I've read a 'Power Girl' comic before from my local library. While I really liked the superheroine herself, what I mostly got was a character who was brought back from the old and destroyed DC universe of Earth-2 after the whole 'Infinite Crisis' event, and who keeps being left to writers who have no idea what to do with her. Origin changes and sticking-ideas-to-walls-and-seeing-what-falls aplenty. I was frustrated, unimpressed.
But I saw potential in Power Girl, which was why I picked up 'A New Beginning', an appropriate and much-needed title for someone who's suffered as many retcons as her.
As promised, the comic is fun, fresh and simple. It's what a superhero comic like this one should be. The artwork compliments the storylines with its lovable and colourful cartoony style.
Power Girl - aka Karen Starr - is as I remember her: brash, headstrong, funny, sarcastic, genre-savvy, and smarter than she lets on; even though she prefers to use her fists in any crime-fighting situation. Possessing super strength, speed, flight, laser eyes, and ice breath, PG is a competent hero who takes crap from no one, yet is very much human despite being Kryptonian.
It's because of this that I can overlook her (in)famous chest-window; she shows how her personality and heart are much bigger than her cleavage. Power Girl has an identity separate from Superman, which is great, and is one of the reasons why I prefer her to Supergirl. PG does not exist as a sexy Supes to be ogled at; she isn't super skinny like so many superheroines either. Atta woman!
Her civilian identity, Karen Starr, is the CEO of an environmentally-friendly science and engineering company, StarrWare Labs, which she's working to get up off the ground. That's right - she's an independent head of a succeeding billion-dollar company. The female boss of a high power workplace! Power Girl definitely has soaring ambitions and wishes to save the world in all manner of ways; she's doing extraordinarily well for a fresh start in New York. She's in fact very common sense-driven and friendly - grateful to others, including civilians, when they help her.
While Power Girl still isn't a fan of the press, she appreciates that a lot of people like her, though a lot of it is due to her bust. She's gotten used to men staring at her chest, and jokes about how it offers a distraction to keep the bad guys underestimating her. So long as no one outright objectifies her and make sexist comments, or else she'll make clever responses that aren't all violent.
Her sidekick is Terra, aka Atlee, and they make a great girlfriend duo. They save New York City, and go see cheesy movies together. We don't really get much info on Terra in this volume, but that doesn't matter since Power Girl and her adventures are the focus. I like how the book is self-aware on the secret identity angle, and has Terra make fun of Karen only hiding her superhero identity by dressing in smart clothes and wearing her hair up. She doesn't even put on glasses like Clark Kent. PG owns a cat, too, and collects snow globes.
Best of all, there's no love interest! Ha!
Power Girl faces up against all sorts of craziness. Like Ultra-Humanite, a human brain in a gorilla body who captures the whole of Manhattan and wants to transfer his brain to Power Girl's Kryptonian body. She then fights the Elven Sorceress, and space party princesses. There is also a sexy man-slave android from outta space - the randomness is what makes for a fun comic book.
The ending to the volume is a little abrupt, and not everything is resolved - with Karen mentioning how complicated her new life is becoming. Not all content in 'A New Beginning' is light-hearted, silly and kid-friendly - it contains instances of suicide, murder, shootings, and a couple of references to 9/11, but nothing explicitly gory.
That's just about it. 'Power Girl, Vol. 1: A New Beginning' has no deep meaning, except for female empowerment. It is just what Power Girl needed, but it's not meant to be taken too seriously. The comic mainly aims for its reader to have a fun time; like at an amusement park (one is featured in this) with a superheroine who has a strong personality and ambitions of her own.
Final Score: 4/5
Thursday, 23 July 2015
Graphic Novel Review - 'Thor, Vol. 1: The Goddess of Thunder' by Jason Aaron (Writer), Russell Dauterman (Artist), Jorge Molina (Artist)
Packaged as serious business. In truth it's surprisingly funny - with feminist subtext both subtle and in your face. This doesn't hinder 'Thor, Vol. 1: The Goddess of Thunder' from being a fun, action-packed comic book. It is one of Marvel's most groundbreaking and important titles coming out, along with the new 'Ms. Marvel' series.
Before going any further, I'll say that before this I had not read any 'Thor' comics. My knowledge of the character comes from the Marvel movies, plus the variations of Norse mythology. Still, more women getting recognition as their own superheroes in comics was something I had to check out, and I knew this change to such a renowned and iconic character was a huge risk for Marvel to take. Unsurprisingly, it did get some backlash from (mostly) male fans who still want everything to revolve around them and reflect their lives and experiences, and who pretend that none of the half of the human race reads comics or wants to see more female heroes. I wanted to support the idea of a female Thor, however, so I bought this book with my own money. This one small change may be a stepping stone towards people finally growing up and accepting that change may be scary, but it has to happen for both fiction and reality to evolve - for the better, for everyone. If Marvel can achieve outstanding success with a Muslim Ms. Marvel and an African American Spider-Man, then a woman Thor in retrospect shouldn't be considered such a stormy risk to begin with.
And as it turns out, you don't need to read the previous 'Thor' stories to get what's going on in 'The Goddess of Thunder'. You can still enjoy it, which is a relief.
Basic rundown of 'The Goddess of Thunder' is: Thor - Odinson - has been disgraced. He is no longer worthy to wield the hammer Mjolnir due to some undisclosed whispered words from Nick Fury. No one - not even King Odin, the hammer's creator - can lift it while it's stuck on the moon like Excalibur. It seems that a mighty hero and Avenger is lost, along with Asgard.
Then, out of the blue, a mysterious woman appears on the moon and lifts Mjolnir - new rules are ingrained in the stone, and she is deemed worthy. This new warrior storms forth to save the earth (Midgard), Asgard and other realms from Frost Giants and the Dark Elf Malekith. There is also an evil businessman who turns into a minotaur; Avengers making a cameo appearance being iced by the Giants; Odin plotting against the female Thor for "stealing" Mjolnir; witty banter; and male Thor riding a goat at the bottom of the sea.
Thor also hates that someone else has what was his for so long, and he does fight female Thor for it. However, unlike his father, he changes his viewpoint when he sees how Mjolnir works with and responds to the newest chosen one. He even gives her - in front of all of the good guys - the official name of Thor. Not Lady Thor, nor Thora, and definitely not Thorina or Thorita. She is Thor - the one and only, for she has proven worthy of the name.
Afterwards Odinson makes for a rubbish detective and tries to find out the identity of the new Thor (one of his suspects is Loki - this comic has a great sense of humour). Odin does not accept this change. He represents a male who stubbornly refuses such a change as gender in a hero, no matter how good the woman is, and even when she's not being seditious but simply trying her best with a heavy title now placed on her shoulders. Odin will go so far as to make idiotic decisions, and ends up as much of a villain as Malekith.
Change is good. As is shown with female Thor.
In the first volume the reader does not find out her true identity (she wears a mask), nor why she was chosen to wield Mjolnir. But her personality shines through the colourful pages. Not only is her design fantastic, but even without her awesome weapon she is capable, witty, warm-hearted, humourous, and she kicks arse. Her modern-language thought balloons in contrast to her more archaic speeches implies that she is from earth. She can take down monsters and sexists in one go.
This Thor is rather like Xena, Warrior Princess. I love that she isn't merely a distaff counterpart to Thor - she is her own person, and fights using the hammer quite differently from male Thor. No borrowed identity here; she is here to stay.
Female Thor is also one of the few heroines I've seen who steals a kiss from a male lead. One of the funniest moments in the comic is when this is followed up with her saying, "Still think I am your mother?" The response: "I certainly hope not."
New Thor may be a bit of a mystery for the moment, but this is undeniably her book, with panel trips to see how the old Thor is doing - possibly done to please the old-school fanboys.
Some responses to the terrible criticisms of a female Thor do make it into the volume, and her fight with Crusher Creel in issue 5 is the most on-the-nose of all. But addressing the issue of sexism via a Take-That against it may have been needed when the controversy was so big. I laughed at Crusher Creel complaining that there're less "manly" superheroes nowadays, thanks to feminists. Female Thor's competence as a warrior and her saying that feminist is not a four letter word are much needed step-ups as well.
Other feminist ideas come from Freyja, male Thor's mother and a prominent female figure in Asgard and the whole comic. When she ruled as the All-Mother in Odin's absence, everything went well. Only when her husband returns as the All-Father do things go awry again. Freyja is compassionate but tough, smart, level-headed, and not afraid to speak her mind - to hell with her "place" in society. She has a sarcastic streak to her as well. The All-Mother has a meaningful conversation with female Thor at the end of the volume, which isn't just a warning about Odin and his new goal to make Thor's life extremely difficult from now on. So 'The Goddess of Thunder' passes the Bechdel test.
Traditional gender roles being challenged is also shown with Odinson at his most vulnerable, and him admitting not only a thunderous change in his life, but his own limitations. A woman bests him at his classic skills and he accepts this, like a real man. He is no less a man without his hammer, but he will be by his own self-pity. Odinson is left crippled in more ways than one, and he has to keep moving forward without fighting like he used to in the old days.
I love the artwork, too. Great colour schemes, action and character expressions. It changes in the last issue, but it isn't jarring and still looks very nice.
Flaws include wanting to see a bit more of Thor herself as a focus in her own book, rather than on the controversy and mystery of her from the point of view of the other characters. More action and power from her please! Though I'm sure there will be in the next volume. There's also the amount of times the words "worthy" and "unworthy" are said. I know they mean a big deal in context, but it gets comical after a while, and I'm not sure if that's the intent. It's like how the words "honour" and "hope" are overused in other works of media.
'Thor, Vol. 1: The Goddess of Thunder' is entertaining stuff. Colourful, grand, funny, mythological, high-octane action - it is the beginning of something mighty, I'm sure.
Final Score: 4/5
Before going any further, I'll say that before this I had not read any 'Thor' comics. My knowledge of the character comes from the Marvel movies, plus the variations of Norse mythology. Still, more women getting recognition as their own superheroes in comics was something I had to check out, and I knew this change to such a renowned and iconic character was a huge risk for Marvel to take. Unsurprisingly, it did get some backlash from (mostly) male fans who still want everything to revolve around them and reflect their lives and experiences, and who pretend that none of the half of the human race reads comics or wants to see more female heroes. I wanted to support the idea of a female Thor, however, so I bought this book with my own money. This one small change may be a stepping stone towards people finally growing up and accepting that change may be scary, but it has to happen for both fiction and reality to evolve - for the better, for everyone. If Marvel can achieve outstanding success with a Muslim Ms. Marvel and an African American Spider-Man, then a woman Thor in retrospect shouldn't be considered such a stormy risk to begin with.
And as it turns out, you don't need to read the previous 'Thor' stories to get what's going on in 'The Goddess of Thunder'. You can still enjoy it, which is a relief.
Basic rundown of 'The Goddess of Thunder' is: Thor - Odinson - has been disgraced. He is no longer worthy to wield the hammer Mjolnir due to some undisclosed whispered words from Nick Fury. No one - not even King Odin, the hammer's creator - can lift it while it's stuck on the moon like Excalibur. It seems that a mighty hero and Avenger is lost, along with Asgard.
Then, out of the blue, a mysterious woman appears on the moon and lifts Mjolnir - new rules are ingrained in the stone, and she is deemed worthy. This new warrior storms forth to save the earth (Midgard), Asgard and other realms from Frost Giants and the Dark Elf Malekith. There is also an evil businessman who turns into a minotaur; Avengers making a cameo appearance being iced by the Giants; Odin plotting against the female Thor for "stealing" Mjolnir; witty banter; and male Thor riding a goat at the bottom of the sea.
Thor also hates that someone else has what was his for so long, and he does fight female Thor for it. However, unlike his father, he changes his viewpoint when he sees how Mjolnir works with and responds to the newest chosen one. He even gives her - in front of all of the good guys - the official name of Thor. Not Lady Thor, nor Thora, and definitely not Thorina or Thorita. She is Thor - the one and only, for she has proven worthy of the name.
Afterwards Odinson makes for a rubbish detective and tries to find out the identity of the new Thor (one of his suspects is Loki - this comic has a great sense of humour). Odin does not accept this change. He represents a male who stubbornly refuses such a change as gender in a hero, no matter how good the woman is, and even when she's not being seditious but simply trying her best with a heavy title now placed on her shoulders. Odin will go so far as to make idiotic decisions, and ends up as much of a villain as Malekith.
Change is good. As is shown with female Thor.
In the first volume the reader does not find out her true identity (she wears a mask), nor why she was chosen to wield Mjolnir. But her personality shines through the colourful pages. Not only is her design fantastic, but even without her awesome weapon she is capable, witty, warm-hearted, humourous, and she kicks arse. Her modern-language thought balloons in contrast to her more archaic speeches implies that she is from earth. She can take down monsters and sexists in one go.
This Thor is rather like Xena, Warrior Princess. I love that she isn't merely a distaff counterpart to Thor - she is her own person, and fights using the hammer quite differently from male Thor. No borrowed identity here; she is here to stay.
Female Thor is also one of the few heroines I've seen who steals a kiss from a male lead. One of the funniest moments in the comic is when this is followed up with her saying, "Still think I am your mother?" The response: "I certainly hope not."
New Thor may be a bit of a mystery for the moment, but this is undeniably her book, with panel trips to see how the old Thor is doing - possibly done to please the old-school fanboys.
Some responses to the terrible criticisms of a female Thor do make it into the volume, and her fight with Crusher Creel in issue 5 is the most on-the-nose of all. But addressing the issue of sexism via a Take-That against it may have been needed when the controversy was so big. I laughed at Crusher Creel complaining that there're less "manly" superheroes nowadays, thanks to feminists. Female Thor's competence as a warrior and her saying that feminist is not a four letter word are much needed step-ups as well.
Other feminist ideas come from Freyja, male Thor's mother and a prominent female figure in Asgard and the whole comic. When she ruled as the All-Mother in Odin's absence, everything went well. Only when her husband returns as the All-Father do things go awry again. Freyja is compassionate but tough, smart, level-headed, and not afraid to speak her mind - to hell with her "place" in society. She has a sarcastic streak to her as well. The All-Mother has a meaningful conversation with female Thor at the end of the volume, which isn't just a warning about Odin and his new goal to make Thor's life extremely difficult from now on. So 'The Goddess of Thunder' passes the Bechdel test.
Traditional gender roles being challenged is also shown with Odinson at his most vulnerable, and him admitting not only a thunderous change in his life, but his own limitations. A woman bests him at his classic skills and he accepts this, like a real man. He is no less a man without his hammer, but he will be by his own self-pity. Odinson is left crippled in more ways than one, and he has to keep moving forward without fighting like he used to in the old days.
I love the artwork, too. Great colour schemes, action and character expressions. It changes in the last issue, but it isn't jarring and still looks very nice.
Flaws include wanting to see a bit more of Thor herself as a focus in her own book, rather than on the controversy and mystery of her from the point of view of the other characters. More action and power from her please! Though I'm sure there will be in the next volume. There's also the amount of times the words "worthy" and "unworthy" are said. I know they mean a big deal in context, but it gets comical after a while, and I'm not sure if that's the intent. It's like how the words "honour" and "hope" are overused in other works of media.
'Thor, Vol. 1: The Goddess of Thunder' is entertaining stuff. Colourful, grand, funny, mythological, high-octane action - it is the beginning of something mighty, I'm sure.
Final Score: 4/5
Tuesday, 21 July 2015
Saturday, 18 July 2015
Monday, 6 July 2015
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