Power Girl tier list: key issues 2026

This classification is the most unbalanced in this corpus, and it must be announced from the outset: with this character, narrative importance and price almost never overlap.

The reason is identifiable. Power Girl had her origin written three times in thirty years, and an original rewrite is not a first appearance - so the market does not know how to name it, therefore it does not value it.

Methodology: four criteria, and one particularity

1. Real rarity in good condition, distinct from the draw. Decisive on 1976 – a title relaunched after twenty-five years of interruption receives a cautious print run – and zero on everything following 2009.

2. Narrative importance, regardless of what the market says. This is where the discrepancies appear, and they are considerable.

3. Structural demand, that is, the number of distinct reasons for wanting a number. The 1976 issue has three of them; almost all others have none.

4. The potential for revaluation, linked to identifiable catalysts.

The particularity of this file: an entire category of numbers — the original rewrites — escapes the four criteria because it escapes the indexes. This classification treats it separately.

No price is given here: the condition and grading decide what is essential, and only the consultation of real recent sales makes it possible to locate a precise example.

Tier S — the three central pieces

All Star Comics #58 (1976)

First appearance. Gerry Conway, Ric Estrada and Wally Wood.

The strongest piece of the file, and the only one to benefit from three independent requests: the character, the signature of Wally Wood in the credits, and the relaunch of a historic team.

It also belongs to the sole period of real rarity of this file. A title relaunched after a quarter of a century of interruption receives a cautious circulation, and is aimed at a loyal but narrow readership.

⚠️Specific trap: the issue bears the numbering of a 1940s title. Always ask for the vintage and check the printed cover price — confusion is common, in both directions.

Showcase #97 (1978)

The character gets a solo sequence in the publisher's trial magazine, and his origin is expanded upon there for the first time.

Double interest. On the one hand these essay journals form a coherent collection segment, where several notable first appearances appear. On the other hand this story documents the version initial of its past - the one which will be deleted seven years later, then reestablished twenty years later.

Much more accessible than the 1976 issue, for more substantial content on the character.

Power Girl #1 (2009)

Palmiotti, Gray and Amanda Conner— The first continuous title in his name,thirty-three years after its creation.

Placed in Tier S for its editorial importance and because it permanently fixed the way in which the character is written and drawn. Its rating is modest: recent period, abundant supply.

It is the best entry point for reading and collecting.

Tier A — real importance, moderate prices

All Star Comics #59 and following (1976-1978)

The immediate continuation of the first appearance, where the character settles into the team. Very accessible, and belonging to the same editorial moment as the expensive issue.

It is the application of a principle that this corpus widely recommends: on a key out of range, the numbers immediately following offer the same era, same conditions and a fraction of the price.

The 2009 run, issues #2 to #12

The period drawn by Amanda Conner, which constitutes the peak of the character. Abundant, inexpensive, and containing what we really want to read.

The 2010s series with a partner

Two exiles from the same vanished world, in a series which is based on this common situation. Modern, very drawn out, and fully completeable.

Tier B — the file deposit

This is where the essentials lie, and this is the most useful part of this ranking.

The rewrite issues (late 1980s)

After the deletion of his original world, a new origin is assigned to the character - completely unrelated to the previous one.

These numbers are perfectly identifiable and totally unvalued. They contain no first appearances, so no index lists them.

However, they constitute the real material of this character. An individual whose biography has been rewritten three times single-handedly documents the way a publisher manages its catalog.

Best content-price ratio of the entire file, and from a very far distance.

Recovery numbers (mid-2000s)

Twenty years after the deletion, the initial origin is restored. Here again: identifiable numbers, no valuation.

Few editorial situations have been corrected after such a delay, which makes these issues historically interesting — without the market noticing.

Team appearances

The majority of the character's presence is in the Justice Society titles, spanning several decades. These issues are never sold as Power Girl issues.

A collector who knows where it is listed will put together a substantial set at a bargain price.

Tier C — the bets

The 2009 run at high grade

The only defensible bet in this case. The character has never been brought to the screen in a central role, and this body of work has established elsewhere that it is the centrality, not presence, which moves the odds.

If a production one day gives him a title role, it is the first issue of his first continuing series that will capture demand. ⚠️ In high grade only: during a period of abundant supply, an average copy does not benefit from any increase.

Amanda Conner's covers

This designer's work on the character has become a reference, and her covers circulate well beyond the series' readership.

This corpus has observed elsewhere that a famous cover constitutes an asset sustainable, less dependent on a character's future than a first appearance. This segment is under-tracked here.

Tier D — what this tier list recommends against

Cosmological overhaul numbers bought like Power Girl keys. The big events of the 1980s and 2000s are sought after — for their own sake. The character is just one consequence among dozens, and you will pay a price set by foreign demand.

Average copies of everything following 2009. Abundant supply in excellent condition: nothing else retains value.

No-stakes team tie-ins. The character goes through dozens of events without his situation changing. The criterion: does the event affect its origin or to his exile status? Otherwise, it's a regular number.

Any purchase without vintage verification on All Star Comics. This is the most expensive trap in the file.

The category that the market cannot name

This file helps expose a systematic gap in the comics market, and it goes well beyond Power Girl.

The indexes list beginnings: first appearance of a character, a costume, a team, an object. This category is simple to define, easy to verify, and lends itself to comparison.

They do not identify the redefinitions: the number where a character changes status, loses his past, receives another, or finds the first.

But these moments are often more important than the beginnings. An early appearance shows a character that has not yet been worked on; a redefinition shows what a publisher decided to do with it after years of use.

The practical consequence is constant and usable: on any character having undergone major redefinitions, there are numbers important and undervalued, in quantity.

Power Girl is the extreme case, because her origin has been remade three times. But the principle applies to dozens of others.

Cosmological orphans

A second generalization, narrower but useful to know.

Major continuity overhauls — all publishers combined — produce a category of characters that we could call cosmological orphans: those whose existence depended on a suppressed structure.

Their subsequent destiny follows three paths. Some simply disappear. Others are rewritten and become something else. Some, like here, go through years of incoherence before their past is given back to them.

For the collector, these characters present a recognizable profile: a first appearance old and solid, then a long period of disused issues which nevertheless contain the essential part of their editorial history.

It is a terrain that no one follows, because it has no name.

The purchasing schedule that this ranking suggests

Stage 1 — the complete solo series. The run of 2009 and that of the 2010s, in full. Paltry budget, collection actually finished, and the character as he is written today.

Step 2 — rewrites. Showcase (1978), the late 1980s issues, the recovery ones. This is where you get the content no one else is looking for.

Step 3 — the editorial entourage. The team numbers where it appears, pecked according to the occasions.

Step 4 — the origin. All Star Comics #58 (1976), with verified vintage, interior pages and staples. The only purchase in this file where the expertise is justified.

This sequence has a property that this corpus considers decisive: at each stage, the collection is coherent in itself. You don't build an incomplete set while waiting for the expensive part.

Three catalysts to watch

A central role on screen. The character never had one. This is the only event that could actually move this file, and it would benefit the 2009 run first.

Recognition of Amanda Conner's work. Her reputation progresses independently of the character, and she carries with her the numbers she has drawn.

A new continuity overhaul. Paradoxical but real: each major reorganization brings attention back to the characters whose status depends on the cosmology. Power Girl is structurally affected by all of them.

What this tier list does not cover

Team appearances prior to 2000. Too numerous and too scattered for classification; they belong to opportunistic research, not to the list.

Foreign editions. Separate markets, draws and demands unrelated to the original market.

Recent alternative covers. Segment too moving for an annual ranking, to be checked on a case-by-case basis.

A note on the use of tier lists

A classification of this type does not say what is Good , he says what is poorly evaluated.

On this file more than any other, reading backwards is essential: Tier S contains the numbers that everyone knows and whose price already includes everything; Tier B contains what you actually need to buy.

It is also the file where the gap between the two is the widest in this entire corpus.

How this tier list will evolve

Three movements are plausible by 2030, and they do not have the same probability.

Most likely: nothing, on Tier S. It must be said frankly. The 1976 issue is solid, well-identified, and supported by three independent claims — making it stable in both directions. Neither collapse nor flight can be expected in the absence of an external event.

Plausible: a partial reassessment of Tier B. As reading guides point to the original rewrites as the real character material, a portion of these issues should emerge from indifference. Slow movement, because it assumes that a category without a name will eventually receive one.

Strong but uncertain: a central role on screen. The only event that could actually move this folder. It would benefit firstly the 2009 run — the only title where attention is focused entirely on it — and secondarily the 1976 issue.

Three principles to remember from this ranking

Beyond the particular case, this file illustrates three widely applicable rules.

The market identifies beginnings, not redefinitions. This is the most exploitable gap in the comic book market. On any character who has undergone major status changes, there are important and devalued numbers, plenty of them — and they are easy to identify once you know how to look for them.

A multiple request protects better than a strong request. The 1976 issue is supported by three distinct audiences. This is what distinguishes it from an act sought by a single community, even a very large one: when one of the audiences turns away, the others stay.

Repeated numbering is a permanent trap. When a publisher relaunches an old title while retaining its numbering, it creates an ambiguity that is never resolved. Check the vintage, systematically, on any issue whose series has had a long interruption.

What is unusual about this file in this corpus

A final perspective, useful for situating this ranking in relation to others.

Most of the files in this campaign present a discrepancy punctual: an undervalued number here, a neglected indirect key there. Isolated anomalies are reported.

This presents a discrepancy systemic. It's not a number that is poorly evaluated: it's an entire category - the original rewritings - which completely escapes the census, and this category contains the essence of the character.

The difference is important to the buyer. A one-off anomaly is corrected: someone ends up reporting it, and the gap closes. A gap in category cannot be corrected, because that would require inventing a nomenclature that no one has any interest in creating.

This corpus therefore considers that Tier B of this file will remain accessible for a long time — not for lack of interest, but for lack of vocabulary.

Frequently asked questions

The purchasing calendar, in practice

This classification translates into a precise sequence, and the order matters more than elsewhere - because Tier B is more interesting here than Tier S.

Step 1 — accessible Tier S. Power Girl #1 (2009) and subsequent issues of the same run. You get a higher tier piece for the price of a regular issue, and the character at his best.

Step 2 — the deposit. The rewrite issues, at the end of the 1980s and then in the mid-2000s. Paltry budget, and you then have the real material of the file - which almost no collector has, not because of difficulty but because of ignorance of the category.

Step 3 — the documented origin. Showcase #97 (1978), which contains the initial version of the character's past. Accessible, and essential to understand what was deleted and then returned.

Step 4 — team appearances. Pecked according to the occasion, at the price of all comers.

Stage 5 — the first appearance. All Star Comics #58 (1976), with verified vintage, interior pages and staples. The only purchase in this file where expertise is justified, and the only one where patience pays off: the issue regularly goes on sale.

This sequence has a property that this corpus considers decisive:at each stage, the collection tells something. We don't create a missing whole while waiting for the expensive piece - we obtain a readable object from the first purchase.

Three mistakes not to make on this issue

Buy without checking the vintage. The most costly mistake, and the easiest to avoid. A numbering taken from a title from the 1940s makes any announcement without a year ambiguous – even in good faith.

Purchase cosmological overhauls as character keys. These events are sought after for their own sake, by a much wider audience. Power Girl is just one of dozens of consequences, and you will pay a price set by a demand that is not yours.

Search for indirect keys that don't exist. This file does not contain any. Time spent tracking down a valuable supporting role is time wasted — it is better spent tracking down rewrite numbers, which exist and cost nothing.

Summary of the tier list

• Third party— All Star Comics #58 (1976), Showcase #97 (1978), Power Girl #1 (2009).
• Tier A— All Star Comics #59 and following, the 2009 run (#2-12), the 2010s series.
• Tier B (the deposit)— rewrite numbers (late 1980s), reestablishment numbers (2000s), team appearances.
• Tier C (Paris)— the 2009 run in high grade, Amanda Conner's covers.
• Tier D (to be avoided)— redesigns purchased as character keys, average post-2009 copies, tie-ins without stakes, any purchase without verifying the vintage.

Related articles

Continue with ourPower Girl key issues, OURcollection guide, ourbest bows, ourbest runsetthe first detailed appearance.