Power Pack: Into The Storm #1 Review

Written by: Louise Simonson
Art by: June Brigman, Roy Richardson
Colors by: Nolan Woodard
Letters by: VC’s Travis Lanham
Cover art by: Art by: June Brigman, Roy Richardson, Nolan Woodard
Cover price: $3.99
Release date: January 24, 2024

Power Pack: Into The Storm #1 sets the secret superhero siblings on a collision course with an intergalactic conflict when the vengeful daughter of a Snark enemy arrives on Earth.

Is Power Pack: Into The Storm #1 Good?

Holy Exposition, Batman! (Sorry, Marvel Readers) Louise Simonson and June Brigman return to the pint-sized superpowered team they created in Power Pack: Into The Storm #1 with a story that recounts an adventure during their early years.

Simonson’s script centers on Alex, Julie, Jack, and Katie Power heading to the beach house where they first gained their powers for a Summer getaway with their parents. The Power family is soon joined by the Fantastic Four, who have agreed to drop off young Franklin Richards to spend time with the Power siblings during their vacation.

What the parents of both families don’t know is that Franklin’s dream powers have been showing him visions about a Snark pirate named Mayhem, who is out to retrieve her deceased mother’s tech and take revenge on Power Pack for her mother’s defeat. Mayhem’s revenge quest also happens to cross paths with Kofi and Djinna, good-hearted offspring of the Kyrellian and Snark races, respectively. All parties eventually collide on the beach outside the Power family’s vacation home.

If that sounds like way too much happening in too short a space for a standard-sized floppy comic, you’d be right and wrong. Simonson transitions briskly but smoothly from one scene to the next to give you what you need, establish the status quo of each character, and build the relationships between each character to help new readers jump on. Unfortunately, the scenes feel more like summaries than complete, and you get a LOT of exposition in every bit of dialog to fill in the blanks.

What’s great about Power Pack: Into The Storm #1? At the risk of sounding like an old softy, it’s good to see the Power Pack in classic form with the voices and personalities that made them a success without all the baggage of “updated for modern audiences” changes they’ve been saddled with in recent years. Power Pack is a perfect example of not fixing what isn’t broken, so this simple, classically-inspired adventure is just the ticket.

What’s not so great about Power Pack: Into The Storm #1? Yes, Simonson has to sprint to get all the world- and character-building in place as quickly as possible, but that sprint makes this comic read like it’s on fast-forward. To be fair, the too-high pace isn’t aggravated by shortcuts or plot holes, but you can’t help feeling rushed and bombarded with info dumps.

How’s the art? Brigman and Richardson’s inks and action choreography are top-notch, the alien creature designs fit the family-friendly sci-fi tone of the story to a tee, and the colors look great. That said, the facial acting of the characters is a bit stiff, so the characters tend to look doll-like.

About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.

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Bits and Pieces

Power Pack: Into The Storm #1 returns to the pint-sized super team’s roots with an intergalactic adventure set in the early days of the team. Simonson and Brigman remind longtime fans why the team was a hit, and the art is great, but the script plows through a lot of setup, world-building, and exposition in a rush.