Power Girl #24 – Review

By: Judd Winick (writer), Hendry Prasetya (artist), Jessica Kholinne (colorist)

The Story: Don’t try to be a hero, man.  Seriously—you could go to jail for it.

The Review: Fiction has always been and will always be a product of its period; no surprise then that the stories you indulge in will have echoes in the current events of the year.  Lately Muslim-American relations are very much on the forefront of our consciousness, so small wonder we get treated to more fiction on that subject than we’ve been used to.  But considering the topic’s volatile nature, it’s that much more important for writers to tread carefully in their storytelling.

Winick falls into the trap of telling his story of a newly exposed metahuman Muslim-American the way we want to hear it, or at least, the way we expect to hear it.  This means the use of a lot of stereotypes—interestingly enough, less with regards to Quraci Rayhan Mazin, weather wizard, and more with his US federal captors.  Suspicion against the government has never been greater, so it’s quite the rage to portray any gov official as ruthless, controlling, corrupt, or all the above.

Just look at the unfair detainment and treatment of Rayhan (no lawyer, no outside access, etc.).  To his credit, Winick does set up a fairly sticky situation which would sensibly result in some woeful misunderstanding, especially on the crest of such primal emotions.  And he does allow Rayhan’s interrogator just a smidgeon of humanity, but his apparent total lack of sympathy or open-mindedness still leans on the military caricature side.

But in pursuing his agenda of demonizing the military and (figuratively) martyring Rayhan, Winick creates and ignores a significant point: Power Girl and Batman’s presence at the scene of the “crime.”  It stands to reason they would never simply let a brand-new metahuman villain of such power be taken into government custody, no questions asked, without confronting or researching him themselves (Bruce especially wouldn’t let that pass).  Most likely, Winick will play this out to wrap up this arc with a suitably just ending, but it’s still a major plot hole.

Power Girl #23 – Review

By: Judd Winick (writer), Sami Basri (artist), Jessica Kholinne (colorist)

The Story: This guy has to learn he can’t just punk people’s magic whenever he wants.

The Review: In my last review of Power Girl I got a little tough on Winick, mostly because I felt cheated out of a completed storyline.  Just know, however, it had nothing to do with the merits of the issue itself.  In fact, the new tone the title had set up felt like a much stronger direction for the series, and much more suited to P.G.’s character and Winick’s strengths.

This issue really confirms that feeling.  No longer saddled with his “Brightest Day” storyline, Winick doesn’t have to spend so much effort writing an action-drama, which he never quite pulled off.  Ever since this title launched, Power Girl’s been written as brassy and sassy, which doesn’t exactly mesh with the conspiracy/thriller mission she’s been forced into for the last few months, nor with the legal wrangling over her company ownership.

Winick has a clear comfort zone: lighter, less complicated plots which act as vehicles for his semi-juvenile sense of humor.  A Superman-Power Girl team-up to take down a magical moocher hits all the right marks: straightforward, silly, and upbeat.  Not only is it heartwarming to see the two Kryptonians get some bonding time—good to know they’re still close despite Clark’s real cousin in his life—they get a suitable challenge for their easygoing natures.

Even though Winick’s style of banter is still hit-and-miss and given to irritating repetitiveness (okay, okay, you’re dealing with magic, it’s tough for you guys, we get it, stop calling attention to it), he hits more often now than before.  His narration also feels tighter—the transitions from Power Girl’s voice to an omniscient narrator to Manuel’s dialogue to Zatanna’s conscious flows smoothly without missing a beat.  Winick’s writing probably won’t reach a level of subtlety on par with, say, Nick Spencer or Gail Simone, but this is as enjoyable as it gets with him.

Power Girl #22 – Review

By: Judd Winick (writer), Sami Basri (artist), Jessica Kholinne (colorist)

The Story: Since when do two Kryptonians find it so hard to beat a herd of dinosaurs?

The Review: Power Girl is sort of special in the world of comics, as even though she is based off of and has similar origins to Supergirl, they’re incredibly different characters.  Her brash, gutsy attitude has earned her plenty of fans, but the fact remains: she’s a spin-off, and wherever her more feminine counterpart goes, Power Girl finds herself hard-pressed to forge an identity that can compete for attention.

Winick attempts to delve into that problem this issue, though he’s certainly not the first.  Plenty of writers have tried to give Karen some flesh beyond her buxom body, but nothing seems to stick for very long.  Even the start of this title reestablished her science R&D company with some fun ideas that soon got lost in her much wackier heroic misadventures.

The first arc of Winick’s run put Starrware back in focus, but its shutdown never felt very threatening, since you didn’t know exactly what it did and Kara never spent time there anyway.  Her sudden re-acquisition of the company similarly feels flat and less than triumphant, despite the celebratory mood she encourages.  Part of that scene’s lifelessness comes from knowing virtually no one involved in Starrware enough to care.

The other part comes from the totally abrupt jump from last issue’s loose ends to this issue’s new beginnings.  Apparently, Winick chose to conclude his last arc over in the other series he’s helming, Justice League: Generation Lost. It’s an upsetting choice on a lot of levels, not the least of which is if you don’t read that title (which I don’t), you just lost your chance to see the wrap-up of a storyline that’s been Power Girl’s main event for the last half-dozen or so issues.

Power Girl #21 – Review

By: Judd Winick (writer), Sami Basri (artist), Jessica Kholinne (colorist)

The Story: She remembers every moment like it was yesterday…if only Batman will, too!

The Review: If you’re a writer, you’ll for sure have a moment where you realize all or part of your piece just doesn’t work.  When that happens, ultimately you have to face the option of cutting it.  Sometimes the choice is out of your hands.  One of the downsides of comics writing is once the idea is out there, you’re committed to it, even if it drags the story issue after issue.

In this issue, the sale of Starrware stands out as a plot thread that clearly should have been dropped a while ago.  By now, though, Winick has little choice other than to try to rework it and make it worth its page-time.  He brings in a new(?) antagonist in Ophelia Day, acquirer of Starrware, presumably to set up some motivation for Karen to take back what’s hers before it inevitably gets twisted in Day’s strident hands.

Still, it’s very difficult to summon up any interest in these developments.  You don’t really know much about what Starrware does, for one thing (tech R&D, yes—but to what end?), and besides Nico and Simon Peters, you’re not really in touch with anybody who works there.  Even Nico and Simon serve little more than as expository ciphers, when Winick needs to catch you up to speed on everything that’s not happening directly to PG at that moment.

Speaking as someone who works with legal cap now and again, I find the legalese in this issue slightly more credible than the bunk you usually get in comics.  Whether it pays off is more questionable.  After all, business/law drama seems like a niche interest even on television, where you get forty minutes to build the tension.  Comics just can’t offer that same kind of suspense, so basically the entire scene feels like filler.

In fact, most of the issue retreads old ground: the opening recaps the crossover events in Justice League: Generation Lost (a gimmick I always find distracting from getting to the present story’s goods); three pages of flashback to Power Girl’s last moments with Ted Kord; and some weird, vaguely amusing back-and-forth with Bruce-Batman convincing Dick-Batman of Max Lord’s existence.  This is all old material, so Winick really brings nothing new to the table here.