Did anyone else find Atlee(Terra)‘s relationship kind of creepy?

[mathew101281]

In the Powergirl mini series.
It has Sapphic vibes to it but Atlee is clearly a teenaged minor, and mentally is probably younger then that. I’ve been re reading that series and it really seemed to jump out at me.

[deadman322]

isn't creepy relationships like a thing with characters called terra?

[mathew101281]

isn't creepy relationships like a thing with characters called terra?

Deathstroke’s a villain though. Powergirl is suppose to be a hero.

[Agent Z]

I think the sexualized art had more to do with it. There was nothing inappropriate about their relationship from what I remember.

Deathstroke’s a villain though. Powergirl is suppose to be a hero.

I can absolutely say Power Girl is not a sexual predator.

[Thor-Ul]

I think it is about the eye of the beholder.
Anyway, there was this interesting book about comics wrote by Frederick Werthem, than could illuminate about this. Must be rigth because he was a doctor.

[Lee Stone]

I think the sexualized art had more to do with it. There was nothing inappropriate about their relationship from what I remember.



I can absolutely say Power Girl is not a sexual predator.

And the original Terra was far from innocent, herself, in that scenario.

[king81992]

And the original Terra was far from innocent, herself, in that scenario.

True, but it always left a bad taste in my mouth that Wolfman went out of his way to pretend Slade did nothing wrong and justify that plus all of his other crimes. I'm of the mindset that the original Terra should get a real chance at being an anti hero since Slade got such a ridiculous free pass for so many years.

[achilles]

Eh, yeah, it did strike me as being mildly creepy. Weird that PG would choose to hang out with a minor rather than heroes of her own age. I chalk it up to P, G, and C doing the Atlee mini at a time when they knew they were leading into their PG run, and wanting to use her with PG. Which they've done with PG and Harley as well, another weird pairing. Notice that the PG/Atlee thing was dropped like a hot potato as soon as their run was over. Has Atlee even appeared since?

[king81992]

Eh, yeah, it did strike me as being mildly creepy. Weird that PG would choose to hang out with a minor rather than heroes of her own age. I chalk it up to P, G, and C doing the Atlee mini at a time when they knew they were leading into their PG run, and wanting to use her with PG. Which they've done with PG and Harley as well, another weird pairing. Notice that the PG/Atlee thing was dropped like a hot potato as soon as their run was over. Has Atlee even appeared since?

She hung out with Starfire during her solo series.

[Agent Z]

And the original Terra was far from innocent, herself, in that scenario.

There were two people in that scenario. One was a teenager, the other was an adult on whom the onus was to not take sexual advantage of said teenager.

Eh, yeah, it did strike me as being mildly creepy. Weird that PG would choose to hang out with a minor rather than heroes of her own age. I chalk it up to P, G, and C doing the Atlee mini at a time when they knew they were leading into their PG run, and wanting to use her with PG. Which they've done with PG and Harley as well, another weird pairing. Notice that the PG/Atlee thing was dropped like a hot potato as soon as their run was over. Has Atlee even appeared since?

Why? Adult superheroes take in young sidekicks all the time and Karen was trying to help Atlee integrate into human society.

[PyroTwilight]

Pretty sure Atlee was supposed to be in the upper College age "kid" range at least when (re) introduced in Powergirl's stories since she was introduced in a COllege party in Supergirl's book IE 19 or so since she barely changed in the Starfire book and was pretty clearly in her 20's there.

Karen's not all that much older than her depending on what we're going with for her age wise. Don't think we were ever supposed to really think of Atlee as a teenaged minor, just "naïve" and bubbly like Element Woman or Starfire.

[Lee Stone]

There were two people in that scenario. One was a teenager, the other was an adult on whom the onus was to not take sexual advantage of said teenager.



Why? Adult superheroes take in young sidekicks all the time and Karen was trying to help Atlee integrate into human society.

There’s also the Big Brothers Big Sisters Program, which pairs a minor in need of guidance with an adult mentor.
It’s kinda sad, but society has become so jaded that people who do take the time to help a non-relative kid will get some funny looks.
Which I suspect keeps some people from participating in such programs.

And some tv shows from the ‘50s and ‘60s that were entirely innocent can now sometimes look creepy because of society’s shifting preconceptions.
Especially the family sitcoms episodes that dealt with childhood crushes on a teacher or other adult.

These days, filling in the blanks with sensational ideas is just natural.
I blame reality tv and Jerry Springer.

[Robanker]

I think the sexualized art had more to do with it. There was nothing inappropriate about their relationship from what I remember.



I can absolutely say Power Girl is not a sexual predator.

This. They were friends. Terra basically was very naive and Power Girl took her under her wing. I remember thinking it was like an older sister hanging out with her awkward sibling.

More than most, Power Girl has always struck me as someone perfectly fine with being single. She's got her family in the JSA, friends in Terra and some others, and her cat. She's content with that. Furthermore, most her sexual interests have been with men her age or older. It would be wildly out of character for her to be interested in an innocent minor like Atlee.