http://bensfandom.blogspot.com/2009/12/form-and-function-power-girl.html

PS your “Awesome” comment made me laugh with joy.

Joe Rice… obviously you have not read the new series to make a blanket statement like that. Powergirl is a fun, smart, and entertaining character and on a monthly basis a book that is made up of so much more than what a character” looks ” like.

You need to kick some arse and get a trade out!

Alan Moore didn’t re-invent Barbara Gordon as anything. The re-invention came at the hands of Jon Ostrander and his late wife (whose name escapes me at the moment).

Kim Yale.

No one said you were trying to change free will. I said that its easier to change a comic book than it is a woman’s free will not that you had any inclination to do either. Just because most women are unaware of it doesn’t mean that those that are should be disregarded. Its not an either/or thing as to whether a character or person is good/bad in relation to the way they dress. Just because she saves the world doesn’t mean she can striptease and not come under fire. I would agree that there are more important issues than a comic book outfit but we aren’t talking about those issues right now we are talking about comic book outfits. As for gossip, I would argue its a part of the human condition for bad or good. I agree that its a low thing but we eat it up as a culture because we have a human need for these stories. We want to know our lives could be worse in the case of Britney or fantasise about our lives being ‘better’ in the case of the rich kardashians. Its not bread and water but I’m sure without bread and water there would still be gossip about who is hoarding supplies if you know what I mean.

And this isn’t a problem with comics. It’s a problem with superhero comics, especially fairly shitty/generic ones.

either female characters should fight crime in their underwear or they should wear a burqa. You don’t think they might be some middle ground?

Kelly Thompson expressed the problem really well in her post. It is less any one costume, or character, but taking them all together. For example, Jim Lee did a great job re-designing the Huntress and Poison Ivy, but the effect was that both were dressed more provocatively. By themselves, that is not a big deal.

However, if you line all the female DC heroes up, then almost none of them are wearing pants, many have bare mid-rifts, extreme cleavage and/or fish-nets. It is not any one part, but the whole that is the problem. Ideally, you would see a full spectrum of female characters who dressed and acted in distinct, coherent ways. Instead, we are over-loaded with female characters that tend to dress and behave in the exact same way.

Beyond just being offensive, it is boring.

Look, I get that skimpy outfits and fan-service are part of the genre. It is just that different characters should be handled … well … differently. Their designs should be an expression of their personality. Going to the same visuals over and over tends to the characters themselves blur together.

Ironically, Power Girl is perhaps the least problematic DC character for me in this regard. She was conceived from day one as a sort of fifties style bombshell. She was co-created by Wally Wood, who did a lot of satirical and lewd work. For me, that gives the creators working with her broad brand permission in that area.

Notice such complaints about males are almost nonexistent–despite most male comics characters being pretty messed up in some way or another.

That said, I’ve really enjoyed Justin and Jimmy’s writing on the new series. The humor and general tone has been just right for the kind of comic PG needs. One that is fun and playful, and not ‘grim and gritty’ and Zombie Lantern filled…

And man, this thread has become the “Boob Discussion That Just Won’t Die…”

I don’t have a particular problem with Power Girl’s costume. As someone whose power set makes them invunerable, I’m willing to believe that she’d wear an outfit with a boob window because she thinks she looks good in it.

But Power Girl isn’t the only female character running around half naked, and in most cases it looks bloody stupid. We are meant to believe that Elektra, Psylocke, Huntress et al would choose to go out and fight crime, dressed in attire that would get them thrown out of most nightclubs. They’d catch their death of cold for one thing.

I actually like Kara’s personality. In the hands of a writer who actually GIVES her a personality…

She’s had her origin story messed around with more than any other character in comics that I can think of.

Wouldn’t that make you more than just a little bit peeved??

I think the blame here really lands much more on the artist, who turned that beat of the script into an attack on the reader. Because to my mind, the fourth panel nicely undercuts itself as Maxine fumbles her way through the explanation, such that it becomes, by the very end, a clear sort of over-analysis.

But, generally speaking, even if it hasn’t been played out exactly how I’d prefer, I like the appropriation of the boob window as a meta-commentary on superhero costumes. I wish it were used more broadly – I’d love to see the discussion between Power Girl and, say, Black Canary or Catwoman on their costumes. I’d love to see Power Girl and Supergirl get into a “For God’s sake, cover yourself up” discussion. Something that makes the fact that this is strangely the only costume that anyone is aware of the ridiculousness of matter more and impact the stories more.

But given the existence of the larger problem, I have to say I’m glad that there is a costume that can be used as a vehicle for critique and discussion of the problem within the stories. Even when that discussion misfires sometimes.