Due to the great use of an obscure movie, this is my favorite issue of Power Girl yet.Vartox has come to Earth to mate, and he seeks Power Girl. He hails from a groovy home planet where he's the ultimate man and everyone hangs on his every word. He also looks a hell of a lot like Sean Connery in John Boorman's Zardoz! I really liked how Palmiotti and Gray handled all the references to that weird 70's flick. Vartox even arrives in a giant head-spaceship! I know very few people will get this reference, but man, it was very entertaining to see.
Power Girl remains so darn likeable. What makes her such a fun character is how normal she seems in her interactions. She teams up with her old buddy Dr. Mid-Nite just for fun. The Doc had the oddball villain Blue Snowman well in hand, but PG helps out just to do it! Blue Snowman was pretty tremendous too. The character design was fun and was a great example of the villain who spends more to make her suit than she will eventually steal. The big monster at the end is really kind of unimportant. This issue is all about PG interacting with people around her; misguided villains, overbearing frat boys, and reliable teammates. This was a darn goo
d issue.Amanda Conner makes this thing go. Vartox is spot-on to his references, and PG always looks cute without getting too exploited. It's such a hard balance to make, readers want to see PG's assets, but that shouldn't be the focus of the title. Conner walks the line perfectly.
Good
BTW, Zardoz is a fascinating film. It is clearly a product of its time, but it is filled with neat mind-bending ideas and interesting characters. It is the type of movie you can talk about after you finish watching too. Just prepare yourself for lots of nudity and lots of shots of Sean Connery in a speedo.
1 comment:
I remember the lettercols after Vartox debuted in the Seventies talking about Cary Bates' love of Zardoz. 35 years on and I've still not seen the thing!
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