Readers familiar with the content at DC Comics News are probably used to my affection for Power Girl and my issues with the current Power Girl comic written by Leah Williams. It may be difficult time to be a fan of Power Girl, but that doesn’t mean that PG doesn’t have fans, and longtime fans at that. So, if Leah Williams’ take isn’t doing it, what are those things a Power Girl fan like myself likes about the character over her nearly 50 year history.
In the Beginning…
When created by Gerry Conway, Ric Estrada and Wally Wood, Power Girl came out of the gate in her first appearance in All-Star Comics #58 with a strong personality. She set the tone right away. She was a product of the ERA Movement of the ’70’s and as such was intended to be representative of the sociopolitical landscape of the time. PG was confident, competent, independent and strong willed. It didn’t take her long to prove that she was able to make it on her own without relying on her relationship to Superman.
Her initial interactions with Wildcat showed that she was not going to take any crap.
However, by the end of the Justice Society run in Adventure Comics in the ’70’s, Wildcat had come around to respect the new kid on the block and over the years have maintained a relationship of mutual respect while still reflecting a little bit of that initial friction.
Another significant aspect of her character is that she was the first new character created to expand Earth-Two and the legacy of the Golden Age heroes of the Justice Society of America. Power Girl was the first of a younger generation of heroes introduced through the end of the ’70’s and into the early ’80’s as part of the world building of Earth-Two. After Power Girl came the Helena Wayne Huntress, the first real legacy character in the entirety of the DC Universe and then the heroes that made up Infinity, Inc., the sons, daughter’s and proteges of the JSA. Silver Scarab, Fury, Jade, Obsidian, Nuklon, and Northwind were joined by Power Girl, the Huntress and the time displaced Star-Spangled Kid to cement the idea of legacy that would become a lynchpin of the DC Comics Universe.
Her start as a walk on member of the JSA is an additional aspect of the character that is significant. As the Golden Age Superman’s cousin, she carries the torch of the original Superman’s legacy, but also the original superhero team, the Justice Society of America. Her association with the team is important because she bridges the gap between not only the original versions of DC’s heroes and the contemporary versions, but also between the pre-Crisis DC Universe and the post-Crisis Universe as we’ll see below.
Last Daughter of …
Power Girl is the Earth-Two version of Superman’s cousin, Kara Zor-L (Zor-El in the main DC Universe). As a multiversal alternate of Supergirl, she is the Last Daughter of Krypton. As the Earth-Two Superman’s cousin, she occupies a special place in Kal-L’s world that aligns with their main universe relationship. She’s his last link to his Kryptonian heritage, and he represents much the same for her. However, it’s the differences between Power Girl and Supergirl that make PG stand out. Where Supergirl came to Earth deferential to Superman and has always lived in his shadow and worn his brand, Power Girl was purposely designed to be different. As mentioned above, her personality makes their relationship a bit different. Bottom line though, they are family even if they aren’t identical to their main universe counterparts.
Perhaps, more importantly, Kara Zor-L is also the Last Daughter of Earth-Two. When the Crisis on Infinite Earths wiped out the original Multiverse, Power Girl was the holdover from Earth-Two that somehow maintained tethered to her original incarnation. She maintains a continuity in story as well as from a publishing initiative perspective. The DC Universe may change and shift, but Power Girl is constant, she reminds readers and the characters in universe of the history of the DC Comics Universe. After the Crisis on Infinite Earths when Power Girl was given a new Atlantean origin, for me she still represented Earth-Two and the possibility that it could somehow come back. Under Geoff Johns in the 2000’s DC did just that. Power Girl’s original origin was reinstated and she ACTUALLY was a holdover from the pre-Crisis Earth-Two that somehow managed to be folded into the new reconstituted DC Universe.
Character Growth and Nuance
It might be argued that Power Girl’s initial characterization was a bit TOO aggressive, perhaps even unfriendly to those in the JSA with whom she was fighting along side. It certainly made her stand out and feel different from the Earth-One Supergirl, but she also contrasted with her cousin, Superman. It’s not often characters can be so outwardly at odds against one’s teammates. However, Power Girl did embody some of these traits, though it wasn’t the only element of her character. One of the aspects of her character growth in her original Earth-Two appearances was her friendship with Helena Wayne, the Huntress. The two bonded and became friends. It was a logical pairing, the heroic heirs of Superman and Batman became best friends and suggested a new World’s Finest team.
Crisis on Infinite Earths #11 was not only the issue that changed their lives forever, but also the issue of the maxi-series with the greatest emotional impact, greater than the death of Supergirl or The Flash (Barry Allen). Power Girl and the Huntress learn that their world is gone and only one of them is known on the new post-Crisis Earth. Escaping comic book limbo, Power Girl’s history is changed. No longer is Karen Starr a refugee of Krypton, but instead the granddaughter of Arion, Lord of Atlantis.
Instead of making this retroactive continuity that goes back to the beginning of her history, it is a plot point that is explored. While she is still a software entrepreneur and member of the Justice Society, and believes she is related to Superman (the main Earth Superman), the revelation about her Atlantean heritage is something she must learn about and come to grips with. She has to figure out why she believed she was related to Superman if that wasn’t the truth. While she questioned her history, her confidence in her abilities and attitude never wavered.
She spent the better part of the ’90’s with various incarnations of the Justice League, Europe, International, etc…. There were some questionable stories and various attempts to reinvent her look. The most interesting thing done with the character in this time was her brief affiliation with the then new Birds of Prey series. While the concept kicked off with Black Canary working as Oracle’s operative it’s revealed later that Power Girl ran a mission for Barbara Gordon first and it went horribly wrong in PG’s estimation. This created an interesting conflict between Karen and Barbara. Enmity between heroes is a fairly rare thing in comics. Power Girl refused to ever work with Oracle again and Barbara felt terrible and tried to get her to join her later on. Like much of Power Girl’s history, it’s unique. It’s also one of those overtone’s in a character’s history that provides some variation and suggests a complexity to the character.
This is also seen in her friendship with Black Canary. When Black Canary leaves the JSA, she recommends Power Girl to take her place. It’s an interesting juxtaposition, Black Canary is friends with both Karen and Barbara, but is also in a way between them as well. It’s this period in the early 2000’s that Power Girl progresses the most. In the ’90’s she’d been bound up in stories that didn’t always serve her character, but with her return to the JSA things fell into place. Despite the attempts to give her a new background as an Atlantean, it never really felt right or felt permanent. She was always a reminder of the Earth-Two that had disappeared from continuity. Perhaps, it was because her personality and attitude essentially remained consistent despite the cosmetic changes to her past. She was supposed to be different, but really didn’t feel that way. It’s something that’s relatable. Despite what one goes through, one’s core rarely changes and the “real” person is still there inside despite cosmetic changes. Geoff Johns seems to have felt this way, and used it as the springboard to bring the character full circle and have her reconcile with her original origin.
Power Girl’s place is first solidified in the JSA before Johns brings back her past. The story arc in JSA: Classified #1-4 is drawn by Amanda Conner and not only follows from the character work in the main JSA title, but leads into Infinite Crisis as well which brings back the original Earth-Two for a cataclysmic event with cosmic shenanigans. While the story leads to a fracturing of the DC Trinity (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman) who have to reassess what they are doing, in some ways, Infinite Crisis is Power Girl’s story. She’s the lone (heroic) survivor (see Psycho-Pirate) from that universe and the story revolves around that Earth returning for good…or ill. Power Girl comes out of the experience knowing the feelings she’s had all along were accurate. She IS related to Superman. The Atlantean origin just didn’t not FEEL right, her place in the world was really a DIFFERENT world. She wasn’t just having a mental/ emotional crisis…it was REAL- she felt out of place because she WAS out of place. She accepts the fact, comes to grips with her past, and moves forward with the knowledge and experience in the world she has to live in. And, she continues to make her place in it successfully and isn’t afraid to embrace new ideas.
A similarly nuanced take is her interaction with the reintroduced Supergirl- Kara Zor-El. When the early 2000’s rolled around DC Comics was ready to reintroduce Kara Zor-El, Supergirl in a manner similar to her original incarnation but with modern updates. When this Kara met Power Girl it provided Karen Starr a chance to examine her own identity. It didn’t help that when they got together her powers went a bit wonky. Infinite Crisis returned Power Girl’s original origin and it allowed her interactions with Supergirl as a multiversal doppelganger to be explored with more substance and depth.
Power Girl was not only a bustier and physically larger version of Supergirl, but she was also older, more experienced and able to provide some guidance. It wasn’t always easy, this Supergirl had a lot of issues of her own and Karen hasn’t been known for having a lot of patience. But, the stories with them together do a great job of pointing out their differences and how those differences make them substantially different characters. Despite their similar histories, their personalities are not the same. It’s very different than two versions of Superman or Batman meeting. Those interactions tend to play off how much they are alike and think alike, whereas Power Girl and Supergirl are different and PG is able to mentor Supergirl at times.
This is the Power Girl we see in the Conner/ Palmiotti run. She has the confidence and take no crap attitude, but she doesn’t have to worry about WHO she is. That’s settled. After coming to grips with her past and how she fits into the world as a member of the Justice Society, Power Girl is no longer harried by ghosts of the past. There’s a maturation that Power Girl has gone through. We get to see it on display in her longest running solo series that was at first handled by Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner and later Judd Winnick and Sami Basri. Gray, Palmiotti and Conner found the humor in her character while also reestablishing her personal life as a Tech Entrepreneur/ Executive. She also took another new hero under her wing, Atlee/ Terra. This allowed Power Girl’s experience to shine through while her “take no crap” attitude was often part of the humor in the run. Winnick and Basri continued the story as they not only showed what other heroes like Superman and Batman thought of Power Girl (capable and potent), but they also worked on developing the Karen Starr identity further. It didn’t last long because something called “The New 52” derailed everything DC was publishing in September 2011.
The New 52
For all the damage the new 52 did to characters and the concept of legacy, it actually gave a lot back to PG and Huntress. Earth 2 launched as part of the second wave of New 52 titles. That book took the original concepts of Power Girl and the Huntress and updated them. Again, PG was the Kara Zor-El of this Earth 2 and Huntress was Helena Wayne, daughter of Batman/ Bruce Wayne and Catwoman/ Selina Kyle. PG and Huntress were again best friends. Despite the details being sometimes different, they were very recognizable and most importantly they had the same feeling. Power Girl’s personality remained strong, confident, competent and independent. Outside of Earth 2 the pair got a very enjoyable and very good run in Worlds’ Finest written by Paul Levitz. Though introduced with a different costume, Power Girl eventually got an updated version of her classic look as well as her identity of Karen Starr as a tech executive. (She actually shows up in the New 52 in the Mister Terrific series right out of the gate, but it takes a little bit of time before her full story is revealed. Levitz also contributed a Huntress mini-series early on that did a good job of hiding Helena’s identity and friendship with Power Girl for most of the series).
By the time the New 52 was done with Earth 2, Helena and Power Girl had become the replacements for their predecessors. This wasn’t shown for long, but it does indicate that DC does know the eventual destiny for these characters. The New 52 versions show how closely Power Girl and Huntress are and that they belong together as friends and colleagues. It also shows that Power Girl’s core revolves around legacy and those elements that connect her to the Golden Age characters and the Justice Society. Even if the New 52 reimagined those Golden Age, “Earth-Two” characters, the themes and substance of Power Girl and the Huntress remained the same. So, despite the New 52 version of Power Girl and the Huntress being new versions with some differences in their histories, the aspects that matter and what resonates with fans was restored to what gained the characters a following originally.
What’s Next?
The Power Girl series that has just ended offers little if anything for longtime fans of the character. So much has been changed with her personality that she’s really unrecognizable as Power Girl. Sure, her costume makes it clear she’s SUPPOSED to be Power Girl, but her portrayal in the series says the exact opposite. Writer Leah Williams has done everything she can to make her a different character. Power Girl #20 marked the end of the series with a whimper when there was the opportunity for a ‘Bang,’ indicating that Williams never really understood that her Power Girl was an inferior take on the character. She had the opportunity teasing the return of Karen Starr to fix things and bring back the character that was missing from her own series. This of course means that Power Girl will be seen in other books at this point as her own series was wasted over the past nearly two full years.
Power Girl has faired well over the years in comics featuring the Justice Society of America. The recent Justice Society of America run by Geoff Johns that was published concurrently with her solo series gave an accurate and recognizable portrayal of the character that didn’t mesh at all with what Williams was doing. This means there is hope for Power Girl fans that Karen Starr can return to greatness under the right writer. DC hasn’t mandated a new approach to the character, and it’s hard to imagine that they will based on the lack of success this 20-issue run has had. It lasted far longer than it should have. Though, DC is demonstrating they are willing to publish what they want as opposed to what makes sense or what sells. Look no further than Fire and Ice getting a new series by Joann Starrer and their blindness over the aging up of Jon Kent. Their threat of 100 issues of Tom King on Wonder Woman also shows that they don’t always do what’s good for a character.
In the end, Power Girl remains a great character who is unique and special. It’s easy enough to ignore the past couple years of her appearances outside of the Justice Society of America series. She’s had a brief cameo in Jeff Lemire’s JSA #1 in a flashback, so one can maintain the hope that Karen Starr will return as Power Girl in the future in a series that does this important and fan favorite character justice!
