"The Power Fantasy," #1 is an Explosive Start to an Inventive New Series

Kieron Gillen and Caspar Wijngaard have given us an interesting new comic with, "The Power Fantasy," #1. It imagines a World where there are people with powers, but six key folks are, "Superpowers," in the sense that they have the ability to basically destroy planet Earth if they ever come into conflict with each other. Just as some nations are Superpowers, these folks are walking atomic weapons in some form or another, essentially. The survival of everyone on Earth depends on these folks being content enough they don't want to utterly destroy everything due to being in a bad mood. The first issue spends most of its time introducing us to three of the six superpowers, and towards the end of the issue gives us a minor taste of just how mighty these individuals can be.

There is a surreal mix of, "The Wicked and the Divine," and, "Uber," in here--both comics Gillen wrote. We have the element of some of these Superpowers being celebrities (in a fashion), and a dash of complex World politics. It's the Cold War but with bombs that have their own personal agendas and followers--a terrifying concept. Caspar Wijngaard illustrates our Superpowers and their going-ons with extreme skill, not a surprise considering he's been fantastic on other projects with other creators and with Gillen ("Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt," was a real treat some years ago). Wijngaard can draw a chat between two characters over coffee just as well as someone using their psychic powers to instantly kill hundreds of people in retaliation for an assassination attempt (some elements are weirdly topical, as Bleeding Cool notes). The comic is beautiful and bright in its visuals, but has an extremely dark tonal undercurrent. I dig what I've seen so far.

"The Power Fantasy," bursts out the metaphorical gate at full speed. I greatly enjoyed this debut issue and am curious to see just how the Superpowers manage to keep the peace between themselves...and for how long. Go find yourself a copy of, "The Power Fantasy," as quickly as you can at a comic shop, a (legal) internet site, or so forth. It's only going to get crazier.

5 out of 5 Stars.