The character was created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Joe Kubert, and first appeared in The Brave and the Bold #34 (March 1961).

The character has since appeared in various media following her inception in the comics, most notably in the DC Animated Universe voiced by Maria Canals-Barrera.

In 1981, Silver Age Hawkgirl changed her code name to Hawkwoman in the Hawkman backup feature of World's Finest Comics #272.

Together, they captured the Dragonfly Robbers in their stronghold found behind a waterfall; while on the case, Shayera saved Katar's life and the two fell deeply in love.

Upon reaching Earth, they were befriended by Midway City police commissioner George Emmett, who established cover identities for them as Carter and Shiera Hall.

After capturing Byth and bringing him back to their planet, Katar and Shayera chose to return to study Earth's crimefighting methods, and they fought against evil as the superheroes Hawkman and Hawkgirl.

They took Superman to Krypton (now a gas planet),[5] briefly joined Justice League International, teamed-up with Atom,[6] and helped Animal Man defuse a Thanagarian bomb during Invasion.

After becoming a success, DC Comics launched a Hawkworld ongoing series set in the present resulting in a complete reboot of Hawkman continuity.

Initially presenting herself as a friend and ally to the Justice League, she was revealed to be hiding many secrets from them, including a surviving Martian elder known as the Keep.

It is revealed that Shayera used a device known as the Absorbacon and the Martian elder to create a fake construct of a restored Thanagar Prime, her people, and Katar Hol (the Savage Hawkman).

As Ktar had made a bargain with the deity to reincarnate until he had saved as many people as he had killed, it punished Shrra for her defiance by stripping her of her divinity and condemning her to share his fate.

They catch up to Sky Tyrant on an alien world where one of his previous incarnations named Titan Hawk had hidden an artifact known as "The Key" which would have released the Lord Beyond the Void.

Sky Tyrant manages to escape his cell and brawls with the three heroes, he and Shayera touch the Key together and are transported to the realm of the Lord Beyond the Void.

The Lord easily overpowers them and binds them to a great stone monolith, planning to absorb the energy from all their lives, which will give him sufficient power to cross over into the universe.

The deity explains that Ktar's debt is repaid, and offers to allow him to pass on and to restore Shrra as a Herald, however, the two do not wish to be parted.

The two agree and are restored to life in the 1940s as the Golden Age Hawkman and Hawkgirl and reunite with their old friends in the Justice Society of America.

Meanwhile, Anton Hastor, an incarnation of the Hawks' ancient enemy Hath-Set, learns that Prince Khufu and Chay-Ara have been reincarnated, and this time, they can be killed permanently.

Hastor steals his Nth Metal dagger from JSA headquarters and draws the Hawks out to a train where he has killed the passengers and resurrected them as zombies.