WARNING: The following article contains spoilers from One-Star Squadron #4, on sale now.
In One-Star Squadron #4 (by Mark Russell, Steve Lieber, Dave Stewart, and Dave Sharpe) Power Girl seems to have hit a different kind of low, working for Heroz4U while conniving (and failing) to acquire a low-level management position. What makes this even worse for her is that she has achieved so much more than that in the past. Or at least, another version of her has.
During the New 52 era, it was shown that Power Girl has the capacity to build a successful multinational tech conglomerate that made her one of the most powerful women on the planet, a far cry from where she’s at right now.
Now, it is worth mentioning that this version of Power Girl is from the New 52 era of DC Comics, back when the whole multiverse was rebooted for a fresher take. So not only was this Power Girl younger than the current iteration, but also less tested and hadn’t even started calling herself Power Girl by the time her company had achieved great success. This version was stranded on Earth-Prime alongside her best friend Helena Wayne, AKA Huntress. With nothing to their names, the two stole a little money from Bruce Wayne to start their new lives.
Power Girl used her money to start her company, and from there she took advantage of her natural gifts. Using her powers, she supplemented her funds by scouring the Earth for rare materials that she could both sell for a profit and also give to her scientists to fund their projects. She found a way to not only use her business acumen but also her powers to benefit her company in a way that wasn’t illegal. If this less tested version could do all that, then why can’t the current one?
The first reason is that these might be two different versions of Power Girl. As such, they would have extremely different motivations. The New 52 Power Girl wanted more than anything to get back to her Earth, a world that was on the brink of extinction the last time she was there. It wasn’t just about getting back to the home she knew, but also ensuring there was anything at all to return to. The current Power Girl in contrast seems to be doing okay but simply wants to climb the ladder because of ambition. So clearly they had different drives.
It is also worth noting that the New 52 Power Girl could only really start up her company with millions stolen from Bruce Wayne. It is questionable whether she would have been able to rise in the corporate world without that foundation, which was given to her by her friend. However, Power Girl also heavily studied business to understand how to succeed, so money or not she may have found a way. It all just paints a picture that the current Power Girl isn’t living up to her potential. Given all her past self accomplished, she could be doing so much more with her powers and mind if she just realized she deserves more than a position a group of incompetent and uncaring CEOs could give her.
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