It has been a challenging year for Power Girl. Beyond struggling to master her new telepathic powers, she’s also started a new life with a new secret identity. The preview for Power Girl #8 finds the newly renamed Dr. Paige Stetler tackling another new challenge – roller-skating!
Written by Leah Williams, with art by Eduardo Pansica, the preview finds Paige learning how to skate, while catching up with Omen. The two roommates discuss Paige’s recent adventure in the magical realm of Ferembia. They also dish over Paige’s crush on a mysterious man named Axel Gust, who Paige suspects is a CIA agent.
The main cover and first four pages can be viewed below.
(Image Source: DC / Yanick Paquette)(Image Source: DC / Eduardo Pansica)
First appearing in All Star Comics #58 in 1976, Power Girl was originally the Supergirl of Earth-2. It was here she adopted the alias of computer programmer Karen Starr. Somehow, she survived the Crisis on Infinite Earths, despite DC Comics’ editorial wanting to eliminate all the Kryptonians except Superman. The end result was one of the most convoluted backstories in comics, as Karen was retconned to being an Atlantean princess, then Kryptonian again.
The changes to Karen Starr’s history over the years made her seem redundant following the restoration of Supergirl. The current storyline, with its focus on identity and new powers, helped shaped Power Girl into a distinctive character from Kara Zor-El. It also eliminated the onus associated with the name Karen, which has come to describe a disagreeable woman prone to complaining.
Power Girl #8 arrives in comic shops everywhere on April 23, 2024.