Symbol Pending - A Power Girl Blog

The Night of the Soul Thief Adventure Comics #463 Cover Dated:  May / June 1979 Released:  8th February 1979 If there was any proof that I read week to week rather than reading ahead is that here we do get an issue that covers some of Helena dealing with her loss, though it does mostly involve punching people. We also get a return to the better team dynamics of Power Girl. Oh and the cover is a total lie nothing like that happens in the comic at all, Vaux is even a third act reveal not that he's important enough for that to be a big deal! We start with a cool group shot of the JSA running, with some major capeage before Dr Fate admits that he really doesn't know where he's going and takes off with Huntress to track down who gave Jensen his reality-warping powers. One neat little detail is that Helena and Dick are unmasked, but in costume, until the end of this issue. It's a subtle nod that this is closure for Helena Wayne rather than Huntress solving a murder. He then t...

  Only Legends Live Forever, part 2 Adventure Comics #462 Cover Dated:  March / April 1979 Released:  14th December 1978 Now I'm not sure if it's obvious from the covers but someone very important dies in this issue! And apparently all the floating heads of the Earth-1 heroes, except ironically Deadman, seem really happy about this fact. And get used to Power Girl looking sad at funerals (well variations of the same one) because that's all she does in this issue with her underwater for the actual fight. Though I'll give the JSA a pass as they spend most of the issue unconscious. In case it's not obvious this is a story very much about the Waynes (actual and adopted) or at least half a story as it's obvious that the story has been cut into two to fit into the comics page count. After a splash page showing the grave of Bruce, and number two weepy Kara, we open proper with a quick summary and a neat little picture looking down at the top of one of the towers, inclu...

Only Legends Live Forever Adventure Comics #461 Cover Dated:  January / February 1979 Released:  12th October 1978 Adventure is an anthology comic, but we'll skip the other stories so no talk about the Barry Allen Flash, Deadman or Earth-1 Wonder Woman stories. I'm reading from the trade anyways so even I've not had the joy of the other stories. And for the new comic we're back to the same old, same old, with Power Girl being mardy at the boy. Though to be fair it's because they're putting pressure on her to keep an energy bubble from closed in her and Alan, only for it being a test to get Green lantern to use the full extent of his powers. She storms out, with an admirably cool cutaway of the pneumatic tube to get her back to the mansion proper, pass a now recovered Wildcat who alas seems his normal self. We then get a much sweeter scene where Dick Grayson reveals that he knows that Helena is the Huntress. It even goes to the length to say that she's not th...

World on the Edge of Ending All-Star Comics #74 Cover Dated:  September / October 1978 Released:  27th June 1978 More page, more action! is an ironic cover image considering this would be the last issue of the (70s) All-Star Comics. For the few that don't know the story, DC had been increasing their titles from 1977 to 1978 to try and compete with Marvel's success at the time. But a year or poor sales meant they had to suddenly cut a number of their issues, often called the Implosion as a counterpoint to the explosion that DC was flogging all the new titles at the time.  All-Stars was one of those that fell victim to the cut, though it wouldn't be the end of the team as they'd be folded into Adventure Comics for six issues. As aside from the advantage of forty-ish years it seems crazy that they were going to cancel Detective Comics and it was only saved in the eleventh hour by a merge with Batman Family. The issue starts with a splash page showing Hawkman and Dr Fate in...

  Be It Ever So Deadly... All-Star Comics #73 Cover Dated:  July / August 1978 Released:  18th April 1978 We open the issue with the story that goes through the entire issue, the two Huntresses fighting each other. As is traditional the heroic Huntress starts out on the back foot, falling for some of the traps evil Huntress has laid down, but after tricking her by setting off a beartrap Helena manages to grapple her evil counterpart into submission. Only for the evil huntress to trick her and throw Helena into a glass cage. I've got to say for how silly the tiger-striped huntress costume is her fringe game is on point! Luckily for Helena Alan is signed up for Power Ring TV and decides to check up on her, right after that point and not a second before, and rushes off to help her out. Garrick and Power Girl apparently bored of waiting for Wildcat to get better rush off, somewhere, to do something that they'll figure out soon enough! We then get more setup for later with Dr ...

A Thorn by Any Other Name All-Star Comics #72 Cover Dated:  May/June 1978 Released:  21st February 1978 No messing around as we get right into the action as the splash page show the JSA at a murder scene filled with exposition. And whilst it might be my imagination but Power Girl seems a lot calmer than we've seen her before, just working alongside everyone peacefully like. It's a little weird as Garrick treats her with kid gloves like she still the old feistier Power Girl when he was there at the event that mellowed her out a little. Doubly weird when they take the time to cover the, obvious, fact that Huntress is now officially part of the team.  It seems that Throne is building a criminal empire in Keystone City and the JSA have been called in to bust it all up, starting with an assault on the Courthouse, a journey that lasts just long enough for us to see the new Hawkman costume before the shadow subplot rumbles along.  The fight with Thorne does not go well what...

 The Deadliest Game in Town All-Star Comics #71 Cover Dated:  March / April 1978 Released:  27th December 1977 This whole story involves one scene of Power Girl, in her symbiotship having another Kryptonian life in Showcase #98. If you somehow missed it you can read it here . This isn't really an issue about the JSA it's a way to introduce Helena Wayne, aka Huntress of Earth-2. It would be easy to skip this one and see how long the new Karen Star lasts, but Huntress is important to Power Girl and they become besties that lasted to the early 21st century. (Not always the other Huntress, but things will get complicated before she shows up.) So it's worth looking at this introduction, and we get some Wildcat as well so a bonus! So we get the three, oh yeah Star-Spangled Kid is here as well, trapped in a baseball stadium surrounded by the bad guy's, Strike Force. They're in a standoff when bold as you like Huntress pulls out her mini crossbow and starts fighting the vil...