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Rob Williams' Writer's Commentary for Project Superpowers #2

Published Mon, 10 Sep 2018 08:30:40 -0500

Rob Williams' Writer's Commentary for Project Superpowers #2 from Dynamite, out now,…

PG 1
Point Nemo exists. It's the furthest point from all land in the Pacific and it is, apparently, a spacecraft graveyard, as NASA and others make sure all their unneeded bits splash down in the ocean there. Seemed a fun place to have a bacteria-based invading space army emerge from. They were down there, just waiting to be activated…

PG 2

Big superhero punch splash opening. Which Sergio Davilla does very well.

PG 3 & 4

If you're going to offer some exposition, best have it when characters are stabbing/punching each other. This is a bit of a blatant "here's what the readers need to know" scene, but it just so happens the Death-Defying Devil is taking out the two most powerful members of Project Superpowers at the same time.

PG 5

The Scarab coming in to save The Spirit of the American Flag. Him being an Arabic character. It's a pretty obvious bit of solidarity between nations symbolism. But I thought it important. That and Imani, the new Spirit of the American Flag's host being an African-American girl from Auburn. Any faultlines in real-world politics are forgotten here, when push comes to shove. There is a crisis, the world is in danger, so we are all teammates here. All humanity.

PG 6

Taking the Green Lama off the playing field early seemed the best way to up the stakes and increase the pressure on our heroes. His magical ability could wave away a lot of threats. There's a reason books like Dr. Strange and Dr. Fate are hard to define — magic has no parameters.

PG 9

Imani gets her "I can fly" moment. And the Spirit of the American Flag flies down through the racial melting pot of Manhattan streets, alongside the Scarab.

PG 10

Again, the different races of the people looking up, inspired, amazed — deliberate.

PG 11

Sergio doing a cool job of showing The Devil's body reforming. He's made entirely out if intelligent nano-particles. There's no man inside that suit. So how do you kill him?

PG 12

Samson gives it a good go. Samson being blind is going to become a tired joke after a while. But not yet. Not for me, at least.

PG 13

Masquerade trying to possess The Devil — maybe not the best idea.

PG 14

Again with the visual gag.

PG 15

Black Terror gets his hero moment. Again, a character called Black Terror in 2018 — it struck me as funny how that name could be misconstrued by people.

PG 16

All is lost. The team looks around and members are either dead or dying, all power on Earth is turned off, and then…

PG 17

The alien space bacteria army is on its way…

PG 18

Hooray! The Green Lama isn't dead after all. It was a teleporter! Phew, that's a relief!

PG 19

OK, not so much of a relief.

PG 20

Meet our brand new big bad. The Project Superpowers were once trapped in the actual Pandora's Box. Well, meet the box's owner!