Power Girl #9 came out this last week, a tangential House of Brainiac tie-in with "Paige" fighting some Czarians in Metropolis.
I have struggled with this title a lot since its inception. "Paige" isn't Karen. A Power Girl who feels awkward around other people isn't the one I know either. Having Omen save the day all the time and Power Girl either defeated, needing to be saved, or in the background of her own book doesn't work either. And "Paige" specific plots, about her symbioship attacking her, have been lost amidst cutesy fantasy and cat-focused issues.
So we come to this issue which on its face corrects a lot of that.
Power Girl is a hero in this. She uses her powers and strength pretty well in her fights. There is no Omen to be seen. The symbioship threat is back. From a 10000 foot view, this issue is better.
That doesn't mean this is a good issue. It's a Power Girl issue, more than many have been. But I still have some difficulty with the plot and the events and even the outcomes. Still, I should be happy there is some vague overall improvement.
Leah Williams seems to focus equally on Crush and the new Halliday Girls in this book. So I'm not surprised to see all of them come off just as tough as "Paige" even if they are just humans. And I still don't know 100% what the symbioship is trying to do here.
The art remains solid. I like Eduardo Pansica here. His fight scenes are slick. He has a good grasp on Power Girl just as he did with Supergirl years ago. And if there is one thing keeping me here the most it is Yanick Paquette on covers. Paquette is a favorite and this (literally) cheeky take on the old 'Lobo's Back' books is great.
On to some of the details.
So "Paige" taking time to go to the 'Puss N Boots' bar to chat with the Halliday Girls seems a little bit off. Shouldn't she be patrolling so people don't get killed?
We also get introduced to a cutesy dog who vomits ...
And after having some fun, they decide to have a drink.
As luck (or plot necessity) would have it, they pick Puss N Boots to grab a drink.
Also Power Girl is supposed to be a science whiz. She needed Crush to hint at an EMP to deal with tech?
Last issue, some renegade Czarians stayed on Earth after Brainiac left. They were armed with weapons which brought things to life. And Power Girl was defeated by Crush.
Turns out the Halliday Girls do know Etta Candy.
And who is this disheveled bald man creeping around. Well, the font should tip you off.
This being a Leah Williams book we meet the gang of Halliday girls, all tough, unique, smart, brash, and totally awesome. Heck, one of them is named Gay. I am definitely getting the message.
Please understand, Brainiac has kidnapped all the supers in the city. Czarians are running loose with crazy weapons. Metropolis is unprotected.
So "Paige" taking time to go to the 'Puss N Boots' bar to chat with the Halliday Girls seems a little bit off. Shouldn't she be patrolling so people don't get killed?
We also get introduced to a cutesy dog who vomits ...
Nice character work by Pansica here.
The Czarians go around the town blasting things with their animation gun, creating new animation guns so all are packing.
And after having some fun, they decide to have a drink.
As luck (or plot necessity) would have it, they pick Puss N Boots to grab a drink.
I guess "Paige" used her super-senses to see that it was these guys.
A gentle reminder to people. This is a gang of Czarian warriors. I think 5 of them.
So should a straight kick by a Halliday Girl really effect these bruisers??
We get the usual cutesy stuff too. The animation gun animates the bar taps so they shoot people in the face. The pinball machine swallows someone.
But this is the piece I really struggled with. As far as I know, these are just humans. They shouldn't be able to hurt Lobo-like people.
Pansica does great work on all the fight scenes.
The Czarians get the upper hand and create an organic door to keep Crush and Power Girl out of the bar. They hold the Halliday Girls at knifepoint to make the heroes back off.
Once again, these are 5 Czarians against Crush, Power Girl, and college co-eds.
Wouldn't they just slaughter these girls and take the fight to "Paige" and Crush? Doesn't it seem weird that they are cowering in a hole?
And I don't know why the head Halliday Girl can boss around Crush.
And then this.
I get the animation guns are a nuisance. But we are still talking about 5 Lobo-level beings. I think the weapons are the least of the worries here. Somehow that is what Power Girl is focused on. Because the living cash register (I am not making that up) is as big a threat as that huge Czarian warrior.
Also Power Girl is supposed to be a science whiz. She needed Crush to hint at an EMP to deal with tech?
We finally see that the bald man is the Symbioship that had merged with the dead alien lion (from issues ago). But he also was hit by the animation gun in the fight so things are even wonkier.
At least this plot is back in the book.
So how do I judge this.
Power Girl is front and center in the book, bashing bad guys, and trying to save the day. She also went to a bar while the city is in peril and needed help to think of the solution to the problems. Human girls are fighting and terrorizing Czarians. And there is the usual cute quotient.
So better than most issues of this title but not good? Seems about right.
Overall grade: C
2 comments:
‘Vague overall improvement’, you can’t say fairer than that!
Remember, Karen Starr is the science whiz, whereas "Paige" is, well..."Paige". Her being told what to do or how to do something is consistent with how she's been portrayed in this run so far. While she's (thankfully) not the reckless/naive fool she was in the Ferimbia arc, she's still a far cry from the competent, mature and intelligent Karen Starr we know and love. "Paige" is written as if she's the same age as Crush, Omen and Supergirl, when she should be older. I guess that's another point in the "Paige is an impostor" column.
One of the Holliday Girls, Scunj, tells Power Girl her name is dumb. Instead of standing up for herself and responding with a snarky comeback, "Paige" just takes it and shrinks back. I know it's supposed to be an ironic joke at Scunj's expense, but with the way Williams has treated Power Girl so far, it's hard not to see it as her using Scunj as a mouthpiece to mock her character (I'll admit, I'm probably just reading too much into it).
Oh, and Symbio's back. Will Williams let "Paige" beat him for good or will Omen have to do it again (probably the latter)? I doubt we'll get a reasoning behind his being absent for five (?!) issues, but I'll gladly take nothing over the possibility that he was afraid of and wanted to avoid Omen and only returned because she's currently out of play. I don't expect much out of his appearance in this arc, since he doesn't appear in the solicitations for the next few issues (clearly, "Paige"'s date is far more important).
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