Style over substance. That is the typical first reaction when someone mentions the Power Girl title. Or, thoughts of cheesecake art that hangs on skeleton thin plotlines. This is not the case though.
From the start of the current series, creators Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner brought a smart, sassy take on Karen Starr aka Power Girl. Yes, it had stunningly cheesy art that easily caught a reader’s attention, but part of what makes this character so much fun, (and funny) is Karen, like many an attractive women, is aware of her presence and plays to this strength as much as using her heat vision or super speed. The current creative team of Judd Winick and Sami Basri continue the excellent mix of eye-grabbing art and interesting character driven plotlines.
Power Girl #21 ties into the current Brightest Day mini-series Justice League: Generation Lost. Sound confusing? Here are the quick hits: Maxwell Lord, who can control people’s minds, is back from the dead. Before he became an uber-villain by killing Ted Kord (the Blue Beetle) and unleashed an army of OMACs ( Omni Mind And Community), he used to run the Justice League International. Power Girl and Blue Beetle were members during this iteration of the team. Oh, and right now, almost no one remembers who Maxwell Lord is, or what he did before being killed by Wonder Woman. Power Girl is trying to change this and avenge her friend’s death.
Power Girl’s sleek art styling could easily trick the most comic savvy reader into dismissing this title as style over substance, but they would be missing out on an engaging, character driven title. Power Girl doesn’t skimp on the action either, delivering massive smack down battles that rival any Superman monthly title. Power Girl has both style and substance.
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