REVIEW: Power Girl #17
Power Girl #17, “Home Sweet Home” is the beginning of a new arc that seems to start out putting Paige on a more familiar path. Along with the return of her more classic look, she’s also set up a live-in base/headquarters operating out of the old Daily Star building. From there things return to a more fantastical natured threat we’ve come accustomed too throughout this series.
The standard cover is by Yanick Paquette & Arif Prianto and clearly announces the newness going on within. It also appears Natasha Irons makes her official debut as ongoing cast in the series by posing with Power Girl, Omen, and Streaky atop the Daily Star building.
The variant by David Baldeón & Romulo Fajardo Jr. is a great distant shot of Power Girl flying amongst the clouds. Her white outfit blends in perfectly with the background which accentuates the other colors. The small shadowy detail adds just the right touch to turn the simple white canvas into a giant pillowy cloud.
Mattia De Iulis’s variant gives us a much more close up look at Power Girl flying above Metropolis into the sunset. Almost as if a selfie stick is attached to her foot, the Sun’s rays bath her in a warm glowing light as she strikes a friendly and relaxed pose.
David Baldeón returns as interior artist with Romulo Fajardo Jr. on colors. Together they really give the book an animated feel and easily convey body language and emotion. It truly gives the issue the sense of “new” even though the story deals with the aftermath of an encounter that was initially played for laughs. Power Girl’s classic look gets a bit of a modern update but hopefully she’ll stay established as a member of The House of El. All in all the art team seems poised to deliver a visually spectacular experience as things get a bit weird by issue’s end.
Leah Williams, lettered by Becca Carey, is starting to show a penchant for turning seemingly stand alone moments into relevant introductions to future stories. Back in Power Girl #11, during her date with Axel, Steel shows up to battle an unnamed adversary with their entire conflict playing out in the background. Then it was a fairly comical scene as Paige and Axel were completely oblivious to the goings on around them, but that adversary now has a bigger role to play as her brothers sees Power Girl & Friends as threats and plan for some payback. This is a brilliant way to bring Steel into the series as a regular as Natasha had the initial contact with these new characters. To call them villains at this juncture seems a little premature, but they are definitely out to cause some mayhem as the final scenes depict a rather huge development.
(8/10) I have to hand it to Leah Williams, she has proven no detail is thrown away just for the fun of it. Although I’m a little sad to see the jacket and pant suit disappear, maybe her going back to a familiar look is a way of visually showing her coming to terms with some of her inner demons? Only time will tell for sure.
