# Is DC Comics' "Power Girl" supposed to look like a man/transvestite, grotesque? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 5, 2005, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dc-comics-power-girl-supposed-to-look-like-a-man-transvestite-grotesque/320180 "2005-09-05T07:48:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2005, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dc-comics-power-girl-supposed-to-look-like-a-man-transvestite-grotesque/320180/21 "2005-09-05T23:49:02Z")
> [@cckerberos](#): > > [Here’s](http://sakura.kirisame.org/morales%20PG.jpg) the scene he’s talking about (from Hawkman #23). My God. That’s just disgusting. I’m speechless. Shame on you Rags. Shame, shame, shame. How is her stomach supporting those things? ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dc-comics-power-girl-supposed-to-look-like-a-man-transvestite-grotesque/320180/22 "2005-09-06T00:00:30Z")
> [@cckerberos](#): > > [Here’s](http://sakura.kirisame.org/morales%20PG.jpg) the scene he’s talking about (from Hawkman #23). Mmmmmm, tasty. ---
**Author:** ![Giant\_Spongess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@Giant\_Spongess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giant_Spongess)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dc-comics-power-girl-supposed-to-look-like-a-man-transvestite-grotesque/320180/23 "2005-09-06T00:01:22Z")
She looks like your average pro bodybuilder to me. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dc-comics-power-girl-supposed-to-look-like-a-man-transvestite-grotesque/320180/24 "2005-09-06T00:07:51Z")
> [@Wolfian](#): > > How is her stomach supporting those things? Atlantean magic? Kryptonian (or Daxamite?) physique? No…no, those can’t be it… Maybe she can localise her ability to fly to specific bodyparts! ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dc-comics-power-girl-supposed-to-look-like-a-man-transvestite-grotesque/320180/25 "2005-09-06T00:10:24Z")
Aaaactually, thinking about it… At least once (in Birds of Prey, the arc where Joker threatened to nuke New York), she displayed the ability to grant other characters (Black Canary, in this case) the ability to fly. Given this, the ability to restrict her flight to one body part (well…two. \>_\>) isn’t that entirely unlikely. \>_\> ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dc-comics-power-girl-supposed-to-look-like-a-man-transvestite-grotesque/320180/26 "2005-09-06T00:59:18Z")
OK, to the OP: Never take an Amanda Conner rendition of a mainstream character as definitive. Personally, I think PG looks like a woman in those shots, but I know some pretty square-jawed women. It’s an ethnic thing (& it’s pretty normal for Amanda Conner art). Is Peege a big, burly, busty, broad? Yep! You want \*all \*superchicks to look scrawny & wee? Maybe you’ve been reading stuff by Silvestri imitators too long, friend. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dc-comics-power-girl-supposed-to-look-like-a-man-transvestite-grotesque/320180/27 "2005-09-06T06:47:33Z")
Unfortunately most comic book artist have no idea how to draw a decent woman. I expect super heroes to have a hyper figure but Power Girl just looks ridiculous in most of those links. She looks great in the JL Unlimited 'toon but then I guess she’s just Supergirl with short hair in that one. Marc ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dc-comics-power-girl-supposed-to-look-like-a-man-transvestite-grotesque/320180/28 "2005-09-06T13:22:28Z")
> [@cckerberos](#): > > [Here’s](http://sakura.kirisame.org/morales%20PG.jpg) the scene he’s talking about (from Hawkman #23). So is the first word on the next page “…basketballs!”? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dc-comics-power-girl-supposed-to-look-like-a-man-transvestite-grotesque/320180/29 "2005-09-06T13:38:59Z")
I was gone from reading DC comics for many years. I didn’t see Power Girl until I read **Kingdom Come**. When I got saw Power Girl myy first reaction was “Whoo the Hell is That?” She was with the Old Guard, so ashe had to be canonical, not one of the new cereatures they cookerd up for the series, but for the life of me I couldn’t figure out who or what she was supposed to be. Liked the peek-a-boo cleavage, though. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dc-comics-power-girl-supposed-to-look-like-a-man-transvestite-grotesque/320180/30 "2005-09-06T13:57:51Z")
> [@Giant\_Spongess](#): > > She looks like your average pro bodybuilder to me. 😛 Nah, female pro bodybuilders NEVER have tits that big. EVER. The 'roids shrink 'em down to a couple of raisins sittin on pancakes. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dc-comics-power-girl-supposed-to-look-like-a-man-transvestite-grotesque/320180/31 "2005-09-06T14:19:56Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Nah, female pro bodybuilders NEVER have tits that big. EVER. The 'roids shrink 'em down to a couple of raisins sittin on pancakes. Most of them have implants. Marc ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dc-comics-power-girl-supposed-to-look-like-a-man-transvestite-grotesque/320180/32 "2005-09-06T14:21:58Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Nah, female pro bodybuilders NEVER have tits that big. EVER. The 'roids shrink 'em down to a couple of raisins sittin on pancakes. Dawn Whitham. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dc-comics-power-girl-supposed-to-look-like-a-man-transvestite-grotesque/320180/33 "2005-09-06T14:39:48Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I was gone from reading DC comics for many years. I didn’t see Power Girl until I read **Kingdom Come**. When I got saw Power Girl myy first reaction was “Whoo the Hell is That?” She was with the Old Guard, so ashe had to be canonical, not one of the new cereatures they cookerd up for the series, but for the life of me I couldn’t figure out who or what she was supposed to be. Liked the peek-a-boo cleavage, though. Apparently you aren’t the only one. I remember reading somewhere that Ross rejuvanated the PG concept with Kingdom Come even though she had a relatively small role. She _was_ Supes’s cousin at one point, so she wasn’t always a second stringer. On preview: I googled Dawn Whitman and she does indeed look like PG from the Rags’s links. Ew (some of the links aren’t work-safe). If I had my way she would look like a more musclar version of [her](http://www.upn.com/shows/top_model3/models/gallery/toccara/ep02.jpg), a woman with huge boobs and a body to hold them. Ross (picture #4 in my original link) has come closest to that. A lot of people, to steal a phrase from **Wonk** , draw her like an anexoric with an ill-advised boob job. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dc-comics-power-girl-supposed-to-look-like-a-man-transvestite-grotesque/320180/34 "2005-09-06T14:56:05Z")
> [@Wolfian](#): > > On preview: I googled Dawn Whitman and she does indeed look like PG from the Rags’s links. Ew (some of the links aren’t work-safe). If I had my way she would look like a more musclar version of [her](http://www.upn.com/shows/top_model3/models/gallery/toccara/ep02.jpg), a woman with huge boobs and a body to hold them. Ross (picture #4 in my original link) has come closest to that. A lot of people, to steal a phrase from **Wonk** , draw her like an anexoric with an ill-advised boob job. The woman in your picture, Toccara Jones, is a gorgeous (IMO) “full-figured” model, which means she has a beautiful, curvy, voluptuous, soft body with big soft natural breasts. I’ve never really though of Power Girl as being built like that, since I’m most used to Bart Sears drawing her – he draws everyone very lithe and muscular. She is known as a strong and muscular character who just happens to be busty and sexy, much like Marvel’s She-Hulk (and DC’s Barda to a lesser extent, although I think of Barda as “softer” than Power Girl). I think artists get Power Girl wrong most often because they aren’t good at finding a middle-ground between musclebound/strong/sexy and shapely/feminine/curvy, and then her trademark ample chest looks out of place most of the time. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dc-comics-power-girl-supposed-to-look-like-a-man-transvestite-grotesque/320180/35 "2005-09-06T15:06:28Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I was gone from reading DC comics for many years. I didn’t see Power Girl until I read **Kingdom Come**. When I got saw Power Girl myy first reaction was “Whoo the Hell is That?” She was with the Old Guard, so ashe had to be canonical, not one of the new cereatures they cookerd up for the series, but for the life of me I couldn’t figure out who or what she was supposed to be. Liked the peek-a-boo cleavage, though. Same deal with me, I had no idea who she was when I read KC. But she wasn’t the only one, I didn’t know several of them. I never even heard of The Martian Manhunter until around that time, not sure how I missed that dude. I guess my superhero comics reading was really spotty when I was a kid. I tended to get humor stuff like MAD. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dc-comics-power-girl-supposed-to-look-like-a-man-transvestite-grotesque/320180/36 "2005-09-06T15:08:47Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I was gone from reading DC comics for many years. I didn’t see Power Girl until I read **Kingdom Come**. When I got saw Power Girl myy first reaction was “Whoo the Hell is That?” She was with the Old Guard, so ashe had to be canonical, not one of the new cereatures they cookerd up for the series, but for the life of me I couldn’t figure out who or what she was supposed to be. Liked the peek-a-boo cleavage, though. The character in _Kingdom Come_ is a somewhat older version (it being set in the future and all), now calling herself Power Woman. In the _Revelations_ supplement to _Kingdom Come,_ Alex Ross has this to say about her: > [@](#): > > The former Earth-2 Power Girl, cousin to Superman, still has a strong relationship with him in his new amalgamated group of Justice Leaguers and Societies. Her role as a top-rung member comes from the Supergirl-like status she once held. It is my contention that she has aged, but not terribly so, and that her physical stature has swelled to impressive bodybuilder-like proportions so that she represents the most aggressive superhuman attitudes from the female side. Her appearance harks back to her original outfit from the 70s. What became of her son born during Zero Hour crisis is not dealt with in our series. I have the feeling that more recent artists have taken their cue from this and drawn Power Girl as a bodybuilder type too – whether or not it’s appropriate for the younger version. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dc-comics-power-girl-supposed-to-look-like-a-man-transvestite-grotesque/320180/37 "2005-09-06T15:16:37Z")
Yes, but Bart Sears was drawing her as a busty bodybuilder back in 1989. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dc-comics-power-girl-supposed-to-look-like-a-man-transvestite-grotesque/320180/38 "2005-09-06T15:31:01Z")
Wow. A comic-book superheroine with huge breasts. Stop the presses! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dc-comics-power-girl-supposed-to-look-like-a-man-transvestite-grotesque/320180/39 "2005-09-06T16:22:23Z")
Richard Corbin is the godfather of large-breasted comic book women. Mainly, in the Den stories he did for _Heavy Metal_. Since the people Den hung around with thought clothing was ridiculous, hooters dominated every panel. There was one scene I remember where Den was rescuing some princess who was manacled to the side of a rock. As he’s fighting the bad guy, he gets knocked up against her, bounces off her gigantic boobs, and winds up doing a spring attack on the bad guy. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2005, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dc-comics-power-girl-supposed-to-look-like-a-man-transvestite-grotesque/320180/40 "2005-09-06T16:34:13Z")
There were female characters with absurdly huge boobs long before Corbin or Heavy Metal. Bill Ward’s women (who appeared not only in adultr publications, but in more mainstrean comics as well) are ridiculous. Large-breasted women appear in Mad and Playboy in the 1950s. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dc-comics-power-girl-supposed-to-look-like-a-man-transvestite-grotesque/320180.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-dc-comics-power-girl-supposed-to-look-like-a-man-transvestite-grotesque/320180.md?page=3)