Review: Power Girl Returns trade paperback (DC Comics)

Once I finished Leah Williams' Power Girl Returns and did some research and rereading, I was impressed with the history Williams is drawing on. Underlying no small part of Returns are events from All Star Comics and Power Girl’s stint in Showcase #97–99, and indeed Williams' characterization of Power Girl seems generally consistent with those comics from the late 1970s.

The difficulty is that nowhere in my collection is there an editor’s note that references, for instance, that Power Girl destroyed her rogue symbioship back in Showcase #98 from 1977. As a reader, I’m left to wonder, did that happen recently? Is it a new event Williams created? Arguably if I’d been more familiar, I might not be complaining, but we’re talking about events in a comic from almost 50 years ago, and with Power Girl’s characterization having seen a lot of twists and turns since then. There are deep cuts, and then there’s downright confusing.