REVIEW: Project: I.M.P.A.C.T. #1: The Power Outage

When a team of parahuman mercenaries takes over one of the largest hydroelectric plants in Canada, Project: I.M.P.A.C.T. is called in to deal with the threat.

There isn’t a huge demand for Canadian superhero stories, perhaps because If you know anything about Canada you know that it has more of a reputation for its Maple Syrup Cartel Battles and Black Market Rebellions than crime. That is why Alan Russette’s vision to create a Canadian superhero team is not just interesting, it’s gutsy.

The opening of Project: I.M.P.A.C.T. #1, features a terrorist organization anchored by some Parahumans (Super Powered people) that have telepathic, and shapeshifting abilities, that have occupied and taken hostage the employees of the Sir Adam Beck Hydroelectric Station in Niagara Falls, Ontario , that delivers powers to parts of Ontario and New York State. So, Law Enforcement sends in a parahuman team of their own ” The Initial Mobile Parahuman Anti-Terrorism Crisis Team (Project: I.M.P.A.C.T. ). Impact brings their sets of skills that utilizes technology, Psychokinesis, Psychometry, and apportation.
The narrative flow for Project: I.M.P.A.C.T. #1, flows quite nicely when there’s action, but it was a little baffling to interrupt the Superhero infiltration actions panels to start the origin story. A great journey would have been to show more of the villains infiltrating the Hydro-electric Plant.

The art by Stephan Petersen (Thin Ice) and the coloring by Gary Scott Beatty, hit me as a gritty, but Kirbyesque. smoothly , transmitting the thoughts of Russette in a very mysterious way and, occasionally, combining surrealist elements. Horrible acts and macabre scenes make us stop and think about ourselves. Visually stunning scenes, where the black accentuates colors and therefore the feel of the panels.

Project: I.M.P.A.C.T. #1 is the classic example of don’t judge a book by its cover, because even though the cover seems uninteresting and quite generic, it is an enjoyable read once you get to some of the meatier parts of the story. Some of the characters do have marketable potential, but by far the villains were the most interesting part of the story so far.Â Other than the location it doesn’t really feel Canadian.

Hopefully, Comic book and digital media publisher ADR, has more Project: I.M.P.A.C.T. issues and titles planned for the future.Â The creative team that collaborated for this issues, showed me that ADRÂ Â has enough going that it could flesh this out into an entire universe.

SCORE: 2.8 stars out of 5.

ADR Comics
Written by: Alan Russette
Art by: Stephan Petersen
Colored by: Gary Scott Beatty
Cover by: Stephan Petersen
Lettered by: Gary Scott Beatty
Published by: Alan Russette
Comixology release date: On February 19, 2020