New Star rising - Showcase #99

The Crater That Was Keystone City

Showcase #99

Cover Dated: March / April 1978
Released: 17th January 1978

We start with a splash page with probably the best image of Power Girl of the three, and that's a static image on a screen! It seems Brain Wave can't find any trace of her, his apparently biggest foe. This is because Power Girl has been busy creating a new identity, Kara is now Karen Star applying for a job at Ultimate Computer Corporation. She's now a software expert, this is computers of the 70's remember, thanks to some time in Wonder Woman's training machine. Personally, this feels like a missed opportunity to have had her picked it up in the VR of the last issue, it seemed that she was already going for a job in the equivalent of the Kryptonian STEM fields. But Karen confirms that the training the ship provided was more or less useless, which really shows an oversight on her father part. Apparently, the owner of the company is willing to take her on no questions asked thanks to that reporter friend that gotten himself involved with all this. 

Oh and apparently this is the only time UCC shows up, Power Girl is apparently the worse at keeping secret identities it seems!

Anyway, the plot starts to kick in properly as apparently, Keystone City has disappeared so Power Girl slips away and we get her changing into costume, including bare shoulders which isn't anywhere near as impressive as the classic supes shirt rip. She then bounces away from Gotham towards Keystone City.

There army types are keeping watch over what looks like quite a small hole for a whole city. then Brain Wave giant head appears as a hologram giving them an ultimatum either the whole JSA arrives straight away or he'll destroy their home cities. At this point, Power Girl leaps through the hologram and declares that surrender is most definitely not an option, and he seems perfectly fine with just her to battle rather the rest of the JSA.

He then deploys walkers similar to those from issue #97, much much bigger, that attack Power Girl and the soldiers. Their main guns seem to disintegrate anyone they hit, which people seem remarkably calm about, Power Girl even says they're disappearing rather than a more serious disintegration. She fights the tripods for a bit, and then starts to removed the army guys after a few more are "disappeared". Here we cut away to find that Brain wave is watching on with the captured Flash and Green lantern, the latter imprisoned in a wooden ball that shows that either brain Wave has a carpentry hobby or someone on staff! (As an explanation classic Goldern Age Green Lantern, like the sonic screwdriver, cannot affect anything made out of wood). He then monologues, like a real supervillain, that he'll soon have Power Girl in his grasp. Pulling back his forces he threatens to destroy another city unless Power Girl surrenders, which she does to save further loss of life. it's only when Power Girl is about to be disintegrated that it seems to be taken seriously.

Luckily she wasn't disintegrated but instead teleported to Brain Waves location inside a lab in Keystone which he placed in a dimensional limbo. Power Girl trapped in a bubble which unlike the other two, who are upright, has her on her hands and knees so we can have many butt shots. Apparently, Brain Wave is one of those kinds of villains! Luckily that includes underestimating mere female villains as Power Girl easily breaks out of her bubble, of his own designs, after taunting the villain for being a bit of a nutter.

She quickly beats up the guards before Brain Wave releases the ultimate weapon, some green monster that only wants to kill, that Power Girl helpful describes as an Asparagus Spear. We then get a page of her fight against the beast, when she fails to beat him one on one she instead throws guards at him before sealing the monster and guard back in his container. Hopefully, the monster only wants to hurt the heroes or they might be in a little bit of trouble...

Even when captured Brain Wave refuses to release Keystone City back to reality, luckily with her be found computer skill she's able to restore the city back to the real world. The three then run off Power Girl having apparently happier that she can grow to love Earth.

I'm sure other wiser souls could tell me but this issue feels like it's setting Power Girl for her own solo series. She gains and supporting cast a secret identity and is shown to be capable as a solo hero (along with the previous two that included her origins), she's broadened from just a team player to someone ready for her own title. If that was the plan history was not on her side in about a year the DC implosion will see many comics cancelled including, somewhat ironically, both Showcase and All-Star. Thankfully we have a lot of Power Girl still to go...