I definitely wanted to be part of the festivities. I wanted to remain true to this blog's core. So why not review All-Star Comics #58, the first appearance of Power Girl, the Earth-2 Kara Zor-L.
In this current world or reboots and new #1's, it is pretty amazing to me that DC picked up the numbering of All-Star Comics. This book came out October 1975. All-Star Comics #57's release date? December 1950! A quarter century has passed!
But here we were in the mid-70s with DC deciding that not only were the JSA worth being on the racks, not only that we would pick up their legacy numbering, but we would inject the 'old-timers' with fresh blood ... The Super Squad!
Kudos to writer Gerry Conway for mixing this up. Yes, we get the veteran JSAers, right there on the splash page! But the Squad's make-up is interesting. A now grown-up Robin, a veteran in a way. The Star Spangled Kid, a hero from yesteryear but now thrown into modern life. And Power Girl, brand new and answering the question 'why isn't there a Supergirl on Earth 2'! They each add some juice to the proceedings but in different ways.
Power Girl is immediately effective and her personality is pretty much on display from the beginning. She is strong, smart, and very independent. This isn't the meek 'secret weapon' in the orphanage. She is ready to throw down and jump into the mix. This is who Power Girl is and always should be.
The art is by Ric Estrada with great inks by Wally Wood. We all know that Wood is the one who ultimately pushes the envelope with Power Girl's particular pulchritude. But both artists give us solid representation of the JSAers.
That is my copy's cover scanned above, signed by Conway and cover artist Mike Grell!
This is a fun new chapter for the Society and therefore a perfect book to celebrate JSApril. On to the book.
So the reveal at the end of this arc, that this muscular Brainwave is a mental projection of the more tiny, puny villain, really comes out of nowhere.
Suddenly, a new hero arrives!
Open the page and you are smacked in the face with the JSA. Here is the cast, our classic heroes!
And it seems that there is a major disaster about to happen which will destroy the world.
This isn't the most action-packed opening page with our heroes huddled around a monitor. But it does show them to us right off the bat.
In particular, I love the way Dr. Fate looks here, very very reminiscent of his earliest books drawn by Howard Sherman!
Disasters are going to happen in Seattle, in South Africa, and in China. If they all go off, the shockwaves will destroy the Earth.
There are six JSAers in the meeting so what else can they do but classically split up into 3 teams of two in hopes of stopping these disasters from happening. Given that most readers probably only have a tangential understanding of the characters, almost exclusively from annual JLA crossovers, we needed to see them in action, to learn about them.
I asked myself 'what will 2 guys with decent right hooks like Wildcat and Dr. Mid-Nite do?' Crowd control?
Anyways, the whole things starts off with a bang. The world is in peril!
Cut to Seattle where the Star-Spangled Kid is using Ted Knight's Starman cosmic rod to be a hero. He just happens to be on scene to stop a brazen daytime bank robbery!
The Kid was another street-level hero back in the day, slugging bad guys with Stripesy. So giving him the Cosmic Rod amps him up, puts the super in Super Squad, and links him to the JSA (rather than the Seven Soldiers, his old group).
Nifty upgrade by Conway.
I did chuckle at this moment. After stopping some robbers, the Kid is overwhelmed with sadness because of his lot in life. He is a man out of time, a sort of DC Captain America, pushed forward 20 years and learning to acclimate himself.
I love that first panel. He's just sulking on the curb, head down and frowning! It feels like a very 50's thing to do which is perfect for him.
This is Seattle, one of the sites of the three disasters. And sure enough, while the Kid is mulling his present predicament, an earthquake hits the city. He springs into action to try and stop it as Hawkman and Dr. Mid-Nite arrive.
Hawkman decides the best thing to do is hang back and let the Kid handle it. The Kid is unsure of himself and this might give him a confidence boost.
Well ....
The fate of the world rests on stopping these disasters. Perhaps this isn't the peril you should watch from afar. Perhaps saving the world should take precedence over the Kid's feelings.
Finally we meet the evil mastermind behind the whole thing.
He sure is insane, cackling about beauty, surrounded by art objects, and admitting he set up the disasters around the world.
Here is the thing though. Remember, there haven't been any serialized JSA adventures in 25 years. Most readers will have no idea ... like none ... about who Brainwave is. So saying things like 'he is no longer Henry King' won't mean anything. We read a vague sentence about his powers but we don't see them here.
So the reveal at the end of this arc, that this muscular Brainwave is a mental projection of the more tiny, puny villain, really comes out of nowhere.
Cut to Capetown, South Africa where Dick Grayson happens to be visiting on a diplomatic mission.
The disaster erupts, a noxious, gaseous eruption from within the Earth.
Dr. Fate and Green Lantern, the two most powerful JSAers teamed up, try to stop the emissions without much success.
Great to see the E2 Robin. Love his costume.
I did wonder why Dr. Fate and Green Lantern would be teamed up when they clearly are the most powerful of the 6 JSAers involved here. But in retrospect, since they can't stop this even combined, it might not have made a difference.
I did wonder why Dr. Fate and Green Lantern would be teamed up when they clearly are the most powerful of the 6 JSAers involved here. But in retrospect, since they can't stop this even combined, it might not have made a difference.
Finally we get to the ka-pow moment. Robin is known. The Star Spangled Kid was known. Now for something new.
A volcano erupts in the middle of Peking and the Flash and Wildcat aren't sure if they can stop it.
Suddenly, a new hero arrives!
These are Power Girl's first two panels, flying in and basically shoving the lava flow back into the top of the volcano.
I love Wildcat saying 'Who the heck is that?' is so interesting. Sure this Power Girl is independent and action-ready. But she was still a secret Superman was keeping. These JSAers don't know about her.
Already Power Girl is showing off her classic body. Wood already showcases the va-va-voom of Kara.
She divulges her origins. She is called Power Girl, so as not to confuse her with her cousin Supergirl. She has been in hiding, and hoped to remain in hiding for a few more months, but was forced into action because of the volcano!
I love that second panel, hands on hips, talking to old-timey heroes as an equal already. This is Power Girl.
To give Wildcat something to do, the Chinese army attacks the heroes and are repelled.
Then Power Girl shows her intelligence as well.
There are disasters around the globe but they aren't the real menace. They are decoys.
And she knows this because she gets around.
Amd she knows that the world needs a new team, a super squad composed of the JSA and the three new heroes on the board. They are all needed to fight Brainwave!
I have to say this is a (no pun intended) powerful introduction to Power Girl.
This is Superman's cousin. But between the new look, the <ahem> adult physique, the haircut, and the confidence, this is as far from Action Comics #252, the E1 Supergirl's introduction to the world. She comes on (no pun intended) like a powerhouse, stopping the volcano and basically taking control of the situation and the veteran heroes as a leader. For the most part, that sort of fierce independence and look has stuck with the character ... now 50 years later!
How exciting must this have been to read off the rack. The JSAers themselves probably felt new themselves. But toss in a firecracker like Power Girl as well as Robin and the Star-Spangled Kid, and you have something very different.
Estrada and Wood's art is just gorgeous. They especially put a wonderful polish on the Power Girl pages. It was clear that Wood loved her.
So hooray for another iteration of Supergirl.
And hooray for JSApril! Please check out all the places participating!
Overall grade: A
6 comments:
Loved this book and Power Girl from the start. Robin was a misfire to me though. I found the costume a misfire and his personality just blah. he should have gotten the Nightwing treatment but with an abandoned hero's name. (I Googled for some ideas but got distracted when I discovered another company had a hero named Doctor Hormone.
Really!) Mister Pemberton was a favorite too and I'll never forgive Thomas for that atrocious name change and deaths scene. I'd forgotten about Estrada. He was serviceable but very dependent on his inkers. I don't think he ever got one better than Wood.
Nostalgic, I remember buying this one off the racks as a kid - largely on the strength of the cover art, since I didn't really know much about the characters beyond JLA crossovers. Turned me into a big fan of Power Girl and the Star-Spangled Kid and I did my best to stay current on the series (a real chore back then).
Even once we finally got a real comic shop in driving distance and back issues were suddenly you could buy, it took me years to realize that this was the de facto first issue of the book in the current day and I hadn't somehow been missing the first 50+ issues coming out - all of which predate my existence by quite a bit.
I bought this issue at San Diego Comic Con shortly after reading Crisis on Earth-Prime, which was my initial introduction to Power Girl (and the JSA!). This was definitely a treasured comic of my for a great many years.
Great write up and review. But.......
"But between the new look, the adult physique, the haircut, and the confidence" and then a reference to reading it "off the rack" in the next paragraph?
Sorry, couldn't help but chuckle. Wally Wood definitely knew what he was doing.
Yeah, this was a great book. I got the Showcase Presents volume a while back and other than a subplot about halfway through, it doesn’t disappoint. They clearly cared about the original JSAers and gave them the depth and growth that they couldn’t really get guest starring in JLA team-ups (though they did reference the events from time to time). And it got even better when Huntress showed up- like others have said, Robin’s nice but getting some new blood in there elevated the whole thing.
Great review! It’s fun to think that Power Girl looks so demure on a cover drawn by Mike Grell compared to her depiction inside the comic.
And yessiree, this is perfect Peege, no writer need look any further than this short story to know her core personality - when they get it wrong, it’s deliberate.
It’s only just struck me that herJLA/JSA flirting with Firestorm was all the better because both characters came from Conway’s Corner, with co-creators Ric Estrada and Al Milgrom.
Thanks for all the comments. Loved when Huntress came on board too. Love that Power Girl sort of arrived fully formed.
Look for all the #JSApril stuff around the comic community!
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