Karen Starr: Power Girl Appreciation 2020

[Frontier]

Yeah but at some point someone has to step in and let her know what she's doing is not okay. It happens so often and is so laser-focused I can't really dismiss it as a joke in a fictional story anymore. It really is sexual harassment. I love Jimmy and Amanda but I'm really tired of that joke. :/

When was the last time anyone did that with Harley?

[Robanker]

When was the last time anyone did that with Harley?

Not in a long time as far as I've seen.

[Ascended]

Yeah but at some point someone has to step in and let her know what she's doing is not okay. It happens so often and is so laser-focused I can't really dismiss it as a joke in a fictional story anymore. It really is sexual harassment. I love Jimmy and Amanda but I'm really tired of that joke. :/

You're right; it's not okay.

But we're not talking about a hero who tries to help people and uphold a higher moral value. We're talking about Harley Quinn; someone who is quite literally insane, a criminal, and a remorseless killer. Hitting on Karen when it's obvious that Karen isn't interested is the *least* of Harley's crimes. You're just accusing a villain of acting like....a villain. It's also keeping with Harley's characterization; she's not good at recognizing when somebody (Joker) isn't actually interested in her.

[achilles]

I might say that I hated pairing Kara and Harley since it began. The only reason for it that they were both Palmiotti and Connor's pet characters, but the two do NOT go together. In fact, I'd prefer never to see them together again, unless it's PG hauling her off to jail, as in that Joker: Last Laugh thing.

[Robanker]

You're right; it's not okay.

But we're not talking about a hero who tries to help people and uphold a higher moral value. We're talking about Harley Quinn; someone who is quite literally insane, a criminal, and a remorseless killer. Hitting on Karen when it's obvious that Karen isn't interested is the *least* of Harley's crimes. You're just accusing a villain of acting like....a villain. It's also keeping with Harley's characterization; she's not good at recognizing when somebody (Joker) isn't actually interested in her.

Well they want her to be sympathetic and nobody pushes back. I'm not saying Harley shouldn't disregard it, but it's almost like everyone in-universe is cool with it because "well thaaaaat's Harley!" PG has shut down others for less outrageous or consistent behavior. It's just frustrating as a fan of Karen.

[The_Lurk]

Well they want her to be sympathetic and nobody pushes back. I'm not saying Harley shouldn't disregard it, but it's almost like everyone in-universe is cool with it because "well thaaaaat's Harley!" PG has shut down others for less outrageous or consistent behavior. It's just frustrating as a fan of Karen.

Likely she ain't used to get that attention form other woman. And in Harleys case they will always have Paris

[Agent Z]

I wonder if stuff like this also contributes to the idea that Karen is just a cheap fanservice character. Harley is far from the first character to treat her like this after all.

[achilles]

I wonder if stuff like this also contributes to the idea that Karen is just a cheap fanservice character. Harley is far from the first character to treat her like this after all.

I doubt it helps. I know Palmiotti and Connor like PG...but please, let her go if that's all you want to do; trot her out once in a while to use in a Harley joke.

[Ascended]

I wonder if stuff like this also contributes to the idea that Karen is just a cheap fanservice character. Harley is far from the first character to treat her like this after all.

I doubt it helps, but this was a problem for Karen long before she ran into Harley, and would likely still be a problem if Harley had never met her.

I mean, it's comics, where everyone looks like a supermodel or porn star. For Karen to be notable for her figure in the company of Wonder Woman and Starfire......

[Robanker]

I doubt it helps, but this was a problem for Karen long before she ran into Harley, and would likely still be a problem if Harley had never met her.

I mean, it's comics, where everyone looks like a supermodel or porn star. For Karen to be notable for her figure in the company of Wonder Woman and Starfire......

Yeah, but continuing to reinforce it is still awful.

It's a shame because I love Jimmy, Amanda and PG but it sucks that they keep reducing her to a sexualized joke. It's not like there's a more positive portrayal elsewhere to balance it.

[Frontier]

Yeah, but continuing to reinforce it is still awful.

It's a shame because I love Jimmy, Amanda and PG but it sucks that they keep reducing her to a sexualized joke. It's not like there's a more positive portrayal elsewhere to balance it.

Hopefully she'll end up on the JSA again.

[achilles]

Yeah, but continuing to reinforce it is still awful.

It's a shame because I love Jimmy, Amanda and PG but it sucks that they keep reducing her to a sexualized joke. It's not like there's a more positive portrayal elsewhere to balance it.

Which is a problem. For the length of time she's been published, she really has few big stories she's even part of, and almost none at all about her apart from the Palmiotti run and the stuff in Harley they do. Sure, there was the Winick run, but I doubt very many people loved it, plus it got sidetracked by his Generation Lost story, which she also wasn't fully part of. And little enough work has been done on her character's portrayal in the team titles she's been in. Basically she fills a role, that of flying brick, there as the nominal powerhouse who still manages to lose all the time and still needs rescuing fairly often. What she needs are great...even good at this point...stories that advance her personal story. Which sadly, you mostly get from solo titles and minis. Sadly as well, her own solo, both runs, (there was a third, fill-in run when Winick left by the guy who was writing JSA All-Stars at the time, but it was only two issues or so), was wasted in terms of developing her as a character. Which frankly is something I also didn't see in Palmiotti's Harley stuff, so perhaps they're not the best people to attend to a character that doesn't deserve to stay a one-note joke. Positive portrayals of PG are few and far between, but it needs to start with her losing some baggage, and that takes an attitudinal shift of the part of DC and creators who use her. And I would say the insistence of her fans.

[achilles]

Hopefully she'll end up on the JSA again.

Well, yeah, that's the basic hope, but which one? Will it be the horrible nu52 version, the classic PG paused at Flashpoint, or yet another version? Do we even know yet, has an in-continuity PG uttered a word yet since she's been back, (whichever version that is), and has she done anything at all besides pose in mass battle scenes or on covers of stories she isn't even in?

[Frontier]

Well, yeah, that's the basic hope, but which one? Will it be the horrible nu52 version, the classic PG paused at Flashpoint, or yet another version? Do we even know yet, has an in-continuity PG uttered a word yet since she's been back, (whichever version that is), and has she done anything at all besides pose in mass battle scenes or on covers of stories she isn't even in?

I think we're eventually going to get a Johns-esque JSA sooner rather then later, but that's just a hope on my part.

[achilles]

I think we're eventually going to get a Johns-esque JSA sooner rather then later, but that's just a hope on my part.

That would be great, that would be fine, but...I'm kind of afraid it's not going to be that.