I just won this artwork on eBay, artist is Amanda Amorim.

Following on from my Conway post and before the N52 comparison post comes Power Girl's next and most defining status quo shift into the 2000s from the 3 main creators that influenced her change. With their main through-line on Power Girl being how to "fix" the character from what she became in the 90s to something they feel fits better out of largely ignorance.

From Johns we see a similar approach he had with Hawkman at the time of trying to navigate her tumultuous origins by applying that meta narrative to her character. This notion that a key insecurity of her character is a sense of not belonging. Something that happens to work well with the foundation Levitz set in Power Girl of wanting to be accepted on her own terms. Back then wanting to prove herself both apart from Superman whilst solidifying her belonging to the JSA. Then post-crisis wanting to be accepted after the exposure of her Atlantean origins ostracized her and now her journey was about finding a new found family from Jennifer Morgan in Warlord to belonging to the JLE/I. Here it comes across as Johns following those aspects of belonging and separation from the El's due to her confusing origins.

Whilst recollecting on it now situates it as all sounding planned, Johns has been open about not particularity gravitating to Power Girl until he wrote her, its most likely why he approached her from this meta narrative as that was the extent of his familiarity with her. With that application leading him to liking her a lot and grounding aspects from the 90s such as diminishing her impetuous and brazen side from the comical levels prior but retaining it as a foundation born from how to navigates her tumultuous tragic origins. It also explains some hiccups in the approach to her character like the infamous JLA/JSA: Virtue and Vice depicting Karen as Lust coming from a meta perception rather than indicative of her persona.

If you've been keeping up with my posts I usually try to apply how this works with her 2nd wave feminist inspirations. The way I see it here is more of a return to form to Power Girl's per-exaggeration days being representative of the movement further encompassed by the beginnings of her mentoring younger women on the JSA to act more liberated compared to previously what came across at times as subconsciously poking fun at the movement with the dialed-up stereotypes of feminist women with diet coke jokes being most telling. However, even then it sands off further how abrasive she could be whilst trying to add depth to why she acts this way to make her come across more relatable and enabling future writers to pick up these character trait's in association of her in context origin rather than meta feminist context.

This is where Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti come in.

Both artist and writer have been open about the fact they likewise felt indifferent to Power Girl. Where they differ from Johns is less so being interested in the continuity aspect but rather her physical appearance and how that grounds her character. Taking a similarly meta-perspective of familiarity and creating a story with the intention of further making her relatable. Whilst Johns & Conner touched on this with say Karen's conversation with Jimmy Olsen, Palmiotti and Conner is where it really became apparent and illustrates a big change with how Power Girl is written. From the focus on her predominantly 2nd wave feminist underpinnings in her persona and how she navigates the world to now situating her as essentially the "straight man" to a wacky world with said world so focused on addressing her appearance it becomes, for some from comments I've read here, a story that touches on 3rd wave feminism, particularly the aspect of sex-positivity and reclaiming symbols of dis-empowerment, In this case the aspect of Power Girl's appearance being designed for the male gaze where Conner and Palmiotti want to address it, how she tackles the perception but not have that be her entire character. Instead it acts as one aspect of her character to be relatable to readers via exploring women's experiences alongside other relatable aspects in their run to make the reader empathise stronger with her.

That's not to say that her peevishness isn't apparent, her encounters with Vartox, Satanna, perverts, Ultra-Humanite and more all show that remains, its just not used akin to the 90s where its usually positioned as a flaw but instead moments of catharsis for the reader, adding to that aspect of relatability. That's what sets the application of addressing her appearance different here than in JLE/I for me because Giffen & later Jones do address that aspect of objectification into her character as a set up for her angry reaction to be the payoff. Its just as Jones goes on that begins to encompass her whole character rather than moments.

The quote pitch from Wacker that got Conner onboard I feel addresses it best about how Conner would go on to see Power Girl in connection with the Pro, the notion of being a "real" character in a world they are at odds with whereas Karen is the adjusted approach. Karen acknowledges the world she's in both the good and bad and strives to foster the good moments no matter how menial they may appear to be. It's why having Terra with her works so well in enabling Power Girl the opportunity to express her joys of life in the face of villains and societal expectations that intent to push that joy down. Likewise with Peeg's relationship with Stargirl & Hawkgirl in JSA. It's why I feel most gravitate to this version of Power Girl for how down-to-earth relatable she is, how that relatability works in the humour of the series, the inspirational level of earnestness she has despite her tribulations, and how this all still works in the continuity of her character wanting to belong.

So what do you think? Do you agree with the more meta-textual approach Palmiotti, Conner & Johns took? Do you feel writers since have taken their foundations or just focused again on the objectification aspect? Let me know.

https://x.com/1cantdraw/status/2076854099358708036?s=46&t=iVyMqX8IZQv-0q7R2qLGUg

https://o_8.artstation.com/projects/KrVLnB

https://x.com/akio_sang_/status/2075629371726196898?s=46&t=iVyMqX8IZQv-0q7R2qLGUg

This is probably gonna cause a sub war, but... who's taking her out? Also, you can favourite it on DeviantArt here. Artwork by yours truly.

Source: https://x.com/i/status/2075193100801306692

Note: I don't believe "no commercial use" is the same as "no reposts".

After the very good reception of my cosplay here are another two😌💪😇

I'm aware that rule 7. Limitation of Reposts but what is the timeframe before something can be reposted?

I've noticed a fair few posts that are reposts of Power Girl, I've reported it, and then it still remains. Examples:

• https://www.reddit.com/r/PowerGirl/comments/1u8ha5f/power_girl_art_by_rakusakugk/
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/PowerGirl/comments/1lyg2tz/art_by_rakusakugk/ - original post
• https://www.reddit.com/r/PowerGirl/comments/1u0fb30/power_girls_photo_session_art_by_mikoyan/
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/PowerGirl/comments/1rclqpg/power_girl_by_mikoyan/ - original post
• https://www.reddit.com/r/PowerGirl/comments/1uo7udx/power_girl_supergirl_art_by_rakusakugk/
  • https://www.reddit.com/r/PowerGirl/comments/1mzg1m8/big_sis_power_girl/ - original post

Mods - u/karazol u/medium-science9526 and u/prydefuhunts, any help with this?

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.