Power Pack 45 - Inferno

Julie faces the toughest challenge yet - babysitting!

Power Pack #45

Special guest scripts: Julianna Jones
Special guest pencils: June Brigman
Special guest inker: Hilary Barta
Letters: Joe Rosen
Colors: Glynis Oliver
Edits: Carl Potts
Same old Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

Julie has a nightmare in which Carmody the Bogeyman taunts her about how the family will never be the same again and how she's growing up but wakes up and Katie comforts her. Later that day she graduates from her current school and has her 11th birthday party. A neighbour upstairs asks her to babysit their toddler Tommy the following evening and she agrees. She wonders if she's grown up or still a little girl and decides the test will be whether she needs to use her powers or not. Tommy proves a challenge, making messes everywhere and crawling off until she finally gets him to sleep. But with only half an hour before his parents return she calls up her sibling to help clean up with the use of their powers. She decides this means she's not very grown up. Later that night she discusses growing up with her whole family and how she'll always be her parents' little girl.

This issue has "Revenge of the Boogy Man [sic] Epilogue" on the cover and so as it's officially branded as the aftermath of the Power Pack storyline from Inferno I'm looking at it here. The cover shows Julie facing multiple images of Carmody but inside that only really occupies the first three pages reinforcing the idea that there was a sudden change of direction ordered upon the series and so rather than continuing to explore the ramifications of a major status quo changer we get this tale about Julie facing growing up.

Julie was named after co-creator Louise Simonson's daughter Julianna - and this issue is the second she's written (after #38) once again focusing on Julie. I don't know if either of her stories are fictionalised versions of events from her own childhood. And as somebody who's a youngest sibling and has never yet babysat I have no idea just what looking after a toddler for the evening is like either. But it is easy to relate to the experience of reaching the end of one school and facing moving on to another even though here we don't have school graduation ceremonies (or at least didn't when I were a lad), especially when one's birthday falls at the end of the school year. Some start evaluating just where exactly they are. Others start distancing themselves from all their previous likes in an attempt. Others still double down on the familiar. This shows Julie taking the first option which is entirely in character for her and approaching it first by drawing up a list then tackling a routine task.

It's a straightforward little character story which speaks to a very real problem children face. But it's not an aftermath issue in any real sense beyond showing the family dynamic is back to normal. The opening sequence may reference recent events but feels a little contrived to justify the cover. This issue's non-inclusion in Inferno collected editions is fully justified but for those interested it can be found in Power Pack Classic Omnibus Volume 2.

New Mutants Annual 4 - Inferno Prologue/The Evolutionary War

The High Evolutionary seeks to remove the powers of particular mutants...

New Mutants Annual #4

1st story: Mind Games
Writer: Louise Simonson
Penciler: June Brigman
Inker: Bob McLeod
Letterer: John Workman
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Editors: Ann Nocenti & Bob Harras
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

Mutants are the next stage in human evolution and so it's natural they will attract the attention of the High Evolutionary sooner rather than later. Here his plan is to remove the powers of high level mutants through the use of a machine that can strip them of their powers. In the process we get a subtle explanation for some of the inconsistencies in the event.

The Evolutionary himself is shown as sympathetic to mutants and not wishing to kill them but the same cannot be said for some of his subordinates including Dr Stack and Major Purge. Given the scale of the Evolutionary's overall plans it's unsurprising that many individual tasks are handled by underlings but he doesn't seem to have realised just how dangerous some of them are. This disparity in goals can help to explain some of the variation in the overall story as well as showing potential problems for further down the line.

After having captured and depowered the mutants Glow Worm and Bulk from an early X-Factor adventure the Evolutionary's Purifiers turn their attention to Magma (Amara), now living in Nova Roma and hating the prospect of an arranged marriage. The Hellion Empath is with her and there's a clear confirmation from Purifiers' scans that Empath is subconsciously using his power on Amara without perhaps realising it. Elsewhere at least some of the New Mutants suspect the power is being used but seem very relaxed about it. This can't be dismissed as an "of its time" blunder since this came out not longer after the West Coast Avengers storyline where Mockingbird was drugged and seduced by the Phantom Rider against her free will. At this point they are completely grounded by Magneto who also bans them from using their powers without supervision, still angry about how Doug Ramsey died. But this has never stopped them and news of Amara's kidnapping results in the New Mutants sneaking off to rescue her whilst Emma Frost recruits allies in the Hellfire Club including Magneto.

The battle in the Purifiers' base is straightforward bar a moment when Mirage (Danielle) gets caught in the depowering machine. Before she can even realise she's lost her powers a dying Bulk and Glow Worm give their last breaths to reverse the effect. When Mirage comes round the images she creates are now solid and the New Mutants are able to rescue Amara and escape just before Magneto and the Hellfire Club arrive.

This is the best chapter of The Evolutionary War so far as it manages to use the overall event well in order to generate a small but significant change for the regular series. Mirage has long suffered from fairly weak powers and a limited opportunity to build up her leadership skills so it's understandable that multiple writers have sought to beef her up whether through making her a Valkyrie or now making her illusions solid. That she cannot get rid of them without making another also adds a constraint to their use. Otherwise this is a good showcase for all the characters in the series at this stage, showing how Magneto is trying to do his best to protect his students but alienating them in the process, how the New Mutants themselves are easily getting round the restrictions placed on them, how Illyana is becoming ever more ruthless in sending foes to Limbo and also how Amara is adapting to life back home. This is just the sort of showcase a crossover chapter should be.


2nd story: If Wishes Were Horses
Writer: Louise Simonson
Penciler: June Brigman
Inker: Roy Richardson
Letterer: John E. Workman Jr
Colorist: Glynis Oliver
Editor: Bob Harras
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

This is a surprisingly long tale at 15 pages considering the brevity of the story material. It could easily have become an issue of the regular series with plenty of space for subplots but instead it appears here as character and art showcase as we get a Mirage solo tale in which she discovers more about her newly changed powers and how best to handle them. There's plenty of comedy as her powers go wrong such as when they create a mate for Brightwind whilst she's flying on him and so gets thrown off or an encounter with a police officer who tries to make sense of all the weird things going on, first wondering if he's on a prankster television show and then assuming he's encountering aliens. This leads to an especially good moment when Brightwind reappears and firmly confronts the officer until he releases Mirage.

Otherwise this is primarily about Mirage steadily working out how to make use of her new powers that pull images out of people's heads and bring them to life as now solid objects and also how they won't disappear until she creates another. It's a good idea but it feels like it just takes up too many pages even though the story ends with Magneto returning home in a good mood and admitting to his students that he can be harsh at times. Overall this is okay but I wonder what else could have appeared had this been cut down to a more natural length.


3rd story: The High Evolutionary: Blood Drawn, Blood Spilt
Story: Mark Gruenwald
Pencils: Ron Lim
Inks: Jim Sinclair
Letters: Ken Lopez
Colors: Gregory Wright
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Editor in Chief: Tom DeFalco

The saga continues as we start ploughing through the various characters whose backstories have been tied to Mount Wundagore. So in the space of one day we see how the Drew family fell apart when the future Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew) collapsed whilst playing with clay with the future Puppet Master (Phillip Masters) and was subjected to an experimental spider-serum in the hope of saving her from radiation poisoning before arguments about further treatments caused her mother Merriem to go for a walk where she was killed with the prime suspect appearing to be the father of the Werewolf. It's a sudden rush but in just six pages it's a reminder of just how many different characters had been given ties to the mountain and/or Mount Wundagore. But it also establishes a devious side to Herbert Edgar Wyndham as he repeatedly places keeping the Moloids above other concerns, refusing to investigate them despite being a scientist and hiding the true cause of Merriem Drew's death from her husband out of fear that Jonathan will blame the Moloids and attack them. Wyndham swears to make the true murderer pay and in doing so his driven ruthless nature is further established. However the saga could really benefit from some footnotes as some of the character names are obscure and others reference relatives of heroes so the connections aren't always obvious.


There are no pin-ups or other features in the annual which is a pity as a further introduction could have helped to sell the series to readers passing through due to The Evolutionary War. But overall this is a solid book with excellent artwork and a clear solid plot that makes it important to the ongoing series narrative and not a mere side event.

Essential X-Men volume 6 - creator labels

Yes this volume has a lot of creators so this is the standard extra post.

Essential X-Factor volume 2

Essential X-Factor volume 2 reprints issues #17-35 & Annual #2 plus Thor #378 in which Ice-Man teamed up with Thor with consequences in the main series. Bonus material includes the original character design for Archangel, the cover of the relevant issue of The Official Marvel Index to the X-Men and Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe entries for Apocalypse, his Horsemen, Archangel, Rusty Collins, Infectia, and Ship. The regular issues are all written by Louise Simonson, with Tom DeFalco plotting one, and the annual is by Mary Jo Duffy. Most of the art is by Walter Simonson with individual issues by June Brigman, Sal Buscema, Steve Lightle and Terry Shoemaker, whilst the annual is drawn by Tom Grindberg. The Thor issue is written by Walter Simonson and drawn by Sal Buscema.

This volume has a cover design unique amongst the main Essentials; only the Handbooks and Marvel Saga have anything similar. The covers from issues #24 to #26 combine to form a continuous image which is wrapped around the whole cover, albeit with a transparent dark band on the spine. One consequence is that the word "Essential" is missing from the cover, perhaps a reason why the non-reference Essentials reverted to the earlier design for another year. It's a pity as I feel this layout is especially good at showcasing the artwork whilst displaying the credits on the cover.

The non-regular issues show a few varied problems of inclusion and placing. The Thor issue contains a guest appearance by Ice-Man that sees his powers increased out of control and this is followed up directly in X-Factor. However the Thor appearance is a two-part story and only the second part is included. It would have probably been better to have either both parts or none. The annual demonstrates a problem from 1987 as the regular series has some quite tight continuity between issues since the story flows from one to the next, thus making it hard to place the annual at a clear point where the team's day out in the park and trip to the Moon can take place between issues. The fact that it's by a different creative team from the regular series doesn't help and it feels as though the only character to have any lasting changes is Quicksilver, who otherwise is completely absent from both this volume and its predecessor. Otherwise this tale of X-Factor, Franklin Richards and Quicksilver both being caught up in Maximus's latest bid for power over the Inhumans, complete with a guest cameo by Power Pack, just feels inconsequential and easy to ignore despite efforts to delve into Jean's feelings about Scott and Phoenix. Here the annual gets placed between issues #23 & #24, which doesn't reflect the original publication dates either (that would be between #20 & #21), but this is the point where X-Factor gets teleported off to Apocalypse's Ship and not exactly a time for them to all go for a walk in the park. Still I'm not sure where the best alternative place to put it actually is.

Notably absent from the volume are any of the other issues involved with "The Fall of the Mutants". This was an unusual crossover as none of the three main titles - X-Factor, Uncanny X-Men and New Mutants - crossover in terms of storyline but instead in terms of the theme of big status quo changes. However a number of other Marvel titles did tie in, mainly with the events shown in X-Factor and there are references here to what happens in Captain America and Power Pack. The former's absence doesn't seem to impact on the story at all and is easily explained away by dialogue and captions but the latter might have helped to show how the kids got involved and the full fate of Pestilence, both of which are a little confusing when presented on their own. Also absent is annual #3, which is the opening part of the "Evolutionary War" crossover and which clearly takes place during this volume, not just because of the time of publication and the status quo depicted but also because the crossover's final part, in Avengers #17, takes place at the same time as issue #34 and is responsible for the Beast's absence from the latter issue. With the regular series seeing storylines flow from issue to issue and numerous cliffhangers, including at the very end of the volume, it would have been quite doable to push issues #34 & #35 back to volume 3 and run the annual here, with its precise placing no more awkward than that for annual #2. This would also have the advantage of putting more of the build-up to the "Inferno" storyline into the same volume as the main events (and is the reason why volume 3 is the place to consider the X-Terminators limited series). If the Essentials are ever revived this volume and its successor would be amongst the top contenders to have the contents reshuffled, providing of course that both new editions are out at the same time and it's always possible to get all the material in just a single set of volumes (which was a problem for a while when the new editions of Essential X-Men were staggered).

As for the regular issues, this volume charts the team facing great despair, destruction and death yet rising to the challenge to the point that "The Fall of the Mutants" really should be entitled "The Rise of the Mutants", ending with the team having achieved an amazing public relations success. Their victory over Apocalypse and saving of New York is lauded by the public, with their earlier deception explained away, and not only do the team become popular heroes but so do mutants in general. Individual members face redemption and restoration, but also some very dark moments affecting not only them but those around them. The series flows well with strong developments that enhance all the main characters. A recurrent theme is friends heading over to the other side, though in one case they had been secretly plotting there all along. The smallest scale Caliban, who becomes the first rescued mutant to be promoted to the full team, but he repeatedly feels inadequate as his powers can only track mutants and cannot contribute to fights. This weakness, and the team's failure to address it in time, leads to his accepting Apocalypse's offer of power when all the others reject it. It's a very brief rise and fall, and it's surprising how little its dwelt on by the others, suggesting that perhaps Caliban may have been right.

What is heavily dwelt on is the Angel's return. Having been rescued at the last minute by Apocalypse, Warren is now transformed into Death, the fourth Horseman of Apocalypse, despite not actually riding a horse. Warren is full of hatred from the circumstances of his downfall and so now armed with his new metal wings and leading War, Famine and Pestilence he is a force to be reckoned with, upping the tension no end. However he sees the consequences of his actions when it appears that Ice-Man has been killed and so Death turns on Apocalypse then flies off, staying his distance because he still feels abandoned by X-Factor and instead seeking his revenge upon the true author of his downfall, Cameron Hodge.

X-Factor's publicity director has already been causing the team problems with his campaign stirring up anti-mutant hatred, but it soon becomes clear he has an ulterior agenda. In the course of his aims he forced through the court order that amputated Warren's original wings then persuaded his old university roommate to leave all his money to X-Factor - with Hodge in control. It all goes on "the Right", an organisation Hodge has set up to destroy mutants, complete with some silly looking but deadly battlesuits. Hodge's motivations are rooted in class based superiority, believing himself to be part of the real homo superior, but there's also a hint in his conversation with the demon N'Astirh that his attitude to Warren is more complex. He talks of his private contempt for Warren even before the latter grew his wings, with a product of old money being scorned by that of even older money, but it's hinted that Hodge's feelings towards Warren are more complex and began in admiration, and also that his kidnapping and killing of Candy Southern may be to prevent anyone else being happy with Warren. Whilst the general idea of the team's business support having his own agenda works, some of the detail is offensive. Today it would be impossible to present a bigoted organisation under such a blunt name as "the Right" and rightly so but I don't know if anyone made a public fuss at the time about such a gratuitous swipe. The spurned homosexual theme is far more subtle but it does drift into a rather cliched theme that really should be avoided. Fortunately issue #34 ends with Warren decapitating Hodge, bringing closure.

The previous issue brings another form of closure as the Beast comes full circle. During the battle with Apocalypse's Horsemen, a touch by Pestilence causes Hank's mind to deteriorate whenever he uses his strength and over subsequent issues he steadily regresses. However new foe Infectia, who has the ability to rearrange people's bodies into monsters known as "Anti-Bodies", accidentally kisses the Beast and causes a chain reaction which restores Hank's mind but in his furry form. It has been less than three years since he lost the fur and next issue captions suggest this was not a popular move, so we see one further step in undoing some of the early set-up.

Not all the developments are reversionary, with Ice-Man suffering from his powers being so enhanced that he has difficulty controlling them and eventually has to resort to using one of the Right's restraining devices. Before then his main source o help has been the young mutant Leech, who now joins the other rescued mutants full time. Also added to the line-up is Rictor, a young mutant with the power to cause earthquakes. Ice-Man oscillates between being light-hearted around the children to showing a much more serious side when circumstances dictate it, slowly growing up. The younger mutants are at times sidelined but they're shown steadily developing control of their powers and proving their worth on the occasions they go into battle, especially when fighting the Xartans, aliens from the early days of Thor now impersonating the Avengers or, on a lesser level, dealing with gangs. Otherwise they settle into life aboard Ship, their new living headquarters, though show independence when they opt to take the Christmas gifts that have been showered on the team and donate them to children in hospital. Towards of the volume another status quo shift is foreshadowed with the announcement that the young mutants will be sent to regular schools to get mainstream education, not something they are looking forward to.

Meanwhile Cyclops and Marvel Girl are rekindling their relationship, with Jean coming to terms with the fact she has to compete with the memory of not one but two women who were identical to her, whilst Scott has accepted that his wife and son are dead when he gets the shock news that Madelyn had been alive all the time only to die with the X-Men, but Christopher is still alive. This leads into the big storyline at the end of the volume as Scott tries to find Christopher, eventually succeeding at the orphanage he grew up in only to clash with both demons and Nanny, a walking, talking metal egg who kidnaps children and has their parents murdered. The storyline isn't fully resolved in the volume but there's clearly a lot more building up. Unfortunately Nanny herself is too comical a foe to take seriously, even if her Orphan Maker sidekick has the horror of being one of the kidnapped children.

Although "the Fall of the Mutants" propels X-Factor and mutants in general to great public acclaim, there are dark clouds on the horizon with the passage of a Mutant Registration Act requiring all mutants to register their powers, but the response by team members is nuanced. Elsewhere it leads to increased tensions and fears. Meanwhile something almost magical is happening with everyday things coming to life in New York whilst the demon N'Astirh is plotting and seeking multiple allies. It all serves as a strong cliffhanger to carry things forward.

There are some individual elements in this volume that are silly or offensive, but in general it shows the series at full force, never resting but instead building things up and continuing to make this a very different series from the other X-Men books. The main cast are put through a tough set of situations but rise to the challenge and come out triumphant.

Sidesteps: Power Pack Classic volume 2

Power Pack Classic volume 2 has within it issues #11 to #17, plus Uncanny X-Men #195 and the graphic novel Power Pack and Cloak & Dagger: Shelter from the Storm. All the Power Pack issues are written by Louise Simonson, with the Uncanny X-Men issue by Chris Claremont and the graphic novel by Bill Mantlo. All but one of the Power Pack issues are drawn by June Brigman with a fill-in by Brent Anderson. The Uncanny X-Men issue is drawn by John Romita Jr and the graphic novel by Sal Velluto. The graphic novel was actually published in 1989 whereas the regular issues in this volume are from 1985, but the status quo it presents can only fit into the early years of the series, as we'll see when looking at a future volume.

In my review of volume 1, I criticised the excessive number of guest appearances by the rest of the Marvel universe, at least one in every issue once the family moved to New York. The situation is slightly improved here as, discounting Franklin Richards and Jarvis (the Avengers' butler - at this point the Baxter Building had been destroyed, forcing the Fantastic Four to temporarily stay with the Avengers) since one is a new member and the other part of his existing status quo, there are only appearances by other heroes in issues #12 & #15, albeit with some slack picked up by the Uncanny X-Men issue and the graphic novel. The only villains from outside the series are the Morlocks in the first two issues and the X-Men crossover. Otherwise the series spends some time developing its own recurring villains in the forms of both the Snarks and the Bogey-Man, their father's ex-boss embittered by his downfall and now donning battle armour in a one-man war against the children.

Whilst issue #12 leads into a crossover with Uncanny X-Men, with the latter included here, issue #15 follows up on an issue of Thor that isn't in the collection. It's easy to work out the necessary details without out, but it's another sign of how the series can be over integrated with the rest of the Marvel universe. Issue #15 also has one of the most misleading covers, with Beta Ray Bill prominently shown yet he's only on one page and doesn't interact with the children. Another omission is Fantastic Four #282, the first half of which began the process of introducing a new member (although where possible it would probably best be truncated as the second half of the issue is both a Secret Wars II crossover and the middle part of a major Psycho-Man storyline). However once again the issues here move at a pace that means it possible to not even realise the dreams Franklin refers to had actually been shown.

Power Pack issues #16-17 see the addition to the team of Franklin Richards, the son of Mr. Fantastic and the Invisible Woman, who takes the codename of "Tattletale". Being even younger than Katie it would be tempting to see this as a "Cousin Oliver" move (and he's a cute blond kid to boot), but in his two issues collected here he holds his own well, even when fighting with Katie over silly stuff, and is endearing rather than annoying. But despite the feud, and her jealousy at no longer being the youngest one and thus special, she suggests letting him join them. (Franklin's somewhat limited ageing has been a source of much fan comment over the years so it would be interesting to look at latter day adventures involving both him and other Power siblings see at what different rates they've aged relative to each other.) His available powers are primarily the ability to see the future in his dreams but this proves critical in allowing the team (as we must now call them since he isn't related to the others) to quickly locate the other new arrival, Kofi Whitemane, a young Kymellian from the same family as Aelfyre "Whitey" Whitemane, who gave the Power siblings their abilities in the first place. Kofi is an interesting addition, reinforcing the alien connection of the children's powers but as a youngster himself he is still on a learning curve, and is sometimes surprised at how the Power siblings have managed to adapt their powers. Including Friday, seven is probably the maximum size for a team book before it becomes unwieldy, but fortunately the smartship only appears from time to time. As Franklin only gets his costume and codename at the end of the last regular issue in this volume, it's not yet possible to see how the series can handle such an expanded cast.

The series deals with some surprisingly mature themes and demonstrates that regardless of the characters' ages this is not a kiddie title. We see the siblings facing the horrors of kidnapping, the shock of waking up to find no-one recognises them and the horror of having both bodies and minds twisted so that they will no longer remember who they truly are. There's exploration of how loss can leave people twisted and angry with the world, whether the Morlock Annalee mourning her children, Batman Bates mourning a baseball career cut short by war, or Carmody the Bogey-Man, Professor Power's ex boss, mourning his life before the children destroyed the anti-matter converter. The kids face more down to earth problems as well such as school rivalries that see bullies manipulate situations to get others into trouble and unjustly punished, or the horrors that lurk in the sewers such as alligators. Throughout it all they retain a spirit of adventure but never drift into naivety. However there is one point where it would be nice if the series did go out of its way to explain something. Issue #13 sees the children go to a baseball match where Jack's hero's record is under threat, but heroes can often turn out to not be all one expects. It's a sombre tale of hope, failure and expectations, but it's a little hard to follow at times if one knows nothing about the rules of baseball and just what is happening in the game at any given moment.

The volume concludes with a graphic novel from 1989. Now I'm generally rather biased against graphic novels. Often they seem to be excessively priced - this one had a cover price of US $7.95 at a time when the regular series went for about $1.00 - and never have anything like as much story as the price indicates. Sometimes the art and more sophisticated colour can make up for this a bit (and in a colour reprint such as here the reproduction works, whereas the black & white Essentials haven't been kind at all to graphic novels) but nowhere enough to justify all the extra expense. Fortunately many of them are inconsequential and can be ignored if one wishes, but occasionally they're a core part of the continuity so have to be read if one is to get the complete story (and in the days of collecting back issues mainly via comic shops, past graphic novels were particularly difficult to locate). They're also often a pain to store, especially the Marvel ones from the 1980s which used an unusual page size. Of course when they come in collected editions the only real question is whether they consume space unnecessarily but here they take up the space that would otherwise have been given to only a couple of issues. Still it's hard to set aside one's dislikes of the format completely. Despite the order of billing, this is really a Cloak and Dagger story at heart, written by their co-creator, with Power Pack not even appearing until nearly halfway through. It focuses on the plight of runaways, showing two teenagers, one escaping a violent and abusive parent, the other an overprotective one. They find themselves in the darkness of the city where even supportive shelters contain their own dangers due to competition for numbers for funding and where life isn't the great escape they expected. At the heart of one shelter is a twisted man with the power to absorb others' life-force, a side effect of drugs that failed to cure his disease. There are clear parallels with the lives of Cloak and Dagger, with a look at the ethics of the former as he struggles to control his hunger for light. Amidst all this the Power siblings are very much sidelined, primarily only serving to locate where Dagger has been taken, and the story could easily have been told without them. It's not a bad Cloak and Dagger tale but it's a utterly unnecessary Power Pack one and could easily have been left out in favour of a few more issues from the regular series. It's also unusual in being set some years earlier than when it was published - was this either a conscious reaction against later developments, a delay in production or a writer returning after a break from regular Marvel work who was out of touch with recent developments? (The last one is unlikely as Mantlo's regular comic writing had ended only a year earlier when his run on Alpha Flight concluded, and he instead focused on his legal career. I think this graphic novel was the last comic he wrote, though until 1993 occasional other stories saw print in the various inventory series Marvel Fanfare and Marvel Super-Heroes.)

The graphic novel aside, this collection shows the series coming along well and developing its own mythology. The guest appearances have also been cut down, removing distractions and allowing the series' own characters to grow and develop. Whilst no individual issue or storyline leaps out as especially spectacular, overall it's a pretty solid volume that continues to put the children through a diverse set of situations that make them more than meet their potential.

Sidesteps: Power Pack Classic volume 1

Power Pack Classic volume 1 contains issues #1 to #10 of the original series. As bonus material it reproduces a page with biographies of the creators, presumably from issue #1, and Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe entries for all four children and the team as a whole. (This is potentially confusing as the individual entries cover the children as they are here but the team entry includes details from issues in later volumes.) All the issues are written by Louise Simonson and most are drawn by June Brigman with individual fill-ins by Mary Wiltshire and Brent Anderson, and layouts on one issue by Mark Badger.

All too often attempts to create different types of heroes instead just produce grown white men with breasts/different skin colours/different sized bodies. It can make the resulting strip disappointing. But here we get a series that looks and feels like it features ordinary children. Louise Simonson's brief biography in the first issue mentions both her love of children's literature (to the point of spending much of her childhood with her nose in a book - a trait passed on to Julie) and her daughter Juliana (presumably the source of Julie's name unless someone else came up with that) suggesting a strong understanding of children and it shows. Similarly, June Brigman's biography mentions her work drawing quick pastel pictures for the public, with portraits of children commonly requested. This combined experience shows as the Power siblings look and sound like real children - maybe slightly rounded and idealised as with much fiction, but a far cry from the "little adults" that so often appear.

The first four issues also feel different in another way in that they're set in an undefined (unless I've missed a caption), almost idyllic location. Again, this feels reminiscent of a lot of children's literature that is set in a place that could be many readers' own homes or else a holiday destination. The Power family home may be a house by a beach with the surrounding settlement not shown until issue #5, but it's not hard to see elements familiar to many readers that brings the story close to home in a way that setting it in a world famous city with familiar landmarks wouldn't necessarily do so. Unfortunately issue #5 initiates that very such move but more on that below. In the meantime, we have a take on a familiar tale of children on their own discovering something incredible and being drawn into the excitement and magic of it all. But this is no mere retread of stories by the likes of E. Nesbit though it's not hard to spot the influence (several siblings in an undefined by real place encountering the fantastical within that environment). Instead the series has a surprisingly hard edge, shown most vividly in the first issue where the children find themselves in the middle of conflict between two alien races, and the kind alien who rescues them dies in the process.

The opening storyline is pretty self-contained and may have been conceived as a standalone mini-series to try out the characters before committing to an ongoing title (in the same year this was tried with the West Coast Avengers whilst immediate popularity saw the Transformers limited series converted into an ongoing title). As a result the origin story worked well when I first read it in the earlier Origin Album trade paperback and it holds up just as well here. The first issue introduces all the characters and situation and so we embark on a journey as the kids learn about their powers and face repeated danger. It's also a clever move that the children don't immediately gasp the full extent of their powers and subsequent issues show them learning how to control them better, particularly Alex whose powers don't come with directional controls.

What's also surprising about the opening four issues is the complete absence of guest stars from the rest of the Marvel universe, especially as none of the characters had been seen before. It helps to add to the novelty and freshness of the series. Unfortunately as the series progresses this point is tossed to the wind when the family move to New York at the end of issue #5, with issues #6-8 featuring a team-up with Cloak & Dagger and also a guest appearance by Spider-Man, whilst #9-10 feature Marrina, from the pages of Alpha Flight. Yes the Marvel universe is a shared one, and such encounters a regular part, but they don't need to happen all the time. And in what is still a new series they can cramp the space needed for the star characters to develop and grow. And with the exception of Spider-Man the guest stars are all relatively obscure so it's hard to see any of their appearances as being motivated by boosting the series's exposure and sales. So just why are they needed?

The situations and foes are a mixture of the familiar and the new, with the siblings and allies facing threats such as hostile aliens, militaristic businessmen, agents of a government body, would be crime lords and monsters with enhanced powers. It's a strong mixture of scenarios and the series doesn't kiddify itself when presenting a drug lord or covering the origin of Cloak and Dagger. We also see the four siblings handling the problems of ordinary kids - keeping secrets from their parents, enduring boring trips with relatives, adjusting to a new school and so forth. It all helps to round them out.

As for the children themselves, we get four well-rounded siblings who each have distinctive personalities. Katie/Energizer is the youngest and most innocent but also the most optimistic; she's also wound up with the most difficult to control power. At the other end of the scale Alex/Gee also has powers that are hard to control and some of his attempts are quite amusing. Then there's Jack/Mass Masters, the grumpy younger boy who can control his powers but initially thinks his are the most useless; however over time he discovers more and more uses for them. Finally there's Julie/Lightspeed, the older girl who almost always has her head in a book and who can move and fly fast. With separate personalities and powers each is clearly distinctive and offers more than their own. In most of their adventures they have help from Friday, a sentient Kymellian smartship (a running gag is that no one is sure what Friday's gender is, leading to arguments about the correct pronouns). The main supporting cast are their parents, who are supportive and caring but ignorant of their children's powers.

These first ten issues show a bold new idea hit the ground running. Unfortunately some of the early momentum is wasted when the series moves to New York and begins a run of guest stars who often distract rather than enhance the stories they're in. But the basic concept is quite novel for Marvel and the execution works well. This is a title that may evoke themes from children's literature but it isn't written purely for readers the same age as the stars. Rather this is a title that can be enjoyed by all ages and fit alongside other, more convention superhero series.