Somehow the departure of Amanda Conner, Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti has not crucified Power Girl as a series. In fact, Judd Winick and Sami Basri’s continuation of the series has been almost better than the previous run, but for a lot of different reasons. By tying Power Girl back into continuity rather than letting her exist within her own little bubble, Winick and Basri have made the character and her world feel fresh, engaging and relevant. And this issue, they’ve taken it to a whole new level.

There are a few simple rules to make a comic book absolutely incredible. The first is to include Batman in a supporting role. Not a starring role, mind you; a supporting one. Let him interact with characters he wouldn’t normally, and see how it pans out. It’s a good thing, therefore, that Judd Winick is one of the best Batman writers of the last decade; he understands what makes the Caped Crusader tick, and writes him perfectly. So, how do you make this issue more of a challenge? You use the Dick Grayson Batman, because the Bruce Wayne Batman is still dead, or gallivanting around in a ridiculous robot-like costume, stalking his friends.

The interactions between Kara and Dick are absolutely wonderful, and the first half of the book is probably one of the best examples of how much fun Dick Grayson’s Batman can be. Winick writes him as an adventurer, who takes his work seriously, but is also there to have fun; when he needs to get serious, though, he gets incredibly serious incredibly fast, and that’s exactly how Dick should be as Batman. It’s not only Batman that Winick writes well, though; the character interactions between Kara and Nicco are fun and entertaining and remind you that Winick is a very funny guy.

Sami Basri’s art, meanwhile, is some of the best work being published right now. It’s incredibly stylistic, but it feels powerful and draws your eye to the page through its alluring combination of expression, detail and composition. If they’re aren’t big things in Basri’s near future, then DC is making a serious mistake.

The story leads into the opening of the previous issue, with Power Girl fighting a mysterious assailant, and this cliffhanger is the weakest part of an otherwise perfect issue. The ending just feels like it’s been done a million times before, probably because it has, and doesn’t have as much of an impact as you probably think it should.