I think I'm pretty open about taking changes in stride when it comes to the rebooted Power Pack. I enjoy the new stories for the most part, and I've been having fun with the latest Power Pack: Day One retelling / update of the origin. It seemed concise to have Julie naming the Snarks, for example, and I was even digging on the new, more sarcastic Smartship Friday introduced in the most recent issue. That said, I can't help but be disappointed Fred Van Lente decided that Power Pack's alien mentor Whitey (originally a fan of Earth literature whose intelligent ship, Friday, took its name from Robinson Crusoe) now learns English by watching old movies, and his ship's named after His Girl Friday.

I guess it just seems sad to me that even advanced alien races apparently no longer read. For that matter, if we're updating things, is a 1940s movie really any more relevant to a young audience than a classic novel that still shows up on school reading lists?

Tags: comics, commentary, power pack

This probably isn't an omission so much as it's due to the fact that I'm probably one of the only people reading the book, but with all the gay representation talk I'm reading on comics blogs of late, I haven't seen anyone note that C.B. Cebulski and Karl Moline's The Loners seems to be ready to out Julie Power as a lesbian.

Given that Julie roughly corresponded to Karolina in the first appearance of the group vs. the latter's Runaways, and since Karolina was the gay-in-residence there, it's an interesting choice to gay up Julie, as well.

And while I suppose you'd expect me to scream about a raped childhood, I have to say, most of Power Pack's appearances were while they were pre-pubescent. By and large, then, Alex was the only character who had any romantic entanglements*, so there's very little "proof" of any of the kids' potential sexuality. The past can stay pretty well intact without counteracting this new status quo.

At least, I hope Cebulski plans to out Julie before the mini-series finishes. The "hinting" is getting rather heavy-handed and tedious at this point, and I don't get the impression the mini-series is likely to get a follow-up.



*Julie had an apparent crush on a boy during Michael Higgins' tenure near the end of the book's original run, but most people (rightfully) discount those issues when considering significant continuity. And she has/had a boyfriend in the more recent "Power Pack + Guest Heroes" minis by Marc Sumerak, but those seem to take place in their own pocket continuity.

Tags: comics, commentary, lgbt, power pack

Yes, there was a spanking new issue of a comic starring Power Pack last week: Marc Sumerak and GiruHiru's X-Men / Power Pack #1. Of course I bought it. And now, after hoping, perhaps, you would escape, I'm going to dissect it. But because I'm such a lovely person, a cut tag and spoiler warning:

( Snikt and Shrakt from clicking here )

Once again, solid work in the vein of the first mini. The characters remain true to themselves and their source material. Lots of fun with sibling rivalry and some nice action sequences. And if I could do without Wolverine, well, I've always been in the minority there anyway, so I should probably get used to that.

Tags: comics, power pack, reviews

I generally expected that I'd had all the new Power Pack comics I was going to get for the next 5 or so years, but Marvel seems to have liked the performance of Marc Sumerak and Giruhiru's Power Pack mini enough to give the team a second go-'round. This time, with added X-Men.

Of course, I've got that cynical "The X-Men are horribly over-exposed" thing going on in the back of my head, but I can't really argue that an X-Men / Power Pack team-up doesn't make sense. I mean, it's happened before, complete with Wolverine displaying his babysitting skills, so there's certainly precedent.

I do find it interesting that Sumerak mentions this mini, like the previous, will be stand-alone stories. So, it's not "The X-Men and Power Pack team up to stop a single, giant menace," so much as Power Pack teaming up with different X-Men in each story. I have no idea how that'll actually play in production. The first mini used individual Power kids to differentiate its tone and explore different aspects of the kids' lives. This one might take advantage of the varying focuses of their X-stars for the same thing.

Too bad Northstar's an evil zombie now. I'd have gotten a kick out of seeing he and Julie in a race.

Tags: comics, hype, power pack

The Pickytarian mentions that Joe Quesada claims there's actually some small possibility I could one day have (an) Essential Power Pack collection(s). Would that this was more than a lot of noncommital doublespeak. I think it's no surprise my little brain would melt in ecstasy were I to get phonebook-sized Power Pack.

Tags: comics, hype, power pack

That's right, folks. This week marks the final issue of the latest Power Pack mini-series. After playing background for most of the series, this time out Julie gets the spotlight. Spoilers abounding, of course, so here's your warning, next is your cut tag:

( race to the finish here )

Not the amazing, unforgettable ending of all time, but Giruhiru certainly have grown into the book quite well. And while the plot weakens at the end, Sumerak once again has a strong handle on characterization, even managing to retroactively bolster what seemed weak character choices earlier in the mini. A solid wrap up to a solid mini-series.

Tags: comics, power pack, reviews

Yup, it's time for me to dig into issue 2 of Marc Sumerak and Giruhiru's new Power Pack mini-series. spoilers ahoy behind the cut tag:

( The Long, Spoilery Version )

The short, non-spoilery version: The plot and pacing could use some work, but there are a lot of great, funny character moments and dialogue to keep me entertained. Next issue: Jack Power and Johnny Storm. Lord help us all.

Tags: comics, power pack, reviews

If you didn't expect this post, then you clearly haven't been reading this blog (in which case, welcome to my crazy!). Yesterday, the new Power Pack #1 (by Marc Sumerak and Giruhiru) hit the stands. Now all that in-depthitude I've been applying to the original series turns to the new venture. Spoilers are highly likely, as is a long post. So, your fair warning and cut tag for the day:

( The good, the bad, and the fanboy )

The long and short of it: This is a good, fun read. Sumerak certainly doesn't surpass the source material, but I find myself assured that he has a reasonable understanding and respect for it, which is a lovely and noteworthy step up from Marvel's previous "Power Pack reunion" attempt in 2000. There are flubs here and there, both in the writing and the art, but I expect that in most first issues, and the creative team gets far more things right than wrong. We all knew I'd be buying the second issue, but I'm happy to say I'm looking forward to it, as well.

Plus, now I totally want an "Angry Jack" Power Pack keychain.

Tags: comics, power pack, reviews

Calvin Who?

For folks wondering if Franklin would be in the newest version of Power Pack, the answer is "kind of."

Marc Sumerak revealed that Franklin will be showing up in back up features in all the issues of the new Power Pack mini as "Franklin Richards: Son of a Genius." Along for the ride, too, will be a throwback to one of the FF cartoon series, as Herbie the robot joins the fray.

Question for the retailers: can you still adjust orders on the first issue of this mini? I mostly wonder because it seems oddly late in the game to be announcing a feature that might serve to bring increased reader interest if retailers aren't actually able to respond to that potential sales increase.

Edit: I missed this, but Sumerak also mentions that the Franklin back-ups will only be available in the monthly comics, not eventual trade collection. Makes my earlier question re: retail orders a little more relevant, I should think.

Tags: comics, hype, power pack

(From Power Pack #16. Art by June Brigman and Bob Wiacek. Words by Louise Simonson)

Power Pack has often been compared with Marvel's other noteworthy super-powered family: The Fantastic Four. The analog isn't without merit, of course. Aside from the aforementioned family aspect, these are both groups whose powers came from unanticipated, extra-terrestrial encounters involving dangerous science experiments; their powers have elemental underpinnings; they both have maskless costumes composed of the omnipresent "Unstable Molecule Fabric" (UMF) Marvel knows and loves. Heck, they both sport Franklin Richards, even. Of course, if you want to line up the members, you've got a couple of different options. The teams' personalities and powers don't quite match up the same way.

"Reed, don't tell me: you invented super munchkins"

The most recently released cover for the new Power Pack mini gives a fairly accurate match up of FF to PP on the personality scale. Alex and Reed are both science nerds, Julie and Sue both maternal forces in the group, Jack and Johnny each team's respective hothead. Katie and Ben might be the hardest connection to make, but when you come right down to it, that works, too: they're both sweet souls with quick tempers (and the power to back those tempers up). Of course, Katie has a little better excuse when it comes to tantrums.

If you take the kids at their powers, though, things line up a little differently. Katie's is the fiery power, and like Johnny, her body takes on the appearance of radiant energy when she uses it. The gravity power (especially given Simonson's choice to limit its range to touch) is effectively super-strength--The Thing's ... er, thing. While she doesn't stretch, Julie's super-speed flight gives her the longest "reach" of the team.

(From Power Pack #28. Art by Terry Shoemaker and Hilary Barta. Words by Louise Simonson)

All of which means, yes, much as I'm sure the revelation would destroy Jack's self-esteem, he totally has the closest power relationship with "The Chick." Both of their powers are those with the stealth applications. Both wound up developing secondary powers that were more offensive than their original abilities. Heck, both The Invisible Woman and Mass Master are the characters whose powers require UMF costumes to work well: Jack can't change the density of his regular clothes, so without UMF, he's pretty much Naked Superhero Boy. If I recall correctly, Sue used to have similar issues (um, with her powers working on clothes, not with being a naked boy). I remember reading an FF story where she turned invisible, but her dress didn't, and she had to shed it in order to actually avoid detection (she was sporting a UMF costume underneath, much to many a fanboy's dismay, I'm sure).

None of which is meant to declare Power Pack "The Fantastic Heart of the Teen Young Four." For all that these kids harken back to Marvel's first family, I think those similarities are archetypal rather than intentionally derivative. Louise Simonson certainly took advantage of those similarities, but the book's FF connection seems to me far more of a "spin in" than a "spin off," a logical, organic merging of sympathetic elements rather than a forced association. The fact is, the good FF / PP pairings played most strongly on the differences between the groups (especially when it came to Franklin) rather than their similarities. Commonalities bring them together, but it's the differences that make for good storytelling.

Tags: comics, criticism, power pack