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hasaniwalker · 5 months ago

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A review of my Powerpuff comic!

Powerpuff Review

Hello all you happy people and it's time to fight crime, try to save the world and come just in time to.. unpack childhood trauma! Today we're talking about powerpuff, the story of what the powerpuff girl's childhood's did to them, the impact it left and why Bubbles burned out as a child star after Professor Utonium exploited them like he always did and not some old friend of his who didn't understand these were children and not cash machines. Where Mojo was a man and not a monkey like he'd always been and where the budget is a paperclip and a piece of string and tom kenny was involved

Yes Powerpuff... the CW Pilot which somehow got to trailer before Warner realized they done fuck up and shut it down. Which somehow got to script. Which... we do not have a copy of yet. Soooo

YUP! Though this year the prank.. isn't that far off. I am reviewing Powerpuff, a work about the Powerpuff Girls as young adults and the future they live in, with the three formally reuniting for the first time in a while, an old villian using said reunion for his own nefarious ends, and at least one of them being in a pretty bad place.

The diffrence is this Powerpuff... actually understands the assignment. Instead of being an edgelord deconstruction of the girls that comes off as if the writers had only heard of the show and pieced together the rest on loose assumptions "BUTTERCUP'S A LESBIAN BECAUSE SHE'S THE MOST BUTCH" "PROFESSOR UTONIUM ABUSED THEM BECAUSE HE SENT THEM OUT AND WOULD MERCH THE HELL OUT OF THEM" "MOJO IS LEX LUTHOR BECAUSE WE CAN'T AFFORD AN APE EXCEPT HE BECOMES A MONKEY LATER ANYWAY!" "THE GIRLS WERE ACTUALLY NOT WHITE EXCEPT BUBBLES BUT THEY WHITEWASHED THEM!"

If the full pilot gets leaked I will review this hilarious and awful trainwreck that it's actresses thankfully got out of. I am fascinated by the mountain of bad decisions. ]

But i'm also more than happy to cover the version of this that is written by someone who actually watched the show, loves the characters and knows how to age them up and explore who they'd be while not pulling punches. Powerpuff can be a tough read that deals with aimlessness, abuse, homophibia and moving on from what you think your life should be, that struggle to find a purpose in your 20's when everyone else in your life is settled and everything you knew is gone. It's a beautiful work. So i'm going to break down this comic: why I love it, why you should read it.. then save the spoilers for under the cut on the tumblr version as there is some stuff I want to get into but a lot of the work's impact is it sucker punching you. I mistakingly read a few later pages and wish I hadn't been spoiled on some things. The series has twists in it's 100 pages and can be read here if your curious before knowing anything

It just finished re-running on Webtoon and it's well worth it. If you need more or just got back, let's begin.

Powerpuff is by @hasaniwalker aka @hasanistories aka the genius behind the previously reviewed Doris Doodle, which is currently being remade for print. And I will likely cover the print version whenever it's released as I loved the original. If you want my thoughts on that one go here

It's in short an excellent comic following a lost star of the golden age who was sadly abused by the system and finds her second shot when a video of her telling off a creep abusing his employee goes viral as she deals with both a confusing new world and her gen z counterpart the studio foists on her whose deeper than she first appears.

So when Kev pitched doing this for April Fools I was on board once I found out who what wrote it. I need to check out more of their work and this keeps up the standard.

Powerpuff Takes place about 20 years later. Here we are in the future and it's bright. Nothing to fear and noone to fight, as Blossom and Bubbles have genuinely moved on from superheroing and found other ways to help the world: Bubbles is traveling the world helping with a charity and livestreaming her travels to get donations, a fitting fate: she was always kind, thoughtful , was bilingual and loved animals so her helping in Guetmala makes sense.

Blossom went into science, creating a bunch of robots to police robberies, help people get reformed, and return giant monsters to their big ole island when they show up at peoples houses at night to wreck up the place. She even, in an ending I love for them, finally helped the ameoba boys, convincing them to reform as being giant walking cells.. meant she could use their help to create a fuckton of cures.

They aren't the only villians reformed either: Mojo gave up evil to settle down with his love intrest from meet the Beat-Alls, Fuzzy Lumpkins runs a popular country chain restraunt having gotten therapy and Arturo is at home having moved on from his life in the gangs before he lost his life like his friends as the last surviving member of the gangreen gang. I guess Ace REALLY coudln't adjust to life after the gorillaz.. or Murdock gave him something that no one but him and 2D possibly had the tolerance for.

Finally we have Princess... who has the biggest role in the story and in a way I thought was brilliant I simply never thought of: When visting Princess 10 years before the story in it's first page , which I get the sense was just a one off Walker did that took off and laid the foundation for doing a full story, Blossom found an old valentine in Princesses latest mech... to Blossom. yes Princess was doing all of this because she had a crush on blossom and just couldn't admit it. And as we see shortly into the story.. Blossom fully reciprocated and Princess fully reformed, helping run her girlfriend's company and genuinely being happy.

So that leaves Buttercup.. and the story is essentially her version of Steven Universe Future and I mean that in the best way possible. Like Steven in that excellent epilouge, Buttercup feels lost. She searches for crime but her sisters worrying police state the comic never fully adresses does that. I mean it does say their going to try and rehab criminals, it's not heartless I just question any system that puts a lot of the power in the hands of a bunch of automation. I'm not sayin git's not a GOOD idea to have something to protect people, lower police, and what not, but Blossom probably shouldn't be the only one running it. I don't think she's abusing it.

It leaves her aimless. The only real joy she gets.. is fighting the rowdyruff boys who do get a dark reimagining.. but it's a genuinely clever one. This work does deconstruct some things but unlike the failed pilot it gets why the original worked.. it simply pulls some thread. In this case the Rowdyruffs are stuck stunted as children and clearly not stable in either sense, yet also are the only friends Buttercup has. The only people she has PEIROD are a bunch of children she fights and her dad whose age is catching up with him. He's kind and supportive as always but enables this routine. Her sisters never visit, and the mayor is an asshole.

And I .. do not like this as the mayor is miss bellum, now mayor bellum.. whose the only character I feel is written horribly out of character. She's overly agressive to buttercup, tells her to get on with her life and geneerally seems to dislike her for destroying the city.. when A) blossom's robots restore the city effortlessly and it's stated to be one of their functions and B).. your not offering any actual solutions to this. Your not forbidding her from operating, your not getting her a job, your not calling her dad which is a lot to do to a grown woman but possibly needed (She doesn't and Utonium only talks to her because he realizes his enabling her isn't healthy). It's jarring in a work where everyone else is on brand. Bellum has known her since she was 6... she'd at least care on some level. She'd be blunt but she'd actually WANT to help her.

Buttercup is stuck, and trying to find a new job.. isn't helping as most of what she finds is service jobs. And as someone who worked a lot of fast food jobs.. it can be annoying.. that you don't know what you want to do or had greater ambitions but this is all you can find. Not knocking service workers, from working those I learned that no people who work fast food work damn hard and deserve respect, i'm saying I get her. And when Utonium gets sick, wont' spoil how or when as it's gutting.

Bubbles is bubbles.. she tries to help and loves her sister. She's the only one in the comic besides the professor to really get through to her because like the professor.. she's kind. She's honest, but she gets just yelling at buttercup does nothing. Buttercup is a fighter by trade who now has nothing to fight. She's ALWAYS been quick to react, quick to snap at people and quick to rebel. Bubbles and Professor get that you have to be firm with her but not confrontational.

And the main conflict is naturally that BLossom, as the older sibling if only in spirit... can't simply be nice about it. She berates Buttercup for being aimless (true), not keeping a better eye on their dad (fair), and generally.. because they've ALWAYS butted head. Walker deftly captures that siblings.. fight. These two have always fought and while they love each other.. the gaps widened. Buttercup's aimlessness and Blossom's relationship with their former foe, someone Buttercup sees as both an invader to their family and a walking symbol of how much of her life is gone have split them.

And what I love is that.. it's even. Buttercup, like me can sometimes be oblivious and SHOULD have been watching their father closer. The accident that happens isn't her fault, nor is the fact she was gone a long time moping, but she shouldn't' of ignored him or the signs. That said.. Blossom is still a dick for a lot of this. She berates Buttercup.. but clearly barely checked in. Living her own life is fine, nothing wrong with that and were she anyone else, living in new york far form wherever townsville is.. that's a fair reason not to visit.

The problem is

She's busy yes but she could make time to visit. To check on her dad and sister, to visit, to be family. Even if princess coudln't always tag along (She mentions when having flown in to help that the g forces are a lot). The rift between them that's grown vicious and toxic.. isn't all on Buttercup. While Blossom did it for the right reasons, she made her sister, the only one of them who WANTED to be a superhero still irrelevant. Blossom can't see how her whole life is waving every problem in Buttercups in her face, while Buttercup can't see.. that's not all blossoms fault. She married a villian because she loves her and Princess has truly changed, going from the bratty asshole she was before, to a confident but shy woman who gave up her millions when her homophobic father gave her an ultimatium, a powerful as hell reveal, and simply dosen't want to keep being treated as an invader when she's TRYING and belongs in the family. When the professor warmly accepted her as of course he did.

It's a divide that's raw, painful and well done throughout. Like steven Universe the problem is mostly internal: it's a person who feels she has NOTHING in her life and slowly gets broken more and more over the story, and a person who has her shit together but can't get past herself and her need to fix things to see her sister is really hurting and lost. And when that gives... it fucking hurts. This is a raw book and it also gets pretty violent in the last act as superhero stuff does come up once last time. I'll get into that in spoilers but yeah.

So before I do if you like the powerpuff girls or you liked steven universe future.. you'll love this one. A fantastically painful character piece that evolves everyone nicely, has a lot of nods and what flaws it does have dosen't hurt the whole. Now we're getting into the spoilers so if you want to read it without any more than i've given out of need, dont' go under the cut.

So yeah... some stuff really goes down.. and it really breaks Buttercup. I had to spoil a lot of the first half as.. the comic is not that but this part really hurts. So in succession.. buttercup HITS blossom. Just.. straight up punches her and breaks her glasses.. which she doesn't need but are a gift from the professor.

What hit me is that.. this doesn't result in a fight. The two don't go back and forth.. it's instead played as any sibling hitting each other at this age would. It's something that hits all too close and is painful.. you can see buttercups regret.. blossoms quite pain. Princess is later utterly pissed over it and doesn't want Buttercup to see her when Buttercup, genuinely contrite tries to apologize. You understand how it got this bad.. you don't like that it got to this, that Buttercup gave her sister a black eye, that thigns got this bad... but neither of them do either. The abuse isn't brushed over and fianlly gets buttercup to realize princess isn't the enemy.. she belongs here. The professor took her in when no one else would. She isn't some invader.. she's family.

And buttercup... looses the rest. While Bubbles is absent for this nightmarish breakdown, otherwise the plot would likely go a different way, the rowdyruffs start to break down. Blossom warned buttecup they were breaking down... but didn't you know.. fix this or tell her that sooner. And as a result we see the boys bodies graphically breaking down. No blood or anything just... like a clay figure or an atom slowly falling apart

It's horrific. You see red under them.. but it's not really bloody.. but it's body horror at it's finest. Their chldren.. just.. slowly dying and

And all of this.. breaks her. And that's where HE comes in. Or rather HIM.

HIM.. is the perfect villian for this story. While the main villian is still the characters own issues, HIM is the only villian left who isn't reformed, dead or some third thign. HIM is left an old man, still fabulous but balding, old and like the professor likely not here forever. He reminseces with Buttercup, missing the old days.. but can't quite push her... until at her lowest she picks upt he old phone.. and he answers.

And in horrifying fashion.. he takes her body, using her insecurities and depression as a battery and amping it up by attacking the city. Blossom does try to resolve things.. but finds her sister ins't there. I love how walker draws HIMCUP. The jagged teeth, the white text on black speech bubbles, all so good and horrifying as HIM destroys the city and our heroines desperately try to hold the line. Thankfully casualties are avoided as the robots are also designed for disaster relief. Princess even steps in.. and breaks a leg. I mean she tried at least, even updated the armor and it's.. genuinely awesome to see her alongside the girls, now having earned it. When you think back to her first apperance... had she just.. bought the equipment to be one and asked nicely.. she MIGHT of gotten what she wanted. She was just so self absorbed she demanded it instead. Now.. she has it and it sucks.. but it's only for the right reasons. To protect her life and try to save an innocent person whose been bodyjacked by camp satan.

In her head.. Buttercup is living her ideal life. She's a kid again, princess is a villain again.. i'ts a perfect him scheme: using the girls own fears and anxieties against them as always. And like his schemes... he fails because.. he lacks empathy. He can't understand.. and thus he can't account for the one thing he clearly didn't prepare for: Buttercup empathizing with princess. Her violent death by BLossoms hands rattles her and her absence.. shakes her. Buttercup is in a bad place.. but realized from their talk Princess isn't some monster... fighting her dosen't fix the hole inside. She's part of blossoms life.. she's her sister in law.. and she needs her. It's what breaks the illusion. Buttercup has everything.. but it's not real. It's not right. And princess calling out to her from outside helps that, helps break it. It also breaks princesses leg with a painful reset being needed but it frees buttercup

And the resolution.. is beautiful. I compare it to SFU a lot, and while I can't know if Walker was inspired by it or not and it's with diffrent enough characters to be it's own thing... the climax has the same vibe: a big fight breaks out.. but that isn't what resolves this. Like steven being stuck in monster form and his self loathing, Buttercup..doesn't punch him away. Despite breaking her arm, GRAPHICALLY... despite getting exactly what she wanted, a final glorious battle, exactly what HIM wanted to... and she stops. She realizes she can't hide from her problems.. or her grief. The simulation was fun.. but she has to face what she lost

And the finale.. makes me tear up. Twice both when reading it the first time and rereading it while writing this to refresh my memory. Buttercups torment at revealing they died, that all she could give them was dying happy playing with them.. and that it left them alone.. and when blossom argues "Well we're still there for you.. you still have us"

And Blossom is forced to reflect.. and realize she basically abandoned her. Her new life isn't unimportant... but she blamed herself for not checking in on the professor, lashed out at the one person she can blame.. and apologizes for it, while Buttercup apologizes for her lashing out and implicitly punching her sister in the face. It's what I hoped the story would end on... after all the pain.. both acknowledge they fucked up.. and move on. And HIM.. simply shrivels away. He wanted a fight, blood, he wanted everything buttercup did.. and her movign past it .. leaves him starving, only telling bubbles he always hated her most after she tries to redeem him.

And Buttercup... wakes up in the hospital. The professor, who passed out due to a brain thing, is okay too and helps encourage her.. telling her there's no such thing as perfect and beautifully recontexutalizing the "perfect little girls concept". Utonium was obsessed with the study of perfection, perfect circles etc.. but in making the perfect child realized .. that's truly impossible. A perfect child.. is just a child. However they end up, whoever they are. A child that does whatever you want is just "a robot". He wanted them to live.

And .. we get a happy ending for Buttercup some months later. She's teaching at the new school Ms Keane, who I was worried about when it was revealed pokey oaks was shut down, as principal. And encouraging a kid being bullied to pop em one when no one's looking. Still herself. As I read this I honestly didn't know what Buttercup would move on to but this fits.. she can still protect.. but in a way that's healthy. She can still be athletic.. but helping kids. It makes the rowdyruff thing come full circle and it's beautiful and she ends the comic going out to dinner with her sister in law, finally fully letting her in.

Powerpuff is masterful. If you didn't check it out at the previous jump off please do and remember: I'm pulling for you, we're all in this together.

#powerpuff #powerpuff girls #the powerpuff girls #blossom #bubbles #buttercup #princess morbucks #professor utonium #fuzzy lumpkins #HIM #cartoon network #the cw #mojo jojo #comics #review

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