Superman Through the Ages! Forum

Am I reading things right in JSA Classified?  Are they actually saying now that Powergirl is the Earth 2 Supergirl, who survived the Crisis?
That kind of goes against what they've established before, and no one is supposed to remember the multiple earths except Psycho Pirate.  
Is there any other explanation?

We don't yet know if "JSA: Classified" heralds the return of Kara Zor-L as "Superman's Cousin", since the final part of this four-issue arc hasn't arrived yet.  And we'll probably learn more in "Infinite Crisis #2" since Power Girl was featured on a promotional cover (though it's possible that we won't actually see this particular artwork when the issue is ultimately released).  But all indications strongly hint that Karen Starr IS what she once WAS Pre-Crisis -- the Earth-2 counterpart of Supergirl.

Clues have slowly accumulated in "JSA" for over a year.  First, the ghost of Arion admitted to Power Girl that he lied about her Atlantean origin.  Later there was a crytic palm-reading by a fortune-teller who warned that Karen was "living her life backwards".  Then after going back in time to fight Per Degaton (who mentioned Huntress -- and he was probably referring to the lost Helena WAYNE), Power Girl experienced SOMETHING as Rip Hunter's Time Sphere encountered unexpected turbulence... in 1985!  :shock:
 
And when Karen Starr and the new Kara Zor-El finally met, Power Girl suffered a bizarre reaction -- perhaps in the merged Single Earth you can't have two incarnations of THE SAME PERSON in close proximity anymore?

But now the Psycho-Pirate is apparently trying to break down Power Girl's mental resistance before revealing the "Truth".   It's probable that the Psycho-Pirate needs Power Girl's assistance in unlocking the Multiverse, and supplying her "real" origin as "Kal's Cousin" (and her innermost desire -- vindication that she wasn't a fraud and acceptance by the superhero community) may gain Karen's cooperation.  Whether Karen's memories of Earth-2 are really restored or merely another illusion inplanted by the Psycho-Pirate is beside the point (for now, at least).

It was interesting to see how the Psycho-Pirate wore poor PeeGee down.  First he confronted her with an old enemy of Arion -- a nod to her already-discarded Atlantean origin.  Then the "Legion of Super-Heroes" appeared, claiming she was actually Laurel Gand, aka "Andromeda".  (That was a nice nod to the fact that Laurel was created Post-Crisis as a replacement for the "non-existent" Supergirl in Legion history.)

Later the Psycho-Pirate bombarded Karen with a bewildering array of possible "true identities" -- Ultraman's cousin from the Crime Syndicate's "Qwaard Universe Earth-2", the future daughter of "Titans Tomorrow" Superboy and Wonder Girl (referring to a recent "Teen Titans" issue), the daughter of Captain Marvel and LUMA LYNAI (a "hidden tribute" to Captain Marvel/Supergirl writer and Luma Lynai creator Otto Binder?), Ursa from the Phantom Zone (from the Christopher Reeve movies continuity -- they even show the "windowpane" Phantom Zone), and finally the Kandorian MOTHER of Nightwing and Flamebird!  

The factual absurdities and inconsistancies abound -- how could Captain Marvel mention the wizard Shazam without transforming back to Billy?  How could Luma Lynai survive under a yellow sun?  Ursa and the "windowpane" Phantom Zone NEVER appeared in the mainstream DC comics continuity, while Nightwing and Flamebird weren't brothers.  But this confusing rapid-fire overload of possible "parents" succeeded in emotionally overwhelming Karen Starr.  And for fans it was wonderful seeing some "old friends" once more -- Luma looked particularly nice in her cameo.

By next month, we should know whether Power Girl is indeed "Superman's cousin from Krypton".   :D

But the REAL question is whether Power Girl will survive Infinite Crisis.   :cry:

I suspect they are going for the explanation that Power Girl is the alternate of Supergirl.  How this will be explained to the general public I don't know.  I'm doubtful DC is bringing back the multiverse, but perhaps they will bring back the memory of the multiverse to the ones who were mainly involved, meaning the Earth-S, Earth X, Earth 2 and Earth 1 superheroes.

I still don't like Powergirl's "hole-in-the-chest" costume, even as artists seek to make that hole even bigger just to show off her chest.  Her mid-1980s costume is still the best.

I agree the hole seems to get bigger. I just don't see why they don't fill it in with E-2 Superman's insignia.  After all, she is Supergirl of E-2.  

Another observation, some artists draw her like a man. Bart Sears, I believe, first started drawing her with manly features. In IC, Phil Jimenez drew PG as a man with breasts. It was creepy.

Power Girl doesn't wear the "S" logo since she wanted to distinguish herself from her cousin Superman...

Let me guess...the hole in the chest is supposed to make Powergirl look like a P if you position her correctly?

I'm surprised, now, she doesn't wear the S, considering her cousin was killed violently in IC. It would be a nice gesture of love and respect.

In all honesty the explanation they gave in that JSA Classified arc was fan-freaking-tastic.  Power Girl went through so much with writers and creators trying to shoehorn her into the Post-Crisis DCU that the simple explanation of, "You know what, she's the cousin of the Earth-2 Superman who survived the Crisis" worked so well for me.

I mean why the heck not?

PG is a BAD copycat of Supergirl, she should be killed during the "Candor" arc.

Power Girl would have been interesting if she were actually the daughter of the Earth-2 Superman, which was what I originally thought she was when I first saw her in Crisis On Infinite Earths.

I like Powergirl. She does have her place in the DCU.
They make her an adult Supergirl, but change her a appearance a little bit (Haircut, big knockers).

For awhile, after Crisis. She was the only "supergirl" for along time until DC tried several incarnations of Supergirl until they decided to break down and "reinvent" the Superman's long lost cousin story in Superman/Batman issues.

She is going somewhere. Let's see what the writers have in store for her when they "reinvent" this Earth-Two thing. She might wind up going back there, who knows.

Actually I way prefer powergirl myself but then I remember her from way back when Wally Wood first drew her.

Then you'd have to ask yourself which blonde Superman briefly hooked up with.  I doubt you'd get Power Girl out of dark-haired Supes + Lois, and I doubt wigs and coloring work on her Hair of Steel.

Maybe the blonde-ness is a sort of red sun effect from vacationing in Kandor?

I think I expected Power Girl to be a daughter of E2 Supes as well when I first saw her in the 70s, since all of the modern JSA seemed to be adult versions of sidekicks, etc.  It makes more sense.  The mystery of her parentage would be a great aspect of her character.

>>Maybe the blonde-ness is a sort of red sun effect from vacationing in Kandor?<<

As noted in her origin story, the Earth-2 Kandor never got shrunken and stolen---it went boom along with the rest of the Earth-2 universe's Krypton ("Krypton-2", I suppose)... so no bottled city for Earth-2 Supes to keep in his mountain retreat near Metropolis... :-)

From the cover of the upcoming Comics Journal.

Her cleavage is a reflection of what the viewer is thinking, kind of like that evil tree in Empire Strikes Back:

http://tcj.com/journalista/cooketcj285.jpg

That's an awesome pic! Darwyn Cooke should really do a Powergirl mini series. ;D