What I Bought 11/2/2017 - Part 2

I've been on the road since yesterday morning, and will be until sometime tomorrow evening. That goodness for being able to set these things up ahead of time. Today, it's one of those Marvel Legacy one-shots.

Power Pack #63, by Devin Grayson (writer), Marika Cresta (artist), Chris O'Halloran (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - I thought that was that reject from Age of Apocalypse, the Sugar Man or whatever his name was. One of those creepy scientist types, second-rate Arnim Zola. But no.

Katie Power tried to write about one of her experiences for a story at school, but tried to modify the story to remove the more fantastic elements, rendering it unintelligible to her teacher. Once she understands she can go as weird as she wants, she tells the teacher the real story of a villain called the Boogeyman possessing her oldest brother Alex, and the rest of the kids trying to stop him. At the end, her teacher suggests Katie should contact Alex, since it's clear he's important to her, and we're reminded Alex has been off with Reed, Sue, and the other smart kids ever since Secret Wars ended.

That's it. If the idea is the story is meant to make us want to see more of the characters (as the back page of the comic suggests), this doesn't seem like a great effort. We know Katie is in school, and Alex is far away. That's it. We don't have any idea what's happening with Jack or Julie, if the kids are still living with their parents, where they're living, if any of them are still fighting crime, none of that. I remember Julie joining Avengers Academy sometime after Fear Itself, but no idea beyond that. Presumably you'd want a Power Pack book to involve the entire quartet, so giving us some idea what the entire group is up to might have been a good idea.

There are a few panels, as the teacher reads Katie's initial story, where we see how she's picturing based off what's written, versus how Katie is remembering it. The colors are more vivid on Katie's side, and we get a better look at the character's face. The panic or anger is clear. In the teacher's version, the characters are often either turned away from us, or the faces are more indistinct. Katie's held back so much, she hasn't conveyed any of the sensation of the experience. The fight scene between the possessed Alex and the rest of the team is pretty good. Nothing spectacular, but a solid job showing off the kids' powers. Although, could Jack use his cloud form as a soft cushion? I figured he'd be too dispersed, the person would just pass through. Maybe he has that much control.

If it were part of a larger story, or a breather issue in a longer arc, it would be OK. But as a one-shot, designed to intrigue a potential audience, I don't think it works.