Ruby is back 150% as the Geek-Girl I fell in love with in the first mini-series as she faces off with another nemesis on the cover of Geek-Girl #9.  I had no clue who the sunglass-wearing blond lady might be, but watching Ruby go hand to hand with another super is part of what drew me into this world.   It also gave me hope that we’d see some intense match ups after a few issues focusing on introspection and character development (all great things, but I was ready for some exciting action).

Unfortunately, it looks like the skillfully foreshadowed Cabra Cini/Geek-Girl match up will take place mostly in the former series.  I understand the rationale since the darkhaired swordswoman brings a much darker type of retribution than what usually graces Geek-Girl‘s pages, but I desperately want to see what Cabra thinks about a powered individual who has no innate skills, just extra gifts bestowed by a pair of glasses.

Instead of Cabra, enter the most entertaining supervillain I’ve seen in a while, Mean Girl.  This baddy utilizes her abilities for shoplifting, as well as fighting heroes, and she interrupts Ruby and Maricela’s outing by incapacitating a security guard with her patented cell phone skill: trapping the victim in a vision of Lisa Frank, unicorns/My Little Pony, and the most annoying music possible. The effect doesn’t last long, but Ruby is taken by surprise.  Our formerly stereotypical popular girl gets felled by the “mean girl” vibes she used to exude.  One super is immune to Mean Girl’s abilities, but will it be enough to take her down for good?

Mean Girl’s special cellphone ability wins the issue as the most fun artwork.  Since I grew up in the ’80s I saw Lisa Frank and  u, but the rainbow hued unicorns speak to many generations of tween girls as images we would like to pretend we never had plastered on our notebooks, cellphones, or laptops.  The Ariana Grande/Justin Bieber music mashup speaks to parents of tweens more than the youngsters, but many of us would be perfectly happy to not hear any of their oeuvre on loop in a mall or other store.

Geek-Girl #9 didn’t lead up to the Cabra Cini/Geek-Girl showdown I anticipated, but Mean Girl vs. Geek-Girl in the mall made me laugh. MG possesses real skills to challenge the titular heroine, but she doesn’t take herself too seriously, which is a fun change from the average rogue’s gallery member.  It looks like she may be a major factor in future Geek-Girl stories, and I’m ready.  Powerful while somewhat silly isn’t a bad combination, and I think this is a great addition to the Geek-Girl canon.

4 Catchy Bubblegum Pop Tunes out of 5

Creative Team: Sam Johnson (Writer), Carlos Granda (Artist), Chunlin Zhao (Colorist), Paul McLaren (Letterer)
Publisher: Markosia Press
Click here to purchase.