by Alan Rapp on January 16, 2013
in Comics
Despite delivering the cover this month, the art of Kevin Magquire is nowhere to be found inside the pages of the latest issue of Worlds’ Finest. Up until the issue the art duties had been split equally between Maguire and George Perez. Although Perez is on-hand to draw most of the Huntress‘ storyline in this issue, Power Girl‘s art has been handed over to a pair of other artists giving the latest comic a somewhat mismatched look.
When Helena is wounded by an assassin looking to cash-in on Ibn Hassan’s bounty, Power Girl takes it on herself to have a little talk with Hassan and force him to reconsider the billion dollar death mark he put on her best friend.
Despite having two separate artist working on the Power Girl story it actually works better than the Huntress intro that does little more than set-up Kara’s quest to keep her friend safe. It also reminds us just how powerful (no pun intended) Power Girl is when she isn’t fighting radioactive monsters from Apocalypse. For fans.
[DC, $2.99]
by Alan Rapp on December 12, 2012
in Comics
The children of Batman team-up to take on a werewolf. Seriously, what’s not to like? The Huntress, Damian, and Power Girl team-up set out to discover who (other than Helena) has been siphoning off huge amounts of cash from Wayne Enterprises.
As Power Girl heads to the Congo, where she runs into child soldiers armed with Apokolips weaponry, Damian and the Huntress come to an understanding while fighting off a pack of wolves, the bitter cold, and a werewolf while teaming up to do their own investigating.
When the comic introduced Damian last month I wondered if the plan was to allow Helena to step into the big sister role a character like Damian sorely needs (which was filled by Stephanie Brown before the New 52 reboot). I really enjoyed the two together, including Damian’s promise to keep her secret – even from Batman. I hope we get to see more of the pairing in the future. Worth a look.
[DC, $2.99]
by Alan Rapp on November 14, 2012
in Comics
Battle of the Bat-Brats! While breaking into a Wayne Enterprises facility to steal a paltry few million dollars to continue her own pursuits the Huntress runs into this world’s Robin – Damian Wayne.
The comic’s main story (with art by Kevin Maguire) features the children of Batman battling over Gotham as an angry Damian starts to think that there is more to this thief, who seems to have the moves of both Batman and Catwoman, than meets the eye. The back-up story (with art by George Perez) features Power Girl “borrowing” a satellite from Morgan Edge (there’s a name I haven’t heard in awhile) to search for dangerous Apokolips energy signatures, like the monster they fought over the past couple of issues.
The Helena/Damian story works better than Power Girl’s tale which really isn’t given enough time to develop. That said, we are give the brutal one-note Damian though most of the story, at least until his curiosity at Helena’s true identity gets the best of him. I will be interest to see if Helena becomes the New 52 big sister stand-in for Stephanie Brown to teach him a little humility and humanity. Worth a look.
[DC, $2.99]
by Alan Rapp on October 10, 2012
in Comics
It’s odd that Worlds’ Finest keeps running away from its biggest strength – the relationship between its two leading ladies. Although we get some nice moments with Power Girl and Huntress together, most of this issue is set aside to give us separate adventures for them both.
From Power Girl we get another story of her trying to find a way home for both Helena and herself. This one involves a super-accelerator and a robot from another dimension. And the comic continues the trend for Power Girl to lose most of her clothing for another issue. For Helena, we get an evening out at a Take Back the Night rally where the Huntress is called upon to stop a sniper from… doing something (the comic makes no attempt to give us a reason for the man’s actions).
Although neither story is bad, all of the best parts of Worlds’ Finest #5 come in the conversations between the two women between their stories and at the comic’s beginning as the heroes continue to test Kara’s powers to see how they might work differently in their new home. For fans.
[DC, $2.99]
by Alan Rapp on September 10, 2012
in Comics
It’s kind of ridiculous to do a zero issue for a title that’s been around for four months, especially one that’s spent as much time as Worlds’ Finest (about half the pages of each issue) filling in the characters’ pasts.
The main problem with Worlds’ Finest #0 is how rushed everything feels. We get Helena‘s first adventure as Robin, the death of her mother (Catwoman), her first meeting with Kara, and the pair becoming super best friends forever all in a few pages. Things aren’t helped by some of writer Paul Levitz’s awkward dialogue (such as Helena’s final words to her new best friend).
Some may not like the art by Kevin Maguire but I think it’s one of the issue’s saving graces (although I’m not of fan of his Catwoman design) along with the Kara story which is given far less time but is much tighter than the rambling main story with Helena. Worlds’ Finest #0 isn’t a bad issue as much as an unnecessary one with a couple of good moments. Hit-and-miss.
[DC, $2.99]
by Alan Rapp on August 8, 2012
in Comics
The latest issue of Worlds’ Finest picks up where last month’s left off as Power Girl and the Huntress continue to fight the nuclear energy monster, the Irradiated Man, off the coast of Tokyo. The pair manage to get the monster out of the city and into the harbor where all the have to worry about a jumbo oil-liner and hundreds of sailors.
Worlds’ Finest #4 isn’t a great end to the arc, but it moves pretty well and Kara and Helena do come up with an interesting way to finally stop the monster. Once again we get more flashbacks from the pair’s early days on the new Earth, but once again they seem to be mostly random, relatively unimportant daily events, without any real effort made to tie them into the main story.
In one of the running jokes of the character having her costume constantly torn (that somehow managed to survive the transition into the New 52) Power Girl, after getting lathered in oil, gets a ripped boob window, momentarily helping out that hideous costume. For fans.
[DC, $2.99]
by Alan Rapp on July 9, 2012
in Comics
The series rebounds from a somewhat disappointing second issue by focusing on the relationship between Power Girl and the Huntress that made the first issue of Worlds’ Finest work so well. The banter between the two heroines works very well here, and the (not-unexpected, but still fun) super-sizing of radioactive baddie gives us a Godzilla-level threat in the middle of Tokyo.
The flashbacks work a little better here by now trying to shove so much exposition and plot into the story. The issue also deftly explains Power Girl’s relationship with Mr. Terrific (as seen in his short lived New 52 series) without getting too bogged down in a storyline of a comic hardly anyone read. We even get a short sequence with cat that may make fans of the original Justice League International smile.
Except for still sticking Power Girl in that truly awful costume (seriously, something needs to be done) the series seems to be back on track after only a slight mistep last month. Worth a look.
[DC, $2.99]
by Alan Rapp on June 13, 2012
in Comics
I was surprised at home much I enjoyed the first issue of Worlds’ Finest which reintroduced Huntress and Power Girl as heroes from Earth-2 stranded in the New 52 DC Universe.
Although the second issue isn’t bad, it’s certainly has to be considered a disappointment. Sure we get a few more flashbacks to the ladies early days on a new Earth (but even these are rather bland), and I certainly liked the idea of how Power Girl fuels Starr Industries (by mining rare minerals such as Dysprosium from deep in the ocean), but neither battle between the pair and the radioactive Hakkou, who destroys a large section of a Starr development site for unclear motives, is all that interesting.
Issue #2 feels a less focused than the first issue, and Hakkou is yet another throwaway New 52 villain (whose motives and ties to Apokolips are sketchy at best). Hit-and-Miss.
[DC, $2.99]
by Alan Rapp on May 7, 2012
in Comics
Of all the comics scheduled in DC’s Second Wave (the six new titles taking the place of the first six casualities of the New 52) the one I found the most intriguing was Worlds’ Finest which centers around two DC heroines with complicated histories. I’ve got to say I enjoyed almost everything about this first issue from writer Paul Levitz with art by George Perez and Kevin Maguire.
Early on its made clear the Power Girl is the Supergirl from Earth-2 (which keeps to the most recent history of the character pre-New 52) and the Huntress in indeed Helena Wayne, the daughter of Earth-2′s Batman (although she’s recently been using the name Helena Bertinelli, the Earth-1 Huntress pre-New 52, as a cover). Through an accident both have found themselves trapped on a parallel Earth which already has a Supergirl and Robin (the identity we’re told Huntress used on her world).
Worlds’ Finest is missing the grim 90′s feel which has been far too present in most of the New 52 titles. It’s fun! And, aside from an unfortuante new costume for Power Girl, it’s really well done.
[click to continue…]
With DC Comics reboot of their entire universe with 52 new first issues now underway I take a final look at what I would do if I rebooted the DCU.
Where I could I kept ideas DC wanted to explore in the relaunch (when not incredibly stupid like Voodoo), and even included titles I’m personally not all that high on but characters I know have a devoted fan base. You’ll find I’ve also kept far more of the current titles than DC’s proposed reboot, and brought back a few personal favorites as well.
[click to continue…]
