DC Power 2024 #1 – N.K. Jemisin, Cheryl Lynn Eaton, Lamar Giles, John Ridley, Deron Bennett, Shawn Martinbrough, Alitha Martinez, Jarrett Williams, Greg Burnham, Brandom Thomas, Writers; Jamal Campbel, Asiah Fulmore, Sean Damien Hill/Anthony Fowler Jr, Edwin Galmon, Denys Cowan/John Stanisci, Tony Akins/Moritat, Alitha Martinez/Mark Morales, Dominike “Domo” Stanton, Jahnoy Lindsay, Khary Randolph/Serg Acuna, Artists; Ruth Redmond, DJ Chavis, Christopher Sotomayor, Romulo Fajardo Jr, Andrew Dalhouse, Colorists
Ray – 9/10
Ray: DC always goes all-out for these anthologies, and last year’s Black History Month celebration was fantastic. So, how do this year’s ten stories look?
“Enduring Farewells” by Jemisin and Campbell kicks us off with a bang, as this is the long-awaited sequel/epilogue to the creative team’s acclaimed “Far Sector.” We return to the City Enduring for the last day of Jo Mullein’s time as the peacekeeper. She’s accompanied by John Stewart to tie up her last loose ends, and this means catching up with all the memorable characters from the series. There is so much packed into this issue, in a story that feels so much longer than it is. I wish we had gotten more of this classic series, but this is a great wrap-up with note-perfect dialogue and art.
“The Spice of Life” by Eaton and Fulmore is a Thunder and Lightning story, reuniting Black Lightning’s daughters as Anissa returns to Metropolis after turfing out in some key areas of adult life and struggling with her powers. As they meet up, the reunion is quickly interrupted by an appearance from the deadly villain known as… Condiment King. This joke villain’s role here mostly seems to be to have no sense of taste, and some other surprising guest stars show up in a light, breezy story. Good to see the Pierce family again.
“Pit Stop” by Giles and Hill features the newest Black character in the DCU—Raphael Arce, aka Bloodwynd. The character’s existence is a retcon to fix the bizarre story of Martian Manhunter’s Black sorcerer disguise from the ’90s, and he’s now playing the role of the Superman of Hell. This issue takes him into a circle of hell with some deeply personal connections, as well as a surprising twist that adds new layers to Bloodwynd’s legacy. This story started with PKJ’s Action run, but it seems to be expanding well beyond that.
“Pure Blackness” by Ridley and Galmon features a character Ridley has never written before—Val-Zod, the second Superman of Earth-2. This story on the surface seems like a simple origin recap, but there are some interesting layers to it as well. Val-Zod is a man who was raised in isolation, who never had the loving human family Clark did, and will always be a little uncomfortable with his place in the limelight. This is a gorgeous, low-key tale that gives us a deeper insight into a seemingly unflappable man.
“Lost at Sea” by Bennett and legendary penciler Denis Cowan picks up with the tale of Black Manta, as the infamous pirate and supervillain takes on a mission for a particularly despicable pirate captain. It doesn’t take long to discover that the pirate has some family drama including an abused, gay son who has a secret lover on board. What starts as a salvage mission quickly turns into a brutal story of assassinations and abusive family, with a tragic ending that actually leaves some very interesting plot threads for future writers to pick up.
“The Session” by Martinbrough, Akins, and Moritat focuses on a character I never thought I’d see again—Detective Crispus Allen, the GCPD officer who was murdered by corrupt cops and became the third bearer of the Spectre after Jim Corrigan and Hal Jordan. Set years ago, the story finds Allen seeking therapy as he recounts his team-up with Renee Montoya (his former partner, now The Question). For ten pages, this story has a surprising number of elements and reminded me of just how good Gotham Academy was way back when.
“The Natural Order” by writer/artist Alitha Martinez takes us back to Themyscira for what I think is Martinez’s writing debut. It’s got easily the oddest team-up I’ve ever seen—Nubia and Mxyzptlk, as the imp sneaks onto the island with claims of being blackmailed. As the Amazons discuss what to do with him, he turns out to be telling the truth—sort of, as he unwillingly lets an ancient evil onto the island. Martinez’s art looks great as always, and the story is surprisingly compelling as well given how odd it is.
“Jump Shots” by Wiliams and Stanton unsurprisingly focuses on Ace West, who Williams is writing at the moment in Speed Force. This is a low-key tale with Ace trying to help a girl who is struggling with her basketball skills, but she thinks superheroes have it easy. This leads to him sharing some darker chapters from his past—that haven’t been referenced in a long time. This is a fun story, but it feels oddly retro. Most of the elements and some of the characters here are definitely from the pre-Infinite Frontier era, and Ace has come a long way from his origins.
“Fair Play” by Burnham and Lindsay turns the focus on Mister Terrific, with Michael Holt working to protect a former troubled mentee of his who is now an ADA and opposing the construction of a high-tech new juvenile prison in the city. When the two of them come under attack from a team of highly-armed mercenaries, the trail leads back to a surprising figure—a villain who played a key role in Mister Terrific’s last regular comic run. Good story, but maybe a bit rushed with all it had to explore.
“The Light That Shines” by Thomas, Randolph, and Acuna wraps us up by putting the focus on Duke Thomas, aka The Signal. This story picks up on Duke’s time-hopping Outsiders adventure which Thomas wrote in the pages of Batman: Urban Legends a few years back, and is a pretty dense story with only ten pages, but does some great work expanding on Duke’s character and his anxiety about his place in the family. The use of Chronos as the villain here is a good twist that gives the little-seen villain a spotlight.
Overall, there aren’t any bad stories here, and all of them range from good to exceptional. Another win for DC’s anthology program.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
