Power Pack #2 Review: Struggle With The Law

In the second issue of this new regulated era, the four Power siblings struggle with the law, getting so much more room to talk than Ms. Marvel, Spider-Man, Nova, or Ironheart got under the exact same circumstances. Along the way, they make a new friend and get some ideas on how to operate within the rules, despite a number of things aligned against them.

Ryan North made his bones on the funniest, smartest book in years, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. His script here again applies a lot of the brainy concepts and machinations from that series but adds some genuinely warm family dynamics to it along the way. Less schmaltzy than an after-school special (do they even have those anymore?) but sweeter than any of that Summers family stuff happening on the moon, Alex Power narrates this issue and ponders his place and his future without ever becoming the navel-gazing teen he easily could be. The clean, dynamic artwork of Nico Leon, Rachelle Rosenberg, and Travis Lanham give the conversation a lot of effective and surprising elements that change it from talking heads to being fascinating.

The only issue with this is that children in this day and age are very curious. The story here relies on them not being able to have Google and, as such, being enormously credulous. That could be an intentional flaw in the thinking of the antagonist here, but that evidence isn't on the page and just makes these kids look unlike, well, most kids in this era.

This is a pretty good book with a bit of a wobble in its plot logic. There's room for it to be redeemed in subsequent pages, but buying a comic isn't a quantum state, and you can't buy a book today based on Schroedinger's comic book tomorrow. RATING: HONORABLE MENTION.