The runs that make Power Girl: Palmiotti, Gray and Amanda Conner (2009-2010), which lastingly fixes the character; Gerry Conway on All Star Comics (1976-1978), which created it; THE Showcase footage (1978); and stories from the 2010s with an exiled partner. Thirty-three years passed between its creation and its first continuous title.
This character spent most of his career in team titles, with brief solo forays. This classification therefore isolates the rare periods where she is really the subject.
Good news for the collector: these periods are short, well defined, and for the most part recent: therefore affordable.
Top 1: Palmiotti, Gray and Amanda Conner (Power Girl, 2009-2010)
Screenwriters: Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray |Designer: Amanda Conner
The run that established the character, and by far the best. He finally found the register that suited him: a heroine of considerable power, confronted with problems ordinary: run a business, find an apartment, support a neighborhood.
Amanda Conner's drawing does a decisive part of the work. His line is expressive, attentive to faces and body language, which gives the character a comic presence that thirty years of team stories had never granted him.
It is also the run which has permanently decided the way in which subsequent authors write it.
Numbers to aim for: Power Girl #1 to #12 (the Conner period), very abundant and inexpensive.
Top 2: Gerry Conway (All Star Comics, 1976-1978)
Screenwriter: Gerry Conway | Drawing : Ric Estrada, Wally Wood
The period which creates the character, in a title relaunched after twenty-five years of interruption.
In retrospect, this run did something quite rare: it introduced a heroine into a team made up of figures from the very early years of the medium, taking into account the generation gap. Power Girl is from the outset the element that does not fit together: a position she has never really left.
To aim for the first appearance and for Wally Wood's signature in the credits, two independent requests.
Top 3. The Showcase Sequences (1978)
The character gets a series of solo stories in the publisher's essay journal, where his origin is first expanded upon.
These trial magazines constitute a collection segment in their own right: concepts were tested there before giving them a title. Several notable early appearances appear here, and the set is collectible for its own sake.
Top 4: Stories from the 2010s with a partner
The character is permanently associated with another heroine from the same vanished world, in a series which is entirely based on their common situation as exiles.
The device works because it solves a real problem: two characters without valid origins mutually validate each other. This is the best response found by the authors to the situation created in the 1980s.
Modern series, very abundant, complete without difficulty.
Top 5: Justice Society stories
It is not a run but a set: the decades spent within the publisher's historical team, under successive authors.
This is where the majority of her appearances, and that's where the informed collector works: these issues are never sold as Power Girl issues.
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Start my trial →How to collect these runs
This file presents a facility that few offer: the solo series are short and recent.
The 2009 run has around thirty issues; that of the 2010s around forty. Both belong to periods of abundant supply, which allows them to be brought together completely for a very modest budget.
The old part, 1976-1978, is limited to a few issues, only one of which is really expensive.
There remains the mass of team appearances, which cannot be collected exhaustively but can be pecked away: this is the area where knowledge of the catalog pays off the most on this character.
For number-by-number selection, see our key numbers and our collection guide.
Track each run and identify missing numbers with our collection management application.
Understanding Power Girl's timeline before collecting
The runs in this ranking are far apart in time, which is what makes the character puzzling to approach. Placing each period in order helps explain why successive writers and artists had to reinvent her situation, and why the collection splits into very different blocks.
A 1976 creation, in a revived series
Power Girl is born in All Star Comics, whose numbering resumes at #58 after a twenty-five-year gap. The writer is Gerry Conway, with Ric Estrada on art and Wally Wood on the credits. The numbering detail matters: a listing that simply says "All Star Comics" may mean the 1940s series, which is very different. Check the date before buying.
The 1978 segment: the origin in solo stories
In the publisher's tryout magazines, the character gets her first solo stories, in which her origin is developed. These issues do not carry her name in the title, which explains why they easily go unnoticed. Think of searching by period and by creators rather than by title.
The following decades: a heroine without a stable origin
After the 1980s, the character's situation changes and her writers need to invent new frameworks. That explains why her main appearances are scattered across team titles, and why this ranking keeps only the rare periods in which she is truly the subject.
Two modern relaunches, two logics
The 2009-2010 run places the character in a lighter register rooted in everyday life. The 2010s one pairs her with another heroine from the same vanished world, making their shared situation the engine of the story. Read one after the other, these two series show two different solutions to the same continuity problem.
Where to start, depending on your goal
- Reading for pleasure: start with the 2009-2010 run, the most accessible and most accomplished.
- Understanding the origin: read All Star Comics then the 1978 stories, accepting a more dated tone.
- Collecting without breaking the bank: aim for the two recent solo series, which can be completed without difficulty, then add the older issues one by one.
Frequently asked questions
The one by Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray and Amanda Conner (2009-2010), which durably fixed the character. It shows a very powerful heroine facing ordinary problems, with Amanda Conner's expressive line giving her a real comic presence.
Gerry Conway, in All Star Comics (1976-1978), with Ric Estrada and Wally Wood on art. The title was relaunched after a twenty-five-year gap, and Power Girl is presented from the start as the odd one out in a team of historic figures.
Thirty-three years passed between her creation and her first continuing title. She spent most of her career in team titles, with brief solo outings.
In Justice Society stories, the publisher's historic team, under successive writers. Those issues are never sold as Power Girl issues, which is where the informed collector works.
Yes: they are short and recent, with about thirty issues for the 2009 run and about forty for the 2010s one. They belong to periods of abundant supply, so they can be completed on a modest budget.