THE POWER COMPANY #1
"Executive Search"
Recommended (7/10)
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DC Comics
Writer: Kurt Busiek
Pencils: Tom Grummett
Inks: Wade Von Grawbadger
Colors: Alex Sinclair
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Peter Tomasi
Price: $2.50 US/$4.25 CAN |
Not surprisingly, the characters that boasted the stronger prelude one-shots are those that interest me the most in this debut issue of Busiek and Grummett's new ongoing series. Busiek has definitely piqued my interest with his take on corporate super-heroics, and his blend of new figures and obscure DC characters is a treat for a longtime comics reader like myself. However, alongside those new elements and ideas are some somewhat corny storytelling elements from yesteryear that just don't fit well with the more sophisticated aspects of the book.
After seven years as a super-hero in St. Louis, Skyrocket is finding it hard to make ends meet, thanks to the high maintenance costs of her armor. Enter Josiah Power with a proposal: join his new super-hero security firm as a partner and team leader. Skyrocket is understandably put off, though, when she discovers an ex-con, a mercenary and a couple of glory hounds among the Power Company's numbers. She's drawn into a mission, though, when a gasng of Dr. Cyber's henchmen try to steal an alien artifact from a museum.
Grummett's style has always captured the lighter tone of super-hero comics storytelling nicely, but his work here, as has been the case in the past, also boasts a strong level of detail that really brings the world in which these characters live to life. I wouldn't have thought that Von Grawbadger's inks -- which we've seen on radically different artists' work, like Stuart Immonene's and Tony Harris's -- would mesh well with Grummett's brighter style, but the collaboration is seamless.
Another visual element in this first issue really made an impression: the letters, specially the underlined font Comicraft uses for placeline captions. It brings a clean, corporate look to the captions that's in keeping with the premise behind the book.
Dr. Cyber is set up as the stereotypically cold villain whose resources know no limit, and it just doesn't make for convincing storytelling. Furthermore, Busiek tells us little more than her name, and she's not the only character to go underdeveloped. Bork, Manhunter, Striker Z and Witchfire are all terribly one-note and not all that likeable either, especially the latter two. The other thing that becomes all too clear in this issue is that seven one-shots that preceded were rather unecessary. Busiek covers most of the same ground here, and in far less space.
To be fair, though, this is a team book, and with only one issue, one has to expect that some of the characters don't shine as much as others. Skyrocket is a believable, interesting character, and her strapped-for-cash circumstances make it easy to relate to her. The concept behind the Power Company is thoroughly appealing as well. Maybe it's because I know a lot of lawyers and have heard them lament the billable-hours setup they must follow every day, but the corporate approach to super-heroics makes a lot of sense in the context of the DC Universe.
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