About two and a half years ago with the end of the Lazarus Planet event, Leah Williams began writing Power Girl. First in Lazarus Planet: Assault on Krypton #1 and then as a short series of back ups in Action Comics beginning with issue #1051. Williams completed that first story arc in the Power Girl Special #1 which came out just about two years ago and then despite the dubious quality and Williams’ disconnected take on the character, Power Girl graduated into a new ongoing solo series. Clearly this was part of the plan all along, I don’t think anyone was clamoring for more of Williams’ destruction of the character.
Power Girl #20 to JSA #7
This solo series ended quite recently with issue #20. Not much more can be said about the series itself or the damage Williams’ has done to the character. However, Power Girl shows up in Jeff Lemire’s JSA #7 at the funeral of Ted (Wildcat) Grant. You’ll recall that Geoff Johns was penning a Justice Society of America series concurrent with Williams’ Power Girl. In that series, Power Girl was still Karen Starr, and she had her traditional personality. Johns seemed to purposely ignore what Williams was doing or perhaps he wasn’t even aware of it, despite the fact that PG appeared in her new costume introduced in Williams’ run.
Power Girl’s appearance in JSA #7 is an opportunity to see how Jeff Lemire and DC Comics will handle the character post- Williams’ Power Girl series. She doesn’t get a lot of page time in the issue, but she does have an interaction with Yolanda (Wildcat) Montez. Lemire has already shown Power Girl in a flashback of Justice Society history in JSA #1, so we know that Lemire was aware of her history with the team and presumably her characterization.
One would have hoped that Lemire would just ignore Williams’ Power Girl or just write around any references. He could easily have kept PG’s personality and wrote her in a traditional manner as Geoff Johns had done. However, Lemire has Yolanda call Power Girl, “Paige.” Williams had created a nonsensical reason for Power Girl to get rid of the name “Karen Starr” and allow Jon Kent (whom she barely knows) name her “Paige.” She later added the surname “Stetler.” Changing a name indicates a significant change that distances the character from the events that the character experienced under that name. In this case, Williams is saying that the events that occurred in Power Girl’s life while she was “Karen Starr” no longer matter, that she doesn’t have a connection to that part of life. For the record, that life was everything before Flashpoint. That’s her original life on Earth-Two when she first appeared and joined the Justice Society, her time as a founding member of Infinity, Inc., her post-Crisis life on the main DC earth when she thought she was a descendant of Arion of Atlantis and the revelation she was in fact who she always thought she was, the dimensionally displaced Kara Zor-L, cousin of Superman of Earth-Two during the Infinite Crisis event. This includes her time as a technology entrepreneur which had been a consistent aspect of her character since her first solo story running through Showcase #97-99.
Which Power Girl Is This?
One my believe that Williams intended this to be a new Power Girl, a different Power Girl or even the New 52 Power Girl. However, Williams references specific incidents that it mean it can only be the original Earth-Two Power Girl. Furthermore, the idea is validated by a blog post on the official DC website, “Everything You Wanted to Know About Power Girl (But Were Afraid to Ask).” It goes to great lengths to reinforce that this is the original Power Girl from the original pre-Crisis Earth-Two and that it is specifically not the New 52 version of the character. So, for Williams, whether it makes sense or not, this is the original character.
The Crux of the Matter
There are times when characters and series can go in new directions with a story. But, it can’t be done without getting a character from Point A to Point B first. Batman just can’t suddenly start killing people without a story. Superman can’t start working as a bartender without a story to get him there. Power Girl can’t suddenly have insecurities and a 180 degree personality swing without a story. But, that’s what Leah Williams’ Power Girl does. Simply put, her past as asserted by DC and even Williams herself to some degree is incongruous with the character that Williams writes.
If she’s got the history with the Justice Society there’s no reason she’d feel lonely and unconnected. If she’s had the career as a Tech Entrepreneur then she wouldn’t be unfamiliar with living on Earth as a human- she wouldn’t be portrayed as new to Earth and Earth customs. She can’t have these emotional issues if she’s had the past she’s been shown to have in her appearances over the past nearly 50 years. Quite simply, if you accept Williams’ Power Girl, her appearance in JSA #7 is impossible. The Power Girl she writes would not have been in the JSA, known Ted Grant and Yolanda Montez and developed friendships and found a home among the team. And, conversely if she’s had this past with the team, she wouldn’t have the emotional struggles that Williams has grafted onto her character. The two things simply don’t connect. She can’t simultaneously move on from her past changing her name and at the same time continue to associate with those relationships she’s claimed to have moved beyond. “Paige” can’t be both a new identity and existence AND a character with a long history and storied past and deep relationships at the same time. She can’t have “Paige Stetler’s” personality and emotional distress, but rely on “Karen Starr’s” history and relationships. It’s one or the other.
Going forward, that’s the problem. Williams’ Power Girl just doesn’t make sense in the the context of her past with the JSA. With Yolanda calling her “Paige” it becomes disturbingly clear just how out of place Williams’ Power Girl is. If DC continues to refer to her as “Paige” and utilize Williams’ series as canon, her appearances elsewhere will continue to be awkward and contradictory to her past. DC can’t see this, but it’s about all Power Girl fans can see.
The ironic thing about this situation is that despite all my criticism of her appearances over the past two and a half years, I’m a huge fan of Power Girl. She’s one of my all time favorites. Along with Helena Wayne/ Huntress…they may be my two favorite, yet I’ve been reduced to chastising DC over her treatment. There are a lot of great things about Power Girl, it’s just that none of them are in Leah Williams’ Power Girl.
