Comic book reviews for DC Comics’ Power Girl #12 by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti, Power Girl #13 by Judd Winick, and Power Girl #14 by Judd Winick
Power Girl #12 by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti
I’m so sad that this creative team is leaving the book after this issue. I love Conner’s art so much. I think she’s spoiled us all for any other artist drawing Power Girl.
I loved how much this issue was a goodbye from the creative team. It made me sad, but in a happy way. Almost all the major characters from their 12-issue run appear for one last goodbye to Power Girl. (You never know which characters or storylines future writers will or won’t use.)
This comic starts off with a spa-day for Kara and Terra. After all, they had a hard battle last issue with poor Terra getting her body stolen by the Ultra-Humanite. And in what’s become Gray and Palmiotti’s classic Power Girl shtick, Kara and Terra wear ridiculously small “semi-organic neural interface clothing” and Kara gets embarrassed and flustered by it. I love how it ridiculously gives them headbands. In the ultimate girl-bonding, the clothing and spa channels their emotions, and Kara’s able to see through Terra’s eyes about the first time they met. They both become super relaxed on good emotions. (The clothing blocks bad ones.)
Satanna’s still up to no good, trying to defeat Power Girl. She’s extra pissed about having a tiger’s arm. (I could make so many jokes here, but I won’t because I’m being good right now.) She sleeps with Sivana in an attempt to get him to help her destroy Power Girl. However, she’s forgotten what the rest of us learned long ago, you have to get the evil man to give up his secret weapon before you sleep with him. Then you can reverse the situation and toss his ass out.
I love Kara meeting Terra’s family, while missing her own. Though in way, this story has been about Kara making her own family with the friends she’s met along the way. And of course, Stinky her cat. Of course, I loved the scene where she named him. I loved how we then see all the major characters in her story, and that her employees give her a party celebrating that she’s the best boss, albeit a busy, absent boss.
I’ll be missing this creative team. They’ve done such a wonderful job at revamping Power Girl and making her the character she always should’ve been.
Winick’s first issue on Power Girl followed in the pattern of what writers think they need to do these days when they’re given a new title.
But let’s start with the good. Basri’s art did a good continuation of not overly sexing Power Girl, especially in costume and when fighting.
Now onto the bad. It takes 7 pages before Winick introduces a potential romantic partner into her life. Or at least, when Kara starts flirting with one of her employees, Nicholas. *sigh*
We also have the reintroduction of Power Girl back into a JLA plot. I suppose this was inevitable, even without the creative team change. However, I liked her in her little world. I liked it when her plots didn’t require visits to Wikipedia to be filled in on characters’ back-stories. I only know about half the JLA characters she goes on her mission with. And I only know about Maxwell Lord because I also read Wonder Woman. Basri should’ve employed good old labels for the characters, especially since Winick can’t seem to name anyone in the text except Batman (who we all know), Maxwell, and Booster Gold.
So instead of doing just a launch of a new storyline, Winick proceeds to tear down everything about Kara’s new life. Being back with the JLA is only the beginning. Kara’s also portrayed as kind of stupid. When Maxwell’s robots destroy her JLA communicator, she forgets she’s wearing cellphone earrings and can use them to call for backup. Plus, in her personal life, she also incompetent. Her company’s went bankrupt due to the finance manager running off with all the money and the auditors from the IRS are knocking down her door. I mean, that was how they took down Capone, so they can take down Kara too.
Did Winick just pee on Power Girl?
I don’t know how to feel about this issue. While technically, Winick’s second issue of Power Girl is much better than the first, I still feel like he’s completely deconstructing everything Gray and Palmiotti did their run. Everything good. I don’t like when new writers come in and feel they need to rewrite everything. I want character growth. I want Winick to take what the former creative team did and expand on it, not tear it down.
I’m glad to see this issue lack romance. Instead, the IRS continued to dismantle Power Girl’s company. And Power Girl had to put her superheroing ahead of her secret identity.
I really did like Winick’s twist on the ultimate bomb. The bomb that leaves no residue or fallout cloud. Though the fight scene was a little long for my tastes.
I still don’t know if I’m going to keep reading this title, however.