Power Girl 23

JUDD WINICK LIVES ANOTHER DAY.

The first twelve issues of Power Girl – and the story-arc that preceded it in the JSA Classified title – were delightful. Taking the permagrumpy powerhouse of the Justice Society and infusing her with a wry sense of humour and self-awareness, they humanised a character who had become an overbearing, ambulant wet-dream cliche, placing her in a context where she had actual friends and a life. All down to the hitherto unsuspected (at least by me) scripting talents of Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray, Kara/Karen became grounded and – look, I’m sorry, but there’s no way around it – well-rounded, coming across as more than an ersatz Supergirl. In this, the writers were ably assisted by artist Amanda Conner, who played up PG’s phenomenal physique with facial expressions and sight gags that made it clear Power Girl is very aware of her extraordinary anatomy and the effect it has on bystanders, and is savvy enough to use it to her advantage without obsessing over it.

Magical times; fun, well-crafted super-hero comics with insight into the ridiculousness of the whole situation, but a spirit of adventure and zest which enthralled.

Then with issue 12, it was ‘all change’ for the creative team, and we heard the words that over the last decade have come to strike fear into the heart of any fan; “Judd Winick is taking over the writing”.

Winick used to be good, I swear. Barry Ween? So funny I literally peed myself a little. Exiles? Imaginative, engaging, giving “Sliders-with-mutants” vastly more credibility than the concept deserved. Green Lantern? Outsiders? Titans? Ehhh… as soon as he was acclimated to the mainstream, he started turning out books that were full of the grim n’gritty excrescences infesting the medium today. Betrayal, pointless death, forced crossovers with other titles, ridiculous ‘reveals’ et-braindead-cetera.

True enough, beginning with issue 13, one of PG’s friends and colleagues was found dead after having apparently siphoned off all of the profits from our heroine’s business, and the carefully-crafted supporting cast that had been established was promptly demolished, misused or ignored. The title became a plonking, repetitive cycle of fight/angst/fight/angst and YAWN, completely devoid of the charm and vitality that had been its unique selling point. I seriously considered violating my Watcher’s Oath, and expunging Winick from the face of the Earth as punishment for his reliance on lazy contrived setpieces.

But with this issue… there’s a glimmer of hope. I didn’t hate it.  Heck, I even smiled in a couple of places.

We open with a pleasingly self-conscious and self-justifying debate between the Kryptonian Kousins as to whether the dinosaurs they’re fighting are magical or some form of gene-enhanced experiment, just looking for an excuse to cut loose – and then, when they find even their unrestrained powers  can’t cut it, they call up Zatanna, who’s sadly tied up by power-parasite Siphon. But in a blinding flash of common sense, Winnick actually comes up with a logical way of getting our guest heroine out of her bound ‘n’ gagged predicament, (demonstrating intelligence and foresight on Zee’s part) and from there it’s pretty much fun & games as the trio take on Siphon’s newly-acquired magical moxie, which he uses with ingenuity and aplomb. Along the way, there are sight-gags and dialogue bits that make me believe that somewhere, buried deep, Winick may after all still have it. While not a patch on the first 12 issues, this is nevertheless a highly enjoyable story, and a shining beacon in the morass of gloom that a once ‘must read’ title had become.

You’ll notice that I haven’t so far mentioned the artistic contributions of Sami Basri, regular illustrator since #13. This is because he’s only demonstrated, to date,  mastery of two basic facial expressions, ‘Angry’ and ‘Stunned Halibut’, and neither is tremendously beneficial to the light-hearted tone of the story.  He gets you, comprehensibly, from plot point A to plot point B, (which, to be fair, is more than can be said for many pros working today) but that’s about his limit.

So, yeah. The Ultimate Nullifier goes back in its case. Judd Winick lives another day.

Better use it wisely, sunbeam.