JSA Classified #1/Amanda Connor
Mattel has started releasing images of wave 10 of DC Universe Classics action figures (exclusive to Wal-Mart) to Action Figure Insider. There are some truly amazing sculpts and gorgeous figures, for those people who are into them.
However, looking through the pictures for the packaging for Power Girl, you’ll discover something interesting:
“Believed to be the granddaughter of the ancient Atlantean mage Arion, Kara was sent thousands of years into the future to spare her from Arion’s evil half-brother, Garn Daanuth. Kara emerged from her time-spanning life-pod and was taken under the wing of Superman, who introduced her to the Justice Society of America, a team that helped Kara to master her own magically-created superpowers and adopt the guise of the heroine Power Girl.”
But that isn't Power Girl’s origin. At least, it isn't currently. Power Girl's powers aren't derived from magic. They're from living under a yellow sun, just like Superman or any other Kryptonian living on Earth.
Power Girl’s first origin story was pretty simple, if you understand the different pieces. She was essentially the Supergirl of a parallel universe. She was Kryptonian. But due to the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths, which collapsed all the different universes in DC’s mythology into one, it was decided that Superman would be the only and sole survivor of Krypton.
So Power Girl needed a new origin story. They one they came up with is the one your on the back of the action figure box.
However, after the events in Infinite Crisis, which re-established DC’s multiverse (Is your head spinning yet?), Power Girl’s first origin was re-established; she was the sole survivor of a parallel universe.
But here’s the problem: any kid who's drawn into comic books as a result of picking up the figure isn't going to get an Atlantean Power Girl, but a Kryptonian one. And any adult who picks the figure up already knows the story. So what benefit is it to put the Atlantean story on the back of the box? Is “sole survivor of a parallel universe” that much more confusing than the Atlantean story?
In the end, it probably doesn't matter. Whatever her origin is, Power Girl is still a strong female role model for young girls who interested in something more than Barbie and Twilight. And, hopefully, the figure will draw more girls into the hobby of reading super-hero comics.
For more on Power Girl, click here.
And if you want the greatest Power Girl discussion on the Internet, click here.
If you’re sick of paying $3.99 for 22 pages of content, click here.
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