Heritage!
Power Girl #3
Cover Date: August1988
Released: 3rd May 1988
⋅ Writers: Paul Kupperberg ⋅ Pencilers: Rick Hoberg ⋅
⋅ Inkers: Arne Starr ⋅ Colourists: Julianna Ferriter ⋅
⋅ Letterers: Bob Pinaha ⋅ Editors: Robert Greenberger ⋅
We start with not!Ted Grant, who I have to try really hard not to call Kord, teaching Kara martial arts, Karate because that was the fashion of the time. Now I’m not against her learning to defend herself, I actually like when the comics (and TV show) suggest that just because Kryptonians (or Atlanteans, whatever!) are super strong they shouldn’t learn how to fight better. But here she’d doing it because everything is spiralling out of control, and this comic, like the last continues this really passive Kara. How she doesn’t break his arm of throw him into orbit as she’s not paying attention I’m not sure, but luckily for him she’s off her game.
On the plus side something happens when she gets home, having to deal with some kind of weird demon like creature sent to take her down, obviously she’s still weak against magic as she doesn’t give to much of a fight against it. Meanwhile the big bad of this series, who we’ve seen on and off through the last few issues, decides to help Force (that guy from the first issue) escape from Belle Reve, yeah that one though I doubt he was every in consideration for the Suicide Squad!
Finally Kara does something proactive she track down a book full of Atlantean stories, apparently written in Old English by the Druids of all people! She also finds a Madame Rossilini a witch who follows the (very old) ways of a Atlantean goddess called Deedra. Don’t worry about all this as she’s a literal one issue wonders. Anyway because Atlantis we obviously next go to Stonehenge, England where the amulet Rossilini gave Kara, which is the same pattern as the belt buckle she got from Arion in Secret Origins #11.
Here she meets someone who can actually tell her what’s going on, Phantom Stranger and proper real magically superhero (why Power Girl didn’t go to magical heroes like Zatanna or Madame Xanadu I’m not sure). She briefly has to fight a demon and Force, actually being effective this time, managing to defeat bot of them by fighting smartly, even if we have a moment of doubt. Then Phantom Stranger tell Kara it’s part of a struggle between the Lords of Order of Chaos, with if this baddie beats her then Chaos will get power over Order. Finally spurred in action Power Girl goes through a portal to finally face the mastermind of all this.
Now that I’ve moaned about this comic let me say that I don’t hate this at all, its solid story telling. But it seems to tell it’s story by breaking down Kara and making her seem like a rookie hero dealing with her first weird activity. And remember this is the same Power Girl that only a few years ago fought the Midgard Serpent in a perpetual Ragnarök!
There’s also character and events about the apartment block and Starrware that just won’t matter because in one more issue this will be all over. I do wonder if they were hoping that this would spin off into a full series, as this seems to always have been a four part mini.
So in summary don’t hate it, but don’t love it!
