Karen Starr Power Girl Appreciation 2021

[SuperX]

Maybe it was for the best.

Only because the CW and DC don't know how to present their characters the way we comic fans would want in some way

[Robanker]

QFT. Power Girl is not Stargirl...in fact, in the comics, she's Stargirl's boss in a way.

Yeah, and I don't think they'd bring in PG who would take over the JSA from Stargirl by virtue of experience and skills/powers without her turning evil, dying or leaving after an episode.

So the best case scenario is we're left wanting more that will inevitably lead to diminishing returns, or it'd just be outright bad for Power Girl. I'm fine with her staying off the CW.

[marhawkman]

I think the hard part would be explaining the character in that scenario, basically try would have to cast another actor to portray an alternate version of the cousin of Superman for that world. Now while the CW has plenty of experience when it comes to alternate universes and versions of characters first Stargirl would need to establish that the world had a Superman, and whether or not they want to do that with a Superman show currently airing.

yeah, doing a Powergirl origin could be awkward... it's probably why she gets used so rarely TBH. Which is why the approach in DCAU was genius. No alternate universe stuff!

Another approach would be to simply have her be a different Kryptonian. She looks similar to Supergirl because she's related, but from a different city or something? Classic Supergirl is from Argo, Maybe have Powergirl be from Kryptonopolis or something?

At any rate you don't need to get bogged down by that when you first have her on screen. You can explain it later.

Yeah, and I don't think they'd bring in PG who would take over the JSA from Stargirl by virtue of experience and skills/powers without her turning evil, dying or leaving after an episode.

So the best case scenario is we're left wanting more that will inevitably lead to diminishing returns, or it'd just be outright bad for Power Girl. I'm fine with her staying off the CW.

Honestly? Stargirl running the JSA is a weird idea. It's like Supergirl or Robin running the JLA. They're not the senior team members.

[Agent Z]

yeah, doing a Powergirl origin could be awkward... it's probably why she gets used so rarely TBH. Which is why the approach in DCAU was genius. No alternate universe stuff!

Another approach would be to simply have her be a different Kryptonian. She looks similar to Supergirl because she's related, but from a different city or something? Classic Supergirl is from Argo, Maybe have Powergirl be from Kryptonopolis or something?

At any rate you don't need to get bogged down by that when you first have her on screen. You can explain it later.Honestly? Stargirl running the JSA is a weird idea. It's like Supergirl or Robin running the JLA. They're not the senior team members.

This JSA is made up of teenagers so it isn't like Stargirl is commanding older heroes.

[marhawkman]

This JSA is made up of teenagers so it isn't like Stargirl is commanding older heroes.

Well... this is in some ways similar to the way things were back when Stargirl had her own book. She's taking over for a now retired hero, and in some ways that also means filling their role. Which means that STRIPE is... actually in a different role than before, because they went with the former teen sidekick origin(who built a suit of power armor) for STRIPE.

But, yeah, this JSA is more like the Teen Titans than the original JSA. Oh and who was the team leader there? Dick Grayson. However, the fact that Powergirl wasn't part of the original JSA in this incarnation would actually give Stargirl seniority I guess. Although... the person with actual seniority is STRIPE and Stargirl is leader because STRIPE said so.

[achilles]

yeah, doing a Powergirl origin could be awkward... it's probably why she gets used so rarely TBH. Which is why the approach in DCAU was genius. No alternate universe stuff!

Another approach would be to simply have her be a different Kryptonian. She looks similar to Supergirl because she's related, but from a different city or something? Classic Supergirl is from Argo, Maybe have Powergirl be from Kryptonopolis or something?

At any rate you don't need to get bogged down by that when you first have her on screen. You can explain it later.Honestly? Stargirl running the JSA is a weird idea. It's like Supergirl or Robin running the JLA. They're not the senior team members.

Actually, doing a Power Girl origin story is not difficult at all. There are many ways you can either use the alternate Krypton origin, or just plain move her origin over to the main DCU, (which, assuming they will continue to to actually DO anything with the Earth 2 origin like they've done with other characters like Superman Prime, I would be in favor of). The only difficulty is deciding which to do, and what exactly her origin story is, and how it sets up her character.

But she would not be good for anything in the Stargirl show except a one-off deus ex machina---she's just too powerful for that team.

That said, an HBO Max show or mini starring her would be great.

[Stanlos]

Actually, doing a Power Girl origin story is not difficult at all. There are many ways you can either use the alternate Krypton origin, or just plain move her origin over to the main DCU, (which, assuming they will continue to to actually DO anything with the Earth 2 origin like they've done with other characters like Superman Prime, I would be in favor of). The only difficulty is deciding which to do, and what exactly her origin story is, and how it sets up her character.

But she would not be good for anything in the Stargirl show except a one-off deus ex machina---she's just too powerful for that team.

That said, an HBO Max show or mini starring her would be great.

How would a reworked main, er, earth origin work? Would that not step on Supergirl, assuming she was to remain Kryptonian?

[Robanker]

yeah, doing a Powergirl origin could be awkward... it's probably why she gets used so rarely TBH. Which is why the approach in DCAU was genius. No alternate universe stuff!

Another approach would be to simply have her be a different Kryptonian. She looks similar to Supergirl because she's related, but from a different city or something? Classic Supergirl is from Argo, Maybe have Powergirl be from Kryptonopolis or something?

At any rate you don't need to get bogged down by that when you first have her on screen. You can explain it later.Honestly? Stargirl running the JSA is a weird idea. It's like Supergirl or Robin running the JLA. They're not the senior team members.

It IS a weird idea, but that's kind of the paradigm of the show and upending her to prop up Karen will most likely result in "oh screw Power Girl" from people who spent a season getting invested in the team we have. The upside is it could make a whole generation of PG fans, but again, I don't trust the CW with her character.

[achilles]

How would a reworked main, er, earth origin work? Would that not step on Supergirl, assuming she was to remain Kryptonian?

Not at all. There's already a bunch of them good or evil running around in various books. Just make PG a different relative of Clark's with an obviously slightly different El name, (as an aside, I never liked that bit of having Kryptonian women use their father's name rather than their mother's---it just bugs me). One way to complete it would simply be to have her off planet when it went boom. Perhaps she's part of a exploration program, a sort of astronaut. Or perhaps a military officer on patrol. There are countless ways to have her as a main universe El, survive Krypton's destruction, and even account for the obvious age difference such a origin would imply, (with her being considerably older than Clark. After all, that wasn't a problem for SG, and was an actual plot point.

How you don't step on SG is simply by giving PG a job, one that SG can't do, (presumably lacking the training), and by carefully differentiating their personalities.

[achilles]

yeah, doing a Powergirl origin could be awkward... it's probably why she gets used so rarely TBH. Which is why the approach in DCAU was genius. No alternate universe stuff!

Another approach would be to simply have her be a different Kryptonian. She looks similar to Supergirl because she's related, but from a different city or something? Classic Supergirl is from Argo, Maybe have Powergirl be from Kryptonopolis or something?

At any rate you don't need to get bogged down by that when you first have her on screen. You can explain it later.Honestly? Stargirl running the JSA is a weird idea. It's like Supergirl or Robin running the JLA. They're not the senior team members.

They already are from different cities. Power Girl's hometown is Kandor.

[Stanlos]

This makes me question why her Atlantean tie needed to be ditched in favour of the Earth 2 Kryptonian one.

[achilles]

This makes me question why her Atlantean tie needed to be ditched in favour of the Earth 2 Kryptonian one.

Largely because no one liked it. To be honest, it was an idea that could have worked, but it would have required some major retooling for PG and for the magical DCU. Better to have her as some sort of Kryptonian.

[Stanlos]

Largely because no one liked it. To be honest, it was an idea that could have worked, but it would have required some major retooling for PG and for the magical DCU. Better to have her as some sort of Kryptonian.

I can see how on the surface it might seem that way but when I consider her situation it seems making her some sort of Kryptonian renders her vulnerable. With the other origin she was distinct from Supergirl. Now, not so much. And I disagree that no one liked her PreJohnsification.

[achilles]

I can see how on the surface it might seem that way but when I consider her situation it seems making her some sort of Kryptonian renders her vulnerable. With the other origin she was distinct from Supergirl. Now, not so much. And I disagree that no one liked her PreJohnsification.

Oh I didn't say no one liked HER back then, just that the origin was very decidedly NOT popular. And that it could have worked---to a degree, with some major work that DC just wasn't willing to do with her, odd considering that she was going to get her own solo series before she was retconned to being Atlantean. Being Kryptonian doesn't make her any more vulnerable than anything else; quite the contrary. And it gives her instant credibility as a superhero that she just wouldn't get from making her some kind of Atlantean.

[Robanker]

Oh I didn't say no one liked HER back then, just that the origin was very decidedly NOT popular. And that it could have worked---to a degree, with some major work that DC just wasn't willing to do with her, odd considering that she was going to get her own solo series before she was retconned to being Atlantean. Being Kryptonian doesn't make her any more vulnerable than anything else; quite the contrary. And it gives her instant credibility as a superhero that she just wouldn't get from making her some kind of Atlantean.

Yeah, most of us just liked her despite the uninspired origin they saddled her with.

For what it's worth, I think the Atlantean thing is kind of a dead end. That's the big problem. Yes, Earth-2 Kryptonian traps her as "the other Supergirl" in some ways but it's a much easier room pitch and delivers a better understanding of her powerset while making her loss more tangible for the reader. Atlantis at DC is a hard sell even to Aquaman fans by how it's been characterized over time.

Furthermore, and pardon the pun, but attaching Karen to the then-floundering Aquaman franchise did her far less favors than returning her to the Superman fold she'd been borne of. Yes, Clark's star has waned in recent decades but he's still ol' reliable, whereas the most Arthur has going for him is a current wave of interest that will likely peak and return to the regular ebb and flow after a short while.

Lastly, and most importantly, magic characters struggle more than tech, alien or meta ones. Yes, there are some exceptions and fan favorites, but it's easily the hardest sell to the market.

Granddaughter of an Atlantean wizard from forever ago somehow only two generations removed but in present day with nebulously Kryptonian powers is essentially Hard Mode. There's no real advantage other than the prestige of pulling it off, which is seemingly what made people want to try and untangle Hawkman's history for decades before Venditti more or less pulled it off.

Despite being invulnerable to them, I'm glad Karen dodged that particular bullet.