Power Girl Uncovered

Over the last three years, DC Comics has released a number of "Uncovered" one-shots, where they collect a selection of covers featuring a certain character (or group of characters) along with some kind of frame story: Catwoman Uncovered, Birds of Prey Uncovered, Wonder Woman Uncovered, and so on. I was intrigued by these; though I'm not a big "collect covers" guy, I can occasionally be enticed by a really solid cover. Looking through the collected covers on League of Comic Geeks, however, turned me off some of them, because most of these collections primarily seem to consist of covers from the last five years or so, when these characters have massive histories. Like, there have been lots of great Birds of Prey covers, but most of the covers in their one-shot seemed to come from the most recent incarnation of the team.

But one of the exceptions to this was the Power Girl Uncovered, which, though definitely tilted toward the most recent incarnation of the character, contained covers going back to her original solo feature in Showcase (see item #6 in the list below), some covers from Amanda Conner's run (see #47 below), and even a cover from Justice League Europe. So I went ahead and picked it up.

The conceit here is that Power Girl has "recently become aware of a bunch of unauthorized 'photos' that have been released to the public." She suggests to the reader that we "check them out together to see if any of them are worth signing"; there are five pages of frame, mostly featuring Power Girl talking to the reader, but also her cat pops up for a few pages and her roommate Omen (see #50 below). I'm guessing this was a contractual necessity or something, but mostly it served to remind me of how lame her current set-up is ("Paige" sucks, and you know it will get undone someday), though I did like Meghan Hetrick's art.

As you might imagine, there are some great covers and some mediocre ones; I particularly liked Otto Schmidt's Power Girl vol. 3 #1 (which shows off many if not all of her costumes over the years), Jae Lee's Batman/Superman #8 (even if Power Girl isn't very central to the composition), David Nakayama's Power Girl Special #1 (featuring Fire and Ice! I don't know why but I won't complain), Alex Ross's Justice Society of America vol. 3 #9, Amanda Conner's Power Girl vol. 2 #1, Sami Basri's Power Girl vol. 2 #13, Warren Louw's Power Girl vol. 2 #27, Will Jack's Action Comics vol. 1 #1053, Guillem March's Power Girl vol. 3 #3, Babs Tarr's Power Girl vol. 3 #3, and Dani Bonvillain's Power Girl vol. 3 #5. For all that the collection has a bit of recency bias, a lot of the recent covers are very good! Power Girl is one of my favorite superheroes (going back to my early days as a comics fan reading JLE), and these covers capture what makes female superheroes work: beauty and strength in equal measure.

I could have done without the comment over the Justice League Europe #49 cover by Ron Randall and Rick Burchett, which I think is legitimately great; I do like Power Girl's early 1990s outfit even if it is very of its time. (Maybe I'm biased because, again, JLE was one of the first comics I ever read.) There are some covers I legit didn't like, but I accept this is a matter of taste, and some of them are fairly iconic and/or well-regarded despite my personal preferences: Jim Lee and Sandra Hope's Infinite Crisis #2, Adam Hughes's JSA Classified #1, and George Pérez's Worlds' Finest #1 (alas, not even Pérez can make Power Girl's terrible New 52 costume work... and I think he even designed it himself?). And in terms of exclusions, surely it's a crime that we only get two Amanda Conner covers! I'm guessing this was on purpose (I think she's the only artist to even have multiple covers), but Conner and Power Girl are inseparable.

As for the issue's own cover, it had six variants; I liked the Dan Mora one a lot but ended up going for the Pete Woods one, which you can see above. 

Power Girl Uncovered originally appeared in one issue (Mar. 2024). It had dialogue by Brittany Holzherr, editing by Jillian Grant, art by Meghan Hetrick, and lettering & design by Darran Robinson.

This post is the fifty-fourth in an improbably long series about the Justice Society and Earth-Two. The next installment covers Wesley Dodds: The Sandman. Previous installments are listed below:

Justice League International Year Four, Part II: Glory Bound (JLA #38-50 / JLE #22)

As mentioned in my previous post (see item #5 in the list below), during the fourth year of Justice League International, the two titles were largely independent of each other. My first post for year four covered a bunch of JLE issues with one JLA; here, I do the opposite. JLE #22 is best read shortly after JLA #44 because it picks up on a small plot element that had been running through JLA, but at that point jumps over to the other series.

from Justice League America #40

"Spy" / "Blow Up" / "Hell on Earth" / "Maximum Force" / "Solicitations" / "If You Play Your Cards Right..." / "Pastiche" / "Corporate Maneuvers (and leveraged buyouts)" / "Catnap", from Justice League America #38-44 (May-Nov. 1990), Justice League Quarterly #1 (Winter 1990), and Justice League Europe #22 (Jan. 1991); reprinted in Justice League International Omnibus, Volume 2 (2020)
plot & breakdowns by Keith Giffen; scripts by J. M. DeMatteis and Gerard Jones; pencils by Adam Hughes, Mike McKone, Chris Sprouse, and Marshall Rogers; inks by Joe Rubinstein, José Marzan, Jr., and B. D. Patterson; letters by Bob Lappan and Bob Pinaha; colors by Gene D'Angelo

Other than the fact that Booster Gold had left the team by this point, this might be the peak of JLA. Almost every issue is firing on all cylinders, we get hit after hit after hit. First comes a story where old-school Justice League villain Despero comes back to Earth, out for revenge after his defeat at the hands of the Detroit-era JLA. (I own the omnibus of that, but have never read it. Should I have read it before this? Oh well too late.) This means he attacks former JLA member Gypsy, murdering her entire family before the Martian Manhunter finally gets involved.

At the same time this was running in JLA, The Extremist Vector was running in JLE (indeed, I think the reason the JLA is temporarily out of contact during the early stages of that story is because that's when they're battling Despero), which just like this, was a very serious turn for an often comedic title. This story even starts with a bunch of jokes about the tabloid press getting hold of the JLA's trash! But while the turn into darkness in Extremist Vector didn't work for me, the one here did. I think the difference is that this turn into darkness feels earned, in that just like the comedy does, it springs from the characters. Specifically, the story—written as always by Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis, and beautifully pencilled by Adam Hughes and—focuses on the Martian Manhunter, the alien man who found his home and his family on Earth in the Justice League, and thus responds particularly strongly to an enemy who threatens that family. The battle with Despero is brutal, but the core of the story is the way it pushes J'onn to his limits in order to protect those near and dear to him.

I was even surprised by how effective the death of Mister Miracle was. He's not really dead; this is the android double Scott for some reason deployed to cover for him back during JLI Special #1, but all of his teammates think he's really dead, and it's genuinely sad. In particular, the way that Beetle lashes out at Booster is really well done. So while I do think this subplot is one of the series's rare misfires, I did really enjoy what was done with it here.

from Justice League America #44

After this, we move back into more comedic territory, notably with a story about the JLA trying to recruit more members... and failing... except that out of respect for their fallen comrade, the JLA is joined by Orion and Lightray of the New Gods! This is, of course, hilarious. Orion and Lightray don't stay on the team for long, but Orion in particular is comedy gold. From this we go into a story about a tabloid journalist who ends up fleecing a bunch of down-on-their-luck supervillains in a poker game and ends up with all their equipment. Farce ensues, of course; these issues had a lot of fun stuff going on in them, especially the mediocre supervillains all chilling in a bar.

Two more stories complete this set. This first is the first issue of Justice League Quarterly. I assume the Justice League titles were doing really well sales-wise at this point, because now not only do we have two monthly ongoings, but also a new quarterly ongoing... but as its issues were all eighty pages long, it was like getting a whole extra monthly comic. This gives Giffen, DeMatteis, and their collaborators a broader canvas; here, they use that to tell a story about what Booster Gold has been up to since quitting the JLA. He becomes the leader of a new, corporate-backed superhero team. I found it surprisingly cute, as this group of B- and C-level players tries to navigate doing what's right in a world where that's difficult, and the end up rising above their origins. Also, we get to meet one of Maxwell Lord's ex-wives!

Finally, there's a JLE story where Power Girl's cat is kidnapped by a couple dumb young louts hoping for a payday who end in over their heads because, 1) that cat is awful (at one point it chews through a wall!), and 2) a evil consortium is attempting to kidnap the cat for their own purposes. This is the perfect set-up for comedy, and of course I loved it. 

from Justice League Quarterly #2

"Designing Humans!" / "Running Hot and Cold!", from Justice League Quarterly #2 (Spring 1991), reprinted in Justice League International Omnibus, Volume 3 (2024)
plot & breakdowns by Keith Giffen, scripts by J. M. DeMatteis, pencils by Tom Artis and Aldrin Aw, inks by Randy Elliott (with Bruce Patterson) and Macolm Jones III, letters by Bob Pinaha, colors by Gene D'Angelo

This issue of JLQ is collected in volume 3 of the JLI Omnibus, but must take place during volume 2, before issue #45 of JLA, because Oberon hasn't yet quit. Mister Nebula (a Galactus parody) comes to Earth to seek the wayward Scarlet Skier (a Silver Surfer parody). I was a bit worried this would be taking a good joke and spreading it too thin, but I needn't have worried; anything featuring the neurotic Scarlet Skier is always good stuff... especially if you toss in G'nort. It was great. I also really enjoyed the back-up, where Fire and Ice go shopping together and run into some old enemies of the Silver Age Flash, Heatwave and Captain Cold, who complain that superheroes just aren't as good as they used to be.

from Justice League America #47

"A Date with Density, Part Two: Hell on Ice!" / Glory Bound / "Ktrrogarrx!", from Justice League America #45-50 (Dec. 1990–May 1991), reprinted in Justice League International Omnibus, Volume 2 (2020)
plot & breakdowns by Keith Giffen; scripts by J. M. DeMatteis and Kyle Baker; pencils by Russell Braun, Linda Medley (with Paris Cullins), and Kyle Baker; inks by John Beatty, Jose Marzan (with Dave Elliott), and Kyle Baker; letters by Bob Lappan; colors by Gene D'Angelo

Finally, we get a one-off story about Guy Gardner and Ice going on another date, while Blue Beetle is up to some hijinks. The panel where Guy sees what's in his bed is comedy gold, perfectly timed. Beautiful stuff. This leads into a five-part storyline about Guy discovering that a WWII-era comic book character he used to read about when he was a kid, a thinly veiled Captain America pastiche named General Glory, was actually a real person. I could see that the jokes underlying General Glory could probably grow thin fast, but they are the exact kinds of jokes I love, and I really enjoyed the storyline. (The whole thing finishes out with a weird backup story about Guy Gardner visiting the DC offices to complain. I didn't really get it but sure, why not.)

This is the sixth in a series of posts about Justice League International. The next covers issues #51-52 of JLA and #23-28 of JLE. Previous installments are listed below:

1. Justice League #1-6 / Justice League International #7-12 (May 1987–Apr. 1988)
2. Justice League International #13-21 (May 1988–Dec. 1988)
3. Justice League International #22-25 / Justice League America #26-30 / Justice League Europe #1-6 (Jan. 1989–Sept. 1989) 
4. Justice League America #31-36 / Justice League Europe #7-12 (Oct. 1989–Mar. 1990)
5. Justice League America #37 / Justice League Europe #13-21 (Apr. 1990–Dec. 1990)

Justice League International Year Three, Part II: The Teasdale Imperative (JLA #31-36 / JLE #7-12)

This post covers the second half of the third year of Justice League International, taking us up to JLA's thirty-sixth issue and JLE's twelfth. This sequence begins with a four-part crossover, The Teasdale Imperative, that alternates between the two titles, then each series finishes out the year with four issues of its own.

Unlike in volume 1 of Justice League International Omnibus, where there was some attempt to put the stories in a reading order, the ones in volume 2 seem to just be interwoven in publication order. I don't think it works terribly well to be jumping back and forth between JLA and JLE when they are each running multipart stories that don't intersect, so I did my best to read the book in an order that made more sense. 

from Justice League Europe #7

So, to that end, I recommend following Teasdale Imperative with issues #33-36 of JLA and then doubling back to read issues #9-12 of JLE. Justice League International Special #1 is placed later in the book, but I recommend reading it between issues #10 and 11 of JLE, since Metamorpho's comments about wanting to see his kid indicate he hasn't yet gone looking for him. (Obviously at some point I will need to do a "reading order" post for the series.)

The Teasdale Imperative / "Nitwits, Knuckleheads & Poozers!" / "Club JLI" / "Lifeboat" / "Gnort by Gnortwest" / "Under the Skin" / "After the Fox!" / "The Show Must Go On...and On...and On...and On..." / "Family Ties" / "Bringing Up Baby", from Justice League America #31-32 & Justice League Europe #7-8 (Oct.-Nov. 1989), Justice League America #33-36 (Dec. 1989–Mar. 1990), Justice League Europe #9-10 (Dec. 1989–Jan. 1990), Justice League International Special #1 (1990), and Justice League Europe #11-12 (Feb.-Mar. 1990); reprinted in Justice League International Omnibus, Volume 2 (2020)
plot and layouts by Keith Giffen; scripts by J. M. DeMatteis, Bill Loebs, and Len Wein; pencils by Adam Hughes, Bart Sears, Tom Artis, Art Nichols, and Joe Phillips; inks by Joe Rubinstein, Pablo Marcos, Art Nichols, Bob Smith, Jose Marzon,* Bruce D. Patterson, and Bart Sears; letters by Albert De Guzman, Bob Lappan, and John Costanza; colors by Gene D'Angelo

This run begins with The Teasdale Imperative, a crossover between the two ongoings; the JLA is summoned to a village that the JLE has gone into... and hasn't come out of. I don't think this series is incapable of doing serious, and Giffen in particular has done a great job in portentous mode in other stories (notably his "Five Year Later" run on Legion of Super-Heroes, which was amazingly coming out the same time as this; the man was on fire in 1989!), but I felt like Teasdale Imperative—a somewhat grim story where the team faces down vampires—didn't quite hit the mark. I think maybe, fundamentally, I just don't care about the Gray Man or the Lords of Chaos and Order; I also never really got into the Gray Man story in volume 1 (see entry #1 in the list below).

from Justice League America #33

After this, we shift gears into a run of very comic JLA stories. First, Guy Gardner reunites with fellow Green Lantern Corps member Kilowog, who's at loose ends following the dismantling of the Green Lantern Corps. (I feel like the GLC was being disbanded or destroyed every couple weeks in the 1980s and '90s.) It's a fun story; the two have a knockdown fight... but it's all in good spirits! 

This leads right into the notorious "Club JLI" story, where Blue Beetle and Booster Gold try to make some money by opening a casino on the tropical island of Kooeykooeykooey, which is technically a JLI embassy (following the events of JLI Annual #3; see item #3 below). I found this hilarious: the overly chill but well-educated islanders are always a good gag, Major Disaster and Big Sur of the Injustice League clean out the club financially thanks to card-counting, the island turns out to be alive, Maxwell Lord and a group of JLA members float around the Pacific on a shrinking iceberg. If you don't love this stuff, you don't like life. (Well, maybe you just have different tastes in superhero comics... but surely not very good ones.) Lastly, we get another Gnort story, where he faces down his archenemesis the Scarlet Skier, who he once defeated by accident. Again, hilarity ensues. (The Scarlet Skier is a Silver Surfer parody; instead of working for a massive cosmic force that eats planets, he works for one that redecorates them, but has terrible taste.)

from Justice League Europe #10

Jumping over to JLE, we follow up The Teasdale Imperative by a story where Power Girl, who was injured during the crossover, needs to undergo emergency surgery... only her invulnerability makes it impossible. Sue Dibny has the bright idea to summon Superman, who does it with his heat vision. This issue mostly seems to be there to set up a reduction in Power Girl's powers; I've read enough comics to know an editorial edict when I see one, but it's still a story with some neat moments. Then we get a story where Crimson Fox, a Parisian superhero, joins the team while foiling a group of robbers so incompetent they accidentally try to hide in the JLE embassy.

In the middle of this is the first JLI Special, a one-shot focused on Mister Miracle, setting up some changes for his ongoing series. I actually read this many years ago, but found it much more comprehensible in context... but I didn't really like it. Particularly, I don't think Scott's decision to replace himself with an android duplicate and not tell anyone, even his wife, really makes any sense at all. Like, I get it's there to set up some comedy, but there has to be a basic level of character plausibility for the comedy to work. (Note that the issue is scripted by Len Wein, as opposed to regular JLI scripter J. M. DeMatteis.)

from Justice League Europe #12

The last two issues here focus on Metamorpho tracking down his son. (The son was born while Metamorpho was dead, so he's never met him.) In the first, he faces down Guy Gardner, in the second, the Metal Men. I always like Metamorpho (at least, as he's characterized in JLE, as a Three Stooges–loving bruiser), and he's particularly well served by Bart Sears's exaggerated art style. To be honest, the whole story seems like an excuse for Sears to go all out with wackiness... and is all the better for it.

This is the fourth in a series of posts about Justice League International. The next covers issues #37 of JLA and #13-21 of JLE. Previous installments are listed below:

1. Justice League #1-6 / Justice League International #7-12 (May 1987–Apr. 1988)
2. Justice League International #13-21 (May 1988–Dec. 1988)
3. Justice League International #22-25 / Justice League America #26-30 / Justice League Europe #1-6 (Jan. 1989–Sept. 1989) 

* I assume this is a misspelling of José Marzán, Jr.