Power Girl (2009) #1-8

Power Girl #1-8

Originally released in 2009

Written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti

Art by Amanda Conner

I've seen some work here and there by the husband and wife team of Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner (they wrote a Harley Quinn series a few years back), but most of that consists of out-of-context snippets of comics rather than full issues.  It also helped that I wanted to look into a Power Girl series, since she's a character that I haven't gotten the chance to cover yet.

This is a light-hearted series that's more episodic, with story arcs lasting 2-3 issues.  Karen Starr, a.k.a. Power Girl, has a complicated history, but it can basically be summed up as "she's Supergirl from Earth-2 (where superheroes from the Golden Age of comics are a little older than the main universe), and she was sent to Earth-1 after Crisis On Infinite Earths".  In this book, she's mentoring a younger hero named Atlee (who also goes by Terra, and has a similar ability to control rocks and earth as the Teen Titans character) while trying to run a business.

The series can be fanservice-heavy at times, as one might expect given Power Girl's infamous costume. (the art didn't feel as voyeuristic as Birds of Prey did, but there are some elements there)  Still, for the most part, it's goofy fun, with the series taking advantage of the jaded New York setting. (it's not quite as weird as Marvel's New York, but then again, you'd be hard-pressed to find a version of New York that is)

The antagonists are definitely on the goofier side - the Ultra-Humanite, a Superman villain from the Golden Age (and the original bald super-scientist arch-enemy of Superman - Lex Luthor came later, though nowadays, the Ultra-Humanite put his brain into the body of an albino gorilla) wants Karen's body, though not in the way that the phrase usually means. (well, probably not)

Then there's Vardox, who (for whatever reason) is a walking parody of the Sean Connery movie Zardoz, where Connery was (for whatever reason) wearing a red diaper-looking swimsuit with thigh-high leather boots.  Zardoz is supremely confident in his masculinity to the point where he assumes that women (including Power Girl) will just throw themselves at him, and his planet is a silly throwback to the 1960s.

I liked the moments we get where Karen and Atlee bond, with Karen teaching her the ins and outs of being a superhero (like wearing your costume underneath your clothing whenever possible) and living a normal life (from what I can tell, Atlee lived underground for most of her life).

Palmiotti and Conner's run ends at issue 12, though the series continues beyond that point.  I had a good time with what I read from this series - it didn't take itself too seriously (Karen starts cracking up in the middle of one of Vardox's speeches), and Karen and Atlee were fun leads. (though Atlee only makes the occasional appearance so far)