In this review of Powerpuff Girls #2, the sisters fly to Townsville to face a new problem—the return of Mojo Jojo.
Powerpuff Girls #2
Written by: Kelly Thompson
Art by: Karen S. Darboe, Helen Berti, Carlo Lauro, Giulia Lafranceschina
Cover by: Leonardo Romero
Variant Covers: Karen S. Darboe, Ken Haeser, Paulina Ganucheau
Page Count: 32 pages
Release Date: August 21, 2024
This review contains spoilers
Life is disrupted in the city of Townsville by the sudden appearance of a giant Mojo Jojo – not Mojo Jojo enlarged and terrorizing the city, but just a statue of Mojo Jojo, implied a couple of times but never outright stated to be made of rubber. Still, that is enough to summon the Powerpuff Girls to the scene to investigate. Since the statue poses no threat the girls simply investigate, which is precisely what the real Mojo Jojo, lurking nearby, wanted them to do. As they examine the statue, they are each dosed with …something fired by Mojo at them with a blowgun.
Shortly, the girls give up on examining the statue and go to confront Mojo — which is easy to do because his lair is always the same lair, an observatory mounted atop a tall pillar of rock standing in the same park with the giant rubber statue. Mojo Jojo had already beaten them back to his lair and now emerges, puts on an air of innocence followed by feigning indignation that they didn’t like his statue, so he instantly deflates it and takes it inside.
The non-crisis is over and the Powerpuff Girls feel tired and want to go home and to bed early. Which is precisely according to Mojo’s plan, because he dosed them with a powerful sedative that, further, will allow him to access their sleeping subconscious minds using a mind-scanning device that works because this is comic book science.
The goal is to learn each of their secrets, but none of the visits go as planned. In Blossom’s mind, he learns that the leader of the Powerpuff Girls thinks of herself as just an ordinary girl who likes to play Clue, Monopoly, and Twister. In Buttercup’s mind, he learns that all she dreams about is punching bad guys, which makes it very dangerous when he shows up. In Bubbles’ mind, he is invited by Bubbles to a tea party, which Mojo Jojo completely misunderstands as a battle of wits and he makes dream Bubbles cry.
Soon, though, Mojo figures out what had really happened. He makes amends by showing up in person at their home the next day, proposes a truce, and invites all three outside for a real tea party.
Analysis
My expectations were very high going into this, not only because issue #1 was so good, but because stories that explore our heroes’ dreams often offer wonderful insights into what makes them tick. The best example of this probably comes from the Batman: The Animated Series episode, “Perchance to Dream.”
If I learned anything about Kelly Thompson from issue #1, it’s that her goal here is to use the Powerpuff Girls to subtly subvert tropes of the superhero genre. That might be why we learn nothing special about the Powerpuff Girls from these glimpses into their heads, but rather how ordinary they are (with the exception of Buttercup, who’s a violent little girl whether she’s awake or asleep). All Mojo learns is that Blossom and Bubbles dream about playing ordinary games and having ordinary tea parties, like real girls would.
“Is it art?” The subject of art, and what is art, comes up twice, three times if the appearance of the Townsville Theater in the introduction is foreshadowing. Art, according to Wikipedia, is “something that stimulates an individual’s thoughts, emotions, beliefs, or ideas through the senses.” I don’t think I’m reading too much into this to say that the meta-subject of this issue is the nature of art itself. A statue is obviously art – unless it’s a trap? Is it still both? Can a dream be art? Surely yes, if it stimulates our thoughts and ideas? And if it doesn’t, then what exactly is Mojo trying to get out of this whole scenario?
There are nice touches throughout, almost all of them Mojo-related – and this is only natural; Mojo Jojo is as brilliant a creation as he is hilarious. There are funny moments (Buttercup’s “You said wait,” Mojo’s “Bwahahaha, made you look,” Mojo’s “No they do not!”). There are great characterization moments (Mojo’s long monolog to himself about his own master plan, his overacting while feigning offense).
Powerpuff Girls #2 has its share of flaws, though. The first two pages of art by Karen Darboe and Helen Berti look really interesting and slightly different from the look of the TV series, but then are replaced for the rest of the book by Carlo Lauro and Giulia Lafranceschina. Carlo and Giulia do a convincing job of imitating the art style from the cartoon, but do not give us much more than that.
The menacing statue of Mojo from pages 1 and 2 just looks like Mojo himself standing very still. There is a bizarrely confusing panel of the Powerpuff Girls shouting at Mojo Jojo to come out of his hideout, but the hideout is clearly visible way in the background of the panel behind the girls. Maybe this was a rush job? Regardless, I really missed Paulina Ganucheau from issue #1, particularly on layouts.
Getting back to what exactly Mojo Jojo is trying to get out of this whole scenario — for a villain who loves to talk, he is surprisingly close-lipped about his motivations throughout this issue. In his monologue, Mojo Jojo says he is going to learn “all their secrets,” but he already knows their names, their home address, and how they got their powers. It is implied, but never outright stated, that he thinks he is going to gain some insights that will give him a tactical advantage over the girls when he next faces them.
And what do we make of Mojo Jojo’s sudden change of heart at the end of the episode? Has he had an epiphany when he realizes Bubbles is not looking for a tactical advantage over him and that she doesn’t see him as an enemy? Does he have a weakness for the girls, that he just thinks he wants to destroy them, but can’t stand to see them cry? Could the cucumber sandwiches in the dream have made him so hungry that he came back for real just to get some? We may never know because, apparently, the next trope of the superhero genre Kelly wants to subvert is the tendency to explain everything.
Final Thoughts
This issue certainly gave me plenty to think about, but left me unsatisfied in art and conclusion.
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