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Friday Recommendation: Power Girl

By | December 3rd, 2010
Posted in Columns | % Comments

Fairly recently, a new book caught my eye. After being told I needed to go back and read it, I decided to start with the new creative team and I loved it. It was a fun book, and one that is easily accessible. Even more recently, I decided to pick up the two trades from the previous run. And I learned I loved them about as much as I love the current books. What book is that? Why, it’s Power Girl.

Let’s start at the beginning, where most great stories start. It’s also what Kara Zor-L needed. Or rather, she needed a new one. Kara Zor-L had been through a lot. A character with one of the most confusing origins in comics, and one of the most complicated careers, a fresh start is what she needed. And she got one, in the big city. What starts as a fun book in the city quickly turned into a book about establishing and protecting her identity, something that she hadn’t really had before. It was about getting new friends and colleagues, and just…living life.

And if there’s one thing that’s done really well here; it’s the plotting. Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti created a book that juggled multiple plot threads nearly flawlessly, constantly revisiting earlier plotlines from the series to make a tapestry that rewards loyalty, but doesn’t punish new readers.

Which brings me to another favorite aspect of their writing; the humor. Kara (or Karen Starr, as her secret identity would tell you) has a unique sense of humor, with eye rolls and snarky comments that give her a unique personality. She’s not mean, she’s not a “bitch,” she’s just funny, witty, and can even take a joke at her expense. There is just brilliant character development, which brings me to the characters.

Her supporting cast, from her employees at Starrware Industries to her superhero friend Terra to her cat (who is later named Stinky, much to the chagrin of Matt); they are all fully fleshed out and have souls of their own, instead of simple props. They anchor Karen to the world, and give her something to fight for. It’s honestly one of the best things about the book. There is equal time given to the hero as well as the civilian, as well as some work that crosses over from one to the other.

But this all would have been merely so-so without Amanda Conner. For those of you who aren’t aware of her (and how could you NOT be?! Seriously…), Conner has some of the more life giving art in the business, with pencils that draw some of the most beautiful character designs and simultaneously have a sense of humor all their own. Stinky, while a character who obviously gets no dialogue, is beautifully rendered with a sense of humor all his (her?) own. There are sight gags (probably coming from both the writing team along with Conner) with a Watchmen reference AND a Big Bang Theory cameo in two pages. From that point on, I knew I was hooked. Even a character like Vartox is rendered with a certain sense of humor. He looks like Sean Connery from the science fiction film Zardoz, and I can’t help but believe that was intentional. Either way, it’s brilliant.

Bottom line, you should pick up these books. Their entire run of twelve issues has been collected into trade format, and you can buy volume one here, and volume two here.

But now that we’re done with that, let’s talk about the current run. With the new Brightest Day Story direction coming from the fallout of the Blackest Night, and Power Girl’s connection to the JLI in the book Justice League: Generation Lost, this book lightly touched upon that book, with cameos from the villain in that book, Max Lord, as well as the occasional appearance from JLI members.

While it doesn’t tie directly into the Brightest Day banner at first, it picks up loose threads from the old series, and if anyone does it well, it’s Judd Winick. A favorite of mine from his time creating Frumpy the Clown, I always liked him. He had a certain dark sense of humor that lent itself well to that strip, and he can insert it into the book every once in a while. Things in this book aren’t as funny as they were in the previous creative team’s run, but that’s because the story is just a bit darker. Karen is thisclose to losing her new company after someone embezzled and took her for everything she was worth. There’s also a sentient super weapon trying to destroy Manhattan on someone’s orders, and then there’s a clone of Karen on her tail. And these are all connected. What this turns into is one of the books I look forward to every month, it’s just that good. I bet if you’re observant, you can even figure out the bastard who’s doing all this to Peej!

Continued below

But speaking of good, Sam Basri’s art is some of those most gorgeous watercolors I’ve ever seen in comics. The colors jump off the page, and while they’re not quite the same as Amanda Conner, they complement Winick’s story just as well as Conner’s work complemented Gray’s and Palmiotti’s. Peej isn’t quite as muscle-bound as she was when drawn by Conner; she’s still quite beautiful, with a new aura of femininity.

My one complaint; the lack of Terra.

Once again, you should be reading this book. It hasn’t been collected in trade (yet) but it will soon I imagine, and it will look great next to the first two volumes you have on your shelf!

Check out your LCS for these if you want to support comics in stores.


//TAGS | Friday Recommendation

Gilbert Short

Gilbert Short. The Man. The Myth. The Legend. When he's not reading comic books so you don't have to, he's likely listening to mediocre music or watching excellent television. Passionate about Giants baseball and 49ers football. When he was a kid he wanted to be The Ultimate Warrior. He still kind of does. His favorite character is Superman and he will argue with you about it if you try to convince him otherwise. He also happens to be the head of Social Media Relations, which means you should totally give him a follow onTwitter.

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