STORY STUDY - MEDIUM: COMICS/GRAPHIC NOVELS “Power Girl: A New Beginning”
“It’s the classic tale of a distant and doomed planet named Krypton.” It’s the famous backstory of one of the most iconic superheroes; it’s the famous backstory of his famous cousin. It’s also the famous backstory of a parallel version of said cousin.
Power Girl is the Earth-Two version of Supergirl; she’s the same in every way, but she’s more sarcastic, funny, and… um… (clears throat).
She’s a character that slowly gained popularity that she got her own solo series, which we will be talking about this week.
Written by Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti, and pencils by Amanda Connor, Power Girl: A New Beginning is the first issue of the series. Her civilian identity is Karen Starr, a businesswoman who owns Starrware Labs, an engineering company she hopes will be able to change the world.
Her “first” outing as the new hero in Manhattan, New York involves her fighting Ultra-Humanite, an evil supergenius in the body of an albino gorilla. I say “first” because while she has been in action for a while prior to the story, this will be her first fight on her own.
The story is quick and to the point for the audience to understand Power Girl’s life. She lives in a world filled with dangerous criminals; in her civilian life, she experiences sexism and ogling eyes. Regardless, she pushes to surround herself with good people to make both of her lives prosper. The only downside is that you want more because it ends on a cliffhanger.
I found out about Power Girl when I was watching the animated film Superman/Batman: Public Enemies. She was a supporting character in that film, and after watching that, it made me want to know more. After all, she was snarky, and took no crap from anyone, especially when it came to perverts.
A New Beginning is the 3-part start for Power Girl, and it’s a great way to introduce her and set up some future villains. Because of its limited amount of issues, up to four volumes, it’ll be easier to read through compared to the literal 1000 issues of the flagship characters.
Take flight, and check it out.
