Power Girl Special #1 // Review
A classic hero is given a new direction in Power Girl Special #1. The one-shot includes a whole new adventure for the beloved character with a convoluted past. Writer Leah Williams brings Power Girl back to the center of the panel in an issue featuring gorgeous art by Marguerite Sauvage. Writer Joanne Starer sets up a back-up for a whole new series with Fire and Ice in a story drawn by Natacha Bustos. The one-shot establishes interesting new possibilities for all three central characters as both stories will spin off into a new series.
Johnny Sorrow seems to be haunting Power Girl. She’s psychic now, which gives her certain strengths...and other vulnerabilities. Now, she’s being hunted by a sinister phantom who strikes from within. Power Girl can’t simply punch her way through as the villain rests beyond the physical. Elsewhere, Fire and Ice are responding to a natural disaster in Baltimore. Ice’s ex (a guy named Guy) is in Baltimore. (It’s NOT a good relationship.) Fire seems to be keeping Ice’s desires in check until Guy shows up in classic dramatic fashion. Fire will have her hands full in more ways than one.
The psychic awareness gives Power Girl a whole new dimension. She’s been presented with problems she couldn’t simply beat up before. The conflict between physical aggression and a world of greater sophistication has always been a recurring theme for Power Girl. Williams does a good job of providing a new level to this conflict in a story that pits her against a non-physical threat. Fire and Ice have always been deeply interesting characters who have never really had much of a chance to be anything other than support. Starer makes a strong case for the pair as central characters in a story of subtle emotional complexity that provides some detail on their long-standing relationship.
Sauvage’s elegant art resonates beautifully with Power Girl. Johnny Sorrow gains a clean and iconic sort of visual reality under the power of Sauvage as well. The artist deftly places the action in the slightly twisted world that Sorrow gradually pulls Power Girl into. There is some impact to the physical action, but Sauvage’s strength lies in subtlety. In the back-up story, Bustos works best in the large-scale rendering of big power on the part of Fire and Ice. There IS some strength in dramatic close-ups, but the visuals of Fire and Ice always feel more intense from a distance.
DC is wise to broaden its domain. In recent years, SO MANY titles have been curling around Gotham City with a host of main characters in the orbit of Batman. New titles for Power Girl and Fire & Ice are a step in the right direction. Judging from the opening adventures of both characters, there DOES appear to be potential in casting fresh, new glances at supporting characters from the Justice Society and the Justice League.
