Power Girl Vol. 1: Electric Dreams

Power Girl (2023)

by Leah Williams, Eduardo Pansica (illustrator)

Com novos poderes e uma nova missão, a Poderosa enfrenta um desafio diferente de tudo que já agora, ela deve combater demônios – tanto literais quanto figurativos – se esgueirando pelas mentes de alguns dos maiores heróis do Universo DC! Contudo, o nefasto Johnny Pranto tem procurado uma conexão com a Terra 0, e talvez os feitos da heroína acabem dando a ele os poderes para tornar o mundo seu palco pessoal. E a Poderosa também não é poupada do ataque de Insônia e é jogada no Reino dos Pesadelos!

Genres: Dc Comics, Comics, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book, Fantasy

160 pages, Paperback

First published August 27, 2024

About the author

Leah Williams is an American writer originally from Oxford, Mississippi. She has written comics for Marvel, BOOM! Studios, Vault Comics, and is working on more. Her debut novel was a YA Fantasy book titled The Alchemy of Being Fourteen and she is currently writing its sequel, The Divinity of Hitting Fifteen. Leah has nonfiction articles and essays published in The Atlantic, Oprah Magazine, and Salon.

Reviews

[Anna Quilter · Rating 3 out of 5]

reboot of Power Girl....aimed at younger readers (?).
it's fun but different stories and different artists don't let it flow.

[Khurram · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first Power Girl book I have read, so I was not sure what to expect. I am not really impressed. The book seemed to set up a few things for later, but nothing groundbreaking happened in this book. For a Kryptonian, she seems pretty ordinary.

Power Girl is a bit of an outsider to the Super family. So, given a mission by Superman himself, it is a big opportunity. However, the mission might turn out to be her greatest nightmare.

Streaky takes centre stage. Superman had Krypto, Power Girl has Streaky the cat. What adventure could he get up to, and how will it affect Power and Super Girl?

Strangely, the two gag-type issues 5 and 7 were my favourites of the book. Most action was the fight between two Kryptonians, nothing much else. I think I will give this series one more try to see how things play out.

[Mohan Vemulapalli · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Power Girl: Electric Dreams" is an engaging, but disjointed book that contains three different story arcs that never quite mesh. This book reintroduces Power Girl, now using the civilian identity of Dr. Paige Stetler, and lays the ground work for her future participation with the Super Family. The first story arc starts out strong, but quickly devolves into a semi-coherent mess that also seems to serve the purpose of an origin story for a new super villain. The second story arc consists of one issue/ chapter that focuses on Streaky and his heroic, pet-oriented crime fighting efforts. The final story arc is where Power Girl finally seems to come into her own. This story sees Paige and Kara going on a team up and features some fun fantasy sequences and distinctive artwork. Expect a PG that seems to be more balanced than past portrayals, a costume update that is true to the original concept but more realistic and more in line with modern sensibilities, a strong supporting role for Titan alumna Omen, a weird and sort of sad villain origin story , lots of female bonding and some great scenes for Streaky.




Much of this book reads more like a 4, but I am boosting it the four and a half stars on the sole basis that Streaky gets some great air time, including his own issue as protagonist.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.8 stars

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eu tinha gostado bastante do primeiro volume de Poderosa, por Leah Williams e Marguerite Sauvage. Bem, não é exatamente o primeiro volume da série, mas histórias que vieram antes de a Poderosa ganhar série própria. Este segundo volume sim, seria o primeiro volume da série própria. Gosto da Poderosa desde que conheci ela numa revista do Superman perdida na minha vó. É muito legal ver ela ganhando novamente uma série própria, apesar de ser uma versão perdida da Supergirl de outra realidade. Este novo volume de Poderosa aprofunda mais a mitologia que Leah Williams vem (re)construindo para a personagem, que agora se chama Paige e anda com a Sina dos Novos Titãs. A primeira parte, sobre um vírus kryptoniano, um leão agonizante e as aventuras do gatinho raiado é legal. Mas a segunda parte, aí com desenhos de Sauvage, leva Kara e Paige para uma terra encantada, achei que não funcionou. Nem para a personagem e nem como história. Mas consegue obter uma média legal a publicação, dando vontade de saber mais sobre a série nas próximas edições.

[Ronald · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you don't want to write a character, please don't. DC seems to be pushing Power Girl out there to make her a thing. But then the final product is bad. This volume is just really bad. It is sexists and racist. Power Girl's personality is totally different from what I remember a few years ago. DC just gave her new more different powers with the Lazarus event and then she does not use (or can't use) any of those powers.

Superman is such an uncaring rude sexist jerk in this story. Totally not the character we have come to love. He knows Power Girl is being mind controlled yet just keeps punching. ugh

[Arianna · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first story wasn't that bad. It's weird that Power Girl is calling herself "Paige" and her characterization was really uninteresting, but overall it was okay. Then we get a story about her cat (which resembles the one that was done about Nightwing's dog). It's painful to read through stories of superhero pets narrated from the pet's perspective, but whatever, at least it was short. The last story about an alternative dimension realm was terrible - for some reason the writing changes to YA and is complemented by the ugliest art style known to man.

[Jimmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably one of the most fun power girl stories I've read in a while.

[Joe Bogue · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like the writing, just wish the artist didn't keep changing. I don't think all the styles were always right for their script/Made a single storyline feel like two separate plots. The exception being Issue #7, which is probably the best in the volume.

[Dean · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not for me. Art was fine. I think it was a dialogue and narration problem for me.

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

Getting better with every new collection...

I've been pretty vocal that I disliked the results of 'Lazarus Planet'. Power Girl was one of the characters that was given a major new power to stack on her Kryptonian powers. It felt forced and tacked on. As time has passed, they pumped the brakes on this new power and anchored her back into the Kryptonian family that she'd forever been on the outskirts of.

It totally swerved the character. She became not just another female character exploited for her choice in superhero gear (AKA 'boob window' tops), but a hero that could use her new friends (Omen from Teen Titans) to deal with more inner turmoil than we've seen before.
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This volume has her establishing her alter ego as a science reporter/ entrepeneur. She gets to team up with Supergirl on a interdimensional drug trip/kidnapping spree. She even has to deal with the fallout from Knight Terrors and face something from her past that JUST WON'T QUIT.
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I really enjoy this series...so far (call me a pessimist, but I don't know how long things may last)
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Bonus: Surprised that they haven't mentioned her outfits of the past. Can't hide in leather jackets forever...

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This resurgence for Power Girl is a breath of fresh air, honestly. While I can't really get behind the whole 'Paige' moniker, I do like how DC are integrating her into the Super-Family in a way she never really has before (for understandable reasons).

This first collection of her new series sees Power Girl face off against a familiar-but-different foe, with some surprisingly heartfelt story beats as well. Eduardo Pansica's artwork is a treat on every page, he's always reliable.

There's also an entire issue about Streaky The Super Cat, and I always appreciate these kinds of issues, and then there's a two-part story with beautiful artwork from Marguerite Sauvage that has both Power and Supergirl(s) head into a storybook land to face a social media-type foe. This is a bit more off-kilter than the first few issues, but it's still pretty fun, and having Kara and Paige together is a recipe for some discussions they should have had a while ago.

It's been a while since Power Girl had her own series, but she's proving why she deserves one here, for sure.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish they'd properly labelled this as a Vol. 2 because it relies on a who bunch of stuff collected in Power Girl Returns, also by Leah Williams. I'll have to pick that up and see if it helps. It's a good series, but for something labelled "Dawn of DC" with a vol. 1, it feels very much like a volume 2. There's not even a recap at the start or anything indicating that this isn't as big a jumping on point as one might believe. anyway, on with the review:

This is a fun series. The first arc is pretty cool with anti-alien protests and an alien virus that leads to a cool new villain. The second arc starts well with the Streaky issue, but the following two issues feel somewhat crunched. I wish the series had gone into the MMORPG aspects or explored the Isekai genre more. There's just not enough room to establish a whole new dimension and characters and villains. There are several artist who keep it fun and light. The side characters are distinct and represent different aspects of Paige's life.

[Obi Juan · Rating 4 out of 5]

La edición de Panini está muy bien, incluyendo varias portadas alternativas. La historia principal mola. Lo mejor, el número protagonizado por Streaky.
Por desgracia, me parece que hay una tendencia a infantilizar a los personajes femeninos. Luego de leer el malísimo “Ice & Fire: Welcome to Smallville”, veo que el patrón se repite.
Los dos últimos números son una historia con dibujo tipo manga o similar. De mucha mejor calidad que la historia de Ice y Fire, sí. Pero tremendamente infantiles. Para agravar el parecido, está historia es un team up de Supergirl y Power Girl, completamente desaprovechada.
A pesar de esto, aunque sólo sea por la historia de Streaky, es recomendable.

[Ángel Javier · Rating 2 out of 5]

¡Hey, amigos, coñazo a la vista! Menudo bodrio se han marcado con esta cole de Power Girl. El dibujo no está mal, pero la historia no mantiene el interés ni del powergirlmaníaco más entusiasta. La prima crecidita de Clark demuestra que tener dos colecciones de primas de Clark es excesivo, y como la de Supergirl no está mal, pues esta ni mirarla. La historia de Streaky es de vergüenza ajena, y el fin de fiesta, en el que se requiere a Kara (la Kara original) para salvar los trastos, un pestiño con haditas y cosas así. Para olvidar.

[Peter Van Der Raaij · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall an enjoyable read. I am not 100% sure about this new version of Power Girl though. Her astral-punchjng thing is a bit weird, but I guess they want to differentiate her from all the rest of the super family. And when did she get a doctorate? Surely she wouldn’t fake something like that. I liked her interaction with Supergirl even if that story was a little different to what came before.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read Power Girl in years but this felt like a fun reboot with a new secret identity, a new best friend (in the sassiest version of Omen I've ever read), and a tone of humor and adventure. I understand if Leah Williams isn't writing the Power Girl readers expect, but I think she's writing a great version!

[Hijo de Krypton · Rating 2 out of 5]

• No lo recomiendo como primera lectura del personaje •

Mi primer acercamiento al personaje y no me ha convencido nada este primer número de Power Girl que nos trae Panini, no sé si porque desconozco todo su entorno o si porque no es la mejor historia para conectar desde cero con ella.

Espero tener más suerte con el #2.

[poier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story-wise, it’s fine. I wasn’t wowed, but I wasn’t put off.
But man, the art here is top-notch. Costume designs are great. Pansica and Ferreira lay down some beautiful line work, expressive but not overly detailed. Sauvage’s work is equally excellent.
A good-looking book makes a huge difference.

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disappointed in how many retcons this character has had to endure and how few were actually explained fully with info dumps.

While I like some of the direction they’re going with PG, her own core character built over decades has been abandoned and she’s merely a plot device in her own book

[Belfry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

[Zach · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book sucked

[Will Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yeah, Power Girl running from a Kryptonian technovirus. Cool.

[Hermione Volino · Rating 3 out of 5]

This comic was okay. I really don't know if I really do like this comic. I will give it one more chance and then, if I don't like it, I will drop it.

[Erik J · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Power Girl. Always have. So I was excited she was getting her own comic again and looked forward to reading it. So far ... it's awful Like really really awful.

Overall - 2/5

[Daniel Butcher · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just a little disconnected for me.

[Artemis Crescent · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Power Girl Vol. 1: Electric Dreams' is the sort-of sequel to 'Power Girl Returns', and it picks up the main storyline of that one pretty well.

And it goes all out and batshit insane.

There are complicated, fraught alien/Kryptonian and human relations and politics (oh joy), alien invasions, an alien virus, alien tech robot possessions (like Brainiac, or Brother Eye), Superman as Power Girl's mentor and confidant, Lois Lane as Power Girl's boss in her civilian identity, an espionage agent/possible CIA agent subplot that goes nowhere, a dying elderly lion that Power Girl forms a connection with, an entire, near-wordless issue dedicated to the nightly escapades of Streaky the Kryptocat, a plot involving a drug being sold to college kids, a not-so virtual reality/fantasy world, fantasy/alien lore, a witch, yet another hivemind control plot, and Power Girl and Supergirl becoming fantasy knight heroines and saviours of said fantasy world, that's a planet in outta space.

Really, the latter stuff I mentioned would have worked great in a 'Harley Quinn' comic. Even the artwork matches Harley's cartoony style and sense of humour.

It is totally bonkers. It is what superhero comics should be.

Omen, aka Lilith, is present and still Power Girl's best friend (I still don't know what happened to Atlee). Though she is superfluous sometimes, often playing the comic relief role, more than once at inappropriate moments. Omen seemingly randomly pops up in places where it doesn't make sense, and at one point at the end it appears she was added into a scene for a plot-related reason... and then she never shows up again, like the writer or the artist forgot she was there. What the hell?

WTH also are the telepathic hero's actions, especially towards normal civilians, which are highly, morally questionable...

PG's civilian name is now Dr. Paige Stetler. It's great that she's canonically a doctor, and still a smart businesswoman seeking to save the world through safe, environmentally-friendly science and tech, but whatever happened to Starr Labs? Why does PG have a boss when she was her own boss at her own company? Why is she suddenly shy and lacking in social skills and cues? She was a CEO!

What do the general public think happened to Karen Starr, PG's former civilian alter ego? That she disappeared off the face of the earth, and then this Paige Stetler appears out of nowhere and looks exactly like her and has practically the same job as her? Oh wait, Paige wears glasses, and Karen didn't, so they are different people to everyone else, according to long-established DC rules.

Speaking of DC tropes, here's a tired one: slight spoiler, but Power Girl gets temporarily mind controlled to become evil and angry again - she gets mind controlled/possessed by evil tech powered by the colour red again! But at least in this instance she is given some agency, and fights back. But DC, please, no more plots revolving around villains taking over PG's mind and body without her consent! It's creepy, and trite at this point.

Lois Lane is a qualified, competent, confident, smart, strict-but-fair, powerful boss to Paige Stetler, and she knows she's Power Girl! Lois has seen it all, as the top, award-winning Daily Planet journalist-turned-editor-in-chief, and wife of Superman and mother of his child. Her cameo, her new job, her growth and development - they are appreciated.

It's awesome to see Power Girl and Supergirl's sisterly relationship and partnership carried over from 'Power Girl Returns'. A+!

With cool, expressive, shadowy, varying, flexible artwork, and action and character work, 'Power Girl Vol. 1: Electric Dreams' is a must for Power Girl fans, and regular DC Comics fans. It is a damn entertaining superhero comic. It knows Power Girl (shifting, inconsistent civilian identity traits notwithstanding), and treats the superheroine with respect, reverence, and care. She is a worthy hero, and person.

A tragic person whose past is coming back to haunt her, to ruin everything she has built up for herself. But with help, she can overcome it. She can fight it, punch it. Again and again, for however long it takes for her own form of a systemic abuser to go away for good, and not take control of her; not take everything away from her new, remade life and identity.

She is strong in the ways that matter, after all.

Welcome back, Power Girl. Aka, the original Kara Zor-L, Superman's cousin.

Power Girl = Girl Power.

Final Score: 3.5/5

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

This started off with so much promise. Superman recruits Power Girl to investigate a Kryptonian virus that’s been traced to Power Girls dimension. The next stories are light hearted one following their cat and the other is some weird otherly world entered via drugs.

[Ya Boi Be Reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up as I really vibe with Power Girl and her focus on fighting mind control and fighting for being an individual as it is shown here. The first arc starts with a fun and very personal mission dealing with a tie to the Symbioship. You really feel Power Girl's isolation and loneliness and struggle to be heard and understood. The use of the Kryptonian Lion to further that message was a great choice by Leah Williams. I can see why some say Superman is written differently here. He definitely is on a much more uncaring “I got to lead and command” leader way. I don't think it's terrible and it fits and works with PG's issue of isolation and loneliness in this story though it is quite off character. But I'd rather him be a bit off-character in a comic not about him then he be on character and hurt the message or story Leah Williams is going for with Power Girl.
After that is followed by a shorter, more conveniently plotted arc that tackles similar themes against a brain-washing villain taking over a medieval realm while teaming up with Supergirl. It's a much lighter romp but that's not bad. It's breezy but just pure fun. Combined with the first arc and issue 5 which is its own story told nearly textless this volume has shown Leah William's diversity in writing very well.
I do wish we got more stuff that Lazarus Planet and Dawn of DC brought for Power Girl here. Power Girl has new America Chavez-esque teleworking punches yet it's only in issue 1 and is specifically taken away in the second arc to allow the conflict to exist. I thought that Power was cool so I wished it was here more. I also really enjoy Omen. Her powers are cool and she is just oh so shippable with Power Girl yet once again she is quite scant here.
Pansica pencils the first arc (#1-4) here. I know him mostly for his work on Green Lanterns during the DC Rebirth era. His work still has those many hatching lines that can work though it seems to be toned down a lot here. I can't tell if its to fit the vibe of this story and comic more or if his style has changed. It's not bad and considering the art is more simple or anime-inspired at times the lesser amount of hatching works. And it makes it so the emotional times with the hatching hits more.
After there is a single stint of David Baldeon before Marguerite Suavage takes over. Her art is a lot more cartoony and soft though she can easily add details to panels that are big enough. I personally enjoyed her style even if it aired a bit to that commercially girly look.

[Jamie Revell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This features two essentially unconnected stories that help to update Power Girl (and her costume) to something that's at least a little more modern. The first story links back to an aspect of her background and is (I assume) connected with a previous story in a comic I haven't read - probably one of the Superman ones. It's well written for the most part, if a little rushed in the ending, and builds on Power Girl's new identity and allies, rather than simply focusing on the action. The second story kicks off with a wordless solo adventure for Streaky the cat, and it's this that boosts the collection as a whole into 4-star territory for me. That sets up a fantasy tale - something that seems to be becoming more common in superhero comics of late - in a team-up between our heroine and Supergirl.

It's a fun, if hardly groundbreaking, use of someone who is more often a supporting character but here does get to shine on her own. Although the ethical dubiousness of her sidekick's powers in the first section could do with more exploration than we get here.