After Nearly 2 Years, One of DC's Controversial Series Seems to Be Ending

A look ahead at DC Comics' solicitations for May 2025 reveals that the publisher has no plans to release a new issue of Power Girl that month. Fans are speculating that the series might have been quietly canceled. Power Girl, from the current creative team of Leah Williams, Adriana Melo, and Romulo Rajardo, Jr., will possibly wrap up after April's issue #20.

The Power Girl series, which launched with Williams as the consistent writer in 2023 as part of DC's Dawn of DC initiative, has enjoyed solid but not spectacular reviews, with an average aggregate score of 6.7/10 at review aggregator Comic Book Roundup. Fan reviews have been less positive, with some DC readers complaining about the comedic tone and changes made to the character.

One frequent complaint centers on the decision to abandon the Karen Starr secret identity in favor of a new name and a fresh start. That decision tied into the big idea of the series, which was Power Girl exploring her place in the DC Universe - something she constantly struggles with, since her origin story and backstory have changed several times.

Power Girl Has Drawn Praise For Characterization, But Frustrated Fans

Longtime DC Readers Have Been Frustrated With Aspects of the Story

Power Girl has, at times, felt less like a traditional DC Universe title and more like a stand-alone title designed for the boosktore market or as an inspiration for TV and film. The character herself is charming, funny, and has relatable issues with relationships and self-doubt. She has been integrated into the "lost generation" of DC heroes, palling around with characters like Harley Quinn and Lobo's daughter Crush. But these tonal choices have cost her character some of her history, seemingly discarding her close ties to the JLI and JSA along the way.

Loss of history always ruffles feathers with longtime readers, but it's also proven to be a commercially and critically successful way to reboot characters and titles time and time again. Most of Tom King's recent comics fit that mold, with titles like Mister Miracle and Strange Adventures drawing rave reviews. And as Raina Telgemeier and Dav Pilkey outsell mainstream superhero comics by a wide margin, DC has taken to creating graphic novels just for the bookstore market that often recast beloved characters as younger and more relatable to casual fans of all ages and demographic makeups.

Power Girl's Superman Connections Run Deep - Will They Continue After the Possible Cancelation?

Creators Have Struggled For Years to Find Her a New Role

The series marked the character's first ongoing series since 2011, when creators like Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Conner, and Judd Winick instilled quite a bit of comedy into the character's stories, mirroring her appearances during the popular Justice League International run in the late 1980s and early '90s. While both of Power Girl's ongoing series aimed at giving her a personality and backstory distinct from those of Superman and Supergirl, it's difficult to separate the two, since she was originally created as a way to use the Earth-2 Supergirl following the events of Crisis on Infinite Earths.

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Power Girl Has a New Costume, And It's More Important Than You Realize

What's old is new again as Power Girl pulls a classic costume out the closet, albeit with some tweaks to it. The change is worth making a big deal.

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Ironically, in a recent storyline, Power Girl introduced a new costume - really a riff on her classic one - which featured a pentagonal-shaped window for her cleavage. The change blends her classic costume style with that of the House of El, whose classic "S" logo shares a shape with the new window. The new costume tweak evokes her family ties, but the storytelling behind the Williams run has been aimed at trying to craft a new persona for Power Girl that isn't so reliant on the Els, the Justice Society, or the JLI. Where the character will go next in the world of DC Comics is anybody's guess.

Power Girl #20 is available April 23rd, 2025 from DC Comics.

Source: Comic Book Roundup