Winick continues to deliver must-read action and excitement in the pages of "Power Girl." This is the second part of a tale that has Power Girl trying to track down some astonishing technology that has the capabilities to take her down. She is determined to trace the source and shut it down before it can be used against her again. That search brought her to request the help of the current Batman, Dick Grayson.
There is a nice exchange during the team-up between Power Girl and Batman. While there has been a bit of a to-do about the Batman-Supergirl relationship in "Justice League of America," the combination of Kara Starr and Dick Grayson makes for a fun variation on the ages-old "World's Finest" team-up concept. The two characters know each other well enough to make their teaming seem comfortable, but the duo hasn't been together often enough to make this issue feel anything but fresh.
The fact that Winick brings Batman into this issue to help Power Girl is a nice exhibition of Power Girl's place and level of comfort with the universe of heroes that surrounds her. Winick's own comfort level with the character is crystallizing in this issue as he shares with us Kara's thoughts about working alongside the Caped Crusader which come across as light-hearted, hip, and fun without being cheesy, hokey, or heavy-handed.
Basri draws a fun, powerful, emotional, and attractive Power Girl, and he does so without slipping into cheesecake. His Power Girl is believable and filled with humanity, even when she's hurling her foe across great distances in Antarctica, ripping walls apart, or being shot in the face. There is no questioning her demeanor at all throughout this comic, and many of the scenes would carry themselves quite well if the dialog were wiped off from the page. Basri doesn't just excel when drawing the main character of this issue though. Basri's art is detailed and full of life throughout the entire book. Sure, he lucks out with snowscapes as backgrounds for a good part of this issue, but the characters, action, and expressions more than make up for any perceived slack there.
One of the highlights for me came as the story was in high gear. A throwaway line during Kara's quest to identify her foe leaves me hoping that Winick gets around to it at some point: As she is battling the mysterious foe of this issue, Power Girl wants to know if the person she is fighting is "someone from Apokolips?" Without spoiling too much, I can tell you that the foe she is fighting is not from Apokolips, but the real answer is pretty darn surprising in its own right and offers a challenge that might truly be worthy of Power Girl's full power.
Like Gray, Palmiotti, and Conner before them, Winick and Basri are making this comic a great read. This character has frequently (and unfortunately) correlated only to her cup size, but in the time that she's had her own solo series, she has grown as a character and this series itself has become one of the highlights that I look forward to each and every month. Yes, I said each and every month. Since climbing on board, this creative team has delivered on time for almost half a year with no fill-ins, backups, or skipped issues. That alone is something to be celebrated, and the fact that month-in and month-out the stories under the cover of "Power Girl" are enjoyable and entertaining make this book a title you should seriously take a second look at.