Review: Power Girl #12
[Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]
Writer: Leah Williams
Art: Travis Moore
Colors: Sebastian Cheng
Letters: Becca Carey
Reviewed by: Matthew B. Lloyd
Summary
Power Girl goes to Valhalla with Axel Gust to continue their date, giving Axel the opportunity to tell her who he really is and what he does. And…then Omen is in trouble?
Positives
Like all the comics in which Leah Williams has written Power Girl, there aren’t any big positives, just some details here and there. You’ve really got to hunt for them. Sometimes, like last issue, the art comes through in some way, so let’s start there. Travis Moore draws Power Girl #12 and does a good job depicting a more traditional appearing Power Girl like last issue’s effort by Adriana Melo. She’s more solid and mature appearing than the tall and ultra lean looking version that Margeurite Sauvage provided in her work on the character. Additionally, Moore provides an interesting method of laying some of the panels over full page illustrations breaking down the page in a clever manner. It’s a creative layering technique that adds visual interest to the pages.
There’s one moment in this story that Power Girl’s character finally feels familiar, but I don’t think it’s because Williams finally got the character right. When Axel and his cousin Sigfried (yes, the same Sigfried from Becky Cloonan and Michael W. Conrad’s Wonder Woman run) introduce the endless Battle of Valor, Power Girl comments that she could “Crack this entire realm in half without breaking a sweat. Here, let me show you,” and goes to it. Now where has this CONFIDENCE and COMPETENCE been in all of her previous appearances penned by Williams? All of a sudden she’s back to her pre-Leah Williams self? Don’t get your hopes up, there’s more to tell in the negatives section coming up.
Negatives
The problem that Williams has just found herself in is of her own doing. She’s been writing a Power Girl who isn’t confident or competent and is utterly dependent upon Superman, Lois and Omen to tell her what to do…all of a sudden Williams has PG in a situation where a confident, competent, bad ass Power Girl would be cool…oops…that’s not how Williams has been writing her…oh, well…DO IT ANYWAY! There aren’t enough people reading this…it’s been a dead title walking for months…living on borrowed time. Williams must have some good blackmail on DC for this title not to have been cancelled with the “All In” initiative. So, while it’s great to see PG act in character for once, it’s completely incongruent with how Williams has been portraying her in this series. Whether I like it or not, it’s bad and amateurish writing.
Staying with this theme, Williams has made it clear that PG doesn’t understand basic social cues and how to interact with others in a normal way because she’s “learning to human.” So, how is it that she’s able to make an Indiana Jones reference to Axel? It’s easy enough to say that Power Girl has seen those films, but Williams has made this lack of understanding life on Earth a theme of the series and recognizable aspect of her characterization of Power Girl. It only stands out because Williams has made this a significant character trait for this iteration of PG.
Negatives Cont’d
There’s some really weird dialogue between PG and Sigfried as he tries to flirt with her at their initial meeting. Sigfried says, “Looking at you… is like gazing upon the surface of a thousand suns.” Power Girl responds, “But that would instantly vaporize you into blood dust? I get it now. Yes. I can do that to you as well. You’d have to pay me, though.” This is a truly impenetrable exchange. You can tell what Williams thinks she’s doing, but it’s completely nonsensical. Why would Sigfried looking at Power Girl be like Power Girl hitting him with heat vision? Is this Williams trying to make her misunderstand his flirting because she’s not good at “being a human?” Why would she require payment to vaporize him? What?!?!?! Why WOULD she vaporize him?!?!?!? This makes no sense at all. None of this exchange makes sense. It’s not funny, it’s not cute, it’s just bad dialogue. It points to the truth of Power Girl #12 that the issue and indeed the whole series is far too superficial. The bad sex and potty jokes from last issue and poor dialogue like this provide no depth to the series or the characters. I’ve said before that I felt this series was being written for “awkward teens/pre-teens dealing with social awkwardness and difficulty fitting in/ figuring out how they fit into the world.” However, I don’t think that audience is as shallow or clueless enough to find a connection with this series or horrifically characterized cast.
One of the strangest aspects of this issue is that “Paige” and Axel go from “a date” to “boyfriend/ girlfriend” in the span of the time (a few hours?) they are in Asgard. There’s a real question as to why it matters that Axel is Asgardian, but more importantly, Williams does nothing to make them endearing or provide any chemistry for them. He’s little more than a rando that she just met. There’s no believable development for her to announce she’s his girlfriend by the end of the issue. And this is mostly because their conversations/ jokes/ interaction are so terribly written with such awful dialogue. It makes me hate them both!
There’s also no reason for her to get all teary eyed during dinner…. After Axel has to explain why there are animals in Asgard (yes, they died heroically, too) she starts to cry. I have no idea what’s going on here. And this is after more bad dialogue about the appendix…yes, I get what Williams thinks she’s doing, but these “jokes” are awful. AWFUL! “Make Appendixes Great Again?” Plus, check your dictionary, the more common plural form is in fact, “appendices.” This smacks of not really knowing which one is right.
Verdict
This issue is both weird and terrible. Power Girl #12 shows how this series has settled into a pattern of bad dialogue and jokes that some would call “quirky and fun.” In reality, it’s really just bad writing that is almost completely superficial and juvenile. So juvenile it seems beneath what I believe is the intended audience. When I began this review I thought the issue was just uneven and kind of weird. As I began writing it got worse and worse as I had to select what was actually good and actually bad. So if you don’t think about it and you have the maturity of a 7 year old this is probably a 5 or 6 out of 10. So, the real score is… .
Wait…the substance of this issue is so terrible …
And, that’s because Moore does do some nice things with the art!! It’s not just bad for a Power Girl comic…it’s atrocious. I think I threw up in my mouth. Maybe it should be higher because of Moore’s work, but it really can’t elevate unless you’re only looking at the pictures.
Superman suffered greatly under Bendis, but this is getting ridiculous.
To: Scott Snyder
RE: All IN
Scott,
Power Girl is not a book that’s going to keep readers coming back to the LCS weekly…nor is Tom King’s Wonder Woman, but this Power Girl comic is the most egregious.
