u/mr_mxyzptlk21

JSA Classified #4. Art by Amanda Conner, Story by Geoff Johns.

Having recieved the Omnibus, I'm doing the obligatory reread of the return to Krypton origin for Power Girl. The above is a panel that I went past, then had that "waitaminute" moment and had to revisit.

Apparently, one of the differences between Krypton-1 and Krypton-2 is that there was no Brainiac to shrink and preserve Kandor--which according to this, Kara Zor-L is from. This makes another distinction between her and Supergirl, as she's from Argo City.

Could be Psycho-Pirate messed up as well, given him being insane and all...

Either that or Geoff Johns confused his Kryptonian cities, which is possible, but I Iike the idea that there's something else to differentiate between the two multiversal twins.

And a side note: as I mentioned elsewhere, while I 'get' why they put Supergirl #12 in, as it dovetails directly into the Terra miniseries with Power Girl that's also in the omnibus, I wish they'd included Infinite Crisis #2 as well (or instead), as it is the main part that returns Kara's origin to pre-CoIE. The book goes from all the leadup to her relearning her origin, to... just having it back. No reveal within the collection.

Minor quibble, but, whatever.

Jenna Lynn Meowri original IG post

Think clean thoughts, chum... -- Batman.

I passed on these when the first dropped (I can be particular of mixing anime/manga and western comics), buuuut it is Palmiotti and Gray, so I picked up the trades and will dive in this weekend. Thoughts from anyone who has read 'em?

So, hear me out...

I personally think it would be awesome if DC did a sort of "living gazetteer/history book" of their locales with their books like Historia: the Amazons and The Atlantis Chronicles. Update "The World of Krypton", and add in a book (or two) for the major cities where other heroes are from and their history. A collected series of tomes with the same spine design, and maybe a unified art style for the covers.

Also, if you've not read the Atlantis Chronicles, it still holds up really well for 36 year old series, and I don't believe has been taken out of continuity. It makes a wonderful companion piece for Historia.

I'm doing a massive overhaul and reorganization of my comics, and rediscovered this in the bag/back of a comic.

Back in '95, at a tiny con at a Holiday Inn by my college, Mart Nodell was there signing autographs and doing sketches. As I was a poor college student, I couldn't afford the astronomical fee of $20 for a sketch from him (oh, what a dolt I was). I did get to get his autograph and chat with him for a time though. Sweet old guy. I'm glad to have met one of the legends who helped create DC.

A year or two later, I was wearing a GL t-shirt out and about in public (which was NOT fashionable at the time, let me tell ya), and a woman my age stopped me, recited the oath, and introduced herself as "Mart Nodell's granddaughter". I would have tried to get her number, but she was with her boyfriend... but again, had a nice talk on the street about her grandfather and the Lanterns.

Anywho. Just sharing with the class. :)

Art by Mart Nodell, DC comics trading card, 1991

Inspired a post by u/fs_scott, here’s a quick bit about DC comics presents #56, another memorable issue of Power Girl’s history.

Cover art by Gil Kane, with the classic “Noooo!!! She’s dead!!!” pose later made iconic by George Perez in Crisis. {Personal note, I passed on the opportunity to get a commission by Gil Kane “back in the day”, and it remains one of my comic book regrets.}

DC Comics Presents, along with “The Brave and the Bold” were one off comics starring Superman and Batman respectively, along with another hero.  DC treated them as “gateway” comics, where a single issue story could be told, with a well-known hero, teamed with one that either was C-list, or a simple tale with another A or B lister.  This style of comic (along with Marvel’s Marvel Team-up starring Spider-man, and Marvel Two-in-One starring the Thing) fell out of favor in the early 80s. Attempts at tB&tB and M2in1 have both been tried since, but to reader disinterest.

ANYWAY… DC Comics Presents #56 (1983, interior art Curt Swan, written by Paul Kupperberg) sees Power Girl in her first story not somehow tied to the JSA.  Earlier tales had her either part of the JSA overall, or linked to them in some fashion, so a minor milestone for the character breaking out on her own.

The basic story is a universal conqueror brings Superman from Earth-1 and Power Girl (Earth-2) together to fight in his gladiatorial games.  Both resist, but are overwhelmed by the power of this new character, Maalador.  The story is really simple, and in the end, both prevail over the would-be conqueror, as his powers cause him to collapse then disperses into his own Cthulian realm of madness, deep into the depths of the multiverse.

Two other things stand out about this comic.

First, it’s the first time we see Kara’s Kryptonian powers expand a bit.  Previously, she hadn't grown into them yet.  Being from Earth-2, like her cousin Kal-L, she’d started with the basic three powers:  Speed (faster than a speeding bullet), Strength/Invulnerability (more powerful than a locomotive) and super-jumping (able to leap tall buildings in a single bound).  She hadn’t exhibited anything beyond that until this issue, when she’s shown using vision powers, helping Superman seal an inter-dimensional breach.  On the one hand, it shows growth and maturity of the character, on the other… it was likely an editorial oversight.

The second big thing that is important, but not obvious, is that it’s the first time that Paul Kupperberg wrote the character. He is a very important writer in PG’s history, which I’ll get to in another post, as he was the one who first guided her through her post-Crisis continuity.

Overall, it’s a self-contained, fairly simple issue, but still kept her in character as a brash young woman who hadn’t yet become the adult hero she’s been portrayed as since Crisis. Great cover art, and a nice one-shot to have in the collection if you intend to own every PG appearance.

Let's face it, fan casting is always done "in the now". By the time any production moves forward, it's almost always too late.

In the microscopic chance Kingdom Come would ever be adapted...

I nominate Hannah Waddingham. Heck, in that parallel universe where the Conner/Palmiotti/Gray run is adapted live back in 2011, she would have been a great Power Girl, imo.

Pictures are her from 2010, 2011, and 2017.

Another redditor posted about this series in a different group, and I figured I'd go a bit more in depth here.

For those unfamiliar, it's a series from 2010-2011 running 18 issues. Obviously a spin-off of the main JSA title at the time, it's mostly the "youngsters" of the JSA forming their own group after a schism.

If you missed it, it's a fun, solid read, and puts Power Girl in the leader position. It has three major storylines over the 18 issues, and a backup story with Liberty Belle, Hourman, Icicle, and Tigress over the first 12.

The highlight for folks like us of course, is PG's role in it all. As I say, she's the co-leader at first, then leader of the team. It showcases her as a superhero, and not her secret ID, but honestly, Lilah Sturges does a good job with the stories. It's not breaking new ground, but is one of the best PG forward titles she's been in.

Back issues and tpbs can be scarce due to low print runs, and it was one of the victims of the new52, but if you are a PG fan, this series needs to be part of your collection.

I have a hard back sketchbook I bring to cons for art by comics pros. For some reason, there was a blank page between a George Pérez Wonder Woman and an Adam Warren Empowered piece, so a friend filled it in with this (be nice). The smudges are from ink bleed-through on the previous page.

Somehow in my commission sharing, this one got forgotten! Uko Smith from Heroescon '25. I am in the minority in liking the bodysuit/jacket combo (easy top 3 of her looks), and asked for that one. He actually did two versions, and let me choose, and a different lucky fan got the other.

Dude does great job with watercolors, and a cool cat to talk to.

One of my big reasons of going to comic book cons is hitting up the "Artists Alleys" and finding art from folks just making a living, either not broken through yet, or maybe just doing the art circuit. I'm currently going through my prints and putting them into appropriate Itoya art books, and...

I rediscovered this "Calendar Girl" DC art from 2016 (must have gotten it at Megacon that year) by Nathan Szerdy. The premise is that the style for the uniform matches the style of the era of when they debuted (PG debuting in January 1976).

There's several others in the set, but as I've not seen this one here before, and I believe this was before he was discovered by "the big two", I figured I'd share.

Four recent Power Girl commissions I've received, and sharing with the class. Once my next contract closes, I'll be getting colors on some of these.

Let’s talk crossovers.

The last half-year or so has seen PG take part in not one, but two inter-company crossovers (and her third overall, thanks to a cameo in the 2003 JLA/Avengers crossover).

Kind of a big deal considering her “c-list” status.

First was as a guest star in the Elvira / Harley Quinn crossover between IDW and DC. On the interiors, Peej is there more as someone to help motivate the plot, rather than be part of it, but she got to appear on several covers, pictured above.

I honestly liked the PG/Elvira crossover. It was the 'old team' of Palmiotti/Conner along with Juan Samu.  If you liked that team on HQ or PG, this crossover was a fun one.  IDW seems much "cooler" about doing collections with their collaborators, so a TPB would be worth it for folks who held out on getting this first time around.

Second was the Superman / Spider-Man crossover in February.  Not only on several covers, but also in a story that was a love letter to Gerry Conway, her creator, as well as the Punisher, Frank Castle. A lot of folks didn't "get" why those two characters would crossover (me included) but I'm glad it did, and that Gerry got to see it before he passed.

With the third, Marvel couldn't, of course, be bothered to have a story with her but still had several covers with Kara on them regardless of the reciprocal Spider-Man / Superman crossover.

This continues to beg the question, how to turn her from cover girl into an actual bigger asset to DC?

And let us all pray these images didn't get pixelated out...

I have a couple of posts to put up for this, but as I want to stir discussion, let's start with this one. And hope that Reddit doesn't eat it. Again.

Both Marvel and DC struggle with “who is the second most recognizable and marketable superheroine?”

The obvious #1 by a LONG shot is Wonder Woman.  Number two is always going to be a huge debate. I’d even wager amongst comics fans (not muggles) that Vampirella has a reasonable claim for at least a top five spot amongst well known women comics characters, even over Marvel and DC characters.

Thanks to their previously weird Balkanization of their characters because of where the movie rights were, Marvel couldn’t properly market their actual favorite and well known superheroines without shooting themselves in the foot (Storm, Rogue, Invisible Woman, She-hulk, Scarlett Witch, Jean Grey, etc.) so they speed ran Captain Marvel to the detriment of other characters they did have (Black Widow, Wasp, Monica Rambeau) to push for a solid #2, but that’s a post for a different forum.

DC, being under the same corporate banner of WB, hasn’t had this problem, but they’re still weird about it, and have had their own embargos.

How does this play into our favorite here?  Well, Power Girl, if nothing else, is quite the cover girl. Point of fact, I’m willing to wager that in the last few years, she’s had more covers than any other DC superheroine that didn’t have her own book.

In this case, the above is the G’nort Swimsuit issue. Kara Zor-L got SIX different covers that I’ve tracked down, including ones by premier cover artists Frank Cho and Adam Hughes.  No other superheroine got more. This is in spite of the fact she’s only in ONE shot in the interior, and has to share it with three other heroes, and doesn’t even show off what readers know her best for.

How can we, as fans, parlay this into another ongoing series with the character, especially with the mass expansion of Superboys and Supergirl in 2026 (other than shanghaiing Palmiotti/Conner/Gray back)?

Power Girl joins the retro-85 Super Powers toyline along with Supergirl, old man Hal Jordan, the Eradicator, Cyborg Superman, and Earth-2 Robin.

One of the three main creators of Power Girl, along with Wally Wood and Joe Staton. Glad to see tributes coming in acknowledging his creations.