Power Girl Special #1: She’s Just A Girl In The World, & That’s All That We’ll Let Her Be

It’s a culmination of Leah Williams and Marguerite Sauvage’s Power Girl story that they’ve been building up since  Action Comics has been an anthology book around the Superfamily of characters, plus a sneak peek from the upcoming Fire & Ice special, featuring fan favorites of the Bwa-ha-ha Justice League America, by Joanne Starer and Natacha Bustos, that will come out later this year, so let’s get down to the issue…

Like a scene out of an old noir film

Since joining DC, and specifically the Superman family, Leah Williams and Marguerite Sauvage have tried to put their stamp on Power Girl, whether that’s giving her a new civilian identity (she’s now called Paige see: Action Comics #1053), to a new costume, to having Lilith Clay (the original Teen Titan Omen) join her as a supporting character in this brand new era, and so far it’s been met with varying amounts of success. 

Power Girl and Lilith have been dealing with the fallout of Lazarus Planet, which gave Peej, Johnny Sorrow, and countless others on the globe psychic powers, the most notable ability is her astral plane punch, which is a cheeky pun on Superboy Prime’s reality punch and has been a fun addition to her Kryptonian abilities over these last few months. The big fight on the astral plane, as well as Peej’s astral punch, and the power effects from Johnny Sorrow, it’s just a master class in showing what Sauvage is capable of.

It’s camp in the best possible way

One of the criticisms being lobbed against Williams run was the addition of these gifts, which has been unfairly targeted towards her. It was always clear that these gifts would eventually burn themselves out, and it’s pretty apparent from this issue that’s happening. The most glaring issue has been the near-instantaneous BFF status between Peej and Lilith. There’s not really a history between the two, and while it would be interesting to see the relationship between them grow, but it just feels too soon. Otherwise the issue was a lot of fun.

Especially with Sauvage’s art. Marguerite’s designs for Peej and Lilith have been great. Both fashionable and functional and a certain amount of fun. Especially when Peej is doing her astral projection punch, it’s just so whimsical and vibrant, which gives it a huge push in quality. Marguerite really deserves to be given a regular gig on a high-profile book. 

They’re the best of friends in all of the best ways

As an extra special bonus readers also get a ten-page opener for the upcoming Fire & Ice special that brings the fan-favorite JLA alums to their own adventure in America’s heartland, Smallville! Joanne’s voice for the two is fun and light and feels authentic for these two characters whose relationship stems all the way back nearly 40 years, all the way back to their time on the Global Guardians (seriously underrated team. Should have had a series or two by now), so seeing these two together was such a treat, setting the stage for the two’s adventure later this summer. It looks to be just a lot of fun.