BIRDS OF PREY #42
"Karen's Story"
Mildly Recommended (6/10)
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DC Comics
Writer: Chuck Dixon
Pencils: Glenn Fabry
Inks: Sandu Florea & Glenn Fabry
Colors: Wildstorm FX
Letters: Albert T. DeGuzman
Editor: Matt Idelson
Price: $2.50 US/$4.25 CAN |
The ideas that form the foundation of this story are solid, and they have the potential to telling a touchingly human story. On top of that, it's a rare treat to see Glenn Fabry's pencils, let alone on a mainstream super-hero story. So why didn't this issue click for me on a stronger level? I think it's because the setup is lacking. There's a good story here, but it would have benefitted from a deeper examination of the characters and the way they interact.
After saving the Blue Beetle's life thanks to a call from Oracle, Power Girl thinks back to their first "meeting," when Oracle contacted her to protect a Middle Eastern politician who had the potential to bring about real change for her people. The call came at a perfect time for Power Girl, who -- after recently losing some of her powers and her sense of identity -- was looking for a purpose, for a way to make a difference. An impossible choice turns circumstances into a nightmarish experience.
Fabry's detailed style suits the more grounded tone of this story. This issue isn't about adventure, action or super-heroes, but politics and people. There's also a maturity in the tone of his work, and that helps to reinforce the spirit-crushing atmosphere of the story's climax. The detail in his work helps to sell the real-world aspects of the plot, like the throngs of refugees and cold, impressive steel of the U.S. Navy ships.
Dixon taps into a great deal of potential in the character of Power Girl, whom I've never really seen as anything more than a hotheaded and buxom powerhouse in the DC Universe. In other words, Dixon transforms her from a rather generic figure into someone who actually has good reason to be as angry as she is.
The problem is that Dixon throws us into the middle of Power Girl's understandable bitterness without a lot of setup. He's teased us in previous issues that the relationship between Power Girl and Oracle was strained for some reason, but those didn't seem like sufficient buildup to this big revelation issue. Furthermore, since Power Girl is seen so rarely in these pages, thrusting her into the spotlight so suddenly is a bit jarring. Dixon has the added task of trying to juggle the character's contrived continuity, but instead of making her more accessible, those references to her past will just raise more questions for new readers.
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