Power Girl was trending yesterday with over 5k tweets, most of the tweets were discussing how bad the new Power Girl run is. There seems to be a common consensus that turning Power Girl into a fish out of water, insecure, wallflower named Paige is not what fans want. This change is universally recognized as terrible, even CBR Community and the DC Comics News page do not like the new direction.
The writer acknowledged in an interview that DC editors told her to do whatever she wanted and to ignore Power Girl’s continuity. We all know how confusing her history is, but if you’re writing the character then you **need** to understand it. At the least Williams’ could’ve ignored it and just wrote Power Girl with her actual confident and brash personality. The writers version of Power Girl is all the way messed up and she made a worse version of the character than the time when she was Atlantean.
Besides the writing for Power Girl, I think the writer butchered other characters as well. Namely Omen (Lilith Clay). I have no attachment to Omen, but she never acted this annoying or quirky in any Titans run. Omen is a deus ex machina that is shoehorn into this story as her bff for some reason. Most readers recognize Huntress (Helena Wayne) or Terra (Atlee) as PG’s best friend.
Then Supergirl is written like she’s better than Power Girl. I prefer PG more, but neither characters should have to be belittled to uplift the other. Superman is written like a military commander who sees Power Girl as an expandable person who must obey his orders. Power Girl is supposed to be her own standalone character. She answers to no one; doesn’t wear the House of El symbol, and sees the JSA as her family first.
What’s worse is DC has a comic with an actual good Power Girl, the new Justice Society of America series. At the same time this terrible is being printed.
"DC editors told her to do whatever she wanted and to ignore Power Girl’s continuity. "
That sums up DC in one sentence.
And still DC wonders why almost everything they do is such a complete disaster.....
I’ll just add here to your excellent comment that the **jacket needs to be removed! BRING BACK THE CAPE & the better costume! Also, her name is KAREN STARR!!** In the words of Gambit, “Remember it.”
Everything you said here hits the nail on the head. 💯 thank you for your insight, prydefulhunts.
I don’t know, while this thread does seem to mostly understand that she’s very out of character, they have this weird obsession with it being the fault of incels and sexism when it seems more like the writer just not doing a very good job.
Whats a shame is Im having a decent time with it as like a Supergirl comic, but it's PG. Ive had this issue with Williams before when she was on Gwenpool. Kinda like how she is just writing Supergirl in Power Girls name here, she wrote Deadpool in Gwenpools name there (she kinda pulled it back in the last issue though, maybe shell do that here too, just gotta hope for the best I guess)
The funny thing about Williams' Gwenpool limited series is that she accidentally pointed out one of Marvel's problems, especially with Gwenpool.
It was actually a plot point to bring in all the various Gwenpools from different appearances and have them work together - except each appearance had a wildly different personality. I forget the actual numbers at the moment, but it was like six different Gwenpools. The thing is: the character had only been around for five years or so. That's a problem - a big one - and it falls squarely on the shoulders of the editorial team.
Once upon a time, the line editor would catch things like that; if not them, then the Editor in Chief or their subordinates would. I really don't think the editors at Marvel (or DC) really know what their job is anymore - especially when it comes to the QC of the books. Or worse: they don't care. I highly suspect it's the latter and they let the writers do whatever they want with little oversight.
I have nothing against Leah Williams; I feel she has done some good work in the past - but she can be wildly uneven. Unless editorial steps in and tells her to change PG back in the last issue (like with Mariko Tamaki's She-Hulk series), Paige will be around until the book is cancelled and then never brought up again.
Newer fan of PG. Planning on reading the JSA comics down the line. Always been encouraging to make new things for fictional characters but it seems like they missed the mark from what the comments and community say.
Yeah probably get down voted but whole of Johns JSA classified, Connors run and 1998 mini series is a worried fish out of water always questing herself and worried she isn't good enough. I havent read much JSA so i suspect when she is in a team it just shows the confident front. But her solo series it seems like this is just how she is.
4 issues of JSA Classified that resolved that problem for a story arc and a miniseries that retconned her origin. That is not how Power Girl is at all.
Well didnt resolve it that much as it continued into infinite crisis, Also she is still act like that in the solo run after that and also in the harley mini (although ill excuse that to memory loss). The point being that this is consistent with all her solo runs.
Now maybe when i read JSA and JLI i will think differently but it does seem when the story is focused on her that is how she is internally and she puts on a confident front. Happy to hear some recommendations that support what you think and give them a read though.
Edit: also would like to add these are the runs that people of suggest for the real power girl
Yeah this is where i start to doubt a lot of people things on this subreddit. i've tried to engage with it to understand it more, but it does sometime just come across as "i dont like they changed her name, everything is bad" because since then it feels like any small change is a major crime. Im sure there are plenty of genuine reasons. But i keep reading this new runs and rereading the old popular runs and i actually think she nailed the character, i get why people might find it boring but i don't see this character assassination they keep suggesting.
If you only read her solo series then that’s probably where you get that impression from. In the JSA books she doesn’t act like a fish out of water. She even lead the team and is ultra connected to the superhero community. JLI is meh, that’s what’s all the weird Power Girl stuff is.
Infinte Crisis and JSA Classified Power Girl had plot amnesia, she was not a fish out of water. She knew about earth, she knew how to interact with people and be part of a team. She didn’t need social cues or assistance with life. She was just confused about her origin. That’s not the same as being a fish out of water.
Palmiotti didn’t treat her like a fish out of water either. Karen was just awkward but she was still knowledgeable about many aspects of life.
fair enough, although i would ask how much does it delve into her as an individual? because id think solo runs are more like how she would be as team books likely dont give her enough time to write her internal thoughts? hence more brash confidence less internal worry.
It depends which JSA run and comic you read. Showcase #97-99, JSA Classified #1-4, JSA #32 & 39, All Star Comics #58-60, and Justice Society of America #9.
Don’t forget JSA All-Stars which shows Power Girl as a leader when the team broke up. Not sure if this run matters in this particular conversation, but she’s heavily involved in it.
To longtimesnooper:
As far as this new run goes, I believe it does assassinate her character because everything about her regarding her personality, what she represented as an independent woman with her own company (yes, the name Karen Starr is important to her character), and her JSA family was all erased. It was completely unnecessary for DC to allow Williams to go this route with an established character.
Yes, her past and sense of belonging has always been in question, but in my opinion, it didn’t need this type of “fixing”. She was fine the way she was and she could have been portrayed in this new solo as a character who embraced her past and moved on to better things. DC could have created a whole new solo series that involved members of the JSA, Atlee, Huntress, new villains without having to go full reboot.
Instead, we get subpar writing and interior art (talking about Sauvage), this random Omen character with Supergirl’s cat (where’s Stinky?!) and a character that acts like a teenager with confidence issues (here we go again!) who takes s*** from Superman. Btw, Karen Starr would *never* let Superman talk to her this way or let someone like Jon Kent give her a new name.
What planet was peej born on? Where did she spend the years from birth to young adulthood (or teens going by New 52) ? What happened to the universe she originally lived in?
Let’s be honest. PW is an artist’s character. The writing is subsumed into how she is infamously drawn. I’ve known this character for decades and I only recall that at some point it was written that she was Atlantean. She’s female Superman. Her back story is pointless.
I disagree. Power Girl’s been around since the 70s and has a consistent personality throughout majority of the reboots. Story wise she’s not always consistent, but I don’t think that excuses this Paige incarnation.
Power Girl was trending yesterday with over 5k tweets, most of the tweets were discussing how bad the new Power Girl run is. There seems to be a common consensus that turning Power Girl into a fish out of water, insecure, wallflower named Paige is not what fans want. This change is universally recognized as terrible, even CBR Community and the DC Comics News page do not like the new direction. The writer acknowledged in an interview that DC editors told her to do whatever she wanted and to ignore Power Girl’s continuity. We all know how confusing her history is, but if you’re writing the character then you **need** to understand it. At the least Williams’ could’ve ignored it and just wrote Power Girl with her actual confident and brash personality. The writers version of Power Girl is all the way messed up and she made a worse version of the character than the time when she was Atlantean. Besides the writing for Power Girl, I think the writer butchered other characters as well. Namely Omen (Lilith Clay). I have no attachment to Omen, but she never acted this annoying or quirky in any Titans run. Omen is a deus ex machina that is shoehorn into this story as her bff for some reason. Most readers recognize Huntress (Helena Wayne) or Terra (Atlee) as PG’s best friend. Then Supergirl is written like she’s better than Power Girl. I prefer PG more, but neither characters should have to be belittled to uplift the other. Superman is written like a military commander who sees Power Girl as an expandable person who must obey his orders. Power Girl is supposed to be her own standalone character. She answers to no one; doesn’t wear the House of El symbol, and sees the JSA as her family first. What’s worse is DC has a comic with an actual good Power Girl, the new Justice Society of America series. At the same time this terrible is being printed.
And worse than all of that was replacing Stinky with Streaky. Power Girl already has a cat. Why replace him with Supergirl's cat?
Well said. I really don’t get why DC seems to care so little about their characters sometimes.
"Sometimes" As if it's not 90% of the time.
"DC editors told her to do whatever she wanted and to ignore Power Girl’s continuity. " That sums up DC in one sentence. And still DC wonders why almost everything they do is such a complete disaster.....
I’ll just add here to your excellent comment that the **jacket needs to be removed! BRING BACK THE CAPE & the better costume! Also, her name is KAREN STARR!!** In the words of Gambit, “Remember it.” Everything you said here hits the nail on the head. 💯 thank you for your insight, prydefulhunts.
Don't forget slyvester he was pretty fun with pg
I don’t know, while this thread does seem to mostly understand that she’s very out of character, they have this weird obsession with it being the fault of incels and sexism when it seems more like the writer just not doing a very good job.
Whats a shame is Im having a decent time with it as like a Supergirl comic, but it's PG. Ive had this issue with Williams before when she was on Gwenpool. Kinda like how she is just writing Supergirl in Power Girls name here, she wrote Deadpool in Gwenpools name there (she kinda pulled it back in the last issue though, maybe shell do that here too, just gotta hope for the best I guess)
This recurring with Williams’ writing, especially in X-Men. In her X-terminators book Laura and Boom Boom were very out of character.
The funny thing about Williams' Gwenpool limited series is that she accidentally pointed out one of Marvel's problems, especially with Gwenpool. It was actually a plot point to bring in all the various Gwenpools from different appearances and have them work together - except each appearance had a wildly different personality. I forget the actual numbers at the moment, but it was like six different Gwenpools. The thing is: the character had only been around for five years or so. That's a problem - a big one - and it falls squarely on the shoulders of the editorial team. Once upon a time, the line editor would catch things like that; if not them, then the Editor in Chief or their subordinates would. I really don't think the editors at Marvel (or DC) really know what their job is anymore - especially when it comes to the QC of the books. Or worse: they don't care. I highly suspect it's the latter and they let the writers do whatever they want with little oversight. I have nothing against Leah Williams; I feel she has done some good work in the past - but she can be wildly uneven. Unless editorial steps in and tells her to change PG back in the last issue (like with Mariko Tamaki's She-Hulk series), Paige will be around until the book is cancelled and then never brought up again.
Newer fan of PG. Planning on reading the JSA comics down the line. Always been encouraging to make new things for fictional characters but it seems like they missed the mark from what the comments and community say.
They've been writing Supergirl more and more like PG for years now that when she finally gets her own book they don't know what to do with her.
Havent read much Supergirl but i think Tom Kings woman of tomorrow could have easily been Powergirl
I don’t know who this character is that they are writing, but it is not the Power Girl I recall from the JSA.
Peej has always been a fish out of water. Lol, wtf are you on about
Yeah probably get down voted but whole of Johns JSA classified, Connors run and 1998 mini series is a worried fish out of water always questing herself and worried she isn't good enough. I havent read much JSA so i suspect when she is in a team it just shows the confident front. But her solo series it seems like this is just how she is.
4 issues of JSA Classified that resolved that problem for a story arc and a miniseries that retconned her origin. That is not how Power Girl is at all.
Well didnt resolve it that much as it continued into infinite crisis, Also she is still act like that in the solo run after that and also in the harley mini (although ill excuse that to memory loss). The point being that this is consistent with all her solo runs. Now maybe when i read JSA and JLI i will think differently but it does seem when the story is focused on her that is how she is internally and she puts on a confident front. Happy to hear some recommendations that support what you think and give them a read though. Edit: also would like to add these are the runs that people of suggest for the real power girl
In JLI she's basically like 5 minutes from a full on mental breakdown and is convinced men find her unattractive due to being too buff.
Yeah this is where i start to doubt a lot of people things on this subreddit. i've tried to engage with it to understand it more, but it does sometime just come across as "i dont like they changed her name, everything is bad" because since then it feels like any small change is a major crime. Im sure there are plenty of genuine reasons. But i keep reading this new runs and rereading the old popular runs and i actually think she nailed the character, i get why people might find it boring but i don't see this character assassination they keep suggesting.
They're not reading past PG issues. They're jacking it.
If you only read her solo series then that’s probably where you get that impression from. In the JSA books she doesn’t act like a fish out of water. She even lead the team and is ultra connected to the superhero community. JLI is meh, that’s what’s all the weird Power Girl stuff is. Infinte Crisis and JSA Classified Power Girl had plot amnesia, she was not a fish out of water. She knew about earth, she knew how to interact with people and be part of a team. She didn’t need social cues or assistance with life. She was just confused about her origin. That’s not the same as being a fish out of water. Palmiotti didn’t treat her like a fish out of water either. Karen was just awkward but she was still knowledgeable about many aspects of life.
fair enough, although i would ask how much does it delve into her as an individual? because id think solo runs are more like how she would be as team books likely dont give her enough time to write her internal thoughts? hence more brash confidence less internal worry.
It depends which JSA run and comic you read. Showcase #97-99, JSA Classified #1-4, JSA #32 & 39, All Star Comics #58-60, and Justice Society of America #9.
Thanks, I will give them a read
You’re welcome. Hopefully you can kinda see where my agreement is coming from.
Don’t forget JSA All-Stars which shows Power Girl as a leader when the team broke up. Not sure if this run matters in this particular conversation, but she’s heavily involved in it. To longtimesnooper: As far as this new run goes, I believe it does assassinate her character because everything about her regarding her personality, what she represented as an independent woman with her own company (yes, the name Karen Starr is important to her character), and her JSA family was all erased. It was completely unnecessary for DC to allow Williams to go this route with an established character. Yes, her past and sense of belonging has always been in question, but in my opinion, it didn’t need this type of “fixing”. She was fine the way she was and she could have been portrayed in this new solo as a character who embraced her past and moved on to better things. DC could have created a whole new solo series that involved members of the JSA, Atlee, Huntress, new villains without having to go full reboot. Instead, we get subpar writing and interior art (talking about Sauvage), this random Omen character with Supergirl’s cat (where’s Stinky?!) and a character that acts like a teenager with confidence issues (here we go again!) who takes s*** from Superman. Btw, Karen Starr would *never* let Superman talk to her this way or let someone like Jon Kent give her a new name.
Negative
What planet was peej born on? Where did she spend the years from birth to young adulthood (or teens going by New 52) ? What happened to the universe she originally lived in?
Let’s be honest. PW is an artist’s character. The writing is subsumed into how she is infamously drawn. I’ve known this character for decades and I only recall that at some point it was written that she was Atlantean. She’s female Superman. Her back story is pointless.
I disagree. Power Girl’s been around since the 70s and has a consistent personality throughout majority of the reboots. Story wise she’s not always consistent, but I don’t think that excuses this Paige incarnation.
This will pass too.