DC Power: Rise of the Power Company #1 – Brandon Thomas, Zipporah Smith, John Jennings, Vita Ayala, Writers; Charles Stewart III/Anthony Fowler Jr, Kelsey Ramsay, Canaan White & Atagun Ilhan, Ray-Anthony Height, Artists; Ulises Arreola, Francesco Segala, Andrew Dalhouse, Chris Sotomayor, Colorists
Ray – 9/10
Ray: DC is doing something a little different for this year’s DC Power one-shot – a smaller anthology, with four stories, but all tying into the return of the Power Company, an innovative but obscure superhero team from the 1990s, and setting up an upcoming sequel. Let’s see how the four stories shake out.
First up is the headline story, “Company Man” by Thomas and Stewart III, focusing on Josiah Power himself. It finds Josiah long past his glory days as a company leader, now advocating for his fellow metahumans in the aftermath of Waller’s rampage. But it’s also revealed that he lost his nephew Daniel, who had the same powers as him, during Absolute Power, and this deeply haunts him. During the story, there’s a ticking clock on every page, and the reveal of what it’s ticking down towards sets up a great new status quo for the upcoming Power Company special.
“Ring of Power” by Smith and Ramsay turns the focus on Malik White, aka Bolt – the young Black Adam. He’s trying to stay out of the metahuman fray and return to his calling as a doctor, but with anti-metahuman activity rising, that doesn’t last long. Vixen bursts into the hospital, needing his help to fend off a major terror attack by the Humanity First group. Malik’s powers haven’t been working since Absolute Power, so this story is about him finding the key within himself to unlock them. He’s a great character and I’m glad to see more of him.
“Unfinished Business” by Jennings, White, and Ilhan focuses on Cyborg and Jo Mullein, as the two settle into the new Justice League. Jo is putting off seeing her family again after her long space mission, while Vic is still grappling with the death of his father. They’re soon pulled away to investigate an anomaly – and find a mind-controlled space crew being puppeted by Despero, the old-school League villain known for sadistic telepathy. This forces both heroes to confront their inner demons. This is the most conventional superhero story in the issue, but also probably does the best with exploring real emotions – a real strength of Jennings’.
The final story, “Dynamic Duo” by Ayala and Height, pairs Signal with the Jace Fox Batman. After a team-up fight, the prickly Jace lashes out at Duke, and Duke follows him to hash it out. This issue has some interesting dialogue about the extra pressure black heroes face to put on a positive face for the community and society, and it’s good to see Jace get to do something in a comic again besides glowering in the back of a team-up. This doesn’t have the fast-paced plot of the others, but the ending is funny.
Then we get a second chapter of “Company Man” to close things out, as we get a closer look at what Josiah is planning and a meeting of minds between him and the DCU’s first Black hero, Black Lightning. Overall, the issue as a whole is very solid, and it did its main job of getting me excited for what’s to come next with the Power Company.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
