Nope. The whole thing is just too messy judging by this story. Also, pretty sure there's an early 2000s movie with Jennifer Lopez with almost the same plot: going into someones mind to physically fight their issues.
I like how Power Girl changing her name is simmilar to Iceman becoming gay. Jon just says: "You're Paige now!" and she's like "I guess I am?" and that's it🤣
Atleast she doesn't seem to be completely against it, unlike iceman who clearly doesn't want jean grey outing him which she HAS to have known since she read his mind.
@@ProjektTaku Jean would hardly be the first person to pull the "it's for your own good, I know what's best for you" argument to a friend who's chosen to stay closeted. The telepathy doesn't really make that attitude any worse than it already is, which is terrible and condescending.
As an old-time Marvel reader I cannot tell you how much sense it makes to retcon Iceman as gay. It just explains a lot about how he's been portrayed over the years.
Two solutions for Power Girl: 1. Just stick her in the JSA. 2. Embrace her redundancy, create a Guardians of the Multiverse for DC, and put her in charge of it. I'm going to drink every time I hear "Paige."
You could do what I do with "Kate" pride and just replace it with the previous name in your head. I'm not saying I don't get kitty's name change but it wasn't biluilt up to in marauders and Duggan always had kitty or someone else forcefully correct a usage of kitty. I think I get where Duggan and Howard are getting it, seeing it like dead naming a non cisgendered person, but those are not the same thing. I say that as someone who is trans.
I think it's obvious that the writer herself sees powergirl as a Kara "knock off" and she thinks that the other comic book fans think that too,so by having her see herself also like that she believes she's making her more relatable to the reader when she actually does the opposite. Personally, I am familiar with her as Harley Quinn's best friend so the character I know is a confident person who is usually the "straight guy" to Harley's wackiness.
She's definitely going off on that assumption without fact checking. Power Girl never struck me as a Supergirl knock off. An alternate, but not a knock off.
She writes Tim Drake Robin the same way - like Tim has a complex over being the “neglected robin” and makes it his entire personality. It’s so annoying, in-character Tim would not give a shit about this. Being a Robin to him isn’t a competition, it’s only a competition to Batfamily FANS cuz there can only be so many bat books, which means characters will have to fight for the spotlight.
She was a computer programmer who started up a successful software company, which she then diversified into green technologies. Starrware Labs, then Starrware Industries, named after herself, with a name she chose for herself. She even ran a mentorship program for girls into stem. They dropped all that and turned her into a therapist using a name a man gave her.
Sure but its also a man who is her cousin, its a connection to this new family. Sure her name as Karen Starr was self selected and thats cool and all but the idea I think is Jon giving her a name is a connection to the current family.
@@TheLastSane1 she was already part of the super family but I don't understand why can't they make her interact more with the rest of them rather than just being part of the jsa
@@TheLastSane1 you can make something fresh without having to change much to a character. Jon is the last character I wanna read saying she should change decades of characterization and history because of reasons. Rather than change everything about her how about giving her a bigger presence without having to take her name, her costume, her.. ahem... assets and big personality, and what makes her so much different from supergirl. We had good stuff in her own solo series but it just needed a little more of a push in the right direction to make her more relevant in super history. However, her series also proved she could carry herself without the constant support of the superfamily if she had to. This book is just not it. It's bad writing and an even worse take on what makes her unique
It honestly just feels like they don't know what to do with her, but know if they don't put her into play people will complain. Nothing here really screams Power Girl.
Yeah it really like they had an idea for a new hero, but nobody will buy that so who can we just throw the story on? Powergirl! Because who cares right? :(
@@MrRobot1984 What's bad is I feel the same but I've only ever followed Powergirl casually. I don't get how these so called comic pros can bring themselves to do stories about characters, when they only ever just pick up some info from a wiki page about them. They do stuff like this then, Marvel and DC wonder why fans check out.
This is not Power Girl. This is just a mess. I have a feeling this is another case of someone coming up with a original character but everyone knew it wouldn't take off so they jammed a established one into it's framework. Someone make this pastel nightmare end!
It reminds me of old fanfics where they'd adapt something they like but want to completely override it, down to the recharacterization and renaming them so they can basically be their OC without having to do all of the character development
Supergirl and Power Girl were able to exist simultaneously because Supergirl refused to give into her trauma and keep a happy attitude while Power Girl was the anger, snarky one. Once they decided to make Supergirl proper dark and edgy, that reduced Power Girl to essentially a knock-off. Which I HATE because she really is a cool character.
Correct, the real Power Girl was not at all angsty; she didn't obsess over Krypton, her lost parents, or even her relationship with her cousin, Kal-L. The writers of this issue seem to have confused Power Girl/Karen with her DCAU counterpart Galetea, who was an actual CLONE of Supergirl; created by Project Cadmus, Galetea was angry and jealous, battling Kara Zor-El just to prover her "superiority". In the JLU animated series, she was depicted as physically similar to Power Girl, right down to the original PG costume, sans the cape.
Honestly, the way I was introduced to Cass Chain’s character was in a larger post about how the late 2000’s also destroyed Supergirl’s character. Literally DC was screwing up so many super heroines that a post about one could not be written destroying one longtime female character without mentioning how another beloved character got turned into an OOC villain along the way.
My thoughts: You've put WAY more thought into power girl then anyone at DC did As a long time comic fan, and having a background in mental health, I could write pages (pun intended) of power girl criticism. But I won't Because I know that in the next few years, DC will blow up/reboot,/reset the entire universe... Again, and none of this will matter
What an amazing job the team did of re-introducing Power Girl into the DCU...by rewriting (and complicating) her powers, personality, civilian name, and personal history, in a one-off issue adorned with semi-confusing artwork. DC misses yet another easy layup....
speaking purely on this video, i’m getting a rly tone-deaf feel for grief and trauma from this comic. everything feels like a means to an end, but when has trauma ever had an endgoal? even if you’ve learned to cope with it, the healing process is continuous, so it’s odd to see it used as a tool in such an explicit way. even as an external processor myself, i can’t rly comprehend the language being used around trauma here; definitely would’ve benefited from more show, not tell. like if they’re going to give powergirl these wishy washy contradictions (bringing up references to dismiss, the kiss-to-punch, etc), they might as well lean into that incongruence for her identity issues. maybe something where she acts indifferent to jon naming her, but it later piles on to that feeling of everyone projecting their perception of her. and if they’re rly deadset on the name paige, it could be after everything that she accepts it bc now it’s her choice. feels like a random event to throw it into the middle of the story when it could be sm more thematic at the end.
Yeah, I found it weird how the comic assumes that you can punch trauma into nonexistence. Trauma stays forever, you just have got to learn how to heal and cope.
Considering how they really tried to change Dick Grayson to Ric, I wouldn't be surprised if Leah Williams was told that she could tell whatever story she wanted...as long as she changed Power Girl's name from Karen to anything else.
Richard or even Rick would have been fine but why did they have to go with the absurd Ric? I'm convinced they wanted that name change to fail from the start.
I've always loved Power Girl, from all the way back in the 80s - and I've always loved her bold, no-nonsense characterization. To me she was supposed to be the more together, more experienced, more confident and assertive version of Kara from Krypton, and her personality was so well-defined that she was clearly distinct from the teenaged Supergirl. And what the hell was wrong with "Karen Starr"? And why would she say she doesn't have a name, when she is and always has been Kara Zor-L, even without a "human" alter-ego? "Paige"? Why??? Honestly, I don't like any of these changes in her story - but the artwork looks great, for sure.
Power Girl, in relation to an inferiority complex? The poster woman for self confidence is the last character who should be having identity issues. The notion of the psychic powers made me think of that time long ago when Marvel's Jean Grey was Marvel Girl. I guess they're trying to do something similar for Power Girl as was done for Marvel Girl but Marvel dumped EVERYTHING about Marvel Girl's persona from the name to the regrettable costume... which was possible since she was never that popular when she started. But PG? "I'm not Karen anymore, now I'm Paige the Power Girl!" It really rings hollow. "I'm not Power Girl anymore, now I'm just Caring!" It wouldn't fly but... no, it wouldn't fly.
“The poster woman for self confidence is the last character to have identity issues” that’s honestly the best reason why it’d work, you wouldn’t expect the confident person to have insecure thoughts about them. Everyone has a confidence issue even when they don’t show it to people they do end up talking about their insecurities, to either a friend, family or a complete stranger. The whole thing about power girl losing not 1, not 2 but 3 lives that she’s made for herself would have made some sense of lost belonging or self worth after constantly losing what she made. It’s devastating and soul crushing when you lose everything you have made to be for nothing and be back at square one. I have never read power girl as confident as much as putting up walls to be distant from her self emotionally. Always saw her being resorted to violence when someone is close to her and makes snarky responses to either lighten up the room or just to call out.
I always thought of power girl as the older, wiser mentor to supergirl, sorta the mature one who's less soft than clark and is willing to use force if need be. Conner as the cocky little brat who's an attention seeker thanks to his sad origin, supergirl as angry teen with the twist of having superman's power, and jon, a nice young kid but with clear flaws.
This feels similar to Leah William's X-men: Trial of magneto where the plot was nebulous and characterization was off, not to mention their were clear continuity errors. She seems to be one of those writers who fits characters into ideas she has; rather than building ideas around characters and their characterization. However, she tends to have interesting ideas it just execution leaves something to be desired.
At least trial ended the Wanda "the pretender" nonsense. What I'm saying is I see why it was made and it did have an impact on Krakow and Wanda's character. Why wasn't this power girl just a new hero named Paige? I just don't get what these changes do.
I remember an article where Williams pretty much admitted that the editors gave her no direction on how to characterize Power Girl when she asked them. Also, you had to sneak in a Shade mention. I don't blame you. I rewatched season two of Stargirl multiple times 'cause of him.
I always wanted to see an AU story where Kara arrives on Earth at the same time as Clark. So she is a teenager with her baby cousin, trying to make her way on a foreign world.
Id love to see this! Definitely could have the potential to tell an awesome story that is relatable for single mothers or immigrant children who take on parenting duties for their siblings young
I would think separating the civilian name from the super hero name was the point of a secret identity. People might figure it out who he was if Peter Spydrman was the one talking pictures of Spider-Man
At least it's not quite as bad as the Golden Age Quality Comics character known as Just 'n' Right, whose real name was Justin Wright. I mean, it's pretty hard to pronounce Just 'n' Right differently from Justin Wright. And his only disguise was a scarf around his face.
As a JSA/Earth2/Golden Age fan - this feels like, hey lets make a brand new character, but lets wrap it in a character we know so we have a built in audience.... It feels like a cheap shortcut, in it's execution.
Same I treasure my old JSA issues where there was a crossover with JSA/JLA/All star Squadron. Was fascinated in how those worlds interacted prior to Crisis. I agree what they did to her was cheap.
I really miss the old pre-crisis Powergirl. Crisis on Infinite Earth really screwed up her, the Huntress and the Legion of Super-Heroes. I prefer the Karen Starr name! Will you be doing a post on The New Teen Titans: The Judas Contract?
I miss sassy Power Girl. She didn’t take sh*t from anyone. This comic felt like someone writing her that had never heard of Karen before. Sometimes the art was really pretty. But like you said, lack of backgrounds and narration boxes made it a bit confusing. Also Catwoman defeating one of those creatures just because? Like it’s never even explained how that was possible.
It didn’t take long for me to check out on this “new” Powergirl. I swear DC doesn’t know what they’re doing when it comes to Super characters half the time. It’s like they just throw stuff at the wall until something sticks, and then when something does, they pretend it doesn’t. I mean just look at what they’ve been doing to Kara. She’s been Sweet, Angry, Kind, Dark, Caring about family, Loner, loving, conceited, etc, etc, etc and not just subtle character changes, they go all in, in which ever personality they decide to go with in that day/book.
the "I'm Supergirl but loser" part almost makes it feel like they're trying to make Power Girl to Supergirl what Supergirl is to Superman in some stories, trying to step out of her cousin's shadow and be her own person aside from being "Superman's smaller cousin". Which is kind of odd because Power Girl is usually portrayed as more mature, put-together and confident than Supergirl.
I disagree with the idea that Post-Crisis Power Girl would feel herself to be an inferior Supergirl, especially because in that continuity Supergirl had just come to Earth. If anything, Kara would feel inferior as an adult her has already done so much, but she can’t/hasn’t yet. Also Power Girl never wanted to be Supergirl, so it’s even more weird that she would feel to be an inferior Supergirl, because she never was Supergirl.
I think this story is a prime example as to why there shouldn't be something like the omniverse or multiverse. It's clear that just letting writers choose what continuity and characterization to use is detremental to a good story. And I also think that this story shows pretty well why so many people don't bother getting into American superhero comics in the first place. It's just too confusing and relies too heavily on previous knowledge on the readers side. But yeah, I won't check out the ongoing of that. I prefer my stories having structure.
Yes - I don't think it's an accident that many of my own fav stories are in self-contained books/"universes" not serialized media. Batman Noel, Luthor: Man of Steel, Superman: Red Son, etc
I don't believe that there is anything wrong with alternative universe. It's a tool that very quickly separates the good writers from the bad ones. and you can quickly tell someone's level of skill on how they actually use this concept.
It’s funny how much Power Girl and Dick Grayson have in common: both were Nightwing one point, both had weird name changes (Dick to Ric and now Karen to Paige), both are known for having exquisite physical features (Karen’s boobs and Dick’s butt), having a complicated relationship with Damien Wayne, both try to distinguish their own identity outside of their famous mentor… hopefully this means Karen doesn’t get weirdly sexually assaulted multiple times and no one ever mentions it Personally, I’m not a big fan of this interpretation of Power Girl, I hope it improves and has the kinks worked out for the ongoing because it would be nice to have a cool Power Girl on going series happening again
super and bat, light and dark, alien and human, power and powerless, boobs and butts. Truly, they have made the super and bat families perfect counterparts to one another.
Sexually assaulted? Like that time she was forcibly impregnated and had a super-fast pregnancy (which is a weird trope which happens far more often than it should)?
@@SimonMoon5 the super-fast pregnancy makes sense. You want the character to be born as quick as the possible. The forcibly impregnated tho is too overused, and it was overused when they used it the first time.
And here I thought her characterizations in One-Star Squadron or when she was a magic-using descendant of Atlantis were whack. This character is totally unrecognizable to me as Power Girl. If I existed in the DC Universe, I'd be thinking "She's been taken over by some evil entity!". Can't Geoff Johns steal her for JSA stuff and let her buddy with Helena Wayne instead of Omen of all people? Ugh, just ugh about this whole thing.
Omen’s doesn’t even feel like a character here, such a waste of an already underused character. Johns’ has confirmed he’s doing some character work with Power Girl in JSA that directly involved Helena.
Omg. The amount of insecurity this Karen has really makes me turned off on it. The Power Girl I grew up with and like is a far more confident in herself character and yet this is suppose to be the same person? Yeah, right.
I am absolutely not OK with them just throwing away what Kara and Terra had. Them together was beautiful, and no amount of sexy jacket is ever going to make it up for what we have lost.
So this after i finished. I feel like Leah Williams and Vita Ayla have a habit of bending characters to match the story they want to tell instead of respecting characters and their set ups and matching thier story with the character they have. (Powergirl, Static Shock, etc)
I would like to believe that the writer is trying to use the past to springboard a bit of character advancement… but it’s probably more a case using PG to tell a completely arbitrary story, and trying loosely to make SOMETHING connect to her past. I normally pick up PG books (going all the way back to the late 70s) but I think I will sit this one out.
It's odd that both Power Girl & Scarlet Witch are being unlicensed therapists in sort of floaty (I can't really think of a better word for how it feels) stories with a plot-pushing sidekick right now.
I like that Power Girl is getting attention, but I agree that there does not seem to be an editor for the Special or the character. She is a great character who can carry the weight of DC’s multiversal legacy, so writers should not be lazy presenting her if/when displaying her multi-layered history and power set. She is a psychiatrist nightmare if she is just going to punch the trauma away cause that is not how the healing works. She should be showing the characters how to overcome psychic trauma.
Ya know, i think this story could have been done better... if they had this be Matrix, that artificially made psychic supergirl, instead of power girl.
@@CasuallyComics Right? Cause the story beats are still all there; feeling inferior to Kara, the feeling of just being a cheap knockoff due to being made in a lab, the feeling of being ostracized and distant from the superman family. Plus, she is an angel, and all this healing the souls of trauma stuff feels like something that would be more in an angel's wheelhouse than PG. Heck, they don't even have to have her still be an angel, just have people viewing her actions as 'akin to a guardian angel'. Boom. Easy fix
As someone whose favorite superhero is Power Girl, I was excited when I heard she was getting a new on-going series. But the stuff leading up to it has started to leave me wary. With her new jacket and reality punching powers PG is giving off a real America Chavez vibe. Also, people have been calling Power Girl "Peeg" pretty much since she debuted, but in the interview Leah Williams seems to state that only Omen calls her that, which is odd. And this is really pedantic, but Power Girl is not from "Earth-2", like this comic claims, she is from "Earth-Two", and yes, those are two different places. Finally, legit question. When did Power Girl sell her company? Did she ever even establish a company on this new Earth? Or is Leah Williams getting confused with the New 52 Power Girl.
I am so confused by which Power Girl this is. I would have thought this was the version with Val Zod which ever Earth that was now on this New 52/Rebirth verison of Earth. Too many reboots coupled with too many alter reality created such a tangled mess.
I feel that the writer likes the idea of Power Girl, but at face value and just is writing it w/o really delving into the decades long history of her character and just doing what she wants it to be. I like the artwork, but the story and the character changes are killing me. They even are ignoring the fact she already had a cat, Theodore aka Stinky.
Man, I liked the run when she tried to make the robot self-destruct through Star Trek logic and hung around that guy who looks like Zardoz. Can't we have more of that?
Honestly, as someone who has been dealing with mental health and trauma for a long time, I find this story disgusting. The idea that trauma can be dealt with by just "punching" is frankly disrespectful and all that technobabble to explain it just feels gross, to me it almost screams you're not trying hard enough and you should confront these problems head-on. While yes for some people meeting these struggles head-on is the best way for them for others a gentler approach is needed. In concept, I like the idea of someone going into the mindscape of someone else to help them work through their struggles but here it just feels clumsy and poorly written. It feels more like set pieces and half-baked ideas that the writer has thrown on the page and vaguely strung together.
I feel Williams really had some different and new idea for a character and just sorta pushed that concept onto the existing Power Girl. Just make a new character named Paige. The story and the re-characterization feel largely incoherent from the get-go, and having read all the back-up stories does not really help untangle this pastel bubblegum mess. And maybe this isn't Williams's fault, because DC has often struggled to establish a place and direction for Power Girl. Also...the jacket. Okay, it's cool if your costume includes a jacket from jump. But if you're changing into a jacket from some other iconic costume, it rarely seems to stick or even go well visually. The design tries to include elements of her previous costume, with the rope from her shoulder piece across her chest. But this brings some concerns about how this is gonna work with her jacket. Not that I was ever a fan of the shoulder-rope anyway. They could just drop that. But leaving it in on the jacket redesign seems ill-conceived. Much as I like Kara(n), I don't think I'll be showing up for this Paige person.
A review I read about this stated that it felt like Leah Williams had read a wikipedia article on Power Girl and that was it.. and I'd say that landed.
I never finished this series. I was put off a bit because Lilith seemed to be mischaracterized. I don’t think that she ever really had a costume other than consistent street clothes. She seemed to be a red headed version of Power Girl in terms of her repartee. Talked with the same voice.
The writer does not seem very good at either dialog or characterization. Which raises the question of what they are good at when it comes to being a writer. Was the plot good?
The best example is why stories like this is all over the place is the opening to Sabrina the Teenage Witch season 6 episode 10 where Sabrina gave her editor a long list of topics she came up with and him shooting her down and pushing her to work harder for what she wants. Leah's problem is not the story, it was the editors at DC didn't do their job and have her rewrite the story to have it make sense but instead gave her the greenlight to send this giant cluster to print so when readers buy the book and dont understand the story she's trying to tell, then youtube gets 20+ reaction videos on how bad it is and how horrible a writer she is when it's more the editors fault for letting it happen
You are being so nice to this book. I wanted to like it because im a big omen fan but this whole thing was a hot mess for me. It felt under yet over written.
While I liked the surreal, dreamlike quality of the art, I agree that it was detrimental to the story at times. As a side note, it's really funny to me how the Wonder Woman/Shazam tie-in story to Lazarus Planet was longer than the main story. That's why I like to say Lazarus Planet felt less like an event and more like two crossovers in a trenchcoat.
In my opinion, PG works best as a Kryptonian who is not a role model like Superman/Supergirl. Someone who is more petty with her power, but still has heart. And I don't like how they keep trying to turn her into a completely different heroine with so little effort.
Seems like the author wanted to tell a story, but only had access to is PowerGirl. It's exactly the kind of story that ends up with a "um actually she's just a alternate reality clone trying to find/reconstruct the real Power Girl" retcon. It probably would make more sense as an original character.
Omen can be seen as that quiet friend who gives you advice and listens to you with a Jimney Cricket like calm….except for that one moment. (Powergirl looking like she’s been taken in and goes in to kiss Johnny Sorrow) Johnny Sorrow: “We are the same…..” Omen: 😱😱😱”POWERGIRL!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING-NOOOOOOO!!!!!” 😂
Why is DC so anxious to hire Marvel's failed X-men writers? Between Leah Williams and Tini Howard there is just something going on where certain people can repeatedly fail up.
It seems to me that this present creative team had a concept they loved that they forced Power girl into rather than taking the character and finding something that can be done with it. I'll stick with the Palmiotti/Grey/Conner version, thanks... Oh--as what may be the only Lilith Clay/jupiter/Omen stan in existence--I HATED what they did with Lilith Clay/Jupiter/Omen
I haven't been a regular reader of DC or Marvel in years, but I still have a lot of fondness for the characters. Once in a while, I'll poke my head back in to see what's going on. Insert GIF of Grandpa Simpson walking in, taking off his hat, immediately putting his hat back on, and walking out again. I have no idea who the target audience for these books is, but I'm pretty sure I ain't it...
Personally at this point both dc and marvel need a lore/continuity checker who can keep from letting these confusing continuity issues happen especially with the omni verse for dc and to keep writers like jason Aaron in check
Power girl was a CEO again last year in the short series “One Star Squadron”. She didn’t act like herself and more of a scheming corporate climber but they assured me that this was her. So was it her or do we just ignore her rent-a-hero adventure with Red Tornado and Minute Man?
I’m going to POWER PASS!!! Like Billy Batson will always be Captain Marvel , PG will always be Karen Starr to me…Not having read it myself, your description sounds to me like Leah Williams is being a Jack Of All Trades with PG past interaction’s , but a Master Of None by not selecting one to continue the interpretation of…from just the pages shown the characters look good, but the background leaves a lot to be desired…Please keep us updated on if the series takes a solid upswing, Keep Up The Outstanding Work Sasha 🖖🏾
I think you're as good at editing stories as you are videos. I love how you break down a story and show what works and what doesn't, and how it could be improved. Well done!
Really great review! You really did your research and backed up your criticisms with prior examples and suggestions on how they could have improved the story. I've always had a soft spot for Earth-2's Maid of Might, and you did a fantastic job of presenting when writers nailed what made Power Girl's character work, and why this story's re-imagining of Karen/Paige didn't. Again, great job!
I really enjoy how this channel strives to be fair and i love the selection of video topics. But the explaination for why Power girl seems to be in a rough spot with the confusing powers, awful characterization and status quo is simple. Leah Williams is a terrible writer. The big two have a very small stable of competent writers with mostly hacks filling out the roster and it feels like writers rarely do their research. Plus I doubt DC knows what to do with the character so they let a new writer go wild, its the trend these days. But this is so bad, Williams is making this up as she goes.
So...we still don't know how she escaped that void a while back, what happened to her protege, why she suddenly abandoned her Karen identity (the interview said it's because she sold her company, but I wasn't aware you had to change your name when you did that...), why she apparently suddenly never had a cat (does that mean she was now never in the JLE/I?), if she ever thought she was Atlantean, if that book with her and Red Tornado last year was canon...we never really see her and Omen become best friends (unless I'm missing an appearance somewhere it seems like Omen found her when her powers changed in Lazarus and the next week they're business partners, best friends and roommates)... The author says she sold her company so she's still a tech whiz who's lived on our world for years and built and ran a successful company but occasionally the writer has her act like she just landed and is still getting used to our alternate Earth ways. It's a mess.
I am not looking forward to the ongoing Power Girl series. This special was way better than the backups, but I still just don't really dig Williams as a writer. I am excited about the Fire and Ice series, though! The Fire and Ice backup was very fun and exciting. And I, for one, maybe the only one, would like to see the fallout from Tom King's Human Target series there :D
@@ChristineP223 interesting, I dunno if that's REALLY want I was going for lol :D I was more thinking Human Target pops up and they're like "remember when he died lol that was so wacky"
Sorry, Leah Williams is not a good writer and putting her with PG, a complicated character to begin with, is a poor editorial decision. PG worked with JSA because of Johns. Put her with a great writer and she will work.
It would be cool if the astral plane was a transreality space that permeates through the multiverse like the Bleed. Like if no matter what Earth you’re on there’s only one astral plane. It’s a simple fix for the story that will clear up a lot of confusion, and it also open up multiple opportunities for other DC stories to explore.
I find it interesting how superheroes lately have been less and less in need of their aliases. Paige being just from her superhero name of power girl is kinda disappointing to me? We have a lot of that happening now and I don't know why it bothers me so much. I hope someone with the same issue might have a more clear reasoning as to why it bothers them and maybe it will make sense to me too haha
It depends on the hero, but I get what you're saying. The secret identity has been treated as a joke. There's a reason why the Supers and Bats have one, to protect the people they love and care for in order to save others.
First of all, I just read an article about this less than an hour ago, and at the end of that piece, the author thanked you for your help. So glad to see this video to help hit the points that writer was making. I have not read this story, and will not. From everything you have mentioned, this is NOT Power Girl -- certainly not THE Power Girl. Kryptonians having psychic abilities makes sense to me, but how can an invulnerable Kryptonian be affected by Lazarus material? The abandonment of "Karen Starr" makes no sense. To function in society, people need identities and all manner of account numbers and paperwork to go about their business: Social Security, bank account numbers, and so forth, depending upon the country in which they live. Unless PG went to Batman and asked him to help her create a new identity for her, this new identity situation would come back to bite her in her well-formed backside. So, story-wise, this doesn't appeal to me at all. Art-wise, it appears to be a mixed bag. The lack of black holding lines (outlines) helps with the dream-like scenes, and the colors are similarly appropriate for the astral plane stuff. But the panel-to-panel story-telling is not there. This artist has a lot of studying to do before they're ranked up there with Eisner, Miller, Simonson, or Steranko. And lastly, what's the deal with PG's furrowed forehead in all those panels? Sheesh! Prediction: This version of PG will not stand the test of time. If it lasts two years, I'll be both surprised and extremely disappointed.
Thanks for another fascinating examination. I love your points about this Power Girl Special, Johnny Sorrow, and the concept of the Omniverse itself. I like the concept of diving into people's psyches, however, I suspect it would have been made stronger if the mystery genre was woven into the plot. This detective angle would have made the stories more nuanced and subtle as she picked up a clue trail in each character's head to draw conclusions about what she sees in the various mindscapes and figure out what trauma to punch.
I’m not that familiar with power girl, but I can’t help but feel when I hear about this run than an actual fan would feel a bit put out by having one of their beloved characters have her powers/ character/ and even name all changed. It makes me feel that there isn’t much too her, which given that she does have fans, can’t be true
I kinda like the attempt at bringing in her programming background. That's an under-used aspect of Power Girl that could make her unique, if they did her as "Supergirl, but with technology, and also more aggressive with punches." The psychic punch could be a neat variation on her power set, if it was explained what it's actually supposed to do. And maybe as the adult to Supergirl being the young woman. But beyond that ... this story has me confused. It feels like we'll look back on this like we do on the Atlantis stuff now.
I still can only vaguely keep up with Power Girl's lore, but I love how you never waste an opportunity to plug the Stargirl show, even if I wasn't a big fan of it.
I'll check her new series once it comes out, but i don't know if I'll stick with it. Kinda felt for huntress since power girl didn't try to say that omen was her best friend on this earth at least. I kinda want a different artist too, but I don't hate the current one. Definitely don't like how PG punches (its like I'm watching cw supergirl punch imo). After going back and looking at her older comics (and other appearances), it didn't really feel like she was separated from the Supe Fam. At least not to the degree that it is being presented now.
Got here from a community post from COMICS MATTER, and this wasn't nearly as much of a roast as I thought it would be. All of this Power Girl stuff changing her name, her powers, and the dialog shown in the issues you reviewed is intensely stupid. TLDR, "thanks, I hate it." Certainly won't buy any of this trash, but thanks for reviewing it. I subscribed to your channel while watching this video.
Looks like yet another example of a writer who has a story they want to tell shoehorning that story into the DCU in the interest of getting it out there. Leah Williams doesn't appear to care about Power Girl the character---she just has a chance to tell a story about trauma and is telling it using Karen (yes that is her name) because she can. With PG's convoluted history many readers probably don't have a deep understanding of her but if there's really no need to tie this character to any specific PG continuity one would think they could have just rebooted her more officially and overtly.
32:00 "We're like opposite ends of a magnet, the same material repelling each other" Ugh, it's a minor point, but I hate it when writers who don't understand science try to sound profound by making this kind of analogy then get it wrong. Opposite ends of a magnet *attract* each other, dear. It's the similar poles of different magnets that repel.
Are you looking forward to Power Girl's 2023 ongoing series?
I hope she and Omen become a couple. I don’t know why they look cute together and they help each other out.
@@leonardomaranhao2861 it’s giving Harley and ivy if they were together
Nope. The whole thing is just too messy judging by this story.
Also, pretty sure there's an early 2000s movie with Jennifer Lopez with almost the same plot: going into someones mind to physically fight their issues.
@potato_oni7597 Cell! That movie is Cell and I feel like no one ever remembers it lol
I'm not excited about her new powerset or the surface-y level take on mental health and psychology.
I like how Power Girl changing her name is simmilar to Iceman becoming gay. Jon just says: "You're Paige now!" and she's like "I guess I am?" and that's it🤣
Lol it also happened in a telepathy style moment
Atleast she doesn't seem to be completely against it, unlike iceman who clearly doesn't want jean grey outing him which she HAS to have known since she read his mind.
@@ProjektTaku lesser of two evil, it seems.
@@ProjektTaku Jean would hardly be the first person to pull the "it's for your own good, I know what's best for you" argument to a friend who's chosen to stay closeted. The telepathy doesn't really make that attitude any worse than it already is, which is terrible and condescending.
As an old-time Marvel reader I cannot tell you how much sense it makes to retcon Iceman as gay. It just explains a lot about how he's been portrayed over the years.
Two solutions for Power Girl:
1. Just stick her in the JSA.
2. Embrace her redundancy, create a Guardians of the Multiverse for DC, and put her in charge of it.
I'm going to drink every time I hear "Paige."
Honestly, it’d be cool to see her interact with the Justice League Incarnate from Multiversity (either as a liaison or casual team-up)
she is already in the current JSA book
You could do what I do with "Kate" pride and just replace it with the previous name in your head. I'm not saying I don't get kitty's name change but it wasn't biluilt up to in marauders and Duggan always had kitty or someone else forcefully correct a usage of kitty.
I think I get where Duggan and Howard are getting it, seeing it like dead naming a non cisgendered person, but those are not the same thing. I say that as someone who is trans.
Option 2 is a really interesting idea.
Those are great starts
I think it's obvious that the writer herself sees powergirl as a Kara "knock off" and she thinks that the other comic book fans think that too,so by having her see herself also like that she believes she's making her more relatable to the reader when she actually does the opposite. Personally, I am familiar with her as Harley Quinn's best friend so the character I know is a confident person who is usually the "straight guy" to Harley's wackiness.
🎉 agree
She's definitely going off on that assumption without fact checking. Power Girl never struck me as a Supergirl knock off. An alternate, but not a knock off.
She writes Tim Drake Robin the same way - like Tim has a complex over being the “neglected robin” and makes it his entire personality. It’s so annoying, in-character Tim would not give a shit about this. Being a Robin to him isn’t a competition, it’s only a competition to Batfamily FANS cuz there can only be so many bat books, which means characters will have to fight for the spotlight.
If anything wouldn't Supergirl be the knock off since Powergirl came 1st chronologically
supergirl was created in the 50's and powergirl in the 70's
She was a computer programmer who started up a successful software company, which she then diversified into green technologies. Starrware Labs, then Starrware Industries, named after herself, with a name she chose for herself. She even ran a mentorship program for girls into stem. They dropped all that and turned her into a therapist using a name a man gave her.
DC sure loves progress. Progress in slowly destroying characters
Sure but its also a man who is her cousin, its a connection to this new family. Sure her name as Karen Starr was self selected and thats cool and all but the idea I think is Jon giving her a name is a connection to the current family.
@@TheLastSane1 she was already part of the super family but I don't understand why can't they make her interact more with the rest of them rather than just being part of the jsa
@@j0hn117uch1ha Because Power Girl has always been kind of a peripheral character in DC even among the family. Trying to refresh that makes sense
@@TheLastSane1 you can make something fresh without having to change much to a character. Jon is the last character I wanna read saying she should change decades of characterization and history because of reasons. Rather than change everything about her how about giving her a bigger presence without having to take her name, her costume, her.. ahem... assets and big personality, and what makes her so much different from supergirl. We had good stuff in her own solo series but it just needed a little more of a push in the right direction to make her more relevant in super history. However, her series also proved she could carry herself without the constant support of the superfamily if she had to. This book is just not it. It's bad writing and an even worse take on what makes her unique
It honestly just feels like they don't know what to do with her, but know if they don't put her into play people will complain. Nothing here really screams Power Girl.
DC doesn't know what to do with it's characters anymore, glad i stopped reading it last year
Agreed. Feels like I know more about Powergirl than the actual author
Yeah it really like they had an idea for a new hero, but nobody will buy that so who can we just throw the story on? Powergirl! Because who cares right? :(
They have never known since Crisis 85!
@@MrRobot1984 What's bad is I feel the same but I've only ever followed Powergirl casually. I don't get how these so called comic pros can bring themselves to do stories about characters, when they only ever just pick up some info from a wiki page about them. They do stuff like this then, Marvel and DC wonder why fans check out.
This is not Power Girl. This is just a mess. I have a feeling this is another case of someone coming up with a original character but everyone knew it wouldn't take off so they jammed a established one into it's framework. Someone make this pastel nightmare end!
It reminds me of old fanfics where they'd adapt something they like but want to completely override it, down to the recharacterization and renaming them so they can basically be their OC without having to do all of the character development
Supergirl and Power Girl were able to exist simultaneously because Supergirl refused to give into her trauma and keep a happy attitude while Power Girl was the anger, snarky one. Once they decided to make Supergirl proper dark and edgy, that reduced Power Girl to essentially a knock-off. Which I HATE because she really is a cool character.
Personally always preferred Power Girl
Correct, the real Power Girl was not at all angsty; she didn't obsess over Krypton, her lost parents, or even her relationship with her cousin, Kal-L. The writers of this issue seem to have confused Power Girl/Karen with her DCAU counterpart Galetea, who was an actual CLONE of Supergirl; created by Project Cadmus, Galetea was angry and jealous, battling Kara Zor-El just to prover her "superiority". In the JLU animated series, she was depicted as physically similar to Power Girl, right down to the original PG costume, sans the cape.
Original Earth 2 and JSA Power Girl is the best.
Honestly, the way I was introduced to Cass Chain’s character was in a larger post about how the late 2000’s also destroyed Supergirl’s character. Literally DC was screwing up so many super heroines that a post about one could not be written destroying one longtime female character without mentioning how another beloved character got turned into an OOC villain along the way.
They're basically the exact same, DC should pull a Superman reborn and give us the best of both worlds
My thoughts: You've put WAY more thought into power girl then anyone at DC did
As a long time comic fan, and having a background in mental health, I could write pages (pun intended) of power girl criticism.
But I won't
Because I know that in the next few years, DC will blow up/reboot,/reset the entire universe... Again, and none of this will matter
You have a back-ground in mental health ??? Have you ever worked with combat vets ??? Or know any good ones who deal with combat trauma ???
What an amazing job the team did of re-introducing Power Girl into the DCU...by rewriting (and complicating) her powers, personality, civilian name, and personal history, in a one-off issue adorned with semi-confusing artwork. DC misses yet another easy layup....
So DC continues to fumble the bag
I'm so out of the loop, why is this PowerGirl "Paige" and not the original PowerGirl?
speaking purely on this video, i’m getting a rly tone-deaf feel for grief and trauma from this comic. everything feels like a means to an end, but when has trauma ever had an endgoal? even if you’ve learned to cope with it, the healing process is continuous, so it’s odd to see it used as a tool in such an explicit way. even as an external processor myself, i can’t rly comprehend the language being used around trauma here; definitely would’ve benefited from more show, not tell. like if they’re going to give powergirl these wishy washy contradictions (bringing up references to dismiss, the kiss-to-punch, etc), they might as well lean into that incongruence for her identity issues. maybe something where she acts indifferent to jon naming her, but it later piles on to that feeling of everyone projecting their perception of her. and if they’re rly deadset on the name paige, it could be after everything that she accepts it bc now it’s her choice. feels like a random event to throw it into the middle of the story when it could be sm more thematic at the end.
Yeah, I found it weird how the comic assumes that you can punch trauma into nonexistence. Trauma stays forever, you just have got to learn how to heal and cope.
"feels like a random event to throw it into the middle of the story when it could be sm more thematic at the end." Souds like a resume of this video
The art is something I find striking. It's like if Jack Kirby drew Steven Universe.
Yeah, I can see that in it. It's not very good sequential storytelling, though. Pretty, but ineffective.
It looks very animated, as if AI drawn; or computer animated. I honestly don't think any of the panels are even drawn on paper
Considering how they really tried to change Dick Grayson to Ric, I wouldn't be surprised if Leah Williams was told that she could tell whatever story she wanted...as long as she changed Power Girl's name from Karen to anything else.
Nah, if they told Leah Williams to do anything she wants 1/3 of the book would be her journey into supreme disaster bissexuality.
Richard or even Rick would have been fine but why did they have to go with the absurd Ric? I'm convinced they wanted that name change to fail from the start.
If she was told to change it to anything, then changing it to something this stupid is still on her.
@@Dunybrook I guess because Ric sounds close to Dick, I dunno🤷♂
I feel like comics should just accept the dated names of characters. If their name is Gertrude, just let it be. 😅
I've always loved Power Girl, from all the way back in the 80s - and I've always loved her bold, no-nonsense characterization. To me she was supposed to be the more together, more experienced, more confident and assertive version of Kara from Krypton, and her personality was so well-defined that she was clearly distinct from the teenaged Supergirl. And what the hell was wrong with "Karen Starr"? And why would she say she doesn't have a name, when she is and always has been Kara Zor-L, even without a "human" alter-ego? "Paige"? Why??? Honestly, I don't like any of these changes in her story - but the artwork looks great, for sure.
Oh look! It's Cici from Earth-2!
What the heck even is Bestgram, you bot...
Power Girl, in relation to an inferiority complex? The poster woman for self confidence is the last character who should be having identity issues.
The notion of the psychic powers made me think of that time long ago when Marvel's Jean Grey was Marvel Girl. I guess they're trying to do something similar for Power Girl as was done for Marvel Girl but Marvel dumped EVERYTHING about Marvel Girl's persona from the name to the regrettable costume... which was possible since she was never that popular when she started.
But PG? "I'm not Karen anymore, now I'm Paige the Power Girl!" It really rings hollow. "I'm not Power Girl anymore, now I'm just Caring!"
It wouldn't fly but... no, it wouldn't fly.
“The poster woman for self confidence is the last character to have identity issues” that’s honestly the best reason why it’d work, you wouldn’t expect the confident person to have insecure thoughts about them. Everyone has a confidence issue even when they don’t show it to people they do end up talking about their insecurities, to either a friend, family or a complete stranger. The whole thing about power girl losing not 1, not 2 but 3 lives that she’s made for herself would have made some sense of lost belonging or self worth after constantly losing what she made. It’s devastating and soul crushing when you lose everything you have made to be for nothing and be back at square one.
I have never read power girl as confident as much as putting up walls to be distant from her self emotionally. Always saw her being resorted to violence when someone is close to her and makes snarky responses to either lighten up the room or just to call out.
@@legoben98productions regardless, this story did not touch on any of that.
I really do want a retrospective of Power Girl and Supergirl’s relationship. How do two variants grow close or butt heads as time goes on?
I always thought of power girl as the older, wiser mentor to supergirl, sorta the mature one who's less soft than clark and is willing to use force if need be. Conner as the cocky little brat who's an attention seeker thanks to his sad origin, supergirl as angry teen with the twist of having superman's power, and jon, a nice young kid but with clear flaws.
This feels similar to Leah William's X-men: Trial of magneto where the plot was nebulous and characterization was off, not to mention their were clear continuity errors. She seems to be one of those writers who fits characters into ideas she has; rather than building ideas around characters and their characterization. However, she tends to have interesting ideas it just execution leaves something to be desired.
At least trial ended the Wanda "the pretender" nonsense. What I'm saying is I see why it was made and it did have an impact on Krakow and Wanda's character. Why wasn't this power girl just a new hero named Paige? I just don't get what these changes do.
The whole time Sorrows was flirting with her I was quietly saying to myself "You get away from Joker's sexy little viel cutlet!"
I remember an article where Williams pretty much admitted that the editors gave her no direction on how to characterize Power Girl when she asked them.
Also, you had to sneak in a Shade mention. I don't blame you. I rewatched season two of Stargirl multiple times 'cause of him.
Then she should do research.
I always wanted to see an AU story where Kara arrives on Earth at the same time as Clark. So she is a teenager with her baby cousin, trying to make her way on a foreign world.
Fr, I'm surprised how this hasn't been done to this day(as far as i know at least)
Absolutely. That could make a great elseworlds story.
Id love to see this! Definitely could have the potential to tell an awesome story that is relatable for single mothers or immigrant children who take on parenting duties for their siblings young
I would buy that Elseworld story in a heartbeat♥️!
It comes across as the author making her own version of Power Girl and mixing and matching various parts of her history.
I would think separating the civilian name from the super hero name was the point of a secret identity.
People might figure it out who he was if Peter Spydrman was the one talking pictures of Spider-Man
Does PG even have a secret identity? She's flying around with her face all out in the open.
@@aldinbaroza9640 think she would wear glasses and put her hair up as Karen Star
At least it's not quite as bad as the Golden Age Quality Comics character known as Just 'n' Right, whose real name was Justin Wright. I mean, it's pretty hard to pronounce Just 'n' Right differently from Justin Wright. And his only disguise was a scarf around his face.
How does that apply to Karen Star?
@@dupersuper1938 He meant PG
My takeaway is that maybe Leah Williams shouldn't be writing Power Girl, since she doesn't understand the character. Anyway, thanks for the review.
100%
'You don't need a face to turn heads' 😂
Wow. This run of Power Girl seems to be written to spit on all previous Power Girl material, either by negligence or by malice.
The way the artist drew her eye makeup makes power girl look like she just started crying. In every panel.
As a JSA/Earth2/Golden Age fan - this feels like, hey lets make a brand new character, but lets wrap it in a character we know so we have a built in audience.... It feels like a cheap shortcut, in it's execution.
Same I treasure my old JSA issues where there was a crossover with JSA/JLA/All star Squadron. Was fascinated in how those worlds interacted prior to Crisis. I agree what they did to her was cheap.
I really miss the old pre-crisis Powergirl. Crisis on Infinite Earth really screwed up her, the Huntress and the Legion of Super-Heroes. I prefer the Karen Starr name! Will you be doing a post on The New Teen Titans: The Judas Contract?
Speaking of the Legion,any news on a new title run ???
I miss sassy Power Girl. She didn’t take sh*t from anyone. This comic felt like someone writing her that had never heard of Karen before. Sometimes the art was really pretty. But like you said, lack of backgrounds and narration boxes made it a bit confusing. Also Catwoman defeating one of those creatures just because? Like it’s never even explained how that was possible.
It didn’t take long for me to check out on this “new” Powergirl. I swear DC doesn’t know what they’re doing when it comes to Super characters half the time. It’s like they just throw stuff at the wall until something sticks, and then when something does, they pretend it doesn’t. I mean just look at what they’ve been doing to Kara. She’s been Sweet, Angry, Kind, Dark, Caring about family, Loner, loving, conceited, etc, etc, etc and not just subtle character changes, they go all in, in which ever personality they decide to go with in that day/book.
the "I'm Supergirl but loser" part almost makes it feel like they're trying to make Power Girl to Supergirl what Supergirl is to Superman in some stories, trying to step out of her cousin's shadow and be her own person aside from being "Superman's smaller cousin". Which is kind of odd because Power Girl is usually portrayed as more mature, put-together and confident than Supergirl.
I disagree with the idea that Post-Crisis Power Girl would feel herself to be an inferior Supergirl, especially because in that continuity Supergirl had just come to Earth. If anything, Kara would feel inferior as an adult her has already done so much, but she can’t/hasn’t yet. Also Power Girl never wanted to be Supergirl, so it’s even more weird that she would feel to be an inferior Supergirl, because she never was Supergirl.
Kyle Reese speech AND an emotional damage reference, all in a Power Girl video! My day is complete,
I think this story is a prime example as to why there shouldn't be something like the omniverse or multiverse.
It's clear that just letting writers choose what continuity and characterization to use is detremental to a good story. And I also think that this story shows pretty well why so many people don't bother getting into American superhero comics in the first place. It's just too confusing and relies too heavily on previous knowledge on the readers side.
But yeah, I won't check out the ongoing of that. I prefer my stories having structure.
Yes - I don't think it's an accident that many of my own fav stories are in self-contained books/"universes" not serialized media.
Batman Noel, Luthor: Man of Steel, Superman: Red Son, etc
I don't believe that there is anything wrong with alternative universe.
It's a tool that very quickly separates the good writers from the bad ones.
and you can quickly tell someone's level of skill on how they actually use this concept.
It’s funny how much Power Girl and Dick Grayson have in common: both were Nightwing one point, both had weird name changes (Dick to Ric and now Karen to Paige), both are known for having exquisite physical features (Karen’s boobs and Dick’s butt), having a complicated relationship with Damien Wayne, both try to distinguish their own identity outside of their famous mentor… hopefully this means Karen doesn’t get weirdly sexually assaulted multiple times and no one ever mentions it
Personally, I’m not a big fan of this interpretation of Power Girl, I hope it improves and has the kinks worked out for the ongoing because it would be nice to have a cool Power Girl on going series happening again
super and bat, light and dark, alien and human, power and powerless, boobs and butts.
Truly, they have made the super and bat families perfect counterparts to one another.
Sexually assaulted? Like that time she was forcibly impregnated and had a super-fast pregnancy (which is a weird trope which happens far more often than it should)?
Wow, too late on the sexual assault. 🙁
@@SimonMoon5 the super-fast pregnancy makes sense. You want the character to be born as quick as the possible.
The forcibly impregnated tho is too overused, and it was overused when they used it the first time.
And here I thought her characterizations in One-Star Squadron or when she was a magic-using descendant of Atlantis were whack. This character is totally unrecognizable to me as Power Girl. If I existed in the DC Universe, I'd be thinking "She's been taken over by some evil entity!". Can't Geoff Johns steal her for JSA stuff and let her buddy with Helena Wayne instead of Omen of all people? Ugh, just ugh about this whole thing.
Omen’s doesn’t even feel like a character here, such a waste of an already underused character. Johns’ has confirmed he’s doing some character work with Power Girl in JSA that directly involved Helena.
Omg. The amount of insecurity this Karen has really makes me turned off on it. The Power Girl I grew up with and like is a far more confident in herself character and yet this is suppose to be the same person? Yeah, right.
I am absolutely not OK with them just throwing away what Kara and Terra had. Them together was beautiful, and no amount of sexy jacket is ever going to make it up for what we have lost.
yeah I'm wondering what happened to terra. As after amanda conner left terra just went home and wasn't seen again.
@@rorylumley4727 I know, and it makes me sad...
So this after i finished. I feel like Leah Williams and Vita Ayla have a habit of bending characters to match the story they want to tell instead of respecting characters and their set ups and matching thier story with the character they have. (Powergirl, Static Shock, etc)
I would like to believe that the writer is trying to use the past to springboard a bit of character advancement… but it’s probably more a case using PG to tell a completely arbitrary story, and trying loosely to make SOMETHING connect to her past.
I normally pick up PG books (going all the way back to the late 70s) but I think I will sit this one out.
It's odd that both Power Girl & Scarlet Witch are being unlicensed therapists in sort of floaty (I can't really think of a better word for how it feels) stories with a plot-pushing sidekick right now.
I like that Power Girl is getting attention, but I agree that there does not seem to be an editor for the Special or the character. She is a great character who can carry the weight of DC’s multiversal legacy, so writers should not be lazy presenting her if/when displaying her multi-layered history and power set. She is a psychiatrist nightmare if she is just going to punch the trauma away cause that is not how the healing works. She should be showing the characters how to overcome psychic trauma.
Ya know, i think this story could have been done better... if they had this be Matrix, that artificially made psychic supergirl, instead of power girl.
Oooh now there's an interesting idea.
@@CasuallyComics Right? Cause the story beats are still all there; feeling inferior to Kara, the feeling of just being a cheap knockoff due to being made in a lab, the feeling of being ostracized and distant from the superman family. Plus, she is an angel, and all this healing the souls of trauma stuff feels like something that would be more in an angel's wheelhouse than PG. Heck, they don't even have to have her still be an angel, just have people viewing her actions as 'akin to a guardian angel'. Boom. Easy fix
As someone whose favorite superhero is Power Girl, I was excited when I heard she was getting a new on-going series. But the stuff leading up to it has started to leave me wary. With her new jacket and reality punching powers PG is giving off a real America Chavez vibe.
Also, people have been calling Power Girl "Peeg" pretty much since she debuted, but in the interview Leah Williams seems to state that only Omen calls her that, which is odd. And this is really pedantic, but Power Girl is not from "Earth-2", like this comic claims, she is from "Earth-Two", and yes, those are two different places.
Finally, legit question. When did Power Girl sell her company? Did she ever even establish a company on this new Earth? Or is Leah Williams getting confused with the New 52 Power Girl.
I am so confused by which Power Girl this is. I would have thought this was the version with Val Zod which ever Earth that was now on this New 52/Rebirth verison of Earth. Too many reboots coupled with too many alter reality created such a tangled mess.
I feel that the writer likes the idea of Power Girl, but at face value and just is writing it w/o really delving into the decades long history of her character and just doing what she wants it to be. I like the artwork, but the story and the character changes are killing me. They even are ignoring the fact she already had a cat, Theodore aka Stinky.
Man, I liked the run when she tried to make the robot self-destruct through Star Trek logic and hung around that guy who looks like Zardoz. Can't we have more of that?
If you can get ahold of Jimmy and Amanda...
Didn't zardoz guy return while powergirl was guest starring, in their Harley Quinn run?
@@gregcourtney751 Yup. It was...a take.
@@gregcourtney751 He sure did and it was amazing!
It's always a GREAT day when you talk about Power Girl!
Honestly, as someone who has been dealing with mental health and trauma for a long time, I find this story disgusting. The idea that trauma can be dealt with by just "punching" is frankly disrespectful and all that technobabble to explain it just feels gross, to me it almost screams you're not trying hard enough and you should confront these problems head-on. While yes for some people meeting these struggles head-on is the best way for them for others a gentler approach is needed.
In concept, I like the idea of someone going into the mindscape of someone else to help them work through their struggles but here it just feels clumsy and poorly written. It feels more like set pieces and half-baked ideas that the writer has thrown on the page and vaguely strung together.
Beyond the writing, the thing that really tanks this is that the artist almost never draws backgrounds. Everyone is just floating in pastel space.
I feel Williams really had some different and new idea for a character and just sorta pushed that concept onto the existing Power Girl. Just make a new character named Paige. The story and the re-characterization feel largely incoherent from the get-go, and having read all the back-up stories does not really help untangle this pastel bubblegum mess.
And maybe this isn't Williams's fault, because DC has often struggled to establish a place and direction for Power Girl.
Also...the jacket. Okay, it's cool if your costume includes a jacket from jump. But if you're changing into a jacket from some other iconic costume, it rarely seems to stick or even go well visually. The design tries to include elements of her previous costume, with the rope from her shoulder piece across her chest. But this brings some concerns about how this is gonna work with her jacket. Not that I was ever a fan of the shoulder-rope anyway. They could just drop that. But leaving it in on the jacket redesign seems ill-conceived.
Much as I like Kara(n), I don't think I'll be showing up for this Paige person.
A review I read about this stated that it felt like Leah Williams had read a wikipedia article on Power Girl and that was it.. and I'd say that landed.
I never finished this series. I was put off a bit because Lilith seemed to be mischaracterized. I don’t think that she ever really had a costume other than consistent street clothes. She seemed to be a red headed version of Power Girl in terms of her repartee. Talked with the same voice.
The writer does not seem very good at either dialog or characterization. Which raises the question of what they are good at when it comes to being a writer. Was the plot good?
Wait, Lilith is the red haired woman, PG's partner? I've been waiting all this time for someone to do something good with her and they do this?
yeah its Leah Williams, do NOT expect high grade action packed interesting story telling from her.
martian manhunter was the therapist of the league in JLU i would watch him give therapy
The best example is why stories like this is all over the place is the opening to Sabrina the Teenage Witch season 6 episode 10 where Sabrina gave her editor a long list of topics she came up with and him shooting her down and pushing her to work harder for what she wants. Leah's problem is not the story, it was the editors at DC didn't do their job and have her rewrite the story to have it make sense but instead gave her the greenlight to send this giant cluster to print so when readers buy the book and dont understand the story she's trying to tell, then youtube gets 20+ reaction videos on how bad it is and how horrible a writer she is when it's more the editors fault for letting it happen
You are being so nice to this book. I wanted to like it because im a big omen fan but this whole thing was a hot mess for me. It felt under yet over written.
While I liked the surreal, dreamlike quality of the art, I agree that it was detrimental to the story at times.
As a side note, it's really funny to me how the Wonder Woman/Shazam tie-in story to Lazarus Planet was longer than the main story. That's why I like to say Lazarus Planet felt less like an event and more like two crossovers in a trenchcoat.
The art can be so uncanny especially with facial expressions
In my opinion, PG works best as a Kryptonian who is not a role model like Superman/Supergirl. Someone who is more petty with her power, but still has heart. And I don't like how they keep trying to turn her into a completely different heroine with so little effort.
Seems like the author wanted to tell a story, but only had access to is PowerGirl.
It's exactly the kind of story that ends up with a "um actually she's just a alternate reality clone trying to find/reconstruct the real Power Girl" retcon.
It probably would make more sense as an original character.
So Power Girl is now DCs America Chavez?
My first thought as well
"Look at what they did to my girl."
_ Zor-L
Another fantastic video, Cici!
Lol now Cici will actually happen
Omen can be seen as that quiet friend who gives you advice and listens to you with a Jimney Cricket like calm….except for that one moment.
(Powergirl looking like she’s been taken in and goes in to kiss Johnny Sorrow)
Johnny Sorrow: “We are the same…..”
Omen: 😱😱😱”POWERGIRL!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING-NOOOOOOO!!!!!”
😂
Why is DC so anxious to hire Marvel's failed X-men writers? Between Leah Williams and Tini Howard there is just something going on where certain people can repeatedly fail up.
Some form of nepotism? Idk
@@calumhouston3308 dude the whole spider-man department is filled with nepotism.
The fact is you explaining this was far more entertaining than reading it.
It seems to me that this present creative team had a concept they loved that they forced Power girl into rather than taking the character and finding something that can be done with it. I'll stick with the Palmiotti/Grey/Conner version, thanks...
Oh--as what may be the only Lilith Clay/jupiter/Omen stan in existence--I HATED what they did with Lilith Clay/Jupiter/Omen
She’s going to be in the ongoing series too…
@@365party Well, I truly dislike this version of Lilith....she does not behave like any previous version I ever encountered.
@@thomasdeja523 Me too, no one here acts accurate even Kara Zor-El. It’s sad that this will be continued.
As a Power Girl fan I hate this even more than the way they did her dirty in One-Star Squadron.
I haven't been a regular reader of DC or Marvel in years, but I still have a lot of fondness for the characters. Once in a while, I'll poke my head back in to see what's going on. Insert GIF of Grandpa Simpson walking in, taking off his hat, immediately putting his hat back on, and walking out again. I have no idea who the target audience for these books is, but I'm pretty sure I ain't it...
Personally at this point both dc and marvel need a lore/continuity checker who can keep from letting these confusing continuity issues happen especially with the omni verse for dc and to keep writers like jason Aaron in check
Power girl was a CEO again last year in the short series “One Star Squadron”. She didn’t act like herself and more of a scheming corporate climber but they assured me that this was her. So was it her or do we just ignore her rent-a-hero adventure with Red Tornado and Minute Man?
I don't think that book is considered in continuity
@@jimwerner9785 It’s in continuity, but it hasn’t been mentioned recently.
@@joshuaingobo1559 I was told by a writer that they were told that it isn't considered any continuity as far as the characters in it are concerned
I’m going to POWER PASS!!! Like Billy Batson will always be Captain Marvel , PG will always be Karen Starr to me…Not having read it myself, your description sounds to me like Leah Williams is being a Jack Of All Trades with PG past interaction’s , but a Master Of None by not selecting one to continue the interpretation of…from just the pages shown the characters look good, but the background leaves a lot to be desired…Please keep us updated on if the series takes a solid upswing, Keep Up The Outstanding Work Sasha 🖖🏾
It should be PG past past personification’s , not interaction’s 🤦🏾♂️ sorry 🖖🏾
The two things I look for in a comic book are (1) therapy and (2) programming metaphors
I think you're as good at editing stories as you are videos. I love how you break down a story and show what works and what doesn't, and how it could be improved. Well done!
Love the Basil Karlo joke
Really great review! You really did your research and backed up your criticisms with prior examples and suggestions on how they could have improved the story. I've always had a soft spot for Earth-2's Maid of Might, and you did a fantastic job of presenting when writers nailed what made Power Girl's character work, and why this story's re-imagining of Karen/Paige didn't. Again, great job!
I really enjoy how this channel strives to be fair and i love the selection of video topics. But the explaination for why Power girl seems to be in a rough spot with the confusing powers, awful characterization and status quo is simple. Leah Williams is a terrible writer. The big two have a very small stable of competent writers with mostly hacks filling out the roster and it feels like writers rarely do their research. Plus I doubt DC knows what to do with the character so they let a new writer go wild, its the trend these days. But this is so bad, Williams is making this up as she goes.
DC asking the deep questions: how disjointed a story are we willing to put up with for amazing art?
So...we still don't know how she escaped that void a while back, what happened to her protege, why she suddenly abandoned her Karen identity (the interview said it's because she sold her company, but I wasn't aware you had to change your name when you did that...), why she apparently suddenly never had a cat (does that mean she was now never in the JLE/I?), if she ever thought she was Atlantean, if that book with her and Red Tornado last year was canon...we never really see her and Omen become best friends (unless I'm missing an appearance somewhere it seems like Omen found her when her powers changed in Lazarus and the next week they're business partners, best friends and roommates)...
The author says she sold her company so she's still a tech whiz who's lived on our world for years and built and ran a successful company but occasionally the writer has her act like she just landed and is still getting used to our alternate Earth ways. It's a mess.
I am not looking forward to the ongoing Power Girl series. This special was way better than the backups, but I still just don't really dig Williams as a writer. I am excited about the Fire and Ice series, though! The Fire and Ice backup was very fun and exciting. And I, for one, maybe the only one, would like to see the fallout from Tom King's Human Target series there :D
I would definitely read a serious miniseries about Ice being tried for murder.
I don’t think Human Target is canon, though I could be wrong. I’m pretty sure it’s an Elseworlds story.
@@ChristineP223 interesting, I dunno if that's REALLY want I was going for lol :D I was more thinking Human Target pops up and they're like "remember when he died lol that was so wacky"
@@millernumber1 We see a panel of Amanda Waller’s assistant moving his name from the “dead” column to “alive” in a spreadsheet.
@@ChristineP223 heh yes
Sorry, Leah Williams is not a good writer and putting her with PG, a complicated character to begin with, is a poor editorial decision. PG worked with JSA because of Johns. Put her with a great writer and she will work.
I would love to see you do a full retrospective of Power Girl and Supergirl’s relationship
It would be cool if the astral plane was a transreality space that permeates through the multiverse like the Bleed. Like if no matter what Earth you’re on there’s only one astral plane. It’s a simple fix for the story that will clear up a lot of confusion, and it also open up multiple opportunities for other DC stories to explore.
I find it interesting how superheroes lately have been less and less in need of their aliases. Paige being just from her superhero name of power girl is kinda disappointing to me? We have a lot of that happening now and I don't know why it bothers me so much. I hope someone with the same issue might have a more clear reasoning as to why it bothers them and maybe it will make sense to me too haha
i mean half of it for me is the most interesting part of a lot of heroes is balancing both lives and now that is gone for a bunch of them
It depends on the hero, but I get what you're saying. The secret identity has been treated as a joke. There's a reason why the Supers and Bats have one, to protect the people they love and care for in order to save others.
No backgrounds is a deal breaker for me. Also, take a shot whenever Sasha says punch/punching.
First of all, I just read an article about this less than an hour ago, and at the end of that piece, the author thanked you for your help. So glad to see this video to help hit the points that writer was making.
I have not read this story, and will not. From everything you have mentioned, this is NOT Power Girl -- certainly not THE Power Girl. Kryptonians having psychic abilities makes sense to me, but how can an invulnerable Kryptonian be affected by Lazarus material? The abandonment of "Karen Starr" makes no sense. To function in society, people need identities and all manner of account numbers and paperwork to go about their business: Social Security, bank account numbers, and so forth, depending upon the country in which they live. Unless PG went to Batman and asked him to help her create a new identity for her, this new identity situation would come back to bite her in her well-formed backside. So, story-wise, this doesn't appeal to me at all. Art-wise, it appears to be a mixed bag. The lack of black holding lines (outlines) helps with the dream-like scenes, and the colors are similarly appropriate for the astral plane stuff. But the panel-to-panel story-telling is not there. This artist has a lot of studying to do before they're ranked up there with Eisner, Miller, Simonson, or Steranko. And lastly, what's the deal with PG's furrowed forehead in all those panels? Sheesh!
Prediction: This version of PG will not stand the test of time. If it lasts two years, I'll be both surprised and extremely disappointed.
@Jim Gillespie
Considering DC's recent cancellation of Robin and Batgirls comics.
I would not be surprised if PG ends up being cancelled.
Never ever read a Leah Williams story thinking she have the faintest idea of what she's doing.
Thanks for another fascinating examination. I love your points about this Power Girl Special, Johnny Sorrow, and the concept of the Omniverse itself. I like the concept of diving into people's psyches, however, I suspect it would have been made stronger if the mystery genre was woven into the plot. This detective angle would have made the stories more nuanced and subtle as she picked up a clue trail in each character's head to draw conclusions about what she sees in the various mindscapes and figure out what trauma to punch.
I’m not that familiar with power girl, but I can’t help but feel when I hear about this run than an actual fan would feel a bit put out by having one of their beloved characters have her powers/ character/ and even name all changed.
It makes me feel that there isn’t much too her, which given that she does have fans, can’t be true
I kinda like the attempt at bringing in her programming background. That's an under-used aspect of Power Girl that could make her unique, if they did her as "Supergirl, but with technology, and also more aggressive with punches." The psychic punch could be a neat variation on her power set, if it was explained what it's actually supposed to do. And maybe as the adult to Supergirl being the young woman. But beyond that ... this story has me confused. It feels like we'll look back on this like we do on the Atlantis stuff now.
I still can only vaguely keep up with Power Girl's lore, but I love how you never waste an opportunity to plug the Stargirl show, even if I wasn't a big fan of it.
I'll check her new series once it comes out, but i don't know if I'll stick with it. Kinda felt for huntress since power girl didn't try to say that omen was her best friend on this earth at least. I kinda want a different artist too, but I don't hate the current one.
Definitely don't like how PG punches (its like I'm watching cw supergirl punch imo). After going back and looking at her older comics (and other appearances), it didn't really feel like she was separated from the Supe Fam. At least not to the degree that it is being presented now.
Got here from a community post from COMICS MATTER, and this wasn't nearly as much of a roast as I thought it would be. All of this Power Girl stuff changing her name, her powers, and the dialog shown in the issues you reviewed is intensely stupid. TLDR, "thanks, I hate it." Certainly won't buy any of this trash, but thanks for reviewing it. I subscribed to your channel while watching this video.
I was hoping you would talk about the Fire & Ice Story from the end of this book.. i luv ice
Man, i just finished the video, and you are being so nice to this book. And you definitely didnt go easy on it, either.
Looks like yet another example of a writer who has a story they want to tell shoehorning that story into the DCU in the interest of getting it out there. Leah Williams doesn't appear to care about Power Girl the character---she just has a chance to tell a story about trauma and is telling it using Karen (yes that is her name) because she can. With PG's convoluted history many readers probably don't have a deep understanding of her but if there's really no need to tie this character to any specific PG continuity one would think they could have just rebooted her more officially and overtly.
32:00 "We're like opposite ends of a magnet, the same material repelling each other" Ugh, it's a minor point, but I hate it when writers who don't understand science try to sound profound by making this kind of analogy then get it wrong. Opposite ends of a magnet *attract* each other, dear. It's the similar poles of different magnets that repel.
I don’t think most of the people at DC( or Marvel) have a clue how to write…
I heard the phrase "astral punch" so much in this video that I began to wonder if this series started as a leftover America Chavez pitch.