Review: Project Superpowers #5 (of 7)

In the penultimate issue of this series, things could not be graver.Â The swathe of battles that seem to have been the meat and potatoes of the story continues, with P:andora seemingly getting the upper hand, despite the efforts of Samson, Masquerade and the American Flag, in obtaining his box and gaining complete control of the universe.

This issue we get a glimpse of the virtues that deemed Imani worth of the Flag that has been the off centre focus for this run.Â With the team taking it on faith, they try their best to reunite Imani and Flag in the hope that together they may be able to steer the battle in their favour.Â But the Flag holds more than the American spirit; much to P:andora’s glee.

Rob Williams dials the pace down a notch as we get to see a younger Imani, doing what heroes are supposed to do.Â It is a great little interlude, as it both gives us more information about Imani as well as acts as one part of the scripted booked for this particular issue.Â When we get back to the action, Williams gives each hero some panel time, with Samon’s “birdbox” method of fighting filled with humorous dialogue that made smile regardless of all the noise in the rest of the book.Â Williams has worked hard to balance pace, action and character interaction, as without each aspect, this book could have been completed in three issues.Â By keeping his triumvirate of story telling methods in check, Williams’ has managed to naturally increase the issue count without the need for the dreaded filler issue, although his villain is a tad exposition-ally challenged at times.

Sergio Davila is again in top notch form, with strong and clear lines separating the large cast of characters from the action that tries to overtake them.Â I didn’t notice this in the previous issues, but I think that Davila may have a soft spot for late 80’s / early 90’s cartoons.Â Exhibit one – T.J. Detweiler from Recess makes and appearance and exhibit two and three feature P:andora looking like Mumm-Ra and his sidekick having a touch of the Cheetara’s about her.Â What’s next, Darkwing Duck?Â All joking aside, the art is solid throughout, with probably the opening pages my favourite as it gives us something that we hadn’t seen in a while, due to the constant battle.Â Speaking of the battle, even artistically, Samson steals the show, with the face and form of Masquerade suffering a tad, in part due to the feeling that she was almost forgotten about.Â Colorist Ulises Arreola adds to the fray with some strong colors in the style of mainstream comics, without the nuances of previous issues.Â Simon Bowland continues to do a fantastic job on letters, allow for the action in the panels to take centre stage and is not hidden by the verbose word balloons and ensuring that conversations are easy to follow.

I have been enjoying this series from the outset; it seems that everyone can do a Justice Society style book, apart from DC, although that might change when the Doomsday Clock finally ticks it’s last tock!Â In the meantime, Dynamite are certainly making hay with this excellent series, which concludes next month.

Writing -Â 4 Stars
Art – 4 Stars
Colors – 4 Stars

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Written by; Rob Williams
Art by; Sergio Davila
Colors by; Ulises Arreola
Published by; Dynamite Entertainment

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network