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    Power Girl

    Character » Power Girl appears in 1722 issues.

    Kara Zor-L is the older, wiser, and stronger counterpart of Supergirl from Earth 2 but resides on the Prime Earth.

    Power Girl #1, Was It Worth The Wait?

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    gmanfromheck

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    Edited By gmanfromheck

    I posted a year ago about this series after it was announced at the New York Con. 

      


    Was it worth the wait?  Did you pick it up? Are you happy it's finally out?

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    AngelFrost

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    #1  Edited By AngelFrost

    Lol at your Breast innuendo's

    =P

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    danhimself

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    #2  Edited By danhimself

    it was alright...i'm gonna pick it up for a few issues just because i'm also curious to see where it's going to go....i would have liked to seen a better villain for the first arc though

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    inferiorego

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    #3  Edited By inferiorego  Staff

    Kick their butts Gee-Em!

    I gave it the old IE look through and the art was good looking, but that's about it. I asked others about it and they gave it mediocre reviews.. The owner of Graham Crackers gave it 10 out of 10... I'm pretty sure he was either high or just really excited the guy who stole the ASM issue went to jail.....

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    the Vica

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    #4  Edited By the Vica

    LOL


    Her disguise is she wears her hair differently?

    Suddenly Superman's disguise seems pretty realistic...
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    Decept-O

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    #5  Edited By Decept-O

    Yup, G-Man, you said it well.  Power Girl is a character that has thrived due to her visual depiction(s) more than anything else.  Her story and background is understood by some comic book readers, but definitely not by those who aren't regular DC comics readers, and that will be a disadvantage.  Yet, will the reader care, and just pick up issues because the covers will look good? 

    Power Girl is pretty much the staple of comic book/pin-up artists, and a lot of fans like her for her..."top"..attributes.  No surprise, seeing as pin-up and comic book artist Wally Wood helped create her. 

    Just never been too keen on her origin, or even her as a character, but visually....yeah...I can think of 2 reasons to like her.

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    The Psyentist

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    #6  Edited By The Psyentist

    Seriously. She wears her hair differently. It's surprising that would make any difference anyway as they aren't looking at her head...

    2 reasons...haha.

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    DMC

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    #7  Edited By DMC

    yeah.....her secret identity isn't much of a disguise, ideally she should cover them up.
    But somehow she's able to hide those biceps in her work coat when she's Karen Star.

    danhimself said:

    "it was alright...i'm gonna pick it up for a few issues just because i'm also curious to see where it's going to go....i would have liked to seen a better villain for the first arc though"
    there might be another villain in this arc
    remember Ultra-Humanite said "I was promised the world in exchange for you" Someone must have made a deal with him and we might have seen that person already, or not....... we shall see.

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    Emperor Gonzo Noir

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    Seeing as how I wasn't particularly waiting for this it was ok.  PG doesn't need a secret identity  all she needs to do is cover up her chest . seriously  if she covers up no one will recognize her

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    The Psyentist

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    #9  Edited By The Psyentist

    Precisely.

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    burr787

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    #10  Edited By burr787

    Why do the Aliens look like big Daddys?

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    Inthedark

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    #11  Edited By Inthedark

    So power girl is going to find her true self defending central park when the skrulls invade........



    Or have i misplaced my Marvel/DC?

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    captainrage

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    #12  Edited By captainrage

    Bit bummed.. Wanted it to be a bit more fun..

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    dane

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    #13  Edited By dane

    Yeah Powergirl just reminds me of Carol Danvers for some reason. I liked the issue I guess but it didn't really grab me and pull me on board the yay pee gee train or whatever.

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    Media_Master

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    #14  Edited By Media_Master

    She has some knockers on her!

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    King_Saturn

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    #15  Edited By King_Saturn
    Power Juggs is awesome
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    Gregomasta

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    #16  Edited By Gregomasta

    It should be damn obvious to every male why we should pick up this issue.

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    NightFang3

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    #17  Edited By NightFang3

    LOVE it.

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    sethite

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    #18  Edited By sethite

    Noob question:


    I'm doing research on a Power girl fan fic. I've been trying to get some background info since DC did their last crisis reboot, but I haven't been able to figure out if (1) does power girl know that bruce wayne is batman (2) does she still moonlight for birds of prey (do they still exist in this continuity) (3) is she still the chairman for the JSA?
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    MaleKim

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    #19  Edited By MaleKim

    A word in defense of Power Girl.  Yes, she has quite a figure.  But, you have to remember, back in 1976, when she first appeared, she was the FIRST female character to come along and ignore the part of the Comics Code Authority that stated "Females shall be drawn realistically without exaggeration of any physical qualities."  Before then, during the Code, all "normal" adult women pretty much had the same figure.  I can remember an issue of Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane where someone had written in asking for Lois' and  Lana's measurements.  The reply was that both women were 36-24-36 -- pretty much regarded as the standard in the 1960s.  Today, they might be considered hideously overweight.

    My response to people who comment and/or complain about Power Girl's attributes is that it made the DC Universe a little more realistic.  Some women are going to be well-endowed (Power Girl), some are going to be flat-chested (remember John Byrne's comment two decades ago that Kitty Pride would grow up to be Sigourney Weaver), and some inbetween (Sue Richards).  Some will be beefy (Big Barda), some will be muscular (She-Hulk), some will be obese (Ma Hunkel), some borderline anorexic (Death in Sandman). 

    The thing is, since Power Girl's debut, the Comics Code has pretty much gone away.  As it did, more busty females began to show up.  (The "champion," in my view, is probably Lady Death.)  I think it's a tribute to Power Girl, perhaps as a character, that she's avoided being just another "face in the crowd," so to speak.

    As for your questions, sethite, I think it's been established that most of the members of the JSA and JLA know each other's identities.

    Also, danhimself, the Ultra-Humanite seems to be regarded as one of the top, and most dangerous, foes for the JSA collectively and the members as individuals.  I thought the end of this issue was very good, with Power Girl being given the choice of sacrificing herself or New York.

    But, yes, there is a kinkiness to UH's wanting to BE Power Girl.

    Power Girl's history has been a problem since Crisis on Infinite Earths, when Byrne decided there were no other Kryptonians besides Superman and her history was altered several times to correspond to that.  It didn't help that Paul Kupperberg was assigned to do her reboot.  In my opinion, as a writer, Kupperberg is a good editor.

    I liked the mini-series of a couple of years ago, and, if this follows the path of that, I look forward to the rest of the series.

    And, as for team-ups, besides Terra, I'd also like to see a pairing between Power Girl and Stargirl.

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    Chubbytoad

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    #20  Edited By Chubbytoad

    My wife and I enjoyed Power Girl #1. We plan to keep getting this title. We think the art was fun, the story was fun and that this character is a nice departure from the darker and more serious stories of female heros like Wonder Woman and the new She-Hulk. 


    As for her shape, my wife and I both think its great that Power Girl is a curvy, zoftig female with great cleavage. Maybe we're being biased because my wife has a chest like that, but hey! Why can't big busted ladies be super-heroes? Why are they not allowed? Right away people get all offended and up in arms because Power Girl or  Lara Croft has big boobs. So what? Some women have better than a C cup. Why is this a big deal? Why does every female have to be a size 0  or 2? Personally, I don't find that attractive and I have no buddies who think that's hot either. Power Girl is more up our alley. And my wife's friends aren't offended either. They agree that its great that PG is not a size 0 stick figure. It doesn't even make sense that a bone rail thin waif would be a super-hero who could lift a building. 

    We read comics to relax and for escapism, but they are what they are; comic books. To take this stuff seriously is to miss the whole point. Comics are supposed to be all in good fun. The Power Girl variant cover shown in the video above was very fun and campy. We loved the expressions on the men's faces. I think it worked perfectly with the first issue. I do hope they develop this character more, but I hope the title doesn't lose it's fun side. There's nothing wrong with the warriors like Wonder Woman or the new She-Hulk, or darker characters like Spider Woman, (my wife's childhood favorite), but they dominate the female superhero market. Can't we have at least one departure? Its just a comic book!
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    Press Oblivion

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    #21  Edited By Press Oblivion
    @MaleKim: I can't be certain of everything that you're saying here. Power Girl was not always drawn as a buxom heroine. Anything Pre JLE she was depicted as most super females were during that era. Even now, Jerry Ordway isn't drawing her with the proportions that everyone loves to get on her case about, in JSA and I really don't find Amanda's rendition to be all that mind blowing or extraordinary. Bart Sears, who is a master of comic book dynamics, illustrated her whith greater proportions in the JLE and I say Pioneered this particular attribute for the character. Power Girl is still not a widely recognized character and to attribute the success of other characters like Lady Death to her doesn't seem very legitimate, given that her early years were vary average.


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    MaleKim

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    #22  Edited By MaleKim
    @Press Oblivion:
    What I've been using is my memory.  At the risk of giving away my age, I was 22 when Power Girl debuted in All-Star Comics No. 58 in early 1976.  I have that comic in front of me right now.  Yes, in most of the 18 panels she appears in, she doesn't seem that well-endowed -- save for the last panel of page 17.  (My scanner is on the fritz or I'd scan the panel and post it here.)

    But in following issues, she definitely looked more voluptuous than the average comic book female of the day.  I suspect that was due to the work of Wally Wood as Keith Giffen's inker.  (If memory serves, Wood drew a few of the later issues of All-Star.)

    More important, I definitely remember that I wasn't the only person noticing PG's figure.  She was used around 1976 or 1977 to "demonstrate" "Beautiful Balloons," the title of the column written by Don and Maggie Thompson for The Buyer's Guide to Comics Fandom (now Comics Buyer's Guide).  I also remember a fanzine cartoon the time that showed several heroines standing to the side, looking at Power Girl, with one of them saying "She's got enough of all of us!"  It wasn't just me.

    Also, I'm not sure what you mean by Pre-JLE.  How far before Pre-JLE are we talking?  Justice League Europe (later Justice League International) debuted in 1989.  That's a difference of 13 years since PG's debut.  As I'd indicated in my original post above, by that time, large-breasted women in comics, especially super-heroines, were more the norm in comic books.   Power Girl didn't "stand out" so much any more.

    I wasn't saying the success of characters like Lady Death is due to Power Girl.  I was saying that Power Girl was the first to cross a line that others would cross, or even ignore, later on.  Some of the artists of the other characters may or may not have heard of PG.  (See paragraph after next.)  They just knew they could make their heroines as chesty as they wanted.)

    (Also, please note that line was in the Code-approved comics.  You do have characters outside of such comics, such as Moonchild or Vampirella <if you saw Vampi's first appearance in the first issue of her magazine back in 1969, which has her stepping out of a bubble bath, you would've suspected her main source of sustenance wasn't blood, but grass>, or who knows how many underground comics that were quite chesty.)

    As for how widely Power Girl is recognized, again, who is doing the recognition?  Would the GP (General Public) know her?  No.  Would the casual comics buyer or collector, who only buys X-titles or Bat-titles know her?  Probably not.  But ask the fans, and, especially, the artists (even more especially, the artists who are famed for drawing women well), and they'll know who she is.  I once commissioned Adam Hughes to draw her and offered him a comic with her in it for reference.  He told me he didn't need it, he'd been asked to draw her so many times.  And, last year, I attended the Quick Draw competition, where people in an audience shout out suggestions to a panel of artists who then draw pictures inspired by the suggestions.  I shouted out "Power Girl vs. She-Hulk!" (which would be a good slug-fest, IMHO).   One of the artists looked at me, smiled, and produced a drawing showing She-Hulk holding a pin as Power Girl looked down at herself in dismay over her now DEFLATED "beautiful balloons" and crying "My purpose!"  That is probably most artist's view of PG, for better or worse.

    As for Bart Sears' (who I do like) depiction of Power Girl (which I did like), I'd have to say I know people who would argue that path was paved by Joe Staton and others before JLE/JLI.  But, at the same time, I thought her breasts looked more than a little loose when Sears drew them.  Given her strength and durability, an uncontrolled bounce could've knocked someone out as easily as a punch.

    What I like about Amanda Conner's portrayal is her understanding of what kind of costume it would take to hold in a body like that.  (And, yes, I know, it wasn't Conner, I believe, who first drew the costume like that.  I'm saying I like Conner's depiction of it.)  The sequence (JLA Classified #1, I believe?) showing the effort PG makes to get into her costume showed Conner understands most women would prefer to wear something that would keep a figure like that under control, while still showing it off.  The ribbed costume PG wears is a corset/bustier.  It takes work to get into it.  But PG likes it that way.

    I hope I've explain things, especially my opinions and what backs them up, a little more to your satisfaction.





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    Press Oblivion

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    #23  Edited By Press Oblivion
    @Malekim
    I'm not trying to argue with you on your views or start a fight and it wasn't my intention to make you feel as though you needed to justify yourself to me or anyone else. I'm not as familiar with the character's original publications as you are and I don't have the titles that you're referring to so I'll take your word for it as I didn't get into comics until the late 80's. When it comes to Bart Sears, his style is very bold and Power Girl wasn't the only female that he's drawn that would receive the "Sears touch" but it seems to be the one character that it stuck to . . . in my opinion. I've seen a lot of Power Girl images from the pre-CIE era and I've never felt that she stood out because of her proportions and was never as impressive as when she was illustrated by Bart.

    I read your post as if you were stating that Power Girl was the Rosa Parks of the Massive Mammary Movement in comics  LOL :D

    Your recounting of the Quick Draw Competition is hilarious! In regards to how well known the character of Power Girl is I was talking about over-all Public knowledge. Does the Public know who Wonder Woman is? Yes, no to Power Girl.
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    MaleKim

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    #24  Edited By MaleKim

    All I'll say right now is the General Public (as I already said, I call them the GP) probably doesn't know 90% of the characters in comics today.  And I wouldn't try to explain Power Girl's background to them.  I was on a radio show back in 78 talking about comics and I briefly mentioned the JSA and Earth-2.  Later on, some kid came on who proceded to explain the whole thing to the poor lady who'd been talking to me, and I could hear the eyes glazing over the radio.

    The fans and comic books buyers know who she is.  That's what matters these days.

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    Press Oblivion

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    #25  Edited By Press Oblivion
    @MaleKim said:
    " That's what matters these days. "
    AgreeD :D
    She's such a great character even if Babs needs a bucket when ever Power Girl is mentioned. . . though I think that's a fetish thing. ;)
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    harleyquinn12

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    #26  Edited By harleyquinn12

    I agree with you on Amanda Connner. She is one of my favorite artists,but it's just not simplistic enough. I like seeing Power Girlin this bright new style,but she was always an intresting and complex character. I'm sort of suprised how they had this hard-to-understand character facing off against this demented scientist's brain in an albino gorrilla's body. I would give it a 4 out of 5.

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