Summary
Warning: Spoilers for The Powerpuff Girls #1 (Dynamite)I will always love Craig McCracken’sPowerpuff Girlsand eventhe highly controversial rebootmore than the comics, but the first new issue of Dynamite’sPPGcomic book series actually feels like it improves upon one classic episode in a way that also underscores something both shows never accomplished. The first issue of Dynamite’s six-issue series immediately gets to the heart of what these TV shows lack by exploring and possibly evendeconstructing who Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup areas characters.
Called “Destiny Detour,” Dynamite’sPowerpuff Girls#1 is by writer Kelly Thompson, Paulina, artist and colorist Paulina Ganucheau, and letterer Jeff Eckleberry. In this story, the Powerpuff Girls' teacher, Ms. Keane, introduces a machine called the Highly Intelligent Machine that can help people find their true destiny. The three girls are faced with the prospect thattheir destiny might not involve saving the world, and they eventually give their ostensible true life’s calling a try. More importantly,the three sisters' destinies do not involve each other.
This story line feelsakin to the episode “Super Zeroes,“where the girls decide to become versions of their favorite comic book superheroes,and although it isn’t their intent, the drawbacks of trying to embody their superhero idolspulls them apart. Suffice it to say, their experiment fails spectacularly for this and another reason. The ways in which they emulate their heroes actually prevent them from fighting crime.Eventually, the sisters learn the lesson that they shouldn’t try to be who they aren’t and to save the day as themselves.
The Powerpuff Girls Use Their New Destinies to Save the Day
I think that Dynamite’s possibly intentional revision of “Super Zeroes” is more effective, in part, because “Destiny Detour” sees the girlsbringing back skills and allies from their separate experiences to save the day together. While I have some reservations about what they bring back from their experiences, I am still excited by the prospect that everything that happens while they’re apartisn’t just dropped and forgotten. This isn’t the case in “Super Zeroes,” where the girls only win after they drop their fake superhero personas completely. That’s because the main message is to be themselves, which they eventually learn by the end, so thatthe whole experience becomes an isolated incident they never revisit.
This is endemic of most episodic series, like the original and rebootedPowerpuff GirlsTV shows, and it’s a problem, since it normally stunts character growth. This doesn’t seem to be the case in Dynamite’s “Destiny Detour,” sincethe Powerpuff Girls don’t completely reject everything from their separate experiences. Of course, Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup still come to a similar realization that they should save the day together rather than pursue their separate destinies. It’s also very likely that what they bring back with them won’t be seen again after the first issue. So, while this would still makeThe Powerpuff Girls#1 episodic in nature, at least, it would still be a step in the right direction.
The Powerpuff Girls' New Destinies Might Be Their Actual Future
The issue reveals that the Highly Intelligent Machine that revealed their new destinies to them was actually created by the villain Him. However, there’s nothing to suggest in the end that the separate destinies of Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup aren’t legitimate. In fact, as Him watches the chaos that erupts in Townsville after the Powerpuff Girls are separated, he reflects that he’s living his ideal destiny, just like his machine promised. Even though all four of them are truly happy when they return to fighting each other after abandoning their destinies,this doesn’t mean that their earlier experiences aren’t their true destinies.
Even if Dynamite never revisits this topic in the next five issues, what the beginning promises initially is still more exciting than most episodes from both TV shows just because of what it teases. Itexplores the very identity of the Powerpuff Girls and introduces the possibility of change. Best of all, each of Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup’s destinies makes sense. In fact, Bubbles' destiny matches the type of superhero her TV counterpart adopts in “Super Zeroes.” That said, the only thing that might annoy readers who also enjoyed the rebootedPowerpuff Girlsis that Buttercup once played the same role in the episode “Checkin’ Out!” as what Blossom becomes in “Destiny Detour.”
DC and IDW’s Powerpuff Girls Paved The Way for Dynamite
In this way, Dynamite’s new comic book appears to be following in the footsteps of two other comic book publishers - DC Comics and IDW Publishing - that adaptedThe Powerpuff Girls. For example, DC delved into the girls' superpowers on more granular levels than the original TV show by exploring howthey transformed the Powerpuff Girls' teethinto weapons.Another time, DCmade the Powerpuff Girls' lack of fingersan actual consequential part of the story by having them win a battle for that reason, whereas the TV shows only cracked jokes about their fingerless stubs.
DC also did the same thing but by focusing on the most defining qualities of each separate sister, likeBlossom and her hair bow.IDW accomplished something similarexcept with Bubbles, and it was based more on her personality than one of her physical attributes. IDW also got to the heart of the franchise’s villainslike Fuzzy Lumpkinsand, of course,Mojo Jojo, as much as it did with the three heroic sisters.
Regardless, I find it heartening that Dynamite’s first issue is already following the more in-depth and nuanced efforts of other comic books that have adapted the Powerpuff Girls instead of the TV shows. Of course, this doesn’t mean that I like the cartoons any less than the comic books. In fact, I will always prefer both TV shows over the comics, and they will always have a special place in my heart, especially the original. I just would have enjoyed both shows even more if they were written like the comics. However, maybe it’s better that wasn’t the case, because then I would miss the televised versions ofThePowerpuff Girlseven more than I already do.
Powerpuff Girls
Cast
The Powerpuff Girls is an animated comedy series that chronicles the adventures of three super-powered little girls created by a professor in an accidental lab experiment. Setting out to make his own little girl, Professor Utonium’s experiment goes awry and creates Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup, each with unique powers. The three girls are then asked by the mayor and other citizens to help protect the city, all while attending kindergarten and trying to live an everyday life.
