The Power Fantasy Volume 1: The Superpowers by Kieron Gillen & Caspar Wijngaard

with Clayton Cowles and Rian Hughes on letters and design.

Am I getting jaded? I love mythologies and the ways that comic books spin up brand new gods and pantheons and legends and dramas, but reading this book — that feels very much like a cross between Kieron Gillen’s prior The Wicked + The Divine (with Jamie McKelvie) and Warren Ellis & Bryan Hitch’s The Authority — I just felt tired. I love when amalgams create something new. And while this was definitely a fresh take on the superhero genre, it did not, for me, feel fresh enough.

Which doesn’t make it bad at all. There are, in the book’s present day, six great superpowered people. Others have also been born into the powered Family, tho with lesser gifts. Collectively, they’re all known as Atomics, as they began to appear when the first atomic bomb was detonated. But it’s the Big Six who hold sway over the world, striving to preserve the delicate balance of peace and keep the fragile web of humanity alive against threats both internal and external. And perhaps, most importantly, to police each other from doing anything that could irreparably harm the world and the sacred timeline (yes, really) that Saint Valentina protects.

Saint Valentina is one of the first Superpowers we meet, as she has a discussion with the second, omnipath Etienne Lux, in the 1960s. Etienne believes that the ethical thing for Superpowers to do is to take over the planet as benevolent rulers and protectors. Valentina disagrees, and they nearly come to blows. Instead, they settle on the balance of powers and oversight that will carry them through the ensuing decades, to 1999 where our story picks up.

Gravity-manipulating Heavy wants to put on a show of Superpowered force for the United States government, which reacts with predictable stupidity. Heavy wants indiscriminate vengeance, which Saint Valentina will not tolerate. Etienne picks up the slack instead. We soon learn that this is just what he does, frantically and thanklessly keeping his fellow Superpowers in line in order to make sure that the minimum number of human beings dies while on his watch. YMMV, ofc, as to whether you think this makes him the hero or antihero of the book. Given Mr Gillen’s track record, I will place no bets on how Etienne continues to evolve with the series.

In that respect, The Power Fantasy is a brilliant twist on the question of Who Watches The Watchmen? Etienne is tired and over-worked, but there’s no one else to do the bad shit that needs to be done, no matter the scheming of The Magus or Eliza, two of the other Superpowers. Saint Valentina would rather live by herself in the wilderness where no one else can get hurt should someone make the mistake of trying to target her (again.) Heavy surrounds himself with Family on a floating fortress. Masumi, the sixth, is an artistic wreck who needs to be coddled lest her powers destroy, if not the world, then a too large part of it.

As a metaphor for the atomic era, with countries vying for influence and power, this is a terrific personification and exploration of world history between World War II and 9/11. The USA plays a huge role in the proceedings ofc, getting rightfully skewered for its imperialist leanings even as the basic decency of its intent is rarely questioned — in this, it’s effectively if perhaps ironically embodied by Etienne, a Black Frenchman who, like all of us, contains multitudes. Given the complexity of even one human being, the book seems to ask, how can we fathom the complexity of a nation as it moves to do what it believes to be good in the world?

Perhaps I am reading too much into it. But as the US’ current administration strives to put us firmly into the global bad actor camp, it’s hard not to read this book and almost long for the time when American government would make hard choices for the greater good, instead of cartoonishly enriching itself at the expense and suffering of everyone it doesn’t care about (so, almost everyone on the planet) the way that the present administration does. Yes, I’m tired, emotionally wrung out by both the personal and political and the particularly annoying cross-section of the two. Perhaps that fatigue is coloring my reading of this book, to its detriment. I know what happened in the past, and a host of other books have already asked and explored the same questions — books that other, more enthusiastic readers of TPF may not yet have encountered. What I want to know is how we can do better moving forward.

Yes, that’s a lot to expect of any art. Tho speaking of, I can safely say that Caspar Wijngaard’s work continues to be outstanding. His characters are beautiful and diverse, expressive and recognizable through each era. His differing palettes and styles for different times and places are chosen with real intelligence. And this is going to sound weird to say without spoilers, but his ability to show us the truth of Masumi’s paintings is extraordinary.

So while, overall, I think that this is a good, solid title with phenomenal art, Vol 1 felt very much like five chapters of prologue. I’m optimistic that my opinion will improve as the series continues, tho in fairness, I was not terrifically thrilled by the ends of the other two series of Mr Gillen’s that I’ve read through so far. I definitely won’t be passing up the chance to find out for myself, tho!

The Power Fantasy Volume 1: The Superpowers by Kieron Gillen & Caspar Wijngaard was published February 11 2025 by Image Comics and is available from all good booksellers, including