Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Justin Gray Leaving Power Girl

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I’m incredibly bummed to learn that Amanda Conner, Palmiotti and Gray are leaving POWER GIRL after issue #12 :-(

I will really, really miss Conner’s PeeGee. I’m relieved that it was Conner’s choice, with the writing team following her lead. I know that she’s stated in the past that she has trouble with a monthly workload. Jamal Igle stated in a recent interview that with his current workload, “I usually draw 12-16 hours a day 5-6 days a week.” So I totally respect an artist knowing their limits.

Palmiotti told CBR News that though the decision was difficult to leave, once Conner was no longer available for art duties, he and Gray felt that they couldn’t stay and produce the same level of excitement month after month.

[Palmiotti] “Amanda always said she could just commit to the book for a year, and as we got into the series we realized that we just couldn’t do the same type of book with another artist at this point and decided it was a good idea to leave with her and give another team a shot.”

Smart move. I think most people were primarily reading the book for Conner’s delightful and often hilarious art. Hopefully the new team will be able to keep up the funny and light-heartedness while dialing way back on the sexism. Without Conner’s goofy, disarming rendering, the objectification that PG has been put through in this book would have been way less palatable. I’m still disturbed by the storyline about the teenage boy stalking and blackmail Power Girl, which was written off as “boys being boys” and not the serious case of domestic abuse it really is.

Both my boyfriend and I are huge fans of this series’ funny, lighthearted tone and Conner’s rendering of PG. We’re on tenterhooks about whether the new artist will keep Conner’s revisions to PG’s costume. We love the power symbol, the stompy, zippered boots, sleek zippered gloves, and the armor-like shoulder clasp that Conner gave her in this series. I also really dig the way she draws her hair. It’s going to be a long week waiting to hear who the new team will be.