The Powerpuff Girls #2 (IDW)

(via CBDB)

writer: Troy Little

artist: Troy Little

The Powerpuff Girls was an animated series that ran from 1998-2004.  It was one of those projects that bridged the shifting fate of superheroes in pop culture in the '90s to what it became in the new millennium.  And, I think, it's been more or less forgotten.  Just another cable animated series.  I'm sure it has its fans with good memories.  I'm not dismissing it by any means.  But when it went away, it...went away.  It vanished.

So it's good to see the Girls return.  They're sickly cute superheroes.  And they have a lot more to say about superheroes than you might think.  And apparently, their adventures are pretty clever.

I don't remember seeing a lot of the cartoon.  I certainly heard a lot about it.  At the time it really was a pretty big deal.  So I was always aware of it, but I basically had no idea if it was worth the hype.  

If this comic is any indication, it absolutely is.  This particular issue was great fun and insightful, in ways I'd hardly expect from even a DC or Marvel superhero comic.  Who'd've thought?

The Girls must figure out what to do when their arch-nemesis Mojo Jojo, who is a monkey with augmented cognitive ability, is turned back into a regular monkey.  It's Futurama-level clever.  And the Girls end up enjoying their arch-nemesis, naturally, a great deal more in his altered form.

And I guess the story continues after this issue.  It's kind of enough to want me to read more.  And I wouldn't have considered myself to be in the market for a Powerpuff Girls comic.  I'm just not the target audience.

Except, maybe I am!