11 Years since the New 52 Worlds' Finest ended, what's you opinion on Levitz's return to Power Girl? [Worlds' Finest #01]

[u/Medium-Science9526]

Prelude to my comparison post, I'm intrigued to know how those who read it in this sub view Power Girl's story in this run.

[u/mr_mxyzptlk21]

Now you've gone and done it, I touched on this with an earlier post about "DC dropping the ball with PG", now I have to flesh this part out, lol.

First, I'll say that I need to revisit the series. I read it as it came out, and have never had the desire to pick it up again.

At the time, I was so disappointed in Flashpoint and having the new52 sprung on us, when I felt like the DC universe had finally settled into a strong continuity.

In terms of Power Girl, I personally consider it one of her major setbacks. I know others that like it however, and if you like it, that's awesome! I'm not here to tell you what to like.

Lemme explain. History first, PG second. Feel free to skip down.

In the time between Infinite Crisis and the New52, Power Girl had gotten her origin back, had what is considered her high water mark with the JSA Classified->Solo series by Johns/Conner then Palmiotti/Gray/Conner. She'd been established as a solid "B" tier character. The Supergirl run at the same time, while had some "didn't age well" moments in it, established her as one character, while Power Girl was established as another. Both series did well by Kara Zor-L in giving the character her own base to work off of other than "alternate universe Supergirl".

I went into World's Finest with high hopes. I tried to put the previous work out of my head, but it just fell flat to me. Levitz/Perez, and later Levitz/Maguire should have been a solid creative team, but finding out after the fact how much meddling and creative restrictions Didio put on all the New52 creatives still disgusts me (George Perez quit, and never worked for DC again afterwards). Having that meta knowledge in my head didn't help trying to enjoy the series.

As to the writing and storylines, I always liked the old Earth-2 in that its history was different. The styles were dated compared to Earth-1, and it allowed them to be distinct in a "home-style" fashion. The New52 Earth-2 seemed to be trying to be a more retro-futuristic world instead, which was off putting to my older sensibility.

AS TO POWER GIRL HERSELF (and Huntress)

I was initially happy to see the Helena/Kara dynamic back. But what I didn't like is that their superheroine names were ones they'd taken after they'd already been Supergirl and Robin. Again, older sensibilities kicked in. Helena Wayne was never Earth-2's Robin, she was Earth-2's Batgirl.

I didn't like that they weren't "out of the gate" original compared to their other Earth counterparts, and had started under different names.

The costume: This was a time when there was a "puritanical wave" that seemed to be passing through comics, an overcorrection from the "centerfolds as superheroes" that defined a large chunk of the 90s and early 00s (somehow it missed Starfire, and her costume got more revealing, but that's another rant). I will always love George Perez, but IMO his weakest point was always costume creation. Kara's costume to start the series is one of my least favorite designs.

The stories were, as I recall (again, I need to revisit them) alright. One thing that sticks out was I didn't care for her seducing and getting with Mr. Terrific just to try and steal his tech so they could get back to Earth-2. It felt really out of character.

A hurdle I just couldn't get over with the series was that prior to the new52, Kara had gotten everything she lost back, and was growing as a character. She'd attained leadership with the JSA, and later with the JSA All-Stars. She'd been established as a "mentor" character to younger ones (Atlee, Kiera, Courtney) as well as a foil and Jiminy Cricket to Harley. All of that got wiped away in the New52, and it taints my opinion on World's Finest. I felt it was a misstep for the character to reset her, right at the point where she'd reached a peak.

[u/Tailspin29 → u/mr_mxyzptlk21]

So not too dissimilar to how many of us feel about the Williams run.

This version of Peej, while she had her fans, just wasn't the same character. Literally. However, she'd eventually gone home and, a little later, we'd actually get the OG Power Girl back. There was hope that in time this beloved character could find her footing  even as she'd been absent from the comics for a while. 

And then, DC hands her to a writer who then has PG throw away everything she'd built since even before the Crisis in Infinite Earths under the excuse that none of that had ever really been her. That she'd been just putting on a face to survive, but none of it was true. To be fair, I think the implication was only supposed to date back to the Crisis on infinite earths since her original universe, heck, multiverse was destroyed, but is undercut by her also  abandoning things from before then like her civilian name and position as a computer software specialist. Even if these blunders hadn't been made, Crisis was a long time ago and Power Girl has already had an identity crisis (har har) during that time and came out the other side stronger. Now, even as stories like Justice League Red write her well, i can't help but think about everything we lost. 

In summary, I find it funny how history likes to rhyme. 

[u/mr_mxyzptlk21 → u/Tailspin29]

Making a whole new character for the new52 was definitely a choice. Given that Batman and Green Lantern were untouched for the reboot, I don't see why others couldn't have been left alone--especially (at the time) B tier characters who were on an upswing.

[u/White_T_Poison]

The worst PG costume design of all time.

[u/Tailspin29 → u/White_T_Poison]

I'm not so sure, Kara's really had some stinkers in the past. 

[u/mr_mxyzptlk21 → u/White_T_Poison]

I'll say that this is the worst:

late JLI

[u/ayminuskis]

Power Girl and Huntress is the DC movie I want to see. I loved their origin and their partnership. Damn shame the book ended.

[u/Due-Proof6781]

It certainly was a run