Karen Starr: Power Girl Appreciation 2020

[Will Evans]

If she appears anywhere in live action, it will be on Supergirl or Stargirl shows.
(Where a female is already the star, and Powergirl is not there to titillate the hero. Pun not intended.)


If on Supergirl, she’s there to show an alternate universe Kara, where’s she’s older and different.


If on Stargirl, she’s there as a younger JSA member, who Courtney could aspire to be.


I don’t foresee her on anything else. Not even the new Superman and Lois show.

[Frontier]

Yeah I didn't think anyone really knew Karen outside of our community. I mean, what has she ever appeared in for the general public to know her? Off the top of my head there's the JLU cartoon, which was Karen in appearance only, and an alt skin for Supergirl in Injustice 2, where she's no more sexualized or ridiculous than anyone else and her voice lines provide a clear and strong voice for her personality (insofar as voice lines in a fighting game can do that, anyway).

I mean, the biggest impact Karen seems to have had on the general public is some cosplay that tries too hard to be sexy, and probably some inappropriate art on Deviantart.....and you'll find all of that for any character.

They also made a whole episode reference to her in the new DC Super Hero Girls.

She was also in the Superman/Batman: Public Enemies animated film, but that's a little more niche.

[Celgress]

Chapter Seventeen of my DC/Dragon Ball Z crossover which features a fusion of Power Girl (and Chi Chi) is posted. Check it out, if so inclined. -

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/1294361...n-Wife-of-Goku

Enjoy

[Ascended]

They also made a whole episode reference to her in the new DC Super Hero Girls.

She was also in the Superman/Batman: Public Enemies animated film, but that's a little more niche.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that DCSHG episode. Man my daughter loves that show.

And I gotta say, it was a pretty good episode. Of course, the Supergirl in that cartoon is basically just Power Girl with the "S" anyway.....

[Celgress]

.....And I gotta say, it was a pretty good episode. Of course, the Supergirl in that cartoon is basically just Power Girl with the "S" anyway.....

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks so, lol.

[Robanker]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks so, lol.

Anyone who knows Power Girl has been saying it for years. Design, personality, you name it. She's Karen with an S, through and through.

Honestly, she's more PG than the New 52 Earth 2 Power Girl was, and she actually was PG with an S by the end.

[Ascended]

Totally agreed.

I'm very happy my daughter likes that show so much. She adored the previous version too. But as a DC fan, I get annoyed. It seems like the producer just took some basic character archetypes, the same ones she used for My Little Pony (another show my kid loves) and slapped them on DC characters whether it fit or not.

Supergirl isn't Kara, but Karen. Which, at least it's close right?

Jessica Cruz is a pacifist hippy, and as far as I know, the comic version isn't like that at all and was instead a ball of anxiety who struggled to walk out her door (at least for the first few years of her existence).

Bumblebee is a 80's stereotype nerd, when the comic version is a confident woman who isn't above some smack talk.

Zatanna and Wonder Woman are pretty spot on, more or less, so there's that. But it seems almost accidental when half the cast are treated as though the show runners never cracked a book or did any research.

It's an adaptation for little kids, so it doesn't bother me much; at least there's DC product out there for my daughter, yknow? I'm glad it's successful. But what's the point of using these characters if you're not going to even try to keep your version sorta-kinda close to the source material?

[Robanker]

So in episode 40 of the Podcast of Steel (it's on Spotify), Jimmy Palmiotti is the guest and he talks a fair bit about PG. When asked about characters he's protective of, she was one of the three. Say what you will about his and Amanda's run (and it should all be positive!), it's great to know she really does have some champions who have DC's ear. Always suspected it, but it's great to hear confirmation.

He also mentions a pitch he and Amanda have DC for Legion that they passed on for Bendis. Apparently it's written, so I hope we get it in some form one day.

[Robanker]

Totally agreed.

I'm very happy my daughter likes that show so much. She adored the previous version too. But as a DC fan, I get annoyed. It seems like the producer just took some basic character archetypes, the same ones she used for My Little Pony (another show my kid loves) and slapped them on DC characters whether it fit or not.

Supergirl isn't Kara, but Karen. Which, at least it's close right?

Jessica Cruz is a pacifist hippy, and as far as I know, the comic version isn't like that at all and was instead a ball of anxiety who struggled to walk out her door (at least for the first few years of her existence).

Bumblebee is a 80's stereotype nerd, when the comic version is a confident woman who isn't above some smack talk.

Zatanna and Wonder Woman are pretty spot on, more or less, so there's that. But it seems almost accidental when half the cast are treated as though the show runners never cracked a book or did any research.

It's an adaptation for little kids, so it doesn't bother me much; at least there's DC product out there for my daughter, yknow? I'm glad it's successful. But what's the point of using these characters if you're not going to even try to keep your version sorta-kinda close to the source material?

It's an adaption. Some work for fans of the source and some don't. It bugs me when stuff changes too (like Jane being so aggro on Doom Patrol), but it's the name of the game. As long as it doesn't come back and alter the source material, I can live with it.

I do agree that at some point why even use a character if it's in name only. Cassandra Cain was wasted on BoP and that sucks, but as you said, it's for young girls and they adore it which is awesome.

Adaptions have always been about compromised and while sometimes it's better and should come back to the source (BTAS Freeze), a lot of times I wish it wouldn't (basically the CW). It's why I kind of never want a live action Power Girl. I absolutely do not believe she would be translated well, but in name only, and then it'd spill back and override one of my favorite characters.

[Will Evans]

Totally agreed.

I'm very happy my daughter likes that show so much. She adored the previous version too. But as a DC fan, I get annoyed. It seems like the producer just took some basic character archetypes, the same ones she used for My Little Pony (another show my kid loves) and slapped them on DC characters whether it fit or not.

Supergirl isn't Kara, but Karen. Which, at least it's close right?

Jessica Cruz is a pacifist hippy, and as far as I know, the comic version isn't like that at all and was instead a ball of anxiety who struggled to walk out her door (at least for the first few years of her existence).

Bumblebee is a 80's stereotype nerd, when the comic version is a confident woman who isn't above some smack talk.

Zatanna and Wonder Woman are pretty spot on, more or less, so there's that. But it seems almost accidental when half the cast are treated as though the show runners never cracked a book or did any research.

It's an adaptation for little kids, so it doesn't bother me much; at least there's DC product out there for my daughter, yknow? I'm glad it's successful. But what's the point of using these characters if you're not going to even try to keep your version sorta-kinda close to the source material?

It’s not My Little Pony She’s copying. It’s just that for any of her female ensembles she always goes back to the 8 classical heroine types.

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.p...WGTHAHHeroines

It’s to keep each heroine identifiable, and not a copy of each other, so that every kid can relate to one.

[achilles]

Well, a nice charity sketch of PG up on the front page.

[juan678]

https://www.cbr.com/jim-lee-clay-man...r-girl-sketch/

[Ascended]

It’s not My Little Pony She’s copying. It’s just that for any of her female ensembles she always goes back to the 8 classical heroine types.

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.p...WGTHAHHeroines

It’s to keep each heroine identifiable, and not a copy of each other, so that every kid can relate to one.

I should've said "stock archetypes" I suppose, instead of "repeating previous projects." So sure, you got me there. But that doesn't change anything I said.

It's an adaptation and aimed at kids, adjustments are necessary so yeah I don't expect direct translations like Jessica Cruz being a giant anxiety ball who can't leave the house. But "I'm using stock archetypes!" is still a poor excuse for not even trying to spin the adaptation around the source material.

It just seems lazy to me. Again, it's successful and it's turning little kids (especially girls) into fans, so I'm very happy the show exists and is popular. But still; it's lazy to ignore the source material and just plug in your favorite archetypes.

[Will Evans]

I should've said "stock archetypes" I suppose, instead of "repeating previous projects." So sure, you got me there. But that doesn't change anything I said.

It's an adaptation and aimed at kids, adjustments are necessary so yeah I don't expect direct translations like Jessica Cruz being a giant anxiety ball who can't leave the house. But "I'm using stock archetypes!" is still a poor excuse for not even trying to spin the adaptation around the source material.

It just seems lazy to me. Again, it's successful and it's turning little kids (especially girls) into fans, so I'm very happy the show exists and is popular. But still; it's lazy to ignore the source material and just plug in your favorite archetypes.

Most of the source material and characterization won’t work for little girls. Hell. Most of the source material was written for teen boys and grown men.

You can’t fault them for changing it for the new intended audience.

[Robanker]

Most of the source material and characterization won’t work for little girls. Hell. Most of the source material was written for teen boys and grown men.

You can’t fault them for changing it for the new intended audience.

I think the concern is using Supergirl to be the big tough girl over, say, Barda. That's in character for her and allows Supergirl to have a personality more reminiscent of the comics.