Power Girl (2009 run) # 2

By Mark Rodriguez

Power Girl has moved to New York to start a new life and re-open her business as Karen Starr. Things went smoothly until an army of robots using mind waves that drive the citizen crazy started falling from the sky. This turned out to be the work of Ultra Humanite that used his machines to suspend the island of Manhattan into the sky. In exchange for the city, he wants his brain to be inserted into Power Girl's body!!

"Unleash the Beast" opens aboard Ultra Humanite's ship, as the villain monologues about having spent billions upon billions in the name of science, but has not yet found the perfect vessel for his genius. The ape grabs Power Girl by the throat and says once he can mentally configure the way a Kryptonian nervous system works, he can make the change. Power Girl feels the pain of him prodding through her mind which she compares it to icy razorblades. 

Power Girl asks him when he developed telepathy. Ultra Humanite says he doesn't read minds, rather he scans neural systems. To do so, the physical body must be distracted, so he knees her in the face. The ape says he understands how her brain functions now, and the neurological adaptations he'll have to make are complex but not impossible. Power Girl asks him what all that means, while calling him 'Dr. Zaius'. Ultra Humanite drags over to a device and says she can make jokes if she likes. He says that he imagines countless men want her body, but he'll be the one that gets to have it. Of course, in this case he means literally, but it seems not even a super-genius is above that sort of humor.

Power Girl screams as her head is placed inside the helmet. Ultra Humanite says this will take longer than he thought. Power Girl kicks him hard enough to send him flying across the room. Power Girl is angry that this villain placed the city and its people in danger just to take control of her body. Ultra Humanite says she doesn't understand what it's like to be him. Power Girl says it's not her fault that he placed his mind into the body of an ape. She takes the helmet off her and starts smashing Ultra Humanite in the face with it.

Ultra Humanite grabs Power Girl by the throat again. Power Girl asks why he placed all those people in danger. He says they were hostages, and if she surrenders her body to him, he will let them go. Power Girl knees him in the chin and tells him she can get him some help at either Arkham or the Bronx Zoo. Humanite says if she refuses his demands, he will drop the city and the blood of millions will be on her hands. 

Power Girl calls Humanite insane and he angrily slams her face into the floor. Power Girl uses her heat vision to propel herself backwards and knock the albino ape off of her. Humanite is angry, and she smacks Power Girl in the face with a steel rod, ripped out of the floor. He then punches her in the face repeatedly. He stops to lament the 'stupid waste of raw power'. Humanite picks up the unconscious Kryptonian and tells her that she will never understand not liking the body with they were born with while having such a perfect mind. He says soon he will be reborn in her body and millions will die. 

Meanwhile at Starrware Industries, the employees are safe inside the building and unaffected by what's happening outside. Donna is concerned for her child, who would still be at home. Simon tells her that it's too dangerous to go out and she might not even survive long enough to get to her house. The others worry if the madness affecting the people outside will never end. Simon assures them that the JSA (Justice Society of America) and Power Girl will take care of things. As the employees argue about what to do, one of them asks what happened to Karen Starr. Dexter points out to the rest that people are randomly diving off the roof, as he sees several people falling past the window, one by one. Donna asks why nobody seems to be helping.

Outside, the Green Lantern (Alan Scott), Liberty Belle, Mr. Terrific, Wildcat, Damage, the Flash (Jay Garrick), Hourman and Doctor Mid-Nite are fighting against the robot army while trying to keep people safe. Mr. Terrific determines that the robots are inducing some sort of hyper-sonic fear inducing frequency. Wildcat says he doesn't feel afraid and Damage says he needs to be fearless to be dressed in a catsuit in public. Liberty Belle asks about Power Girl and Hourglass says he saw her flying across town not that long ago. Liberty says Power Girl's stuff is still at her old house and comments that she was supposed to start over. Wildcat says not to worry about her, since she can take care of herself.

Power Girl is currently strapped down with gravity restraints that act as a conduit towards the Earth's gravitational pull. She also has a special visor on, that Humanite warns will shoot her own heat vision right back at her if she tries to use it. Humanite has also created a device that drains the solar radiation from Power Girl's cells to make it easier for him to cut her brain out. He says before he begins he will tell her something that he hasn't told anyone.

We flashback to Gerald, the person who would become Ultra Humanite, back when he was a sickly ten year old boy. He just won the science fair, but he has also had horrible seizures that continue to get worse. Gerald says he can cure himself but he needs access to a lab. His father says it'll be tough for a ten year old in college. Gerald says he wants to live to see eleven.

Ten years later, Gerald and his lab assistant ,Satanna, are experimenting on brain transplants on animals but continue to fail. They seem some type of amniotic fluid that will continue to feed the brain during the process. Just then the people that run the college come in to shut this down. They said PETA is protesting outside and they have the pressure of the board of directors and budget coming down on them. Gerlad says they are getting close to a breakthrough. Mr. Carlson says what they are doing is unethical and they're shutting it down.

Satanna says they are on the verge of changing the entire landscape of human transplants. Mr. Carlson says all he sees are dead animals. Gerald pleads that his body is degenerating and he needs this research. Mr. Carlson says that no university in America will condone these experiments. Gerald says his brain continue to grow and he won't die before it reaches its zenith. He says Mr. Carlson will live to regret this, as he heads out with Santanna.

In the Congo, ten years later, Gerald is pretty much immobile, as a war rages on outside their tent. Satanna says she knows transplanting from human to human is possible. Gerald agrees but says they must find a solution while he's still breathing. Santanna tells one of her men to bring in 'the beast'. Gerald asks why she stayed with him so many years. Santanna says he taught her so much, and once they are finished with the surgery, she wants to make sure he will live up to his promise to Mr. Carlson. The men bring in a caged albino ape. Satanna says this will be temporary, and Gerald says he knows.

Outside, the war continues as a general has his men kill all the rebels. As they arrive towards the tent, Satanna steps out and tells the general that he better run. The ape steps out, now with Gerald's brain taking over, as he warns the soldiers to leave or he will kill them all. The soldiers think he's a demon and start to open fire on him. The ape says he warned them and starts to attack everyone as Satanna rides on his shoulders.

Gerald mauls all the soldiers and Satanna loves seeing all the blood and violence. She asks Gerald why he should even bother looking for a human body. Gerald tells her that he is human. Satanna says he is better than human, he is now ultra human. Gerald says he's finally free from his weakened body and he wants to strength and power of being alive again. Satanna suggests a little fun. Gerald is surprised his new body doesn't disgust her, and says he's a monster covered in blood. Satanna tells him not to wash the blood off.

Power Girl is disgusted to hear that part of the story. Humanite says he parted ways with Satanna after that, but he knows she perfected what he taught her. He says it's time to get started on the procedure. The surgical tools are now able to cut into Power Girl's forehead, which pleases Humanite. Power Girl has to find a way out of this... but how??

My Thoughts-

My god, is Power Girl ever in a jam. I'm really not sure how she can get out of this one. I do wonder how Humanite's would ever fit in there though. It already looks too big to fit in the skull of his ape body, so how the hell would it fit into a more human-sized cranium? Also... just how strong is this albino ape? It doesn't look like Humanite added strength-enhancing augmentations, but this ape is able to punch a Kryptonian woman strong enough to knock her out??

We get to get into Ultra Humanite's origin as he was born with the brain of a genius but with a frail body that was battling with itself to stay alive. Since the albino ape body was meant to be temporary until he found a human body, I can see how he would feel being stuck in that body for years and would want something more human. I wonder he chose Power Girl, but I guess he found her to be an easier target than Superman himself. Plus he probably wouldn't want both the Justice League and all of Superman's villains after him if he did take over his body. 

Though I have to say, despite his tragic backstory and whatnot, it's hard to feel sympathy for Gerald as he's pretty much a sadist and a little too happy to see millions die. Plus he constantly specifies just how much he hopes the procedure he wants to perform on Power Girl will be as painful for her as possible.

It was nice to see how the employees at Starrware Industries were reacting to the madness happening outside their door. It reminds us how the average person would be acting during what feels like the purge happening all over the city. Seeing as they're in New York one of them even compared the madness to having lived through 9/11. At the time the comic was published, that event was only eight years back. 

I wasn't expecting to see the JSA to show up in this book. This is the first time I got to see some of these characters, and I'm surprised to see both Alan Scott and Jay Garrick to still be around in modern day, at least Pre-New 52 era. I always thought those two were considered historic figures in the DC universe and were replaced by the current Green Lanterns and the Flash.

The comic continues with the sense of humor you'd expect from a series starring such a busty super heroine. All those comments about 'having Power Girl's body' and such had to be intentional, even though in this case Ultra Humanite plans to take her body in a much more literal way. Speaking of which, Satanna, who would eventually become the super villain Tiger Girl, turned out to be a real freak. Neither Power Girl nor the readers really needed to hear that part of Ultra Humanite's origin story. There's a word for that sort of activity, and I wasn't expecting to run into that in a DC comic.

Poor PG thinking 'why is he telling me this???' while old Gerald has that look like he's remembering that crazy night with Satanna....

For this issue's retro ad, this DC comic ad reminded me of an entertaining era pre-New 52. This was the time where Tim Drake got his own series as Red Robin, but also the time Bruce was believe to be dead and Dick Grayson took on the mantle of the Dark Knight. As I go through this run, there are going to be some instances where Batman makes cameos, and this was actually during the time that Dick was under the cowl. I know Batman appears once, so I do wonder if any of those times were when Bruce came back.