Linda Danvers Supergirl’s help, she lifts a massive ship and drops it on Doctor Diehard.
Sovereign Seven #32:
JLA/Titans #3:
Helps stop the Moon from being pushed out of orbit.
Green Lantern: Circle of Fire #1:
Lifts a massive prison, and supports its weight with just one hand.
Joker: Last Laugh #3:
Lifts Harley Quinn while flying.
JSA #39:
Lifts a construction truck off herself.
Lifts Da Bomb by his belt, spins him through the air, and throws him into a cement truck hard enough to put a hole through it.
Lifts a massive crane and slams it on top of Da Bomb.
Power Girl (2009) #18:
Lifts Divine into the air and spins her around.
Grappling/Crushing
All-Star Comics #60:
Places Vulcan in a hold and drops him to the ground.
All-Star Comics #63:
Solomon Grundy is unable to break out of her hold.
All-Star Comics #64:
Crushes an emblem Star-Spangled Kid made for her
All-Star Comics #66:
Grabs Wildcat before he can fall off the edge of a pit.
All-Star Comics #67:
Briefly grapples with the Underlord.
Destroys a rod that was restraining her just by flexing.
Justice League of America #148:
Grapples with Earth-One Superman.
Puts Hal Jordan in a chokehold.
Wonder Woman #276:
Chokes Huntress while brainwashed by The Thinker. After being freed, she crushes his Thinking Cap with her bare hands.
DC Comics Presents #56:
Completely stops a turbine by gripping it, all while withstanding forces and friction “that would destroy an ordinary mortal.”
Grapples with and chokes two of Maaldor’s summoned monsters.
Infinity Inc #1:
Grapples with Fury, the daughter of Earth-Two Wonder Woman.
JLA: Classified #9:
Chokes Guy Gardner so hard that Mary worries she’ll kill him.
Supergirl (2005) #1:
JSA: Classified #2:
Destroys a radio tower wrapped around her by flexing.
Superman/Batman #25:
Holds back Evil Superboy with help from Pre-Crisis Supergirl.
52 #50:
Helps Alan Scott restrain Black Adam.
Tales of the Sinestro Corps: Superman-Prime:
Helps restrain Superboy-Prime.
Justice Society of America (2007) #10:
Restrains Kingdom Come Superman.
Terra #2:
Places Silver Banshee in a chokehold.
Power Girl (2009) #4:
Destroys some tentacles restraining her by flexing her arms.
Justice Society of America (2007) #31:
Helps Jay and Hourman restrain Magog.
Power Girl (2009) #5:
Power Girl (2009) #6:
Crushes an arm cannon with her bare hands.
JSA All Stars #1:
Power Girl (2009) #9:
Snaps Satanna’s hammer in two.
Blackest Night: JSA #3:
Grapples with Black Lantern Earth-Two Superman and later holds him in place by his ankle.
Power Girl (2009) #11:
Knocks out a mind-swapped Atlee by slamming her against a cave structure.
Power Girl (2009) #20:
Judo throws a genetic experiment.
Pins a giant gorilla.
Justice League: Generation Lost #18:
Lifts Captain Atom by his throat.
Atlantean
Warlord #122:
Despite being weakened from broken ribs, she’s still able to match Azmyrkon while wrestling for control of his scepter, being evenly matched until she’s amped by Jennifer’s magic.
Power Girl (1988) #1:
Tears a power line in two and swings it at Force hard enough to split it in half.
Justice League Europe #10:
Grabs Captain Atom by the ankle and flips him through the air.
Justice League Europe Annual #3:
Grabs Elongated Man, lifts him over her head, spins him around, and throws him at a window.
Justice League International #59:
Briefly grapples with Guy Gardner before throwing him off.
Shatters one of Guy’s constructs by flexing.
Justice League Task Force #13:
Briefly restrains an angry Wonder Woman.
Green Lantern: Circle of Fire #1:
Knocks two thugs out by slamming their heads together.
JSA #35:
Puts Black Adam in a headlock.
JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice:
Pushing/Pulling/Throwing
All-Star Comics #58:
Grabs a stream of lava and pulls it through the air to plug up a volcano. Somehow.
All-Star Comics #59:
While amped by Green Lantern and Doctor Fate’s energies, she pushed Brain Wave’s satellite into the Sun, though she had to “strain every nerve and muscle” while doing so.
After the amp wears off, she’s shown pushing the ship out of the Sun with no problem.
All-Star Comics #64:
Pulls a knight off his horse and threw him into a lake.
All-Star Comics #66:
Pushed Star-Spangled Kid away from a lightning bolt.
Rips off Brain Wave’s Exo-Skeleton Intensifier’s leg.
Snaps a metal pipeline in two just by pushing with her legs.
All-Star Comics #67:
Rips apart the restraints holding her, Wildcat, and Star-Spangled Kid.
Showcase #97:
Rips a conveyor belt off its hinges.
Pulls a giant mech’s leg out from under it.
Showcase #99:
Topples a tripod by pulling its leg out from under it.
Justice League of America #209:
Tears a heat seeking missile to shreds.
DC Comics Presents #56:
Throws one of Maaldor’s summoned monsters so hard it explodes.
Infinity Inc #7:
Throws the Daily Star’s model star at Earth-Two Superman.
Last Days of the Justice Society Special:
Helps Atom kill Fenrir by pulling its jaws apart. Prior to this, Fenrir had killed Hawkman and Hawkgirl by swallowing them whole.
JSA #54:
Throws Wildcat through the air like it’s nothing.
JSA #62:
Drops a tour bus on a horde of zombies.
JLA: Classified #7:
JSA: Classified #2:
Judo throws a giant illusionary Microlad by his thumb.
JSA: Classified #4:
Rips herself free from her restraints.
Supergirl (2005) #6:
Superman/Batman #25:
52 #3:
Tales of the Sinestro Corps: Superman-Prime:
Throws Superboy-Prime into the air.
Justice Society of America Annual #1:
Pushes away Earth-2 Huntress, Robin, Doctor Midnite.
Tangent: Superman’s Reign #8:
Throws Tangent Power Girl into orbit.
Terra #4:
Throws one of Satanna’s animal men into the rest of them.
Power Girl (2009) #3:
Pulls herself free from restraints while withstanding the full force of Earth’s gravitational pull.
Throws Ultra-Humanite into some equipment.
Throws a robot’s head at a retreating Ultra-Humanite.
Power Girl (2009) #5:
Rips a spaceship’s cannon apart.
Power Girl (2009) #6:
Pushes an alien away from a mobster.
Justice Society of America (2007) #33:
Shoves Blue Moon through a wall.
Power Girl (2009) #7:
Throws the IX Negaspike into a distant mountain.
Power Girl (2009) #8:
Throws a ball of frozen IX Negaspikes into space.
Power Girl (2009) #12:
JSA: All-Stars #10:
Pushes Ix-Chel’s hands apart after she tries to crush Power Girl between them.
Power Girl (2009) #17:
Pushes Divine hard enough to send her flying into the distance.
Throws Divine over her shoulder and into a pile of snow.
Power Girl (2009) #20:
Throws a giant gorilla against a cage.
Power Girl (2009) #22:
Convergence: Action Comics #2:
A weakened, 70’s era Power Girl still manages to rip the wing off a fighter jet.
Power Girl Special:
Throws Supergirl’s diary hard enough to embed it in a wall.
Power Girl (2023) #4:
Throws a broken statue at Superman.
Throws Superman to the ground.
Atlantean
Warlord #119:
Pushes a stone block weighing hundreds of tons.
Justice League Europe #27:
Justice League America #113:
While enraged, she pulls apart handcuffs that were specifically designed to use her strength against her.
Sovereign Seven #25:
Throws Molly into Network hard enough to send them off a cliff
Supergirl (1994) #16:
Throws Lord Havok into Gorgon.
Green Lantern: Circle of Fire #1:
Joker: Last Laugh #3:
Pushes herself free from Killer Frost’s ice prison.
JSA #35:
JSA #36:
Throws a group of gorillas into the air.
JSA #45:
Tears a time bomb off a suicide bomber and throws it before it detonates.
JSA #50:
Rips two crystalline vault doors off their hinges.
Other
All-Star Comics #65:
After absorbing her strength, Vandal Savage was able to pummel a weakened Earth-Two Superman. This is still impressive considering both Superman and Power Girl were weakened at the time from exposure to two Kryptonite suns.
Crisis on Infinite Earths #10:
Was among the 50 heroes the Anti-Monitor absorbed the powers of so he could destroy the multiverse.
JSA #74:
Her heat vision blasts Black Adam away.
Infinite Crisis #4 & #5:
Her vibrational frequency directly contributed to the restoration of Earth-Two.
Tales of the Sinestro Corps: Superboy-Prime:
Her heat vision’s strong enough to “turn Superboy-Prime into Supergirl-Prime.”
Justice Society of America (2007) #25:
Her heat vision burns Black Adam and melts the gold on his uniform.
Tangent: Superman’s Reign #12:
Blasts Tangent Power Girl with heat vision.
Power Girl (2009) #8:
Incinerates the IX Negaspike, which was stated to be indestructible.
Power Girl (2009) #11:
Amputates Satanna with heat vision.
Justice League of America (2006) #45:
Burns Starman with her heat vision.
Matches heat vision with Supergirl.
Superman: War of the Supermen #3:
Her heat vision causes a Kryptonian to scream in pain.
Power Girl (2009) #13:
Her heat vision colliding with the beams of two OMACs creates an explosion.
JSA: All-Stars #10:
After being empowered by a blast of solar energy, her heat vision burns a building-sized monster.
Dark Crisis: The Dark Army:
Incinerates several Shadow Demons with heat vision.
Power Girl (2023) #2:
Sends Amalak crashing through a wall with heat vision.
Power Girl (2023) #4:
Destroys some of the Fortress of Solitude with heat vision, and later weakens Superman with a blast.
Atlantean
Justice League America #113:
While enraged and holding nothing back, her full power completely overloads her handcuffs, which were designed to use her strength against her.
Statements/Off-Panel
All-Star Comics #59:
While grappling with Degaton, she claims that while she isn’t as strong as Superman, she’s still ten times as strong as any mere man.
All-Star Comics #62:
The narration refers to her and Earth-Two Superman as “the world’s most powerful super-beings.”
All-Star Comics #63:
When Solomon Grundy tries to free himself from Power Girl’s grip, “it is as though he screamed at the wind and struggled against the tide.”
All-Star Comics #67:
His fists are described by the narration as steel-like while she pounds against a wall harder than steel. After this, Star-Spangled Kid says that not even his cosmic energy could destroy the wall.
Justice League of America #147:
Is said by the narration to be “youngest of the JSA-ers and perhaps the mightiest!”
Showcase #97:
Her muscles “make her far more powerful than a locomotive- or almost any man-made engine.”
Wonder Woman #276:
Huntress admits a brainwashed Power Girl could break her in two.
Wonder Woman #292:
The narrator calls her the physically strongest female on her Earth.
DC Comics Presents #56:
Maaldor refers to her and Earth-One Superman as the strongest beings in the multiverse and believes they can challenge his power.
Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory in the DC Universe #14:
Maaldor’s profile backs up the above statement, referring to Power Girl and Earth-One Superman as the mightiest beings in the multiverse.
Infinity Inc #5:
Boasts that she’s more powerful than a locomotive to dissuade some cops from stopping her.
Supergirl (2005) #1:
Supergirl admits Power Girl is stronger than her.
JSA:Classified #1:
Says she can juggle semi trucks and leap tall buildings.
Supergirl (2005) #9:
Sucker punched Supergirl off panel.
Brave and the Bold (2007) #7:
While possessing her, Doctor Alchemy claims her body has no limits.
Superman #670:
Justice Society of America Annual #1:
Her Earth-2 counterpart admits Power Girl’s nearly as strong as her.
JSA: All-Stars #2:
Can cave skulls in if she punches too hard.
Wonder Woman (2006) #41:
Wonder Woman admits Power Girl’s at least as strong and as fast as her.
Power Girl (2009) #10:
Is stronger, faster, and more powerful than Atlee, who can’t beat her in a fight.
Justice League of America (2006) #45:
Dick Grayson states that she and Supergirl are equal in strength and power.
Power Girl (2009) #16:
Says she has the strength of a couple hundred men.
Power Girl (2009) #18:
Fighting Divine head-on would end in a stalemate.
Justice League: Generation Lost #18:
Booster Gold calls her one of the most powerful beings on the planet and admits the JLI’s combined strength can’t even match a fourth of hers.
Power Girl (2009) #26:
Rana, who researched the strengths and weaknesses of superpowered women, concluded that statistically speaking, Power Girl is the most powerful.
Knocks Rana out off panel.
Power Girl (2009) #27:
Moving at half the speed of light could produce a wake that splatters pedestrians.
Atlantean
Warlord 120:
Jennifer Morgan admits her shield won’t last long against Power Girl’s blows.
Power Girl (1988) #2:
Calls herself “one of maybe the ten strongest people in the world.”
Justice League Europe #8:
Captain Atom admits she’s as strong as him and Rocket Red put together.
Who's Who: Update '87 #4:
Is said to rank below Post Crisis Superman in power, though “she would nonetheless give him a respectable workout”
Justice League Europe #9:
Despite undergoing a surgery that drastically weakened her powers, her strength is still equivalent to a metahuman’s, and she’s still “more powerful than a locomotive.”
Justice League Europe #10:
Even with her strength reduced, she can still go toe to toe with Captain Atom, whose strength is said to move mountains. It’s also mentioned that despite no longer being in Superman's league, she’s still a powerful lady.
Who’s Who in the DC Universe #6:
Her Kryptonian powers are nearly a match for Superman’s, and even with her powers reduced, she’s still one of the strongest women in the world.
Justice League Europe #38:
Her power is something Batman couldn’t even dream of.
Sovereign Seven #25:
A brainwashed, amnesiac Power Girl is stronger than Zelus, Kratos, and Bia combined.
Green Lantern: Circle of Fire #1:
When comparing herself to Supergirl, she implies that Supergirl can’t bench press a tank, which suggests that Power Girl can.
Speed
Movement
All-Star Comics #60:
Briefly outspeeds Jay Garrick during a race, though he ultimately beats her.
All-Star Comics #61:
Takes to the sky so quickly the rest of the Justice Society don’t even notice.
All-Star Comics #64:
Flies in front of an arrow fired by a crossbow before it can hit Hawkman.
All-Star Comics #66:
Reaches Wildcat before he could fall down a pit.
All-Star Comics #68:
Flies across a table and between Jay and Wildcat before Jay can finish his sentence.
Flies in circles trying to reach Jay.
Showcase #97:
Flies toward a bullet “before you can count the millionth part of a second” and catches it.
All-Star Comics #72:
Pushes Jay Garrick out of the way of a grenade.
Adventure Comics #473:
Races Jay Garrick again and wins this time thanks to a half-step head start.
Justice League of America #183:
Within a few microseconds, she crosses a wide distance on New Genesis, which is so large its cities average a thousand miles wide, and the Earth would barely displace the waters of a small lake.
Justice League of America #219:
Catches Firestorm before he can fall to the ground.
Infinity Inc #7:
She and Earth-Two Superman move so quickly that a high-powered camera only registers them as blurs.
Reaches the Daily Star’s model star before it can crush some civilians.
JSA #64:
Flew from a subterranean cave to the surface in seconds.
Supergirl (2005 #1:
Suddenly appears between Solomon Grundy and Alan Scott.
JSA: Classified #1:
Flies across fifty blocks in a matter of seconds to catch a man about to fall to his death.
JSA: Classified #3:
Flies through Plasmus really fast.
Infinite Crisis #7:
Catches up to Superboy-Prime while he was flying toward Oa at lightspeed.
Superman/Batman #25:
Flies through space alongside Supergirl, Linda Danvers, Cir-El, and Pre-Crisis Supergirl.
Power Girl (2009) #3:
Flies fast enough that a mach cone forms around her.
Flies through Manhattan at super speed.
Power Girl (2009) #6:
Moves Agent 7 away from a car being thrown at him.
Flies through the subway at high speeds.
Justice Society of America (2007) #32:
Leaves afterimages while moving in front of a copy of King Chimera.
JSA: All-Stars #1:
Flies through the air before a suicide bomber’s explosive belt can detonate.
Blackest Night: JSA #1:
Speeds over to Ma Hunkel so quickly she appears as a blur.
JSA All-Stars #2:
Intercepts a speeding bullet.
Power Girl (2009) #11:
Flies from New York to the middle of the Atlantic in seconds.
Flies from the oceanline to the atmosphere in seconds.
Justice League of America (2006) #45:
Is sent flying through several mountains, only to recover and return in seconds.
Blitzes several armored goons.
Justice League of America (2006) #48:
She and Supergirl move like blurs to Mr. Terrific,
Power Girl (2009) #15:
Flies Crash high into the sky in seconds.
Power Girl (2009) #18:
After a collision that knocks them both away, she appears behind Divine, a clone she previously stated was as fast as her.
Power Girl (2009) #20:
Blitzes past Professor Ivo while he’s in the middle of speaking.
Justice Society of America (2007) #49:
Alongside Jesse Quick, she speeds across Washington in search of bombs.
Power Girl (2009) #27:
Calculator broadcasts a message informing Power Girl of three life-threatening situations he has engineered across the globe and that she only has sixty seconds to respond. In the span of 59 seconds, she does all of the following:
After reading the first message, she speeds out of Manhattan, picks up a massive rock, and throws it into the ocean.
She then arrives in Brazil, defeats two villains, frees Cyclone, and carves a message for her.
After saving a cat from a tree, she speeds past the Eiffel Tower to the Leaning Tower of Pisa, beats up Da Bomb, lifts the Leaning Tower, and pushes it into place.
Arrives at the Philippines, saves a child from a tidal wave (created by the rock she dropped 30 seconds prior), then stops the tidal wave.
She does all of this while triangulating her voice from radio waves, which were all simultaneously broadcasting to Calculator’s location.
Convergence: Action Comics #2:
A weakened 70’s Power Girl outpaces a fighter jet that’s faster than the speed of sound.
The Flash #786:
Outspeeds an exploding island.
Power Girl (2023) #3:
Speeds through the Fortress of Solitude while searching for a dying lion.
Atlantean
Warlord #121:
Flies through the air and catches Jennifer Morgan despite being slowed down by broken ribs.
Warlord #122:
Flies fast enough to create a tsunami that cancels out a tidal wave.
Her flight speed generates a massive sand storm that buries Azmyrkon in 100 tons of sand. She then flies fast enough to ignite the air and turn the sand into solid rock.
Justice League Europe #2:
Catches Rocket Red while he’s falling through the air.
Justice League Europe #38:
Flies out of a building and charges into a statue in seconds.
Aquaman (1994) #26:
Sovereign Seven #25:
Flies to the clouds and back in seconds.
Birds of Prey #17:
Green Lantern/Power Girl #1:
Flies through space with Emerald Knight.
Birds of Prey #42:
Catches a little girl who’d fallen overboard.
JSA #39:
Blitzes Da Bomb and spins him really fast.
JSA #45:
Flies into the sky and throws a time bomb before it explodes.
Justice League of America (2006) #10:
Quickly moves to Superman’s location.
Justice Society of America (2007) #14:
Saves a man from being crushed by rubble.
Combat/Reaction
All-Star Comics #60:
Dodges a chunk of rubble thrown at her by Vulcan.
All-Star Comics #61:
All-Star Comics #66:
Reacts to the Wizard’s lightning as it’s being called down.
All-Star Comics #67:
All-Star Comics #73:
Dodged Sportsmaster’s razor-sharp playing cards.
DC Comics Presents #56:
Ducks under a sword swing from Maaldor.
Supergirl (2005) #6:
Intercepts Supergirl’s heat vision before it can fry a thug, then takes into the air in seconds.
Brave and the Bold (2007) #7:
Despite taking two punches from Wonder Woman, she’s still fast enough to catch her third punch.
Tangent: Superman’s Reign #9:
Reacts to a missile from an F-185 and moves out of its way.
Power Girl (2009) #5:
Avoids a laser blast from an alien ship.
Power Girl (2009) #8:
Jumps out of the way of two charging IX Negaspikes.
Wonder Woman (2006) #41:
Blitzes Wonder Woman while dodging her lasso.
JSA All-Stars #3:
Power Girl (2009) #16:
Disarms one of her employees faster than he can react or move.
Power Girl (2009) #17:
Dodges a vent cover being thrown at her.
Power Girl (2009) #18:
Dodges a massive blast of heat vision from Divine.
Spins Divine through the air at 800,000 miles per hour.
Avoids a dropkick from Divine.
Power Girl (2009) #20:
Dodges a four-armed gorilla trying to crush her.
Justice League: Generation Lost #17:
Tackles Captain Atom so quickly that he and the other JLI members don’t notice.
Power Girl (2009) #23:
Spins fast enough to incapacitate a metahuman.
Power Girl (2009) #24:
Moves Mazin out of a hospital before he can react.
Power Girl (2009) #25:
Reacts to a bolt of lightning.
Dark Crisis: War Zone:
Catches a car thrown by Darkseid.
Harley Quinn’s Romances:
Catches a truck thrown at her by Divine.
Knocks out three bank robbers before they can react.
Power Girl (2023) #2:
Dodges Amalak’s spikes and blows.
Atlantean
Power Girl (1988) #2:
Leaps out of the way of Pyro’s flames.
Power Girl (1988) #3:
Moves out of the way before a magic blast can hit her.
Power Girl (1988) #4:
Dodges a sword swing from an illusionary copy of Khater.
Dodges Weaver’s tornado and Khater’s sword swing.
Justice League Europe Annual #3:
Punches Aquaman so quickly her fists leave afterimages.
Justice League America #107:
Dodges Scarabus’ attempt to cut her.
Justice League America #108:
Ducks beneath Scarabus’ sword swing.
Justice League America #113:
Catches Flicker’s whip mid-lash.
JSA #35:
Dodges a punch from a mind-controlled Superman.
JSA #36:
Dodges a bolt of lightning from a mind-controlled Johnny Thunder.
Statements/Off-Panel
All-Star Comics #68:
Admits that while Jay Garrick is just as fast as she is, even he can’t speed out of her sight so quickly.
DC Comics Presents #56:
Earth-One Superman states that both he and Power Girl possess the power to escape Maaldor’s dimension, which is said to exist in another time, in a dimension far removed from Earth-One and Earth-Two.
Considering Superman had previously shown that he could travel to other dimensions through sheer speed, Power Girl would need to reach a similar level to escape Maaldor’s dimension.
Justice League of America (2006) #10:
Jay Garrick admits Power Girl is faster than him.
Justice Society of America Annual #1:
Her Earth-2 counterpart admits Power Girl’s as fast as she is.
Trinity #31:
Power Girl (2009) #27:
Says she can fly at half the speed of light.
Atlantean
Justice League Europe #9:
While recovering from surgery, she admits her speed is still equivalent to a metahuman’s, and that she’s still “faster than a speeding bullet… [and] able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.”
Green Lantern: Circle of Fire #1:
Claims she can fly circles around Supergirl.
Power Girl (2009) #19:
In a flashback, she says she can fly faster than the other members of Justice League International.
Durability
Blunt Force
All-Star Comics #59:
Gets knocked back by Degaton’s force field.
Gets hit from behind by a telekinetically-controlled Robin.
All-Star Comics #61:
Gets knocked back by XLK JNN’s force field.
Is unharmed after a house collapses on top of her.
All-Star Comics #64:
Gets knocked back by Merlin’s force field.
All-Star Comics #66:
All-Star Comics #67:
Has Wildcat and Star-Spangled Kid’s heads slammed against hers, though this knocks her out. Immediately after this, she gets kicked in the face by the Underlord.
Shrugs off getting hit by the Underlord’s club.
Gets shoved to the ground by the Underlord.
Justice League of America #147:
Justice League of America #148:
Gets slammed into the ground by Hal Jordan, then takes a punch to the stomach.
All-Star Comics #72:
Gets knocked back by Thorn and her minions charging forward.
DC Comics Presents #56:
Gets backhanded by Maaldor and remains conscious.
Justice League of America #219:
Takes a punch from Thunderbolt, who left Barry Allen near-death just by touching him. During his encounter with Power Girl, T-Bolt is also shown one-shotting the likes of Firestorm, Hourman, Green Lantern, Starman, Red Tornado, Elongated Man, and Zatanna.
Justice League of America #220:
Survives a punch from Sargon the Sorcerer, though it knocks her out. She awakens shortly after no worse for wear.
Infinity Inc #3:
Withstands being crushed under a castle set.
Infinity Inc #7:
Withstands a collision with Earth-Two Superman that creates a shockwave which knocks her through Metropolis. She then crashes through a Jeep and a tank and emerges unharmed.
Takes multiple punches from Superman, then emerges unharmed after he crushes her beneath a building.
Takes a kick and a two-handed punch from Superman, though it leaves her bleeding.
Superman/Batman #4:
Takes a punch from Post Crisis Superman, then gets tackled by him.
Hawkman (2002) #25:
Gets slammed into the ground by Black Adam.
JSA #64:
Withstands being strangled by a burning Sand.
JSA #65:
Gets backhanded by Solomon Grundy.
JSA #74:
Withstands Black Adam choking her.
JLA: Classified #8:
Gets backhanded by Billy, an evil male stripper Captain Marvel.
Supergirl (2005) #1:
JSA: Classified #1:
Is thrown into the side of a truck by an illusory copy of Garn, crushed under a bus, and smacked in the face with an I-beam hard enough to collapse a stack of them.
Just as a preface, it’s established that the illusionary copies are invisible to outsiders, but still have physical presence.
JSA: Classified #4:
Gets pelted by a globe construct from Psycho Pirate.
Infinite Crisis #2:
Gets slammed into the ground by Clayface and emerges unharmed, then gets punched by Mister Atom and withstands being crushed in Giganta’s grip.
Infinite Crisis #6:
Gets knocked back by a speeding Superboy-Prime.
Superman/Batman #25:
Withstands Evil Superboy choking her.
Supergirl (2005) #8:
Gets smacked by an energy staff.
World War III #4:
Gets knocked back by a punch from Black Adam, who was striking with intent to kill.
52 #50:
Takes another punch from Black Adam.
Brave and the Bold (2007) #7:
Gets hit by Wonder Woman’s Invisible Jet and takes two punches from her.
Superman #670:
Takes a punch from Amalak, whose fists were empowered by red solar radiation.
Green Lantern (2005) #25:
Gets thrown into Superman by Superboy-Prime.
Justice Society of America Annual #1:
Gets punched through a brick wall by her Earth-2 counterpart, then gets punched through a water tower.
Tangent: Superman’s Reign #8:
Gets constricted by Tangent Superman’s Negative Men and dragged across the ground by Tangent Power Girl.
Justice Society of America (2007) #20:
Gets placed in a chokehold by Earth-2 Power Girl, only to break out almost immediately.
Is slammed against the Batcave’s walls and thrown across the room by Earth-2 Power Girl.
Trinity #24:
Withstands a few million punches from Zoom at super speed.
Terra #2:
Gets slammed against the side of a bus by Silver Banshee.
Is unharmed by Gorsedd grabbing her mid-flight and throwing her to the ground.
Gets thrown to the ground again by Gorsedd.
Justice Society of America (2007) #24:
Withstands Black Adam choking her.
Justice Society of America (2007) #25:
Takes a punch from a corrupt Mary Marvel.
Power Girl (2009) #1:
Takes a punch from Ultra-Humanite.
Power Girl (2009) #2:
Takes a punch and knee strike from Ultra-Humanite.
Withstands Ultra-Humanite strangling her, then gets slammed into the ground.
Justice Society of America (2007) #29:
Takes a punch from Blue Moon, who’s as strong as Superman.
Power Girl (2005) #5:
Gets punched in the back of the head by a robot.
Wonder Woman (2006) #40:
Takes a punch from Wonder Woman.
JSA All-Stars #2:
Takes a punch from Pemberton’s mechanical suit, then withstands him choking her.
Magog #6:
Takes a punch from Magog.
Gets slammed through the ground and into an underground lab by Magog.
Wonder Woman (2006) #41:
Takes a charging punch from Wonder Woman.
Takes two punches and a knee strike from Wonder Woman.
JSA All-Stars #3:
Power Girl (2009) #9:
Gets knocked through a building and withstands multiple strikes from Satanna’s hammer, which generates sound waves that penetrate the nervous system.
Blackest Night: JSA #3:
Takes multiple blows from Black Lantern Earth-Two Superman, who’s stronger than he was originally.
Justice Society of America (2007) Annual #2:
Gets thrown through the ground by Magog.
Power Girl (2009) #10:
Gets tackled from behind by a Manhawk.
Gets hit by a column of rock from a mind-swapped Atlee.
Charges into a volley of rocks with no damage.
Power Girl (2009) #11:
While still suffering damage to her internal organs, she survives columns of rock targeting these areas and burying her, only to get back up.
Justice League of America (2006) #45:
A punch from Supergirl sends her through several mountains, but she immediately gets back up.
Power Girl (2009) #14:
Backhanded through some shipping containers and slammed into the ground.
Takes a hit from a stronger Crash that leaves her spitting blood.
Gets punched across the street by Crash.
Justice Society of America (2007) #42:
Gets hit by Alan Scott’s bat construct while he possessed the Starheart’s full power.
Power Girl (2009) #15:
Gets punched through several buildings by Crash, with her impact cratering a wall.
Has a rock thrown at her… It was a big rock.
Takes another punch from Crash, then gets punched into the ground and stepped on.
Withstands multiple blows from Crash over the course of an hour.
JSA: All-Stars #10:
Ix-Chel tries to crush Power Girl between her hands, but she tanks it.
Power Girl (2009) #17:
Takes two hits from Divine, an exact duplicate of her that’s just as strong, and later gets dropkicked by her.
Has her face repeatedly slammed into the ground, then gets kicked in the face.
Power Girl (2009) #18:
Withstands being dragged across the ground at high speeds.
Gets punched through the ground and into an underground lab.
Is dragged across glass containers hard enough to shatter them, then gets thrown across the lab.
Gets elbowed by Divine while punching her.
Power Girl (2009) #20:
Gets punched by a giant gorilla.
Power Girl (2009) #23:
After being magically transmuted into a rock woman, she, Superman, and Zatanna survive crashing through multiple floors.
Power Girl (2009) #26:
Takes a punch from Rana, and later gets smacked by a steel beam.
Convergence: Action Comics #2:
While weakened, she gets slammed into the dirt at high speeds from a missile hitting her, only to get back up.
Gets kicked across Russia by Red Son Wonder Woman.
Withstands being spun through the air at high speeds and slammed through a wall, only to reemerge seconds later.
Infinite Frontier #4:
Gets backhanded by Black Lantern’s construct.
Dark Crisis: The Dark Army:
Gets hit by Captain Carrot hard enough to send her bouncing across the room.
Harley Quinn Romances:
Power Girl (2023) #4:
Gets thrown into a statue hard enough that it breaks apart.
Titans: Beast World #6:
Tackled into the ground by Donna Troy.
Atlantean
Power Girl (1988) #1:
Takes a punch from Force. She’s then thrown a mile away, with her impact cratering the ground, only to get back up.
Tanks a boulder collapsing on top of her.
Gets tackled through a fence and takes more punches from Force.
Power Girl (1988) #3:
No-sells a massive slab of rock breaking against her head.
Doom Patrol (1987) #13 - 14:
Gets a boulder thrown at her, gets punched by Pythia so hard the ground craters, then gets sent flying with another punch.
Survives a magic-infused backhand, though she’s left bleeding.
Survives crashing through a roof from hundreds of feet in the air while losing tons of blood, but needs medical attention afterwards.
Justice League Europe #8:
Gets backhanded by a giant Gray Man, a being so strong he was only defeated by the combined power of the Lords of Order and Chaos. Though she survives this, its magic leaves her hospitalized, and twists up her insides like raw dough.
Justice League Europe #28:
Gets tackled through a door by Captain Atom.
Justice League Europe #33:
Justice League America 58:
Gets knocked back by Despero again.
Justice League Europe #38:
A building collapses on top of her and she’s only pissed off.
Gets punched through a building by a statue of Admiral Nelson and is unharmed.
Justice League Europe Annual #3:
Gets kicked in the face by Crimson Fox while possessed by Eclipso.
Withstands Kilowog strangling her with a construct.
No-sells a punch from Aquaman.
Justice League Task Force #14:
Gets punched by Iron Cross hard enough that she flips through the air.
Justice League America #93:
Gets punched by Scarabus, and is later slammed into the ground.
Justice League America #106:
Takes a punch from Scarabus, then gets tackled from behind by his daughter Civet.
Justice League America #107:
Gets knocked back by Scarabus.
Sovereign Seven #25:
Is crushed beneath a psychically generated shield, only to no-sell it.
Supergirl (1996) #16:
Is tackled by Linda Danvers Supergirl, but is unmoved and unimpressed.
A car totals itself by crashing into her, but she’s unharmed.
Gets hit over the head with a tree branch, though it knocks her down.
Sovereign Seven #31:
Gets punched into the side of a semi truck by Guy Gardner.
Aquaman (1994) #41:
Birds of Prey #17:
Wonder Woman (1987) #175:
Is kicked through a building and into another building by Mongal.
JSA #35:
Gets headbutted from behind by Major Force.
JSA #39:
Gets punched by Da Bomb hard enough to send her through the Manhattan Bridge, with her impact creating an explosion that buries her beneath debris and a truck. The only thing damaged by all this is her costume.
Power Girl (2009) #19:
Gets punched by Ace of Spades.
Piercing
All-Star Comics #64:
A crossbow’s arrow bounces off of her body.
Showcase #97:
Is completely bulletproof since they bounce off her.
Terra #4:
A mutated tiger man’s claws fail to pierce her skin.
Power Girl (2009) #2:
Even while weakened by a device draining her solar energy, she withstands drills trying to pierce her skull, with Ultra-Humanite admitting it will take time and effort.
A sharp piece of rebar bends upon contact with her face.
Power Girl (2009) #7:
Is only annoyed after being blasted by rapidly fired icicles.
Unharmed after getting bitten by the IX Negaspike.
Justice Society of America Special:
Survives a brainwashed, bloodlusted Magog slicing her with an energy-infused lance.
Power Girl (2009) #22:
Gets bitten by a T-Rex and sustains minor bleeding due to its magic nature.
Convergence: Action Comics #1:
While depowered, she survives falling hundreds of feet, crashing through a skylight, and getting repeatedly cut by the glass.
Convergence: Action Comics #2:
Shot from behind by a Soviet tank and is only pissed off.
Power Girl Special:
Power Girl (2023) #2:
Impaled through the shoulder by Amalak, but keeps fighting.
Atlantean
Power Girl (1988) #4:
Gets slashed by Khater’s sword.
Doom Patrol (1987) #14:
Survives being clawed up by Pythia.
Justice League America #107:
Gets bitten on the neck by Civet, only to keep fighting without issue.
Aquaman (1994) #26:
Is unharmed while Tiamat bites down on her legs.
Sovereign Seven #26:
Gets shot in the eye, only for the bullet to bounce off.
Supergirl (1994) #26:
Gets stabbed through the shoulder by a stake, then withstands the pain of having it removed. Also the source of that stupid “vulnerability to raw materials” weakness that only appears in this issue.
Sovereign Seven #34:
Bullets from a Hind helicopter don’t even hurt her.
Sovereign Seven #35:
While temporarily depowered, she survives being cut by an alien.
Explosive
All-Star Comics #60:
Is only briefly blinded by a massive explosion from Vulcan.
All-Star Comics #72:
Is unharmed despite taking multiple explosions from Sportsmasters’ grenades.
Adventure Comics #461:
Alan Scott focuses all of his willpower into shattering a bubble prison surrounding him and Power Girl. Both are completely unharmed by the resulting explosion, which is said to be stronger than Power Girl’s super strength.
Justice League of America #209:
Is completely unharmed by a missile detonating in front of her, saying it’s as dangerous to her “as a gnat to a brick wall!”
Supergirl (2005) #7:
Survives an alien child exploding and comes out unharmed.
Tangent: Superman’s Reign #9:
Gets hit by a missile explosion and quickly recovers.
Power Girl (2009) #5:
Survives the self-destruction of a spaceship, which creates a massive crater, and only suffers a mild concussion from containing it.
JSA: All-Stars #1:
A suicide bomber’s explosive belt detonates in her hand, and the only damage she sustains is cosmetic. This later happens again.
Power Girl (2009) #9:
Explosions from multiple missiles only piss her off.
Power Girl (2009) #18:
While still weakened from a blast of red solar energy, she survives an underground lab exploding.
Convergence: Action Comics #2:
While weakened from a year without sunlight, a 70’s era Power Girl survives being hit by an exploding missile, though it does harm her.
Atlantean
Power Girl (1988) #2:
Is completely unharmed after being in the center of two oil tankers exploding.
Crashes into a rooftop hard enough to create an explosion, but emerges unscathed.
Justice League Europe #2:
Gets hit by Rising Sun’s explosion and is only briefly stunned.
Justice League Europe #3:
Quickly recovers after she’s knocked back by Jack O’ Lantern’s explosion.
Tanks an explosion that knocks out Elongated Man and The Flash.
Justice League Europe #4:
Tanks another Jack O’ Lantern explosion, this time in the sewers.
Justice League America #107:
Tanks an explosion from Scarabus.
Sovereign Society #26:
A car explodes in her hands and it only messes up her hair.
Birds of Prey #17:
Gets knocked back by an exploding missile.
JSA #39:
Hits the ground hard enough to create an explosion and emerges with only cosmetic damage.
Gets hit by multiple exploding construction vehicles and is only pissed off.
JSA #45:
Gets hit by a time bomb and is only briefly dazed.
JSA #47:
Walks through a car explosion.
Energy
All-Star Comics #59:
Gets hit by Brain Wave’s psionic Brain Blast and quickly recovers.
All-Star Comics #61:
Gets blasted by XLK JNN’s laser
All-Star Comics #65:
Survived getting blasted by eye beams from a holographic Vandal Savage, though it knocks her out. It’s worth noting she was weakened during this feat.
All-Star Comics #66:
Lets herself get struck by magic lightning and gets back up shortly after.
Justice League of America #148:
Survives a full power blast from Wildfire. While this knocks her out, she recovers quicker than Hal Jordan, who was hit by the same blast.
Showcase #97:
No-sells a blast from a giant mech.
Withstands multiple blasts from ray guns meant to rearrange her atoms.
Showcase #98:
Gets knocked off her feet by a blast from her Symbioship, then takes a second blast.
Showcase #99:
Gets shot in the stomach by a ray gun and is unharmed.
Wonder Woman #293:
Survived being blasted by the Adjudicator’s eye beams. The Adjudicator has enough power to single-handedly erase all Earths in the multiverse.
DC Comics Presents #56:
Gets blasted by Maaldor and is fine.
Is only briefly stunned by Maaldor’s eye beams, which steal the life force from most normal beings.
Superman/Batman #4:
Takes an energy blast from Major Force.
JLA #112:
Gets blasted by the Void Hound, which destroyed ten star systems during a test run (2.258 petafoe), and remains conscious. However, repeated exposure eventually knocks her out.
JLA: Classified #6:
Gets blasted by Guy Gardner and is only annoyed.
JLA: Classified #7:
Survives a massive blast from Guy that vaporizes a bunch of demons, though she’s knocked out.
JSA: Classified #2:
Gets struck by an illusionary Lightning Lad’s lightning and shrugs it off.
Supergirl (2005) #7:
Survives getting blasted by Kryptonian energy staves.
52 #3:
Gets zapped by Terra-Man’s rope.
Superman #670:
Is weakened from being in close proximity to Amalak’s red solar radiation, but quickly recovers.
Justice Society of America Annual #1:
Is completely unharmed by Joker’s joy buzzer, which electrocutes him to death.
Power Girl (2009) #1:
Gets blasted by a massive laser, but is unharmed.
Withstands being constantly blasted by two lasers for several pages.
Justice Society of America (2007) #29:
A blast from Da Bomb stuns her, but she recovers off panel.
JSA vs Kobra #4:
Withstands a redirected blast of Shazam lightning.
Power Girl (2009) #6:
Gets blasted through a wall and is only pissed off.
JSA All-Stars #1:
Gets blasted by neutron star matter straight from the source.
Power Girl (2009) #12:
Gets blasted by Galaxorg’s gauntlets.
Power Girl (2009) #13:
Takes multiple blasts from OMACs.
JSA: All-Stars #10:
A stream of solar energy blasting her in the back only empowers her.
Power Girl (2009) #17:
Gets blasted by an energy gun and is unharmed.
Power Girl (2009) #18:
Withstands being engulfed by a massive blast of red solar energy, though it briefly weakens her.
Justice League: Generation Lost #17:
Withstands Captain Atom discharging energy at her.
Justice League: Generation Lost #18:
Takes a combined energy blast from the other JLI members.
Justice League: Generation Lost #24:
Gets blasted by OMAC Prime while he was copying the powers of Captain Atom.
Power Girl (2009) #24:
Takes a blast from Mazin’s lightning, which destroys a car in the same page and previously destroyed part of a jail.
Power Girl (2009) #25:
Is unharmed after being struck by lightning again, which previously cratered the ground. Later on in this same issue, she lets herself get struck a third time.
Infinite Frontier #5:
Gets blasted by Magog’s energy lance.
Power Girl Special:
Powers through Omen’s energy field and being blasted by the Piper’s electricity.
Power Girl (2023) #1:
Withstands electrocution from Amalak’s gun.
Power Girl (2023) #4:
Gets blasted by Omen.
Atlantean
Warlord #118:
Is unharmed by a scorpion ship’s stinger blasts.
Warlord #121:
Survives an energy blast from Azmyrkon, though it leaves her with half her ribs broken.
Warlord #122:
Power Girl (1988) #1:
Survives being choked by Force’s energy-infused grip, then survives full exposure to his energy.
Power Girl (1988) #3:
Withstands multiple magic blasts from one of Weaver’s monsters.
Takes eye beams from Blaine, another of Weaver’s creations.
Powers through Force’s energy blast.
Power Girl (1988) #4:
Gets blasted by Weaver and is only briefly stunned.
Doom Patrol (1987) #13:
Survives a magic blast from Pythia after sustaining multiple injuries and exhausting herself from their fight, though she’s knocked out.
Justice League Europe #3:
Only briefly stunned after Jack O’ Lantern blasts her with a mystic beam.
Justice League Europe #10:
While weakened from surgery, she survives an energy blast from Captain Atom, then takes a blast that embeds her in the ceiling.
Justice League Europe Annual #3:
A blast from Dr. Light hardly slows her down.
Justice League Europe #44:
Is only annoyed after getting blasted by Dr. Light.
Justice League America #93:
Gets blasted by some energy from off panel.
Justice League America #107:
Is in the epicenter of a massive energy blast from Equinox, but is completely unharmed.
Aquaman (1994) #26:
Gets hit by an energy blast from Atlantean invaders.
Sovereign Seven #26:
Withstands being blasted in the eyes.
Supergirl (1994) #16:
No-sells an energy blast to the stomach.
Sovereign Seven #30:
Is briefly blasted by magic before her suit’s defenses kick in.
Aquaman (1994) #41:
Gets blasted by Maxima’s optic blasts.
Green Lantern: Circle of Fire #1:
Completely unaffected by ray guns.
JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice:
Gets blasted through a fence by Despero.
Superman (1987) #189:
Survives being weakened by exposure to Kryptonite, even though both she and Superman note that it shouldn’t hurt her.
Heat
All-Star Comics #58:
Is unharmed while grabbing a flow of lava with her bare hands.
All-Star Comics #60:
Unharmed while holding onto Vulcan, whose body radiates fire.
DC Comics Presents #56:
While approaching a turbine, she withstands a superheated energy that she admits could give her first degree burns. She then withstands the forces and friction of stopping this turbine, which the narration says would destroy an ordinary mortal.
JSA #64:
Withstands prolonged exposure to Sandman’s burning touch, which Alan Scott states even her skin couldn’t take. She then lifts him through the air while holding onto his burning skin, though she’s left with second degree burns.
JLA Classified #7:
Is unharmed while holding onto Fire’s pyroplasmic body.
Supergirl (2005) #6:
Was unharmed by Supergirl’s heat vision, which burned through her armor.
Terra #1:
Survives close proximity to a pool of lava while pulling Atlee out.
Power Girl (2009) #9:
Unharmed after being set on fire.
Power Girl (2009) #11:
Unharmed after Atlee engulfs both of them in lava.
Power Girl (2009) #20:
Tanks a blast of heat vision from a Krypto clone.
Justice League: Generation Lost #18:
Completely tanks Fire and Red Rocket’s flame attacks while flying through them.
Power Girl Special:
Gets blasted by Streaky’s heat vision.
Atlantean
Power Girl (1988) #2:
The flames from a gasoline explosion are unable to harm her.
Emerges unscathed after being knocked down by Pyro’s flames. She’s then hit again and gets back up after her landing creates an explosion.
Justice League Europe #2:
Withstands a blast of heat from Rising Sun.
Justice League Europe #4:
Gets zapped by Jack O Lantern.
Justice League Europe #9:
Withstands Superman’s heat vision piercing her body while she undergoes surgery.
Aquaman (1994) #25:
Survives Tiamat’s fire breath.
Sovereign Seven #30:
Survives being burned alive after the magic circuits in her suit are overloaded.
JSA #35:
Gets blasted in the shoulder by Superman’s heat vision.
Cold
Power Girl (2009) #17:
Can go around in the Antarctic without any protection, and is perfectly fine.
Power Girl (2009) #18:
Is unbothered after her head is frozen solid.
Justice League: Generation Lost #18:
Gets frozen by Ice’s cryokinesis, only to instantly break out.
Atlantean
Joker: Last Laugh #3:
Is unharmed after being coated in Killer Frost’s ice.
Liquid
Wonder Woman #274:
Is unharmed by exposure to acid.
Atlantean
Power Girl (1988) #2:
Is unharmed by streams of high pressure water. She’s then blasted by a stream of milk, to no effect.
Air
JSA #62:
Gets knocked back by a massive tornado from a possessed Jay Garrick.
Justice Society of America (2007) #25:
Gets knocked back by Black Adam’s thunderclap.
Atlantean
Power Girl (1988) #2:
Other
All-Star Comics #62 & 63:
Gets submerged in liquid concrete, only to emerge unharmed shortly after
All-Star Comics #67:
Survives getting strangled by the Underlord’s rod
All-Star Comics #68:
Gets squeezed by Alan Scott’s massive clamp construct.
Wonder Woman #292:
Plague’s plague blast, which is lethal to humans, only induces a sneezing fit.
Survives being touched by Plague, though it leaves her ill.
Wonder Woman #293:
Multiversal existence erasure affects her and ten other heroines at a slower rate.
Brave and the Bold (2007) #7:
Unaffected by the Philosopher’s Stone turning the surrounding oxygen into cyanide.
Terra #2:
Survives a scream from Silver Banshee.
Power Girl (2009) #2:
Withstands the full power of Earth’s gravitational pull.
Power Girl (2009) #7:
Gets knocked back by IX Negaspike’s scream, only to quickly recover.
Power Girl 2009) #8:
Withstands the strain of generating a pregno-ray.
Power Girl (2009) #9 & 10:
Survives prolonged exposure to a gravity well that’s crushing her at a cellular level.
Justice League: Generation Lost #6:
In an alternate future, even without her powers she survives constant exposure to radiation.
JSA: All-Stars #10 & 11:
Withstands having her life energy drained, though it weakens her to the point where she can’t move. When we see her again a few pages later, she’s fully recovered.
Justice League: Generation Lost #18:
Withstands prolonged exposure to Rocket Red’s sonic cannon.
Power Girl (2023) #4:
Survives losing an eye after the Symbioship’s remains are extracted from her.
Atlantean
Arion the Immortal #6:
Survives close proximity to Darkworld’s universal consciousness as it screams in pain, though it hurts her ears.
Statements/Off-Panel
All-Star Comics #68:
Jay Garrick agrees that while he’s faster than her, he doesn’t have the endurance to outlast her.
All-Star Comics #72:
Says the poison from Thorn’s thorns would have no effect on her, and later reminds Jay of this when he tries to protect her. The same poison left Wildcat near-death just by scratching his lip.
Supergirl (2005) #8:
Withstands being brutally tortured off panel, but refuses to break.
Superman #670:
Gets blasted by red solar energy off panel, which briefly weakens her, but gets over it by the next page.
Justice Society of America (2007) #24:
Is confident she can take hits from Black Adam and Isis.
Power Girl (2009) #12:
When Satanna complains that Dr. Sivana’s sonic hammer didn’t kill Power Girl, he responds that Kryptonians are notoriously difficult to kill.
Power Girl (2009) #18;
Maxwell Lord admits Kryptonians are very hard to kill without Kryptonite.
Power Girl (2023) #3:
Gets clawed by an alien lion off panel.
Atlantean
Who's Who: Update '87 #4:
Is invulnerable to most hazards, such as bullets and conventional explosives.
Justice League Europe #9:
After failing to perform surgery on her, a doctor admits her molecular structure is so dense that no scalpel or laser can pierce her skin. Not even her open wounds could be pierced.
Scaling
Earth-Two Superman
More colloquially known as Golden Age Superman, Power Girl has helped him destroy a force field he couldn’t destroy on his own, fought him on even ground while he was essentially bloodlusted, and has taken hits from him in this same state. Even years later when he was amped by a Black Lantern ring, she still matched his strength and survived his attacks.
Was one of the 50 heroes the Anti-Monitor absorbed the powers of so he could destroy the multiverse
His defeat of the Anti-Monitor caused the multiverse to shudder
His clash with Post Crisis Superman shattered the boundaries of space and time and endangered both of their universes
Earth-One Superman
Also called Silver Age Superman or Pre-Crisis Superman. Maaldor refers to him and Power Girl as the two mightiest beings in the multiverse and believes them to be the only ones capable of challenging his power. This would imply they are on a comparable level.
Superman defeated Maaldor after he’d become a living universe
He later did this again when Maaldor’s consciousness threatened to collapse and destroy the multiverse
His clash with Jaxon the Mighty restored an infinite number of timelines
As Superboy, he towed a galaxy of planets across the universe
Was one of the 50 heroes the Anti-Monitor absorbed the powers of so he could destroy the multiverse (See above)
Flew to a dead universe to sneeze, destroying a solar system in the process (Infinite speed)
Broke the bonds of infinity to catch up to Supergirl (Infinite speed)
Flew to the edge of a collapsing universe while Blackstarr reset its boundaries (At least MFTL+, possibly Infinite)
Maaldor
See the above explanation for Earth-One Superman.
Maaldor’s profile in Who’s Who #14 says he can destroy galaxies with a thought, so his casual attacks (which Power Girl has survived) should be stronger than that
Following his first defeat, he became a living universe, and his consciousness threatened to collapse and destroy the multiverse (See above)
Post-Crisis Superman
A weakened Power Girl is said to still be on par with this era of Superman, and she’s shown knocking him out and taking hits from him both in this weakened state and while regaining her former power.
Superman’s absorbed the anti-sunlight that powered the Mageddon bomb, which could vaporize half a galaxy and was so dangerous that God’s angels were preparing to create a new universe if it detonated
Shattered the boundaries of spacetime and endangered two universes while clashing with Earth-Two Superman (see above)
He later beat down Black Lantern Earth-Two Superman, who was stronger than when he was alive, while also taking hits from him and matching his heat vision
Has repeatedly shown that he can harm and take hits from Dominus, who has multiversal reality warping
Was able to shatter an infinite number of universes by flying
Superman and Supergirl’s brains operate at 1/1000th the power of Brainiac’s, whose Coluan brain can process 70 times seven octodecillion beings (6.5 quindecillion c for Superman and Supergirl, 6.5 sexdecillion c for Brainiac)
Superman, Jay Garrick, and Wally West ran through the timestream to go from the 64th century back to the present (Immeasurable)
Post Crisis Supergirl
Power Girl has fought her several times and been directly compared to her, either being equal in strength or stronger and faster.
Has regularly traded blows with and taken hits from Superman, and is said several times to be stronger than him
Harmed Superboy-Prime (see below), and hit him hard enough that he spat blood
Withstood Silver Banshee’s scream, which was worth a billion decibels (10^99999902 times universal)
Supergirl’s mind operates at 1/1000th of Brainiac’s (See above)
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman has admitted that Power Girl is at least as strong and as fast as her. Even during Power Girl’s Atlantean era, her raw strength let her harm and disembowel Scarabus, who’d previously no-sold Wonder Woman’s punches and one-shot her.
Wonder Woman survived a blast from the gods that destroyed Mount Olympus, which is said to have infinite power and could rupture the framework of the universe
Destroyed Cronus’ scepter, which contained the Godwave, a universe-destroying energy source
Moved fast enough to deflect the Shattered God, which summoned “trillions upon trillions” of shards from every corner of the universe (3.173 sextillion c, likely infinite)
Entered the Speed Force through pure speed (Immeasurable)
Tagged Zoom while he was blinking in and out of time (Immeasurable)
Captain Atom
Power Girl has regularly shown that she can harm him, even during the period where her strength was drastically nerfed.
Captain Atom has created universes and can casually destroy them, sometimes without even realizing it (3.15 nonillion c - 822.79 quattuordecillion c)
Contained the quantum energy of Monarch, which resulted in the destruction of numerous timelines
Alongside Donna Troy and Kyle Rayner, he was able to absorb the energy of Parallax’s universe
Stopped a universe-destroying wave of entropy by powering the Mobius Chair, which saved countless timelines
Contained the Worldstorm, a power capable of destroying and remaking the Wildstorm universe, which consists of millions of universes
Aquaman
Power Girl has casually no-sold his strongest hits and knocked him out cold.
Has forced open constructs from Green Lantern Kyle Rayner and overpowered Yellow Lantern Nero’s constructs, which were giving the Justice League trouble. His sea life was also commanded to destroy Lantern constructs.
The Trident of Poseidon could destroy an alternate universe with an Earth known as Thule, which is confirmed by the fact that Thule is bigger than Earth (Aquaman calls it the “flipside of a mirror”).
Arion
Power Girl has shown the ability to harm him and taken hits from his magic, both of which happened while he was doubly amped by mystical items like the Starheart and Dr. Fate’s helmet.
Arion has matched and defended against the power of Garn, who shook a moon with his magic (see second link)
Blocked a magic blast from Chaon, a Lord of Chaos who sank Atlantis with a single blast and claimed he was powerful enough to destroy Earth
Destroyed a sentient star
His magic merged Garn with the universal consciousness that created and embodies Darkworld, a dimension of magic stated to be infinite in size
The Flashes and Zoom
Jay Garrick has explicitly stated he couldn’t match Power Girl’s endurance, and in their later years he admits she’s surpassed him in speed. She’s also harmed Wally West, was unharmed by an explosion that knocked him out, and has both harmed and taken hits from his nemesis, Zoom.
Wally was one of the 50 heroes the Anti-Monitor absorbed the powers of so he could destroy the multiverse (See Earth-Two Superman)
Wally destroyed the armor of an amped Anti-Monitor, something the Pre-Crisis heroes couldn’t manage even after Wally amped them
The Anti-Monitor in his normal, unamped state destroyed an infinite number of universes across every point in time
Wally has survived in an infinite singularity that caused the universe to implode, and survived the explosion of the Antimatter Cannon, which had the power to destroy five universes
Jay has adjusted his internal vibrations faster than human calculations could measure to reach the sixth dimension in “an infinitesimal fraction of a second” (Immeasurable)
Jay briefly managed to run through the timestream with Barry and Wally while they were outrunning Death (Immeasurable)
Jay, Superman, and Wally ran through the timestream to go from the 64th century back to the present (Immeasurable) (see Post Crisis Superman)
Zoom has regularly shown that he is capable of harming Wally and Jay, and has moved so fast they were unable to see him
Zoom’s powers let him move so fast that he blinks in and out of time (Immeasurable) (see Wonder Woman)
Green Lanterns
Whether it’s Guy Gardner, Hal Jordan, or Alan Scott, Power Girl’s been able to harm them, destroy their constructs, or take hits from them.
Hal Jordan defeated Dr. Polaris while he was amped by the magnetic force of the universe, which holds the universe together
Hal was able to one-shot Krona, who possessed the power of the seven emotional entities that embody emotional states across the multiverse
He even damaged Krona while he possessed Ion, the physical embodiment of all willpower in the multiverse
Alan Scott healed a rift in space that absorbed a galaxy and was going to destroy the universe
Guy’s created constructs that could harm Superman and Hal, destroyed Hal’s constructs, and had a long, drawn-out fist fight with him
Lantern rings can return to their wielder’s finger from 20 lightyears away in the time it takes someone to pull a trigger (527,309 c)
Hal can create constructs capable of traveling the entire universe in a heartbeat (2.35 trevigintillion - 8.67 duoquadragintillion c)
Guy and Hal flew across the universe in about 10 hours while their rings were on standby (87.6 quadrillion c)
All of them should be superior to regular Green Lanterns
Numerous Lanterns contained Warworld’s explosion, which could vaporize the Milky Way
The Marvel Family and Black Adam
Power Girl’s matched the strength of Captain Marvel and Mary Marvel while they had the powers of Black Adam, taken hits from Mary, and casually took down their evil counterparts, who were comparable to Mary. She’s also harmed Black Adam with her physical blows and heat vision, and taken hits from him while he was bloodlusted.
Captain Marvel rocked the cosmos while fighting Lobo and contributed to the universe’s possible destruction during War of the Gods
Mary Marvel beat Captain Atom to near death and could beat up Quetzalcoatl, who constantly recreates the universe
Black Adam has regularly fought and harmed the Marvel family and done the same against Superman
Superboy-Prime
Power Girl has explicitly harmed him with both her physical blows and heat vision.
Was one of the 50 heroes the Anti-Monitor absorbed the powers of so he could destroy the multiverse (See Earth-Two Superman)
Superboy-Prime punching the walls of Alexander Luthor’s Heaven dimension, which exists beyond space and time, directly affected multiple timelines
Shifted the center of the universe by moving planets around
Is said to be a bigger threat than the Anti-Monitor ever was.
In the Infinite Crisis novel, his clash with Superboy destroyed the Anti-Monitor tower, which caused the entire multiverse to collapse in on itself (Thousands of universes at minimum)
Mortally wounded a Guardian, whose species can destroy the infinite multiverse
Created a universe-destroying explosion by destroying Monarch’s armor
With a single punch, he killed Time Trapper, his future self who had become a sentient timeline
Miscellaneous
Anything listed here can be summed up as “Power Girl is superior to the characters that performed these feats.”
Magog survives a massive explosion in the middle of Iraq
Vartox’s punches are capable of destroying mountains
A bloodlusted Atlee can destroy Manhattan and all of New York by shifting their tectonic plates
Black Canary can attack in a nanosecond (4.3 c)
Intelligence
All-Star Comics #63:
Circumvents Solomon Grundy’s undying nature by dropping him in a volcano.
All-Star Comics #64:
Recognized that the Roman soldiers she and the JSA were fighting were actually robots.
All-Star Comics #67:
Lets herself get captured so she can lead the JSA to the subterraneans.
Justice League of America #147:
Deduces that the monsters attacking her are female and that one mistook a vault for one of her eggs.
Showcase #97:
Uses a conveyor belt as a makeshift rope to restrain some thugs.
Discovers a suicide bomber she rescued is set to detonate when they land, so she strips him and tosses the bomb into a pier so he can land safely.
Realizes a group of thugs were sent to distract her while another group infiltrated the precinct.
Showcase #99:
Became an expert on software and computers after being zapped by Paradise Island’s “Memory Teacher.”
All-Star Comics #72:
Recognizes the cause of a brain injury Wildcat previously sustained.
Infinity Inc #9:
After realizing she couldn’t beat a bloodlusted Superman by herself, she gathered Kryptonite to even the odds.
Warlord #122:
After Azmyrkon destroys Jennifer Morgan’s golem, she uses her speed on its remains to create a sandstorm and bury Azmyrkon. She then turns this into a makeshift prison by solidifying the sand into rock.
Power Girl (1988) #1:
Discovers Force’s weakness to electricity and uses it to defeat him.
Power Girl (1998) #2:
Power Girl (1988) #3:
Uses her karate training to control the battlefield and trick Blaine into attacking Force.
Justice League Europe #1:
Can tell a man was murdered despite it looking like he committed suicide.
Realizes a mob is being mind controlled by looking at their eyes and positions.
Green Lantern/Power Girl #1:
Coaches Emerald Knight on how to use his powers strategically.
Interprets an alien’s language and deduces that his species imprisoned the JLA to keep them safe. She then realizes Oblivion set up the remaining Leaguers by splitting them apart.
Justice Society of America (2007) #7:
Devised a plan to sneak in and stop some American Supremacists without raising alarm.
Justice Society of America (2007) #9:
Dissuades Citizen Steel from entering a burning building by explaining that his magnetic costume would conduct heat.
Terra #2:
Places Silver Banshee in a chokehold and flies her into space to prevent her from using her Banshee Wail.
Power Girl (2009) #2:
Uses the recoil of her heat vision to escape after Ultra-Humanite restrains her.
Power Girl (2009) #3:
Escapes Ultra-Humanite’s restraints by using her freeze breath to weaken the surrounding technology.
Deduces which cables are holding up Manhattan and which are acting as support.
Justice Society of America (2007) #30:
Realizes a supervillain attack was coordinated beforehand to distract the team.
Power Girl (2009) #6:
Figures out where someone had taken blackmail photos of her based on the camera angle.
Justice Society of America (2007) #32:
Flushes out King Chimera from his illusions by using her super breath.
Power Girl (2009) #7:
After learning the IX Negaspike is indestructible, she uses her super breath to weaken and shatter it.
Power Girl (2009) #8:
After realizing the IX Negaspikes became less intelligent the more they regenerated, she overloaded their healing factors until they were too stupid to use them.
Power Girl (2009) #10:
Realized Atlee had been mind-swapped with Ultra-Humanite based on her odd behavior.
Power Girl (2009) #11:
Prevents Humanite!Atlee from using her powers by flying her into space.
Power Girl (2009) #14:
Justice League of America (2006) #48:
Understands the schematics for a device that Mr. Terrific would need days to build, then builds it in a few minutes.
Power Girl (2009) #16:
Scans her employee’s apartment to find evidence that she’d overdosed, then determines the death was a set-up.
Power Girl (2009) #18:
After realizing brute force won’t work, she spins Divine through the air to disorient her.
Power Girl (2009) #23:
While facing a metahuman that copied Zatanna’s backwards magic, she covers his mouth and spins fast enough to incapacitate him.
Power Girl (2009) #25:
Stops a flood by evaporating the rain with heat vision and attracting lightning to herself.
Power Girl (2009) #27:
Drops a rock into the ocean so it will create a tidal wave that distracts Typhoon from killing a girl.
Knows the most vulnerable part of the human body and how to break it.
Speaks Tagalog, albeit poorly.
Triangulates the position of Calculator and his men using her voice coming out of their speakers.
The Flash #786:
Taught Surge how to perform the Thunderclap.
Action Comics #1052:
Began deliberately destroying Supergirl’s mindscape to expose the error inside it.
Power Girl Special:
Realizes she’s trapped in a psychic vision.
Statements/Off-Panel
Power Girl (1988) #3:
Mongo Krebs, who has trained thousands of marines and students, admits he’s never seen anyone make as much progress in Karate as quickly as her.
Who’s Who in the DC Universe #6:
Is stated to be one of the Justice League’s most intelligent members
JSA #32:
Can reprogram the JSA headquarters’ entire software and communication systems.
JSA #38:
Reprogrammed the JSA’s communications satellites.
Power Girl (2023) #3:
Deduces that the Kryptonian virus infecting others is really a parasite.
Abilities
Boxing
A form of martial arts focusing on jabs, crosses, hooks, and uppercuts. It also employs the use of dodges to avoid attacks, with multiple variations like swooping, weaving, or the dempsey roll. To become efficient at boxing, practitioners need high levels of endurance and a massive threshold for pain.
Karate
A form of martial arts that mainly focuses on punches, kicks, elbow and knee strikes, and open hand techniques. Practitioners of Karate (called karateka) often combine these moves with grappling, joint manipulations, locks, restraints/traps, throws, and strikes to vital points.
Karen has received training from Mongo Krebs, a martial arts instructor who taught her basic self-defense techniques. She’s skilled enough that within a month of training, she’d progressed further than Krebs’ thousands of previous students.
Marksmanship
Power Girl is skilled at hitting targets from afar. She’s ricocheted a rock at enough of an angle to snap a tree branch and ensure it fell on Sportsmaster.
Powers
Kryptonian Physiology
As a Kryptonian, Power Girl’s body contains a number of organs which lack analogues to those of humans, and her body’s cells are capable of absorbing yellow solar radiation. This serves as the source of her powers, and the closer she is to any source of this energy, the stronger these powers become. She can even use her powers when it isn’t available, though they will fade overtime if she fails to reach another source. And as long as she has enough solar energy, she won’t need to eat, sleep, or even breathe. She’s even been shown to breathe and communicate while in the vacuum of space.
However, Kryptonians aren’t limited to absorbing yellow solar radiation. While red solar energy robs them of their powers, blue will enhance them and grant them new ones, like giving their powers to other species. Violet suns let them psychically conjure items into existence. And under a white star, they’re granted tactile telekinesis and a permanent power boost that eclipses what they’d gain under a blue star! They can even absorb other forms of energy like anti-sunlight or explosions.
But the most impressive effects come from absorbing a quasar. In doing so, a Kryptonian will gain “power beyond imagining,” granting them a far wider range of abilities.They can create astral projections that can only be perceived by specific people, teleport themselves and others, cast illusions, shrink others, control and fry minds with a thought, form psionic constructs and psychic barriers, and gain telekinesis capable of restraining others, holding them in stasis, and disassembling matter at the molecular level. They even gain the ability to manipulate time, letting them see into the past, travel to and simultaneously exist across other timelines, and create and reshape new timelines.
Kryptonians also possess a longer lifespan than most humans, and as long as she remains under a yellow sun, Karen will remain in her prime. Even in alternate timelines where she was deprived of sunlight, one version was still alive 112 years later with no ill effects, while another was still around 400 years into the future (though constant exposure to radiation left her ugly, blind, senile, powerless, and decrepit). And rather depressingly, this version (known as Old Karrie) admits that even in this state, she couldn’t die of natural causes.
While these abilities apply to all Kryptonian, Earth-Two Kryptonians like Power Girl function a bit differently from the rest. Aside from absorbing solar radiation, their powers are also the result of Earth having a lighter gravitational pull compared to Krypton, which magnified the preexisting superpowers they had on their home planet. However, while they maintained these powers under Krypton’s red sun, close exposure to red solar energy will still drain them.
Alternate Universe Physiology
As an inhabitant from another universe, Power Girl’s got some additional physical quirks. Her DNA possesses a different vibrational frequency, which registers her as non-Kryptonian to most scanners, and repeated attempts to analyze her will show different results each time. This is even shown to apply to her clone.
This physiology also ties into her Kryptonian DNA, since alternate Kryptonians are immune to Kryptonite if it isn’t native to their universe.
Super-Leaping
Before she got the hang of flying, Power Girl had to cross long distances by leaping through the air. Like the Earth-Two Superman, she can leap tall buildings in a single bound, and can cross entire miles by jumping.
Flight
By manipulating the graviton particles in her body, Power Girl can defy the forces of gravity and achieve flight. This can also be used to let her hover or move in any direction.
Invulnerability and Enhanced Immunity
Thanks to the interaction between her dense molecular structure and supercharged bio-electric aura, Power Girl is nigh-invulnerable to extreme energy forces. Her body’s molecules are so dense that not even her skin or open wounds can be pierced by man made blades and lasers. This also protects her from toxins, diseases, alcoholism, and drugs. Even in an alternate future, she was shown to be immune to a series of nanobytes that turn their victims into OMAC units.
Healing Factor
While not as explicit as the rest of her abilities, Power Girl’s body possesses a minor healing factor. She’s regrown lost eyes within a few days, recovered from massive amounts of blood loss in a similar timespan, and is noted to heal rapidly even after being weakened from surgery.
Heat Vision
Power Girl can consciously fire beams of intense heat at a target by looking at it. These beams are composed of red solar energy and stated to possess a 100,000 watt output. They’re strong enough to threaten heavy hitters like Black Adam, Supergirl, Superboy-Prime, and Superman; and they can become stronger depending on how much solar energy she’s absorbed.
She can alter the heat and area of effect at will, allowing her to unleash massive blasts that burn enemies and knock them away; or small, precise beams for shaving, surgery, amputation, castration, or lobotomies. She can even use it to carve out messages, evaporate rain, harm intangible beings, or seal off a spatial warp connecting two dimensions.
Electromagnetic Spectrum Vision
Power Girl can see into most of the electromagnetic spectrum. She can see and identify radio and television signals as well as all other broadcast or transmitted frequencies. Using this ability, she can avoid detection by radar or satellite monitoring methods. This also allows her to see the aura generated by every living thing.
Telescopic Vision
This allows Power Girl to see something at a great distance without violating the laws of physics. In essence, it allows her to zoom in on something, similar to a camera. She can see 50 blocks away, scan all of New York for a secret lab while in orbit, see past the stars, and use it to scan for fingerprints. She can even use it in tandem with her x-ray vision to investigate a crime scene.
X-Ray Vision
With this ability, Power Girl can see through any volume of matter except lead. She’s able to see behind a solid, opaque object as if it wasn’t there, and she can focus this ability to "peel back" an object’s layers, letting her observe hidden images or inner workings. She’s able to see through bodies, can see people and structural damage through a thick smokescreen and can even use see through illusions.
Microscopic Vision
Lets Power Girl see matter down to the atomic level.
Infrared Vision
Allows Power Girl to view her surroundings with perfect acuity, even in total darkness. She can even use it to track heat signatures from invisible enemies.
Super Hearing
Power Girl’s hearing is sensitive enough that she can hear any sound at any volume or pitch. By concentrating, she can block out ambient sounds to focus on a specific source or frequency. She can hear villainous laughter or cries for help from across town, make out Oracle’s voice even through her filters, hear other people’s heartbeats even through a layer of amber, hear millions of people panicking across New York, hear energy emanating from an invisible fortress, triangulate positions based on her voice emerging from speakers, and can hear traffic in Hong Kong despite being in a completely separate dimension.
Super Breath
Also called "freeze breath," "ice breath," "ultra breath," and "arctic breath”; this ability lets Power Girl create hurricane-like gusts of wind by exhaling. She can chill the air as it escapes her lungs to freeze her target, or reverse this process to pull large volumes of air or vapor into her lungs.
Her super breath is able to douse fires, freeze technology, machines, and tidal waves; find real people within illusions, dispel cloaking devices, and weaken the durability of indestructible beings. She can even use it to reach outside the comic’s panels and obscure the page.
Super Ventriloquism
Allows Power Girl to throw her voice across a great distance to reach a specific location or individual. It can be used to call others from far away, and is so convincing it can make inanimate objects appear sentient.
Acausality
After the multiverse was erased during Crisis on Infinite Earths, Power Girl was among the only ones who could recall her old history. Apparently this is because she’s considered a living paradox whose time and world no longer exist. During the events of Camelot Falls, it was confirmed explicitly that Power Girl is the same person as her Pre-Crisis self after COIE.
Even in her Atlantean period, she still showed signs of this. When a 70th century time traveler altered the timeline, Karen could still remember her past relationships with Guy, Hal, and Wally.
Dimensional Travel
While she never shows the ability to do this on panel, Earth-One Superman says that both he and Power Girl are capable of escaping Maaldor’s dimension.
She would later display this ability nearly 40 years later as part of her astral punching.
Physics Manipulation
Was somehow able to contain a spaceship’s explosion.
Thunderclap
Also called the Sonic Boom Clap, it’s created by Power Girl clapping both hands faster than the speed of sound. The resulting sonic boom is capable of knocking away and incapacitating an army of monsters.
Berserker State
Not necessarily a power per se, but whenever her rage hits its peak, Power Girl will stop holding back and start using her full power. In this state, her strength skyrockets, allowing her to take on the entire Justice League International.
Even before this became an established power, her rage once let her overload handcuffs that were specifically designed to contain her full strength.
Telepathy
Originally a power unique to her time as an Atlantean, Power Girl once possessed a psychic link with Equinox, who would generate a nigh-indestructible shield to protect her and any nearby allies whenever she attempted to fight or was endangered. This link vanished after his death.
This power would be reestablished 29 years later during Lazarus Planet, when her exposure to Lazarus Resin awakened her latent psionic abilities. This granted her the ability to telepathically communicate with others, sense mental attacks, and gave her a psychic link with Omen; although that last one was severed during a fight with Johnny Sorrow.
Astral Punching
A subset of her telepathic abilities, Karen can enter the astral plane and dive into another person’s subconscious by punching her way in.
Each of these “mindscapes” are completely different, but Karen’s abilities while inside them remain the same. She can fix “errors” in a person’s “mental code,” to alleviate past traumas or free them from psychic attacks. However, this “decoding” could potentially harm them depending on how she handles the “code.”
It can also be used in the physical plane, though it’s limited to dispelling illusions and teleporting herself or others to different locations, including other dimensions. Even in this more limited state, her range is wide enough that she can reach anywhere from Earth’s core to the depths of space or even the Sun.
Fourth Wall Awareness
Yes, really. Power Girl is aware of the reader’s presence. During the end of her story in Harley Quinn Romances, she talks to you directly and uses her super breath to obscure the comic panels. It also happens in Power Girl Uncovered where she talks to you about the different covers.
Atlantean
Thanks to the universe struggling to fit her into its history, Power Girl was given a mental “code” that rewrote her origin and powers, causing her to believe she was Atlantean and exhibit some of their abilities.
Atlantean Physiology
Thanks to centuries of evolution, Atlanteans have adapted the necessary physical traits to survive underwater. Their bodies contain a set of gills that allow them to breathe while underwater, and since they live in the deepest depths of the ocean, their bodies are naturally stronger and more durable than a regular human’s.
More specifically, their muscle density is ten times stronger than a human’s, making them practically bulletproof, and they possess a high resistance to heat and energy.
Their enhanced senses grant them more acute hearing, vision that lets them see even in the ocean’s darkest depths, and a superior sense of smell. And being from underwater, they are naturally good at swimming, with Power Girl stating she takes to it like a fish.
Extrasensory Perception
Thanks to her heritage under one of Atlantis’ greatest sorcerers, Power Girl had an innate connection to magic, allowing her to sense the presence of magic or magic-based threats.
Energy Projection
When enraged, Power Girl could enhance her punches with magic energy.
Telekinesis
After getting crushed beneath Cruiser’s psychic shield, Power Girl used her own telekinesis to throw it off. It was later revealed that she lost this power, though it’s never explained how.
Power Bestowal
Using Atlantean magic, Power Girl briefly granted Black Canary the ability to fly. However, this magic requires Power Girl’s full concentration, so the slightest distraction could sever the connection.
Hax
Non-Physical Interaction:
Can physically interact with beings that have no physical form, like an elemental made of fire, ghosts, or shadows. She can even do this with her heat vision.
Spatial Manipulation and Sealing:
Using her heat vision, Power Girl can seal off a spatial warp connecting two alternate dimensions. She’s also been able to punch her way into alternate dimensions.
Durability Negation:
Power Girl’s super breath weakened the indestructible IX Negaspike to the point where she could effortlessly destroy it. Her heat vision was also shown to be capable of incinerating another Negaspike.
Battlefield Removal:
Using her astral punching, Power Girl can send her enemies to different locations, including other dimensions.
Resistances
Radiation:
As a Kryptonian, Karen is able to absorb high doses of solar radiation with no ill effects and is unaffected by the vacuum of space, which would expose her to cosmic radiation. Even in an alternate future where she lost her powers, she still survived constant exposure to the irradiated landscape.
Extreme Heat and Extreme Cold:
Has regularly shown that she can interact with and be submerged in lava, been blasted by heat vision, encased in ice, flown through the vacuum of space (which can reach as low as 2.7 Kelvin), and withstood Antarctic temperatures with no issue. She also never feels cold.
Poisons:
Has stated that poisons are unable to harm her, and was unaffected when the oxygen around her was transmuted into cyanide. She’s also withstood being attacked by Plague, whose mere presence leaves all around him hideously ill.
Kryptonite:
It’s established in Infinite Crisis that Kryptonians from other universes aren’t affected by Kryptonite unless it comes from their home dimension. Since Power Girl’s from the same universe as Earth-Two Superman (shown in the first scan) and is unaffected by Red Kryptonite, this should apply to her as well.
Even on her own Earth, she was able to resist its effects. Despite constant exposure to two Kryptonite suns, she could still use her powers for some time, enough that Vandal Savage could drain them for himself.
And in an alternate future of Earth-Two, it took weeks of exposure (via time acceleration) to weaken her enough that a gunshot would kill her.
Mental Manipulation and Illusions:
Has multiple showings of resisting mental attacks and illusions.
When a trio of demons brainwashed the Justice Society, Justice League, and Legion of Super Heroes into fighting each other, Power Girl was the only JSA member to overcome their control. Apparently this is because as the youngest member, she has more stamina, making it easier for her to resist.
By letting go of her fears and reaching for her center, Power Girl could dispel illusions and free herself from a mental attack that made her experience multiple consecutive deaths.
Even when she was brainwashed and lost all memories of her past, she was still able to completely shrug off a psychic attack.
When Synjin tried turning her into one of his Warboys, a process that transforms the body and soul, she was able to resist his attempts to control her.
After Hector Hammond erased the planet’s memories of the JLA and failed to fully restore them, Power Girl and the other JLA members could still subconsciously recall its existence.
Her x-ray vision has let her see through Sensor Girl’s illusions, which were potent enough that they projected onto the infrared spectrum.
Briefly snapped out of the Philosopher’s Stone’s possession.
Is among the few heroes who weren’t affected by the Anti-Life Equation, which brainwashed everyone on Earth into becoming Darkseid’s slaves.
Ultra-Humanite can only scan her mind after distracting her with physical attacks.
Remembers Maxwell Lord after he brainwashed the entire planet, herself included, into forgetting his existence.
Even when he forces her to forget again, she still subconciously remembers him
Maxwell Lord needs to strain himself in order to brainwash her (note the bloody nose)
After being exposed to a sonic attack that disrupts her hearing, she breaks out of Max’s control and permanently overcomes his mental block.
Frees herself from a psychic attack affecting all of Metropolis, making herself immune to Johnny Sorrow’s illusions in the process.
Can dispel illusions through “astral punching”
Atomic Manipulation:
Was completely unaffected despite repeated blasts from rays that rearrange atoms.
Existence Erasure:
When the Adjudicator began erasing all life in the multiverse, Power Girl- among ten other heroines- was affected slower than everyone else.
Death Manipulation:
Was blasted by Maaldor’s eye beams, which drain the life force from their target, and was only briefly stunned. When she recovers, Power Girl implies this is something all Kryptonians can resist.
Later on, she withstands a stronger life drain from a god of death, though it weakens her.
Soul Manipulation and Corruption:
Power Girl’s body could still function after her soul was separated from it. She also resisted Synjin infecting her soul with bloodlust, which was supposed to make her attack the Sovereign Seven, but instead caused her to focus her efforts on him.
Empathic Manipulation:
When all of New York was hit by a fear-inducing sonic attack, Power Girl resisted it through sheer willpower. She was also immune to Vartox’s seduction musk.
Gravity Manipulation:
Broke out of Ultra-Humanite’s gravity restraints, which acted as a conduit for Earth’s gravitational pull. She’s also survived being crushed at the cellular level by a gravity well.
Power Draining:
Is still capable of using her powers in instances where her solar energy was being drained, though a stronger power drain temporarily weakens her.
Battlefield Removal:
With how her astral punching functions, Power Girl should be able to counter battlefield removal.
Arsenal
JSA Signal Device
Lets Power Girl alert the Justice Society of an emergency by emitting a global signal.
Classic Costume
Power Girl’s most famous (or infamous) costume. While it lacks any special properties, the boob window is useful for distracting others, whether they’re men or women.
Gold Costume
A gold and white costume Power Girl began wearing during her time with Justice League Europe. It contains built-in, self-repairing nanites that repair any damage and turn water into air.
Atlantean Armor
A mystical set of armor carved from the flesh of the demon Scarabus. Power Girl could manifest it onto herself whenever she entered fits of extreme rage, usually when her son was threatened. Aside from that, it doesn’t have any special properties, and she can no longer summon it after passing it on to Equinox.
Black Suit
During her time with the Sovereign Seven, Power Girl was given a costume by their patron Mrs. Caraboo. Its fabric contains protective spells and wards that render her immune to all forms of harmful sorcery. However, this immunity doesn’t extend to the suit itself, as exposure to enough arcane energy can overload its circuits and risk burning her alive.
Nightwing Armor
A set of armor designed to resemble the Kryptonian god of shadows. Power Girl wore this when she and Supergirl went undercover to free the Bottle City of Kandor from the oppressive dictator Ultraman.
Due to Kandor’s lack of solar energy limiting her powers, the armor is designed to make up for this by simulating them. Its wings allow her to fly, and it seems to be capable of repairing itself, since it goes from having a hole in its chest to being fully restored next time we see it.
Gray Goo
An invention of Starrware Labs, this series of nanobots initially takes the form of a malleable fluid. It’s capable of performing complex tasks within a controlled environment, and its amorphous form allows it to shapeshift. The nanobots are capable of self-replicating, allowing them to regenerate from harm and repair damaged machines, such as cars.
Earrings
A pair of clip-on earrings created by Nicco Cho, an expert in nanotechnology and proficient hacker. They act as cell phones, letting her communicate with her other employees at a higher bandwidth with only one-eighth the radio frequency of a cell phone.
They also let her communicate with Nicco from the safety of his lab, and their hidden cameras let him scan her surroundings in infrared vision or run diagnostics on opponents. With this and his access to restricted databases, he can relay Power Girl with any possible strengths or weaknesses an opponent may have.
Feats
Has been a member of the Super Squad, Justice Society of America, Infinity Inc, Justice League Europe, Justice League International, New Extremists, Sovereign Seven, Justice League of Amazons, Justice League of Atlantis, Justice Society International and Justice Arcana (in an alternate timeline), and JSA All-Stars
On her first outing, she helped the Justice Society stop a volcanic eruption and an earthquake in Peking, China
Destroyed her Symbioship after it became sentient and tried to merge with her
Took on the civilian identity of software engineer Karen Starr and became head of her own company, Starrware Industries
Won a race against Jay Garrick, the Golden Age Flash
Helped Huntress stop a crime wave in Gotham City and saved the suicidal district attorney Harry Sims
Helped Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Starfire, Wonder Girl, and Huntress fight the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and their leader, the Adjudicator
Fought the universe conqueror Maaldor the Darklord with Earth-One Superman
Became a founding member of Infinity, Inc
Helped clear the Justice Society’s name after its members had been accused of committing treason during World War 2
Survived the destruction of the multiverse and being implanted into the unified New Earth
She was also the only inhabitant of Earth-Two to be implanted on New Earth without getting killed or erased from existence
Helped prevent the universe’s destruction in 1945 after Doctor Fate merged her and the rest of the JSAers with the Norse gods during Ragnarok
She, Star-Spangled Kid, and Fate would be Ragnarok’s only survivors after Fate sent them back to Earth in the present
Discovered her “true” origins as an Atlantean
Defeated Weaver, the Atlantean Lord of Chaos, and his creations Force, Hurricane, Blaine, and Khater
Fought Captain Atom, Metamorpho, and Rocket Red while she and the rest of the JLE were under Starro’s control
Defeated Elongated Man and Aquaman while possessed by Eclipso
Fucked Aquaman
Defeated a doppelganger of herself created from dark magic
Restored the timeline after it was altered by the 70th century time traveler Alaric
Gave birth to Equinox, the ultimate champion of Atlantis
Though everything surrounding Equinox’s conception is disgusting
Helped Aquaman, Dolphin, Deep Blue, and Tsunami defeat Maxima
Defeated Mongal, the daughter of Mongul
Helped Batgirl and Spoiler stop a group of Jokerized supervillains
Rejoined the Justice Society after Black Canary left
Helped the JSA defeat the Justice League after they were mind controlled by the Ultra-Humanite
Defeated Da Bomb
Helped the JLA and JSA defeat Despero
Freed Arion’s soul after it was imprisoned by Mordru
Distracted Toyman (Hiro Okamura)
Defeated Sand
Helped Guy Gardner rescue the Super Buddies after they got trapped in Hell
Helped Guy and Mary Marvel fight the Power Posse, the Super Buddies’ S&M counterparts from a universe of evil strippers
Rediscovered her Kryptonian origins and reunited with her Earth’s Superman and Lois
Took on the identity of Nightwing to protect the Bottle City of Kandor from Ultraman
Became chairwoman of the JSA
Aided the JLA, JSA, Teen Titans, Infinity Inc, and the Great Ten in their massive assault on Black Adam
Helped the JSA stop a group of American Supremacists that were holding New York University hostage
Helped Superman, Supergirl, Krypto, and Karsta defeat the space pirate Amalak
Helped the JSA and Kingdom Come Superman defeat William Matthews, the second Gog
Reopened Starrware Industries and began working to improve humanity
Stopped Ultra-Humanite from destroying Manhattan
Helped Atlee defeat the fantasy-loving environmentalist Diane Dorst
Helped the JSA defeat an army of supervillains that showed up at their headquarters
Helped the JSA defeat the Novyj Soviet paramilitary group
Defeated the IX Negaspike with help from Vartox
Helped Vartox repopulate his home planet by generating a pregno-ray
Defeated Ultra-Humanite after he swapped bodies with Atlee
Helped the JSA fight the Paradoran gods
Fought Divine, a perfect clone of her, to a stalemate
Teamed up with a Krypto clone to fight genetic experiments
Took down the Justice League International while brainwashed by Maxwell Lord
Helped Superman fight an army of magic dinosaurs
Defeated Rana with the help of some cosplayers who’d also been exposed to her power copying machine
Completed Calculator’s global trio of challenges all within 59 seconds
Helped the JSA fight Psycho-Pirate’s Injustice Incarnate
Helped Surge destroy an army of Nazi zombies and taught him to use the Thunderclap
Helped Robin, Sideways, and Dr. Light fight the possessed Justice Incarnate
Had a rematch with Divine and defeated her off-panel
Helped Omen defeat Johnny Sorrow and his 4 horsemen
Hosted an auction for Steelworks
Weaknesses
Despite all of Power Girl’s accomplishments, she isn’t invincible. She’s admitted to being extremely stubborn, headstrong, and brash; and her diet soda allergies only make this worse. This attitude has often led to her running into battle guns blazing, and while she’s no stranger to strategizing mid-fight, she prefers a more head-on approach.
It was also implied at one point that her time in the Symbioship left her with claustrophobia, though she eventually overcame this with therapy and now only sees it as an annoyance.
Aside from emotional weaknesses, her Kryptonian physiology also has its fair share of downsides. While she can resist the effects of her Earth’s Kryptonite, that doesn’t mean she’s completely immune to it. It still weakens her and drains her powers, just at a slower rate, and prolonged exposure will eventually kill her. And while it doesn’t share the lethality, exposure to red solar radiation will produce similar effects.
She also lacks any natural defenses against magic, which can bypass her invulnerability and affect her in ways she would otherwise resist. And while her super hearing is extremely potent, it also makes her particularly vulnerable to sonic attacks.
But that’s not the only weakness her physiology has. Because she hails from another universe, there was a brief period of time where the current universe struggled to fit her into its history. This resulted in strange occurrences like her memories being altered, her physiology changing, her powers fluctuating. and experiencing one-off “fluke vulnerabilities,” such as being vulnerable to natural materials, her powers glitching out around the current Supergirl, or being weakened by Kryptonite when she wasn’t even Kryptonian at the time. However, this stopped being an issue after she rediscovered her Pre-Crisis history.
Outside of physical weaknesses, Karen’s shown a particular vulnerability to mental attacks. You wouldn’t think it with how many times she’s resisted its effects, but there have been plenty of times where she’s fallen victim to mind control, brainwashing, or possession.
Conclusion
And there you have it! After seven months and over 700 comics (as of this writing), my trek through the history of Power Girl is finally over, and what a history it was! Seeing her start as a shallow Women’s Lib mouthpiece and evolve into a fleshed out, likable heroine helped give me a newfound love of the character, though that’s not to say there weren’t a few bumps along the way.
While her character certainly thrived in the hands of the right writer, like every comic book character, her depiction could turn on a dime depending on the writer’s whim.
You’ve got the editorially mandated Atlantean retcon that still taints her perception to this day, Gerard Jones making her a hardcore, angry bitch and victim of SA, Mark Russell turning her into a sex-appeal strawwoman for capitalism, and Leah Williams’ failed attempts at metacommentary and revamping her. And that’s without getting into the multiple attempts to explain her boob window!
However, even with all these unnecessary changes, there’s more than enough material to make up for it. There’s her growth and evolution in the surprisingly emotional Pre-Crisis comics, the establishment of Starrware and her journey of self-discovery in her 80’s miniseries, her adventures within Justice Society of America, the episodic slice-of-life elements in Terra and the first 12 issues of the 2009 series, and Judd Winick’s criminally underrated work from issue 13 and beyond.
All in all, Power Girl is an excellent character. While there may be a few scuffs here and there, and she may never get over the stigma around her backstory and cleavage, don’t let any of that stop you from checking her out.
Yeah, I just realized how that sounds. Take it up with her!
That is a lot of feats. Good gawd!
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