Last week, DC Comics released their complete solicitation for April, and Power Girl #20 stood out. The solicit announces the return of Karen Starr. The current series has had moments which seem to tease that something is not right with “Paige Stetler”/ Power Girl, either due to “Paige” herself or her forced BFF, Omen.
The solicit reads:
“Karen Starr has triumphantly returned to Metropolis. But there’s a problem…the person using that alias isn’t Power Girl! Paige can’t just stand by as this new Karen gets involved in ventures and schemes she would never dream of. It’s up to her to expose this imposter before they ruin her reputation for good!”
Now, this can only go one of two ways: 1) Karen Starr and Power Girl are restored to their traditional depictions or 2) It’s the final nail in the coffin as DC and Leah Williams complete their destruction of a once great character.
I have been highly critical in my reviews of Leah Williams’ run on the current series. I’ve also pointed out the massive inconsistencies in how Power Girl has been depicted as well as suggesting what this series needed to make this new take on Power Girl feel necessary and make any bit of sense. It doesn’t take long to see that I’m not the only one who has issues with how Power Girl is being written by Leah Williams. A quick look at Reddit topics on the series and character or the user driven League of Comic Geeks website reveals that it’s pretty difficult to find praise for the series, with anything positive being mostly a begrudging acceptance because of a longstanding affection for the character and a “see where it goes attitude.”
Williams has been teasing readers for a while that something’s up. In Power Girl #17, PG returns to a more traditional style costume with cape and no Superman “S” logos. Karen Starr, and her financial status is mentioned at the end of Power Girl #16 as “Paige” declares she’s going to use that money to buy the Daily Star building. In Power Girl #13, there seemed to be something really strange going on with Omen, as if she was complicit in something underhanded.
The characterization of Power Girl in this series has been so…out of character…that there’s really no way to tell what’s going to happen in this story arc. We will have to wait and see. Even if it does Karen Starr is restored and Power Girl is made whole again, one can’t laud Leah Williams for an epic slow burn story. However, if it does happen, I will be the first to buy it.
