Is Power Girl A Failure?
Vložit
- čas přidán 30. 09. 2023
- Power Girl has a new comic and direction for Dawn Of DC. Say goodbye to Karen Starr and hello to Dr. Paige Stetler. Armed with a new astral punching ability, a best friend in Omen and Supergirl's cat it's a new era for Power Girl...but does it work. We take a look at the #1 issue by Leah Williams and Eduardo Pansica to see how engaging Power Girl's latest series is....time of recording lol. It's time to chat Power Girl here on Casually Comics!
Join this channel to get access to perks:
/ @casuallycomics
The Power Girl Special Is Rough
• The Power Girl Special...
The Wonder Woman Struggle | Dawn Of DC Wonder Woman #1
• The Wonder Woman Strug...
Kofi -
ko-fi.com/casuallycomics
Follow Me On Insta -
/ casuallycomics
Business Inquiries/Contact Me:
casuallycomics@gmail.com casually comics - Zábava
Check out the Power Girl special :)
czcams.com/video/Kn2exPAI_ek/video.html
The Power-girl Special art is so good it should have won awards.
karen/Paige I'm meh with. I prefer Galataia from the JLU cartoon. it's the same with Supergirl's name. I'm a Linda Lee person not so much of a Kara Denvers person.
@@berniedavis6676 "Galatea Starr" would be a cool name and nice callback, even with a different origin.
Make Batman and Catwoman's Relationship Canon in the DC Comics
Make Green Lantern and Star Sapphire's Relationship Canon in the DC Comics
Make Aquaman and Mera's Relationship Canon in the DC Comics
Make Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor's Relationship Canon in the DC Comics
Make Superman and Lois Lane's Relationship Canon in the DC Comics
Make Nightwing and Batgirl's Relationship Canon in the DC Comics
Make Green Arrow and Black Canary's Relationship Canon in the DC Comics
Make Joker and Harley Quinn's Relationship Canon in the DC Comics
Make Constantine and Zatanna's Relationship Canon in the DC Comics
Make Beast Boy and Raven's Relationship Canon in the DC Comics
Make Flash and Iris West's Relationship Canon in the DC Comics
Make Hawkman and Hawkwoman's Relationship Canon in the DC Comics
Batman and Catwoman Summer Special
Green Lantern and Star Sapphire Summer Special
Aquaman and Mera Summer Special
Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor Summer Special
Superman and Lois Lane Summer Special
Nightwing and Batgirl Summer Special
Green Arrow and Black Canary Summer Special
Joker and Harley Quinn Summer Special
Constantine and Zatanna Summer Special
Beast Boy and Raven Summer Special
Flash and Iris West Summer Special
Hawkman and Hawkwoman Summer Special
Batman and Catwoman Valentine's Day Special
Green Lantern and Star Sapphire Valentine's Day Special
Aquaman and Mera Valentine's Day Special
Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor Valentine's Day Special
Superman and Lois Lane Valentine's Day Special
Nightwing and Batgirl Valentine's Day Special
Green Arrow and Black Canary Valentine's Day Special
Joker and Harley Quinn Valentine's Day Special
Constantine and Zatanna Valentine's Day Special
Beast Boy and Raven Valentine's Day Special
Flash and Iris West Valentine's Day Special
Hawkman and Hawkwoman Valentine's Day Special
Batman and Catwoman Thanksgiving Special
Green Lantern and Star Sapphire Thanksgiving Special
Aquaman and Mera Thanksgiving Special
Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor Thanksgiving Special
Superman and Lois Lane Thanksgiving Special
Nightwing and Batgirl Thanksgiving Special
Green Arrow and Black Canary Thanksgiving Special
Joker and Harley Quinn Thanksgiving Special
Constantine and Zatanna Thanksgiving Special
Beast Boy and Raven Thanksgiving Special
Flash and Iris West Thanksgiving Special
Hawkman and Hawkwoman Thanksgiving Special
Batman and Catwoman Halloween Special
Green Lantern and Star Sapphire Halloween Special
Aquaman and Mera Halloween Special
Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor Halloween Special
Superman and Lois Lane Halloween Special
Nightwing and Batgirl Halloween Special
Green Arrow and Black Canary Halloween Special
Joker and Harley Quinn Halloween Special
Constantine and Zatanna Halloween Special
Beast Boy and Raven Halloween Special
Flash and Iris West Halloween Special
Hawkman and Hawkwoman Halloween Special
Batman and Catwoman Christmas Special
Green Lantern and Star Sapphire Christmas Special
Aquaman and Mera Christmas Special
Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor Christmas Special
Superman and Lois Lane Christmas Special
Nightwing and Batgirl Christmas Special
Green Arrow and Black Canary Christmas Special
Joker and Harley Quinn Christmas Special
Constantine and Zatanna Christmas Special
Beast Boy and Raven Christmas Special
Flash and Iris West Christmas Special
Hawkman and Hawkwoman Christmas Special
I feel like if Nightwing can survive 80 years with the name Dick, then Power Girl should be fine to keep Karen.
That's a good point. We can handle Dick
She could be experiencing the "Rick syndrome."
Eventually, she'll drop this and become Karen again once people move on.
To be fair, Dick is a sexualized name. Nightwing is a sexualized character. It fits.
Characters don't fail, their writers do.
AGREED and well said.
Characters definitely *can* fail, and it can be more interesting than them succeeding. Though I understand what you mean here.
@@casteanpreswyn7528no you don't know what he means, if you did you wouldn't have said what you said. Also what you said was stupid and useless thing to say. He is referring to why the character as a concept fails with fans or people just not like the character.
@@absolutelyfookinnobody2843calm down.
@@absolutelyfookinnobody2843No you dont understand what the other person was trying to say. Sometimes the writer is totally on point, but a character still doesn't gain traction and fails for another reason. Sometimes that means they are appreciated years later, or they fall into obscurity. And that is really interesting to look back on in either case.
i think it’s strange to do the young hero angle with power girl, i always liked when she was used as an older more experienced hero for supergirl to look up to. she’s been in this game longer than a lot of main heroes!
this effort to make her more distinct is weirdly making her more like supergirl, down to the jacket
She WAS distinct and different!!! That’s what made her interesting!!!
I agree! A lot of what I have generally liked about Power Girl is that she's more of an adult, with experience and confidence. It set her apart from Supergirl while also showing a possibility of who Supergirl could be one day.
@@BThingsin her universe, she has basically taken clark’s place. that’s so neat! why make her clark’s robin?
@@sirensongss EXACTLY!!
@@BThings Could be…but still their experiences and personalities are different.
How does Clark have time to be the dissapointed dad for Power Girl AND Fire and Ice?
Idk they’re like the same age here I would say they’re more equals than father/daughter
I still can’t get behind the idea of Power Girl as a fully integrated member of the Super family, especially not one who looks to Kal-El for approval.
Maybe it’s just I‘m an older reader, but I prefer the characterization of PG as an independent actor, recognized by Kal-El but works separately from the others.
He's Superman!
@@nileredscandy I think that its a balance. Its not that she's not integrated into the family, keeping her separate would be weird, and she also clearly values her cousin, however the whole reason she picked the name Power Girl was to not be confused with Kal, so you have to make it so she's apart of the family but still set apart.
That's why the CEO angle works so well, its unique to her. In all fairness the Super families pretty disconnected.
@@ProjektTaku it's funny that the Bat family sometimes gets along better than the Super family. I suppose it's hard to write for a handful of Kryptonians with all that power in one place. Do you send in Darkseid? Some other god? Have them race around the planet to intercept hundreds of nuclear missiles that just launched? Play Monopoly?
I was always under the impression that Kara always thought she was a lesser version of Power Girl, not the other way around.
And that would make sense, since Karen was older, accomplished, experienced, a CEO...
alas, the writers drank lots of kool aid when they wrote Paige into existence... because you are spot on
Because that's how it was portrayed. This whole "Paige" idea is the writer's idea of making a new character even though she isn't and it is a crime.
That's not a good idea either. They were so separate and there's no reason for it
This. Kara is the one with identify issues, not Power Girl.
It's a shame Power Girl's origin, like the one of Donna Troy and other kryptonians, has been severly altered over the years, with the writers forcibly making her a descendant of the atlantian Arion instead of a surviving kryptonian. I get they wanted to make Superman the true and only Last Son of Krypton, but her first origin was simply much better and more interesting, so I am very glad they made her kryptonian again during the Infinite Crisis. In fact, her reunion with the Clark and Lois from the Golden Age after so many years was a very emotional moment.
i hate the paige switch... i loved karen starrs earth 2 stories during new 52 ..her helena-karen duo was awesome...
At least Power Girl has regularly come back to her Kryptonian origin, where.. Donna's is a mess of nonsense and keeps getting worse because they keep rebooting Wonder Woman without any thought to what that means for either Wonder Woman or any of her supporting cast.
@@JanArrah
Poor Donna. The iconic and emotional first "Who is Donna Troy" story, made shortly before the first great Crisis, aged like milk. Anyway, I have always thought that Donna's really lasting relationship with the extremely boring Terry Long was the worst thing that happened to the character. There were plenty of other male characters (Nightwing, Wally, Roy, Jason, and Kyle) who would have made much better boyfriends for Donna.
@@SuicidalSummerSnowWoman the idea of "Supergirl except she's more mature and her secret identity is basically bruce wayne" is way cooler than "therapist who punches trauma".
in all fairness this affected a lot of characters aside from Power Girl.
Supergirl was a protoplasmic matrix with lana langs brainwaves from a pocket dimension who got trapped in the regular dimension and adopted the supergirl identity. Conner was a clone of "Paul Westfield" with telekinesis and Zod was a russian baby who, when his cosmonaut parents were launched into space the meteor shower that brought Clark torpedoed the rocket and his mother and father died but Zod was irradiated and gained all of Superman's abilities under red sunlight.
My big problem with the whole concept of her new powers is: you CAN'T help someone's trauma or other mental health issues by "punching them". As much as we all wish we could do that, that's not how real recovery and mental health treatment works. Also, you made mention of how she had a new civilian identity as "Doctor" - when did she go to medical school or a PhD in psychology? To me the whole thing sounds like a horrible disservice to not only the character but also to every reader with mental health issues. Maybe some love the idea, but this feels like the inverse of giving Oracle her legs back: poorly thought out editorial mandate or poorly thought out ideas by a writer, like Tom King did with The Gift and Heroes in Crisis.
Agreed. It's incredibly insulting. I have BPD; I'm gonna be in therapy for the rest of my life, I had to learn to do mental Judo to control my emotional responses to EVERYTHING, and I had to alter my whole life to avoid triggering situations. But ASTRAL PUNCHING. Okay. So simple.
Also, Diseases that only affect one species? That doesn't make sense. Okay, "Doctor."
@@irlikingpie I thought it was metaphorical- like she can punch the trauma, but that doesn't remove it, it just keeps it from freezing or affecting you in the now until you can go to the therapy and try to resolve it. We'll see where they go with it.
@@nim411I do like how recent X men stuff does things.
In Hellions, whilst psychics Emma frost could thank that they’ve resolved mental health issues for characters like Alex Summers, the truth in the story is that a quick fix just doesn’t help. You need something long term. Whilst Wild Child is a weird example, Kwannon and the Hellions provided him with a better support system. Heck, they even looked at briefly the psychology of Empath as a guy who grew up able to control the emotional responses of people whenever he did things to them.
They also do better handlings of things like Polaris’ bipolar disorder.
It’s probably never going to be a perfect one-for-one on these fronts but there’s at least some care put into these depictions.
You're not getting it. Her fists are magic. She can punch away any monster. Monsters in your mind, monsters in your closet - it doesn't matter. Because being Kryptonian wasn't enough, she has magic fists now. Pretty soon she'll be able to punch cancer out of people. "Dr. Paige" is just that awesome.
@@nim411 That doesn't make it any less dismissive of mental health issues.
PG was her best in Infinite Crisis.
She was a sole survivor of a PreCrisis universe. She was interesting
DC's answer to bad story telling is to change the character and continue on with the bad writing in hopes that something "NEW" will contribute to more book sales.
In my opinion, I think it would be much better to lean into the Karen stereo type than run from it. The superpower mom version Power Girl has always been my favorite. I mean imagine it; Alien invasion of earth, death ships are positioning themselves over all classic tourist destinations of the world. You know Eiffel Tower, Big Ben, Great Wall of China, Pyramids etc. Because the aliens know once you destroy the tourist industry, the soul of humanity will be crushed. They are about to fire when all of a sudden, explosions rock the ships. Saucers start falling from the sky. One the main Alien death ship, something impacts it at near light speed. As the dust clear, you see a woman dressed in white and gold with a red cape. She smiles a predatory smile and says "Hello, my name is Karen, and I demand to talk to the manager."
Honestly, the very concept of PG being deferential and submitting to Superman's authority feels like having the Hulk being best bro buddies with General Ross. PG started out as someone who did *not* just submit to male authority, and often questioned it to their face. Actual PG would have laughed in Clark's face the moment he started the whole "Tut tut, disappointed in you." thing. Or punched him.
She also would have told Jon to pack sand when he called her "Paige" and said, "I may not be Karen Starr anymore, but you can still call me Kara Zor-L!" and then make a secret ID later. The fact her family calls her by her secret ID, while she is in uniform is just stupid. She may as well call Kal "Clark Kent" in front of a subway. She can be Kara to her friends, and the fact they don't is just disrespect to the character and the real creators of her.
Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H. did a pretty decent job of making Hulk and Ross somewhat buddies, imo
Not only does Paige Stetler sound like a whole new character who's stolen the super heroic identity of I like (hey, the only reason I didn't get All-Star Comics #58 after I saw it on the rack was because I had a funding issue; I was 7, I had no job), but it sounds like this version of Lilith is no one I recognise either. Different name, different costume, different powers, same super hero name, and 80% of her backstory. I suppose it's closer than Escarabajo Azul.
I knew this would fail after reading an interview by CBR with Leah Williams saying she didn’t understand her history and was confused, the editors basically told her to make it up.
This is Leah Williams new character in the body and name of Power Girl. I really hope it doesn’t stick and we get the actual Power Girl back. We get her actual best friend Huntress and her real family the JSA back.
Editorial-Managerial: "Here, write this character."
The literal writer they're offering the character: "here is a perfet reason why you picked the wrong person for this job, I don't understand the character you want me to write."
Editorial-Managerial: "Exactly wha we are looking for, do it anyway!"
A buncha geniouses.
Is not even the body of power girl, she...well... you like it or not has a smaller chest and looks more young close to supergirl, its more like a cosplay of Supergirl, also... that goddamn editor could tell her ''just read JSA and Infinite Crisis and tell me what you think'', It's hard to write Kara, but it's not that hard if you just turn off your brain, do your homework and write the character for the that like how she is, but well, that is how is. -_-
@@louisvictor3473Never fails it happens every reboot and initiative that attempts to fix problems made already.
Honestly if you want an authentic Power Girl fix, read the new Justice Society of America by Johns’, PG has an important role their and she has the name Karen.
Yeah, I heard similar complaints on how she wrote Lorna Dane in X-Factor and not being familiar with the character. It's DC's fault for giving her so much leeway.
@@louisvictor3473They didn't want the original character. They want to destroy her and replace her with something that caters to their values.
I was big fan of the older Power Girl, the more confident, proudly feminine bruiser... She was fun. Her stories were generally upbeat and she just felt like a richer character. They're doing to her what they did to Carol Danvers in Marvel, though. De-sexualizing her and making her more neurotic and oddly weaker.
And giving her a cat too.
@@TheDragonOfWhi The cat is from the Palmiotti/Gray/Conner run. Just a different name- it was “Stinky.”
@@TheDragonOfWhi supergirl and Power Girl have always had cats.
The De-sexualization isn't much of an issue, although personally I prefer carol's original design, the symbol is far less "normal" than the Captain design and the black helps it stand out, really its just the chest part of Power Girl that you can possibly "desexualize" and the New 52 Earth-2 comics managed to cover it up and make it a very cool moment of character growth.
@@TheDragonOfWhiShe had a cat before, one which hilariously terrorized Wally and others
.....so the character who originally refused to accept a logo Sylvester Pemberton made for her that was based on Superman's, the character who was submissive to no one- not even her cousin- is now taking orders from Superman. I do not care for this.
right !
EXACTLY!!!!
Fun fact: 'paf' was the sound effect used when Asterix hit someone.
I'm just over here wondering why did she burn the dress? It was a gorgeous dress and if she didn't like it should have just returned it or donated it.
'Murican fast fashion "culture", I guess, specially among rich fucks, which sees things like a dress as a dispoable one use item. It is not one of your gala dresses, it is your dress for this one party.
🤔
I think “Paige” would’ve worked better as a new superhero that Karen took under her wing as a mentor, it would, at least the less indicative of Power Girl’s history and character
Like Terra II from a few years back
Yeah, it's not like having a newcomer take up an existing moniker is new to DC or even PG herself. Power Girl fans would still probably be annoyed that the new "Power Girl" comics don't contain their favourite girl front and centre, but at least we wouldn't feel like she's being snubbed or overwritten
I HATE THE NAME CHANGE.
Why cant those writers just keep her old business name, Karen Starr. It makes PERFECT SENSE.
“Justice for Stinky…”
Does anyone else hear a rousing chorus of Smelly Cat in the background?
It's not your fault, Stinky, lol!
Changing her name was an utterly stupid idea.
It's just graffiti at this point.
I get that Karen has become a meme lately. But it is still a name, a great name for Powergirl.
If Power Girl is still a tech CEO, why doesn't she use her secret identity that had a company attached to it?
When I try to do mind punching therapy without having a diploma for it they call me a quack. "Doctor Paige Stetler's" main qualification is having been doused by magic sky-lava. By this logic Killer Moth is a now a doctor too.
They way they're drawing Power Girl now also erodes her identity. Her being noticeably swole made her stand out from standard slim superheroines.
It feels a bit belittling to have the character say "she panicked" especially since they have tried to establish her as someone helping others with their mental health issues. She should be confident and have the skills to self analyze imo.
I can see where you’re coming from.
It’s a common thing put on female characters that they’re quick to panic when confronted with practical situations outside of a controlled environment. It’s why Hermione in the Harry Potter franchise is seen as flawless in the movies compared to the books; because they scrubbed that part out along with the slavery subplot.
Now, you can have someone occasionally make blunders. Mental Health professionals are required to have their own therapist after all. Because they are human. If it’s a case of losing a battle but winning the war, that’s good.
It’s why I do like Marvel’s Betsy Braddock as Captain Britain; because she does take losses but will always get back up, learn what she needs to and try and win next time with the help of her friends.
It also underminds her powerset. She's just like Superman, she could have flown it into space, tossed it into space, she could have done so many things. Yet they gave her the "America Chavez" just punch a hole and solve it. She has a powerset and it's like they do not know how to use to like the rest of her "family"
Without a doubt, Amanda Conner is the best artist that has ever drawn Power Girl. Her cartoon style really knows how to portray the most beautiful and iconic women of DC, like Power Girl herself, Silk Spectre, Harley Quin and Starfire. There's also a pretty fun art Conner herself did that shows the two Karas together, in which Power Girl proudly smiles while Supergirl looks visibly jealous of her counterpart's bigger "plot" 🤣🤣🤣
If you were talking about male heroes, would you have said "most handsome men in DC?" Feels like you're reducing these characters to their appearance for no good reason.
@@PotatoPatatoVonSpudsworth
1. Male beauty does not cause any interest or attention in me, mostly because I am a straight man.
2. Why does calling those women "the most beautiful" mean reducing them to their appearance according to you? Just because someone calls a woman beautiful doesn't automatically mean that they don't also admire her for her personality and powers. I'm just saying that Conner knows how to portray the stunning beauty of DC girls in a cartoon style.
Power Girl was literally created for her chest.
Seriously. Wally Wood built her appearance into her design.
As a joke.
Thank goodness Kara never went to Earth Prime.
@@PotatoPatatoVonSpudsworthsure. Why not? Dick Greyson is the most handsome man in DC. Batman is the most rugged man in DC. Deadman is the most decomposed man in DC.
There is no shame in using such adjectives. Not in my eyes, at least.
@@PotatoPatatoVonSpudsworth Naturale che gli uomini siano attratti anche dall'aspetto fisico delle supereroine, detto da uno che non ha mai apprezzato l'eccesso di tette di Power Girl, perchè trivializza il personaggio. Politically correct, gender etc. stanno distruggendo i Supereroi.
I was going to defend the line about convincing Superman; I don't think it was about getting the whole specific sponsored event set up rather than general approval of the idea itself. But even then Power Girl should have enough friends and connections to set up such an event without needing Superman to speak for her, nor should it require significant "convincing" to get Superman's help anyway. (EDIT: Unless Superman figured the alien tech auction was a bad idea, and had to be convinced into that part of the plan.)
My preferred Powergirl will always be the Karen Starr who created her own company, was elected to be the chairperson of the JSA and had the experience and confidence to take no shit from _anyone_, be they an unpowered normal, a fellow superhero or a supervillain!
Would love to see your in depth take on Cassandra Cain. Great work keep it up! Thanks for everything.
Power Girl is also now appearing in JSA, helping the new teens, the Lost Children that have been displaced from time, and helping them find their footing, which is such a great place for her. It uses her so well.
Also Linda Danvers is an actual person separate from Kara, but people keep forgeting that.
Edit: I hate Lilith being called Omen. It's totally a random creation for her to be more of Not-the-Raven than she was ever intended to be and it's from one of the retcons for this character that did nothing for her.
It was weird when Lillith first became Omen, they even changed up the way she spoke and she definitely became Raven-Lite.
So you're saying the best Power Girl version at the moment is in the comics that don't headline her? Huh
Not a big fan of the writer who took on PG. there was no need to change her secret identity. And the psychic powers are weird. I’m glad she has her own series though.👍🏾
The writer didn't take on PG, she was given by editorial (after literally admiting she didn't understand the character's backstory at all and managerial simply told her to make it up). Always remember: someone approved the hire/assigment, and someone approved the issue, and it is always those people's fault in the end, because they always had the means to assess the suitability of the writer (who will write what you pay them to write, that is their job, whether assigning them ot the character was a dumpster fire of an idea or not), to reassign, and to veto anything.
@@louisvictor3473that is completely fair. I wish they would have gotten someone who understood the character better. I’m still gonna give the series a chance because I’ve liked PG since I first saw them in Infinity Inc.😊
I strongly feel that the whole new identity has been fostered on her by the editorial, because as I say Karen has quite a negative connotation as have millionaire software techbros (and gals I guess). And as you say of you take this Pee Gee as a new character then it works fine, if you came to Pee Gee post-Infinite then it's probably not going to work as well. And yes justice for Stinky!
modern power girl? with leah williams writing? probably i dont think leah has ever sold all that well. You know i can see after a while people will compare this run to when power girl thought she was atlantean.
It sounds like a valiant attempt. Omen seems to be the weak link in the comic. Bit of a "haha aren't I so zany and spunky!" sidekick type character.
I'll say this. At least it isn't the art style being shown from the special and other series. Jeez, that is horrifying. Very uncanny valley to me.
Edit: Awwww, then they did the telebomb thing. ANYWHERE it could have been sent, say, Jupiter, it goes to an earthbound location. And the virus thing. Like Sasha said; of course that makes sense.
PLUUUSSSSS: They just touched on Kryptonians being colonizing arseholes. Why WOULDNT they develop a custom bio weapon to make their take over easier or have it simply happening on accident?
I assume the name change was because DC wants to divorce Power Girl from Supergirl.
Separating Karen from Kara seems very pragmatic from a business standpoint since now they can ignore her convoluted origins as a Supergirl-adjacent character from another universe.
It their eyes, she can now exist as her own character in both the comics and future adaptations.
Karen's always done that
Karen is still perfectly separate from Kara, along with her being a CEO, older etc. But no matter how hard you try, its hard to separate her from her Supergirl-adjacent origins and honestly, why would you?
That close-up panel of Jon's mouth when he says "That sound good, cuz?" will always freak me out.
This. It's always felt so weird to me, between the angles and dialogue, it feels like it's trying to make it look like he's flirting with her.
I'd prefer Power Girl not be *quite* so integrated into the super-family. Historically, she's not usually worn the "S" shield, and I like her experienced independence.
Add to that the whole "Paige" thing, and I worry.
One of her issues for the longest was feeling alienated from a family she should be apart of...
Leah Williams' depiction of Power Girl is not only a complete dismissal of almost 50 years of characterization, but also disrespectful to the character, the fans, and all the creators/writers that came before.
Totally agree. I was a huge fan of Power Girl because of her character. She did not need to be reimagined.
If I had a nickel for every time DC writers tried to juggle a ‘psychological therapy for superheroes’ theme, but fumble it with characterization problems, Id have two nickels...
Not to bring up Heroes in Crisis too much, since it’s been talked to death, but I really wonder why this theme seems to bring out the characterization issues in specific writers. Is it writers who want to write this kind of theme originally wanting to come at superheroism and trauma as a whole, without actually wanting/knowing the specific hero they’ve been handed? Or is it just personal headcanons bleeding into the characters they write, and how much of the headcanon is their own coming to roost with the reader reactions/critiques.
It’s very odd, cause the theme is done well when it’s not so blatantly made the topic, like Batman: Ego. But once it’s made the core theme, then the subtlety falls to the side..
Eitherway, I hope this Powergirl run finds its footing.
I always thought of Powergirl as the She-Hulk of DC: cool, confident, a&& kicker of a strong woman, who can have serious moments, but also can have light hearted fun too.
Maybe thats just as much a headcanon as these other authors have, and isnt the best way to characterize her, all I know is I hope Karen will get her name back eventually.
Great vid as always tho! Hope we get more on this series. 😁
It's because these new writers all use these stories as a form of therapy. And it never works for the writer or the story.
@@VaporeonEnjoyer1 It does seem like a lot of characterizations come from personal experiences or going through their own thought processes. The problem is, I don't entirely think it's wrong to do that. I mean, if we made sure authors couldn't slide their own beliefs into characters, we'd probably never have gotten most of Frank Miller's work on Batman/Daredevil, let alone most of Alan Moore's pivotal work...
But I wonder what separates those more landmark stories from these...is it just the writing quality? For as much as I dislike Tom King's portrayals of characters, I'd say his writing is still pretty quality...So then there has to be something else, maybe? Maybe it's just the approach to these characters, I don't think Moore's Swamp Thing or Miller's TDKR was meant to tear down the characters they defined..rather it built them up into legends...
But, these writers tend to tear the characters down *while* mischaracterizing them... Maybe that's why it feels worse/off.
Like the characters are going through troubles and trials that their true selves would never have had issues with in the first place, if they were in character..
Idk tho, just a thought.
That's why Power Girl worked she became She Hulk in her own way where she didn't need to be doing just Super Powered things and could be much more light hearted. The problem is these writers want to write arcs which they're not good at and suck at doing serialized stories with much smaller stakes
I just want another solo Zatanna run, with a writer who knows the damn character and will do her justice like Paul Dini.
I definitely love the old Power Girl image with her being confident, sassy, perhaps sometimes overly so, but having some background insecurities that she pushes to the side when necessary. I also always appreciated her as an older, more experienced, more developed version of Supergirl, who could serve as both a role model and cautionary tale and I always envisioned her as being stronger, smarter, wiser and more skilled than Supergirl, somewhere between Superman and Supergirl in strength and power. She was elected as the leader of the JSA after Superman retired. She was the CEO of a major, successful, cutting-edge tech company. If they're going to keep her history in play, then she has to have the characteristics she would have needed to achieve those things. Calling herself 'Doctor' is dumb, because it's something that can be easily verified and would draw attention to her identity when the deception was exposed. Anyone who had done five minutes of research would discover this if it wasn't already obvious. Dumb, lazy writing.
This 'Paige' crap seems like a self-insert, Mary-sue fantasy by the writer, who probably always wanted to be called Paige. It is very jarring and disrespectful to the character and her rich history. I hope it gets totally mocked and erased as soon as possible. I'm personally never going to accept it and it's always going to grate. If you had the skill and confidence as a writer, you could do some great scenes with her alter ego still being called 'Karen'. There's so many possible funny moments there and a continuous irritation for Kara that she could always grumble about. KARA. Her name is and will always be Kara. She and Supergirl can still both be called Kara and there's plenty of writing gold in that too. It can cause conflict, bonding and/or confusion. The family can come up with other pet nicknames for each of them. Kara was the actual name of a Valkyrie, who was also a Princess in Norse mythology, so it's perfect for the Power Girl image that is true to her original character.
The same goes for 'Stinky'. If her cat was originally 'Stinky', Supergirl's was 'Streaky', and they want to differentiate PG from Supergirl, then why conflate the two? It's just bad writing, lazy research or both, and it shouldn't ever happen in a publisher of this size. The editors should be all over this. It's insulting to the fan base to just make shit up - media companies are being burnt left, right and centre by this sort of laziness, and going broke because of this. To people who are prepared o continuously shell out money for their product, this sort of detail matters. It's basic quality assurance. If they want to employ new people with new ideas, that's fine, but when they take the helm of an established character with a long-established fanbase and history, make them earn their right of control by mastering what has preceded them. We don't allow pilots with 100hours in a Cessna to jump into flying a 747 without proving their chops first. Same here.
I was overjoyed about the return of Power Girl to the mainstream, but this treatment of her does not make me want to support it in any way. It's a mockery.
Oh dang! I was considering buying these two comics, grateful to see Karen coming back, but this new creative team has ruined her! Ouch! Fragile psychic powered Paige is of no interest to me. Knowing that comics are so often cyclical, I can only hope this era is soon forgotten and the grand powerhouse that is Karen Starr returns in time.
OH GEEZE SASHA YOU USED THE CREEPY PANEL OF JON
(Washes eyes with bleach)
There's something really wrong with a guy with a creepy guy with that specifc haircut leaning in and telling you what your name would be. Jon looks like a PUA.
If this had come from 10 year old Jon, it'd be cute.
Well, at least it's better than the therapy mini-story. Bland humour aside, I'm glad she at least finally gets a mini-series... hopefully it won't go downhill like Spider-woman.
I'm decades removed from comics, though I did own the original All-Star and Infinity Whatever comics with Power Girl. My mind always goes back to Supergirl, who arrives as an eager teenager ready to help in the fight for "Truth, Justice, and the American Way"! And Superman promptly sticks her in an orphanage. Even my early 60's adolescence had problems with this. I always loved that Power Girl wasn't going to put up with this bullshit. Your commentaries are refreshing in that people still question directions that content creators take with their characters.
Thanks....I hate it. The random humor, the senseless identity change, the new costume ( the only one in DC who can wear a jacket is Animal Man and they are trying to cheat on the boob window). At least we are not looking at all the candy colored pastels anymore but this whole thing is pointless. And I am real sick of the editors just saying "idk lol do whatever 👍". Are they all unpaid interns now?
This channel is why I’ve started reading powergirl stuff lol pls keep up the good work!
"That was just a code name." Yes, you know, the one she used every day when she was taken in and being raised by Clark and Lois. That's all.
My friend and I counted the explosions (since it was an "Explosive First Issue" and all), and we only got four...all of which were fairly small relative to the panels they were in.
As for the story itself: I'm interested to see where it goes. I do kinda want the "Who am I? How do I fit?" storyline to end, though. Power Girl is best when she's at ease and confident, with a streak of "I'll do what I want!" energy. I don't know how much of that is text-based, versus my own thoughts brewing about the character.
It gets tiresome when you have run after run delving into the same trope. And it’s not like we get new Power Girl stories every year.
@@rammisalami I know what you mean. Overall, I'm happy with having ANY Power Girl. Though, I will argue that the "where do I fit in the larger scheme?" storyline is a trope that I've grown extremely tired of in fiction in general. It's a very angsty way to tell a story, and it happens quite often with female characters who are being reintroduced after being "forgotten" for a period. It's also something that's been done with Power Girl before. To me, it feels like treading water, and one day Power Girl will have tons of short runs that establish her new "status quo" and then not really dig into her character beyond that, because DC will invariably cancel the series before that happens.
Hi, Sasha! First off, I just subscribed. I had to. Seeing several of your videos, I really enjoy your quiet cool and diplomatic essays of the most important, awesome, and strange events and characters in comics history.
To preface this, and so you know where I'm coming from, I'm a lifelong fan of Power Girl. (I'm a fan of many great comic heroes, and I can't list them all here!) In spite of my REALLY strong feelings about what Leah and DC have done to Power Girl, I'll do my best to follow your example and be as diplomatic as possible.
In short, this STINKS! 😠
I loved *Karen Starr* as she was, and I ignored (or at least tried to) other retcons over the years. Atlantis, anyone? I don't care that this has any potential, this is an arbitrary reboot in the same way Kelly Sue rebooted Carol Danvers into Current Year Captain Marvel in 2012. This has ALL the hallmarks of what happened to Carol, especially reimagining the character yet cherry picking from her previous history what Kelly Sue and Marvel liked the most. Or what was most useful and inoffensive.
Leah just had to go one better by deciding Karen *needed to change her name???* And why am I not surprised she wanted to make 'Paige' political, too! (Remember the last time Leah signaled to get attention by calling Chris Claremont an ist for no good reason?) This is so jarring just because of how ham-handed and forced this is. Why the blazes wasn't Leah asked to create a new character who can punch trauma or knock a bomb across space-time and even dimensions? Oh wait, that would take being creative! This animosity between 'Paige' and Kara isn't just forced, it's purely to manufacture conflict. And isn't making a sexist guy the villain so on point for a writer like her? I'd bring up even more of the glaring flaws here, but you covered them already.
So YES, this isn't just gonna flop, it'll go over the same way Yas Queen Captain Marvel has since 2012: like a lead balloon. And please don't forget that Leah was one of several 'writers' who basically ruined the X-Men under Jordan White. There might have been some good in this issue, but I *know* it's all downhill from here. I'll never think of 'Paige' as Power Girl...Karen is, and I already want her back. With a better writer.
And rest assured, I'll be sharing this video the first chance I get. You'll know when I do! 😀
the name change, the 90's coat, the general feel that dc is just between reboots makes things fall flat.
Power Girl could be a great character. She's one of my favorites in DC. But no one has really done her justice yet.
It would take a society to do her justice.
Stinky the cat should have a comicbook. Streaky is and always will be Supergirl's cat.
I feel like this new book has failed because they're repeating the same old story of her trying to figure out her place in the DCU, instead of just having her do cool stuff. I liked the new costume, the new powers, but we did not need a repeat of something Conner and Palmiotti already did and did better. Also, her name change was unnecessary. So much of it felt boring and a repeat of what we already got years ago. Idk. Leah Williams is a good writer, but this just didn't hit for me.
Yeah, it does feel redundant. Even worse that also seems to be Supergirl's recurring problem too.
@@maximusprime3459 The only time I've ever liked them doing that trope with Supergirl was with Woman of Tomorrow, and that's cause it ain't until the VERY END of the story where they tackle that and it's quickly resolved fantastically in that. Other than that, I'm SO TIRED of them constantly having to do these ''where do I TRULY belong!?'' stories with Superman's cast of side characters. It's so annoying.
So that’s where all the potential alien haters who I complained weren’t in Wonder Woman are!
Justice for Stinky! Also explain how he got a second eye in the Amanda Connor run.
This new Power Girl reminds me Gretel of Hamster and Gretel with her love of solving problems with a big punch!
Auctioning alien tech. Do you want Intergang? Because this is how you get Intergang!
Sasha puts more thought into the story than the writers
man, watching this one after the video on issue 2 is an experience, there's so much hope here
Don't ever stop the Superman voice. so great! haha...
I love it too. Sasha has an impressive vocal range.
The jacket idea and having such a heavy focus on her having a cat seems like ideas the marketing team threw at the wall trying to get people to confuse Carol Danvers and Power Girl.
The headline had me asking if you meant the book or the character.
It's definitely not the character.
I can't keep following this. I love who Power Girl was. I don't care what happens to her anymore.
Karen Paige Starr sounds like n awesome name, I'm down for Karen Paige instead of a retcon. She can even say "I went through a phase because my psychic gf was manipulating me into a new person, but i like this new person, and i will always be Powergirl, right supergirl?"
Sasha I can most def see your point about arguing over pointless stuff like Power Girl's name change. One of my homies at work said that Zoom and The Reverse Flash were the same person and I had hold my nerd insights back and only correct them a little bit.😂 It is a small thing but I would NEVER get them confused.
Wow! in the last 5 mins of the video you wrote no less then 3 infinitely more interesting conflicts for powergirl to deal with addressing her relationship with the super family in the span of one breath. That's a conversation with superman I'd love to see.
I now need to learn everything about Stinky the cat
"did you feed Streaky?" should be the next meme template
She wasn't a failure until until about 5 months ago.
I think part of Amalak's sexism working is the fact hes veeery racist but in a comic book way. He hates other *species*, which is more sanitised than humans hating other races so him being condescending comes from more than just "oh this guy is sexist". It feels more rounded that way. Hell, you could even imagine him not being like that with others of his kind cause they're not kryptonian, or still being that way cause hes just a bastard.
Also the fact that kinda .. Effeminate? Villains using darling and sweetie casually means its kinda normalised, but you can infer its a form of disdain here due to his racism. Its good
Yeah, I didn't really pick up sexism from any of the panels she showed.
I mostly just took it as added prejudice against her as a Kryptonian
This is the first time I’ve heard of Stinky the cat, but I miss them already. JUSTICE FOR STINKY!!!!!
At this point, Power Girl is basically a walking multiverse paradox that "time" heroes like Booster Gold and Rip Hunter are supposed to be trying to prevent.
I would just like to point out that a "boob window" is technically called a "keyhole."
DC editorial has made Power Girl into more than a bit of a mess; honestly, they should leave the character rest for a while, then bring her back in a limited series or team book WITHOUT all the unnecessary nonsense-don't even bother with a secret ID at first, but when they DO get to it, she's got the human name as Karen Starr, period. And DON"T address all the retcons, changes, etc.-readers won't care if the stories and art are good. Really, they just won't.
They just got done letting her rest for awhile, then they just go and screw it up again.
I love that Dr. Paige Brooks also has a window. Nice touch.
Kinda goes back to what I said last week with wonder woman and amazons but personally I feel like this goes into "minority who's acting out in the wrong way" I wish Amalak were depicted as at the very least more of an anti hero instead of a sexist supremacist cause tbh if krypton is a colonial empire he's kinda right. I'm getting tired of villains coded as minorities who are "doing it the wrong way" shouldn't Karen have to confront the fact that she's now part of a corrupt industry while being an alien and superhero? She can easily act like a human and face no consequences for it. Tbf this is all based on the video.
All of this Lazarus planet and Piwer Girl and Trinity business and they're missing the GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY to have an event focused on Donna Troy called "Donna, D.C."
This story for Power Girl is fine, I guess. But I wonder, does she have to forge her papers to prove she's a doctor? Or did she legally change her name from Karen Starr to Paige Stetler?
What "degrees" or "doctorates" does she have or supposedly have?
What's her job now?
@@draykohunter6805 Well, from what I recall, Power Girl originally landed on earth as a teen, spent some time as Supergirl, took time off from Superheroing to go to college and then returned to the superhero life once she'd graduated and figured herself out a bit more. I forget which her field was in, either chemical engineering or robotic technologies. But I'm leaning more towards chemistry because that sounds more familiar. I'd have to check. But I'm sure her Wikipedia is all messed up right now and doesn't even cover it anymore.
@@jerfuhrer2581 Nah, original Power Girl arrived on Earth as a fully grown woman years after Supergirl would have arrived in canon. But other than that, yes, she's gotten degrees and such. But she didn't start out on Earth as a teen, that's always been Supergirl's schtick.
Ella siempre sera Karen Star para mi
Yo tambien!
I've always liked Power Girl and though I could understand more as a fan, I feel as if part of her trouble is that she is from another Earth so instead of having her grow or surpass others it's about making her distinct enough from her counterparts.
The writers reading X-Men Legacy Virus: Write that down! Write that down!
Sometimes I don't care what your talking about, I just like to listen to the sound of your voice, I find it relaxing.
6:30 Staaahp... it's already de-he-h-ead!
I can understand why the writer might not want to keep Stinky around. He(?) was very emblematic of the JLI era. But Streaky is Supergirl's cat.
So, she made up a new identity, and decided to just declare herself a 'doctor'? Did she actually spend a decade in college back in her own dimension? Or in this dimension? Are degrees from one dimension acknowledged in other dimensions? Or is the writer just giving the finger to actual doctors?
Also, great self-own by the writer, making the villains fully justified. How many humans have died from alien shenanigans in the DC Universe? And now aliens diseases are taking hold? Calling them mean names does not negate their point...
Great video, Sasha...👍
You saved me 5.99 +tax and connected sooooo many dots Thanks!
Wait. Isn't Stinky the cat from the classic JLA cover "Buy this comic or we WON'T shoot this cat"? Because I absolutely want that lil demon spawn back in comics. Some of the funniest shit ever.
And as much as I try to give every comic it's room to be itself, this one does seem to have a particular amount of flailing.
I like this. Thank you.
I am unexpectedly charmed by the idea of Super-family biker gang...
I find getting the hackles up over minutia enjoyable. To me it's kinda like sports rivalries. They're both kinda pointless and inherently silly so I embrace the inanity of it and just have fun.
she was meant to be a legacy character for Earth 2 Superman and the JSA stories from the 70s were good with her becoming much more interesting right at Crisis on Infinite Earths and afterwards. i think she had the best run in Geoff Johns' JSA .
Not fond of the change to Paige Stetler, or the 'astral punching'. Power Girl/Kara Zor-L has not been well-treated as a character for much of her run.
Ok, but I am half convinced he would have also called Superman sweetie if he were in the same context 🤣.
He has the vibe to just pull that out with people he doesn’t like.
yay, the "bye" is back 😂
The name Paige comes direct from the term for a boy training and working for a knight. A page. (By way of the surname derived from the profession.)
So they literally renamed her Kid Sidekick.
Yeah, not big on this take on Powergirl, but hey, Leah Williams is trying her best.
As far as I seem to remember if you change a character's name, power set, uniform, and background that usually means a new character....this is not Power Girl!
I do like that the Superman family has jackets. One of the things I liked about the Star Trek: TOS pilots and the features was the use of jackets for landing parties. It seemed like a good idea to keep stuff.
The sound effect for Big Hair being released s: "PUHH!
I can't believe even Kite Man is going to get his own show before Power Girl...
Wait, is that where Greg Land got his art?! Omg you just shocked the s*** out of me!