Inside THE POWER FANTASY #1

The Power Fantasy #1 

Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artist: Caspar Wijngaard
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Designer: Rian Hughes
Publisher: Image Comics 

Review by Jordan Jennings

When the superpower Heavy threatens to move his floating island of othered powered being over New York City, how will America respond to that threat? What are the geopolitical ramifications of these events? This is the world of The Power Fantasy. The new series from Kieron Gillen and Caspar Wijngaard that explores the nature of superpowers as a metaphor to being a nuclear state. The world laid out by Gillen and Wijngaard in this first issue is exhilarating and thought provoking in how it approaches the tried-and-true comic topic of “Superheroes in the Real World”. 

Gillen is coming fresh off a multi-year stint at Marvel writing Eternals and Immortal X-men, and you can see those two series influences on the page in Power Fantasy. The story centers around the protagonist Mr. Lux as he deals with the logical and ethical conundrum of being one of the few Superpowers in the world. It is through Mr. Lux that Gillen builds the world around this nuclear superpower metaphor. There is an obvious ripple effect caused by the Nuclear Family and Atomics, and while we don’t see that on page just yet, there are moments of dialog that hints to this much larger world. The references to some event involving Tokyo and other past regrets happen naturally in dialog. 

The Power Fantasy #1 avoids the common trope of using a montage of key historical events and how they are shaped by this world with superpowers and instead opts to let the key events play out organically. This is done by having the issue itself is set in two different time periods: 1966 and 1999. The two time periods do an excellent job showing the cause and effect of decisions made in the past affect the world later on and avoid hitting us over the head with it like the opening montage of the Watchmen movie.  

 Gillen’s worldbuilding is subtle and enticing. There are breadcrumbs strewn throughout the book that make you want to know more about this world but everything you need to know for the issue to work is all right here. It functions as a single issue but there is so much laid out in this first issue, you must read more. 

Wijngaard’s art in this book is nothing short of amazing. The visual styles of the two different time periods is notably distinct but doesn’t dwell on the whole visual throwback to the time periods. Instead, the world of the 1960’s is much more vibrant and employs monochromatic color palettes on the panels to create very clear and emotional panels. While the pages set in the 1990s uses a color palette that is more saturated along with using far more greens instead of reds and blues. It is a small but distinct visual shift which helps set the eras apart. It is a common visual tool used by artist, but I am a sucker for it when done quite well.

The page layouts by Wijngaard are some of the bests I’ve seen in a comic this year. The way that Wijngaard controls the pacing of the story by changing the panel size and shape is wonderful, but the way he uses a circle-based panel is visually stunning. It is a perfect marriage of writing and comic art. The compositions of the panels themselves are equally great as Wijngaard plays around with negative space in visually interesting ways. This is a great looking comic.

Overall, while The Power Fantasy #1 plays in familiar territory of something like the Watchmen or The Boys, it does so in a much more novel approach. It doesn’t have that pessimistic tone of those works. It isn’t to say the book is optimistic. It is pretty heavy that there seems to be a delicate balance at play between the 6 superpowers in keeping the world safe. If you enjoyed Gillen’s recent marvel output, be it the Eternals or Immortal X-Men you are going to find a lot to love here. There are similar themes to those two titles at play, but the issue is not beholden to corporate synergies. There are some bold decisions made in The Power Fantasy #1 that you would not see in a Marvel comic. The art by Wijngaard is simply stunning and compliments a really smart comic. 

Hands down one of my favorite comics of the year. I loved every page of it.

Arkham Horror: The Terror at the End of Time #1

Writer: Cullen Bunn
Artist: Andrea Mutti
Colorist: Valerio Alloro
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Publisher: Dark Horse

Review by Steve Baxi

The world of Fantasy Flight’s Arkham Horror has just been expanded with a new 4-issue mini series, The Terror at the End of Time. Building off both the world of the game and H.P. Lovercraft’s Cthulhu Mythos, this series dives into familiar and sinister adventures in Arkham, Massachusetts. Written by horror comics veteran, Cullen Bunn, this opening issue strikes a good balance between mystery and supernatural occultism. Bunn is no stranger to many of these concepts, and his deft handling of the setup and the twist helps the story feel like it’s moving at a brisk pace, and keeps the reader engaged. 

Andrea Mutti and Valerio Alloro’s art is top notch, giving us just enough teases at the horrors to come to keep us entertained without sacrificing the simple human relationships and charm of the characters. Alloro’s colors feel like a throwback to old school D&D monster manuals and horror novels of the 90s, which is perfect for the story being told.

Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou also brings his signature flair to the lettering. The diverse array of lettering choices feel like they’re contributing to the tone and art of the whole book, bringing real creativity to even some of the simplest conversations. 

I’m eager to see how the mystery develops from here. The final pages raised several interesting questions, some of which are new to the world of Lovecraft. The whole team brings enough charm and originality to the material that its worth the cover price.

Cruel Universe #1

Writers: Matt Kindt, Corinna Bechko, Chris Condon, and Ben H. Winters 
Artists: Kano, Caitlin Yarsky, Jonathan Case, and Artyom Topilin
Colorists: Michael Atiyeh and Brittany Peer
Letterers: Richard Starkings and Tyler Smith
Publisher: Oni Press

Review by Jared Bird

I’ve spent many an evening wondering what a modern EC Comics would look like, or imagining a potential world where it was never shut down in the 50s after the creation of the Comics Code Authority. Oni Press seemed to wonder the same, and have gone in full-force with their revival of EC for modern audiences. With an ensemble crew of talented writers and artists, Oni Press is kicking off the science fiction anthology Cruel Universe with a forty page first issue, under EC Comics branding.

The first story in the issue, ‘The Champion’ focuses on a gladiatorial arena on an alien world, with our protagonist narrating his experiences as he changes over his time spent there. What starts off as a relatively typical premise changes, and takes you by surprise as it goes along, in true EC Comics tradition. Writer Matt Kindt (BRZRKR) pulls off an interesting narrative trick here which fans of classic pulp science fiction will greatly appreciate. Artist Kano (Immortal Iron Fist), does a great job replicating the classic visual style of pulp sci-fi, with a sense of energy and creative framing that make the story an exciting read. A killer short comic for sure. 

The second story ‘Solo Shift’ follows an astronaut desperately trying to undo a horrible thing that’s happened to lover. The artwork by Caitlin Yarsky (Bliss) is really solid here, particularly the detailed spaceships and black hole central to the story.  Writer Corinna Bechko (Invisible Republic) conveys a lot in a short span, and while some of the narration feels cluttered, the actual plotting itself goes in an interesting direction and definitely veers closer to the horror territory most would recognise from EC Comics. 

The third story, ‘Drink Up’ is about a millionaire’s quest for eternal youth. Writer Chris Condon (That Texas Blood) brings his knack for poetic irony to this story in a clever way, but also struggles with needing to put a lot of information in a short span towards the start of the story. Jonathan Case (Little Monarchs) does a great job with the art, particularly the dark and pulpy climax of the story. This story also felt timely in a way that a lot of classic science fiction aspired to be, and for that it has my regards.

The final story, ‘Priceless’ is probably my favorite of the bunch. Written with tasteful minimalism by novelist Ben H Winters, it explores a man committing mysterious acts of violence for an unclear reason. The story is rife with mystery and intrigue, and feels like a clever modern take on the classic EC Comics formula. The art by Artyom Topilin (I Hate This Place) is energetic, readable and compelling, and the two creatives are working in synergy here to convey this story. It’s an intriguing story that’s come back to me since reading it initially. 

Overall, Cruel Universe is a solid start to Oni Press’ EC Comics revival. If you are a fan of old-school EC Comics, you’ll enjoy it, or even if you’re just a fan of anthologies in general. Fans of pulpy science fiction like myself will be greatly pleased as well. Oni Press’ seems to be paying loving homage to EC’s classic style with new twists and turns on their formula, with excellent talent from a range of diverse backgrounds. It’ll be a fun read, and I’m excited to see what they do going forward with EC’s legendary library.

Garfield #1

Writers: Ryan Estrada and Sarah Graley
Artists: Axur Eneas and Sarah Graley
Letterer: Stef Purennis
Publisher: BOOM! Studios

Review by Sean Dillon

Movie tie-ins are always tricky prospects to do. On the one hand, you’re often limited by what the movie or television show plans to do, as is the case with most adaptations of a movie’s plot into a comic. On the other, you have an opportunity for artists, both young and old, to try their teeth at something new. This has resulted in some truly delightful works like Michael Jan Friedman, Peter Krause, and Pablo Marcos’ Star Trek The Next Generation: The Star Lost or Archie Goodman and Walter Simonson’s Alien: The Illustrated Story. And this new batch of Garfield stories is now different.

Simply put, it’s a rather charming duo of stories with Ryan Estrada and Axur Eneas (of the Student Ambassador series) telling a simple story about Garfield overcomplicating a midnight snack to hilarious effect and noted Northamptonite and webcomics artist Sarah Graley exploring what Jon was doing during the movie while Garfield and Odie were traveling cross country. (The answer seems to be “Panicking, experiencing all the Garfield memes, and buying a second fridge.”) They are both good riffs on the character that help distract us from the permanent Monday the world has descended into.