Science's Less Accurate Grandmother: Power Girl Returns by Leah Williams, Marguerite Sauvage, and Vasco Georgiev

20 December 2023

Power Girl Returns by Leah Williams, Marguerite Sauvage, and Vasco Georgiev

Power Girl Returns

Collection published: 2023
Contents originally published: 2022-23
Acquired and read: October 2023

Writer: Leah Williams

Artists: Marguerite Sauvage, Vasco Georgeiv

Colorists: Marguerite Sauvage, Marissa Louise, Alex Guimarães

Letterer: Becca Carey

I had thought that I would wrap up my JSA journey (of almost four years!) with the Celebration of 75 Years collection, as I had no interest in the changes the New 52 wrought on the JSA characters (in addition to Earth 2, there was, for example, a World's Finest series co-starring Power Girl and Huntress) but while reading Amanda Conner's Power Girl run (see #47 in the list below), I bumped into some news about the character's recent revival, and saw that a collection was forthcoming. It had good reviews, so I thought, "why not?"

I'm not really in touch with DC continuity these days; I left off as a regular reader around the time of Convergence (which I never even finished), and that was over six years ago; I think the only things I've read since then have been some Tom King miniseries (are those even in continuity?) and N. K. Jemisin's Far Sector. So I didn't really have any context for this book; I think Power Girl's backstory has been rolled back to something approaching its pre-Flashpoint state, but I am not really sure. Mostly this doesn't matter to the story being told, but I didn't really know the status of the Super family, or why PG would feel excluded from them.

The premise of the book is pretty odd, to be honest. Some kind of event results in Power Girl obtaining psychic powers, so she and a new-to-me superhero with the not-very-heroic name of Ruin open a superhero counseling business. While Ruin talks to the heroes in the real world, Power Girl (physically?) journeys into their minds, helping clear away issues. I think probably there's a good story to be told about Power Girl adapting her often fists-first approach to something more nuanced, but this seemed to be more of a mediocre one. Like, it's not bad... but I also didn't find a lot to enjoy here. There's some neat puzzles to be solved, but Power Girl didn't totally ring true to me, and I would happily never see Johnny Sorrow in a JSA comic ever again—or, really, any kind of psychic manipulator trying to take down Power Girl.

The only convincing "explanation" for Power Girl's costume ever given, surely? Hopefully this means we can never bring it up ever again.
from Action Comics vol. 1 #1052 (art by Marguerite Sauvage)

Power Girl ditching her civilian identity of Karen Starr and replacing it with "Paige" struck me as pretty pointless. Like, why do that? Would you suddenly have Batman declare that his name is Ryder now? No, of course not; it's the kind of desperate fiddling one only does to a second-tier character... but it's the kind of fiddling that never works because it just confirms to the reader that they're reading about a second-tier character. Give it a decade or two and I'm sure she'll be Karen again. On the other hand, I did like the reckoning between her and Supergirl, which had some nice moments.

People just love unsolicited life advice from estranged family members!
from Action Comics vol. 1 #1053 (art by Marguerite Sauvage)

I like Maurgerite Sauvage's art style. She draws two-thirds of the book and has a distinctive, character-driven approach... but man, what is up with those thick black lines around everyone's eyes? It makes everyone look demented and ruins what would otherwise be a good effect.

Surely the real highlight of the book is the covers—and I say this as the kind of person who normally doesn't get very excited about comic book covers. I'm not very into the Stanley Lau cover for Power Girl Special #1 that was chosen for the collection cover (his stuff never looks very naturalistic to me), but the Warren Louw cover for Action Comics #1051 and the Will Jack covers for Action Comics #1053 and Power Girl Special were excellent, beautiful work. Plus, of course it's fun to get Amanda Conner back even if just on a variant (for Power Girl Special again) and I did like the David Nakayama variant for Power Girl Special, which features PG with her old Justice League International teammates Fire and Ice... though it seems a bit misleading DC used this on the back cover, given neither character appears in the actual book! My kids saw me reading this book and kept asking me about the characters, and now my five-year-old not only knows who Fire and Ice are, but can tell you that Fire used be called "the Green Flame" and Ice "Icemaiden"!

So, yeah, I do love Power Girl, but while this is a perfectly serviceable comic, it doesn't capture what I love about the character. Surely PG at her best will remain the Amanda Conner ongoing, as well as her old JLI/JLE appearances.

Almost four years on since All Star Comics: Only Legends Live Forever, this marks the end of my JSA journey! There is a new ongoing coming, I think, but I have no interest reading a third Geoff Johns–helmed revival; surely someone else out there has an idea for how to do the team. He's done his thing, let someone else do theirs. It's been twenty years since his first run! I might make some kind of summative post, but also I might never get around to doing so. We'll see.

My next comics reading project will hopefully be much shorter!

This post is the last in an improbably long series about the Justice Society and Earth-Two. Previous installments are listed below:

All Star Comics: Only Legends Live Forever (1976-79)

The Huntress: Origins (1977-82)

All-Star Squadron (1981-87)

Infinity, Inc.: The Generations Saga, Volume One (1983-84)

Infinity, Inc.: The Generations Saga, Volume Two (1984-85)

Showcase Presents... Power Girl (1978)

America vs. the Justice Society (1985)

Jonni Thunder, a.k.a. Thunderbolt (1985)

Crisis on Multiple Earths, Volume 7 (1983-85)

Infinity, Inc. #11-53 (1985-88) [reading order]