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Power Girl: Difference between revisions
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The [[The Seventies|1970s]] version of All-Star Comics, starring the [[Justice Society of America]], featured the original versions of many of [[DC Comics]]' superheroes and their families, living in a [[Alternate Reality|parallel universe]] known as Earth-2. In issue #58 (January-February, 1976) a new character debuted, created by Gerry Conway, Ric Estrada, and Wally Wood. [[Power Girl]] was introduced as the counterpart of [[Supergirl]]- she was the cousin of Earth-2's Superman (Kal-L). It was decided to make her as different as possible from Supergirl- including a different costume, code-name, personality and (most notably) a sexier body.
Karen Starr, the name she adopted, proved a hit with readers. She received solo stories in ''"Showcase''" #97-99 (February-April, 1978). DC was considering launching a Power Girl series. But in 1978, the DC Implosion struck, with the cancellation of over 24 ongoing titles. There was no room for new titles. Karen did however become a founding member of [[Infinity, Inc.]]. Regularly appearing in the 12 first issues of said series, and occassionally turning up in subsequent ones.
And then ''[[Crisis on Infinite Earths]]'' hit and not only wasn't there an Earth-2 anymore, but Superman was now again the last Kryptonian. Power Girl was given a new origin as an Atlantean. After some silly [[Retcon|retcons]], including [[Dork Age|one period where she was vulnerable to "natural, unprocessed materials,"]] ''[[Infinite Crisis]]'' and a [[Power Girl]] mini-series finally cleared up her origin by having her be... [[Status Quo Is God|the cousin of the Earth-2 Superman]] (after reality got [[Cosmic Retcon|Cosmic Retconned]] again).
She is a member of the [[Justice Society of America]] and now has a new comic book, started in 2009 by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti and beautifully drawn by Amanda Conner. In it, she has reestablished her [[Secret Identity]] of Karen Starr and established the company Starrware, all the while mentoring Atlee, the new Terra, and trying to stop [[Everything's Better with Monkeys|the Ultra-Humanite]] or [[Green-Skinned Space Babe|really hot aliens]] from destroying [[Big Applesauce|New York]]. The series takes a [[Lighter and Softer]] approach to the character and the DC Universe at large, and focuses on Power Girl's attempts to reintegrate into living a normal life and forming a stable relationship with Terra.
After issue #12 the original creative team left the series, replaced by [[Judd Winick]] and Sami Basri, and the series shifted both its [[Art Shift|visual]] and writing style. The new arc focused less on Power Girl's personal life, instead revolving around her heroic activities and how they ''affected'' her personal life, and also dealt with the reappearance of Maxwell Lord. The story is heavily tied into the ''[[Brightest Day]]'' event, though not published under the ''Brightest Day'' banner, and has interweaving plotlines with ''Justice League: Generation Lost''. [[Ruined FOREVER|There was initial fan opposition to the change in creative control when it was announced]], but reactions to the series itself can not yet be judged.
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=== And now for the rest: ===
* [[Action Girl]]
* [[Amazonian Beauty]]: She is oftentimes drawn with the physique of a bodybuilder, especially when she's featured next to Supergirl.
* [[Amnesiac Dissonance]]: After his final defeat {{spoiler|Ultra-Humanite}} is going to have his memory erased and be reintroduced into society. He does not seem happy with the plan, but he is accepting of the future... until Power Girl turns her back and he swears that it will ''never'' be over between them. It is unknown how much of his original nature will remain after his mind wipe.
* [[Art Shift]]: When the original creative team left her series in 2010 there was a change in style adapted by the new pencilers and inkers. The bright colors of Amanda Conner were dropped, replaced with the more subdued palette of Sami Basri, and the character designs became slimmer, losing the pronounced curves of the early issues.
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* [[Captain Ersatz]]: Vartox was originally based on Sean Connery, with his appearance taken from the movie ''[[Zardoz]]'' and his over-the-top machismo from Connery himself.
* [[Card-Carrying Villain]]: "'Rue the day'? Nobody talks like that anymore. It just sounds stupid." "It's a classic villain line."
* [[Character Development]]: From her "victim to raw materials" days in the 90s, she was brought into the [[Justice Society of America]] and eventually became its Superman equivalent (until Earth-22 Superman arrived) and, later, the team's first chairwoman.
* [[Chest Insignia]]: A notable ''lack'' of one, she has what is termed a "boob window." Because of her [[Continuity Snarl|long and complicated history]] there have been numerous explanations as to why, exactly, she has this window. The current story behind it is kind of sad - she could not think of a symbol, so she left it blank and never filled it and is actually undergoing a minor identity crisis as she tries to figure out where she fits in the world. Though not all reasons have been as poignant, they are all intentional and rational. Previously, one of her explanations was that the window gave a clear indication of who and what she was: Strong, feminine and yes, big-breasted. If people were overly preoccupied or distracted by the last part that was their problem, not hers, [[Big Breasts, Big Deal|she would not be bound by what they thought of her.]]
* [[Chuck Cunningham Syndrome]]: After the author/artist switch to Judd Winick and Sami Basri, Terra, who had been Power Girl's sidekick/partner/sister throughout the early issues, is neither seen nor mentioned.
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* [[Eye Beams]]: Power Girl has them, unfortunately for Satanna.
* [[Fan Service]]: Lots, including the new series with a trio of [[Green-Skinned Space Babe|gorgeous aliens]].
* [[Fetus Terrible]]: Prior to the ''[[Zero Hour]]'' [[Crisis Crossover]], Power Girl became mysteriously pregnant, and during the crossover, she gave birth to a son named Equinox, who managed to defeat the [[Big Bad]], Scarabus, in an issue of ''Justice League America'' and [[Canon Discontinuity|was never seen nor mentioned again]]. And the father is... {{spoiler|Arion, who was [[Parental Incest|her grandfather]] at the time this was published.}} Like many things from the Gerard Jones JLA run, this has been one of those things [[Discontinuity|quietly allowed to fade from DCU history and fan memories]]. Letter column remarks back in the day seemed to unofficially indicate that such stories were definitely not going to be touched again. Indeed, modern DC has established Kryptonians are not biologically compatible with humans which would make this impossible.
* [[Foot Focus]]: Issue #5 has Power Girl going barefoot for nearly the entire issue because she forgot her gloves and boots at the office.
* [[Flying Brick]]: After finally being established ([[Continuity Snarl|again]]) as Superman's cousin she gets most of his powers as well, including heat vision and ice breath.
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* [[Gendered Outfit]]: Power Boy, who wears a tank top unitard rather than Power Girl's leotard.
* [[Genre Savvy]]: [[Zatanna]] has a "magic line," a phone number for people to call when they are facing life-threatening circumstances from magical adversaries. Because any phone call to that number would logically be of the highest importance she ''always'' answers when somebody calls. As such, her voice-mail recording for that number is an explanation that she must be in terrible danger, since she would never chose to not pick up the phone, and whoever is calling should track her phone GPS and come rescue her right away.
* [[Getting Crap Past the Radar]]: In a flashback Satanna can be seen wearing a shirt that reads "[[Country Matters|CU Next Tues]]".
* [[Grand Theft Me]]: {{spoiler|Terra}}
* [[Green-Skinned Space Babe]]: Well, they do not have green skin, but other than that...
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* [[Homage Shot]]: At one point when Atlee and Power Girl are at the movies, the main cast of [[The Big Bang Theory]] are seen, most notably Howard, who then proceeds to hit on her. And strike out. HARD.
* [[How Do I Shot Web?]]: Power Girl actually discusses this trope when fighting her evil clone. She reasons that, even if "Divine" has all the same powers as her that does not mean she knows how to ''use'' those powers, since she has only been "alive" for ten minutes and has never worked with thse abilities before.
* [["I Know You're in There Somewhere" Fight]]:
** When Terra was {{spoiler|[[Grand Theft Me|taken over by the Ultra-Humanite]]}} and fighting Power Girl she kept taunting PG with regards to this trope.
{{quote|'''Terra{{spoiler|[[Grand Theft Me|Ultra-Humanite]]}}:''' "Let's have one of those totally cliched [[Let's You and Him Fight|hero-slash-friend fights]]. You get to say things like 'I know you're stronger than this', or 'You can fight it'...oh, and 'This isn't you!'"}}
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[[Category:DC Comics Characters]]
[[Category:The DCU]]
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