There was a time not very long ago that I thought the Justice League International/Europe series would never be reprinted, but this is the year of Generation Lost, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that DC has caught up to the first volume of JLE in Justice League International Vol. 5, out today. This series is a significant period for Power Girl, unfortunately for negative reasons. I pretty much avoided Power Girl until the JSA: Classified storyline fixed her origin, and I don’t have a big itch to seek out the old JLE issues due to the treatment of PG (I do own Justice League: A New Beginning.) However the reprinting of these issues in trade paperback for the first time is a huge deal for fans of the series.
These days I can’t even keep up with all the books Power Girl is appearing in! I’m only reading her own book at the moment, but I do like seeing her with the old JLI gang, even if I miss standalone stories under the previous team.
Post revised Jan 26, 2011
I’m thrilled that these volumes are being reprinted, the JLI being my very favorite team ever, but I wouldn’t recommend them to someone who’s just reading for Power Girl. Honestly I think their characterization of her is the biggest misstep the Giffen/DeMatteis team made, and it only gets worse after they leave the book (though I doubt the post-Giffen years will make it into trades). There’s one arc (post-Giffen) where Dr. Light tells Kara the reason she’s so angry all the time is because superpowered women react badly to diet soda. Seriously. Oh the ladies and their diets and their emotions! So crazy!
I had forgotten about the diet soda thing. *facepalm*
The horror stories I’ve heard about Power Girl’s characterization and depowering in JLI (also, mystical pregnancy) are the reason I still haven’t read the series O_o
I enjoyed Formerly Known and I Can’t Believe on their own merits, but I don’t know if I’ll ever go back and read the series proper because the PG stuff would probably give me an aneurysm.
I’m really happy for fans of the series though!
It’s really just awful. At least Giffen and DeMatteis were only responsible for Peej being irrationally bitchy, the butt of constant jokes, and getting depowered? (I can’t believe that’s an “at least.”) The diet soda and pregnancy came later.