Reviewer: Mathan Erhardt
Story Title: Powers and Principalities
Written by: J. Michael Straczynski
Penciled by: Gary Frank
Inked by: Jon Sibal
Colored by: Chris Sotomayor
Lettered by: Virtual Calligraphy’s Rus Wooten
Editor: Nick Lowe
Publisher: Marvel Comics
As the issue opens Hyperion rescues everyone from a fire in an apartment building. It is an amazing feat, but the people in the government who have been overseeing project Hyperion aren’t necessarily happy with how things are transpiring. While his appearances, make for easy plausible deniability for other covert government actions, he still could be one of America’s greatest military asset and his abilities are being wasted on being a hero.
We also get a glimpse of the full-grown Amphibian. She encounters a scuba diver. Unfortunately the diver panics, leading to her death, giving Amphibian flashbacks of her mom. Amphibian returns the diver to her ship, unfortunately the man aboard panics and attacks Amphibian. Let’s just say Amphibian doesn’t like bleeding.
Hyperion visits China and has a talk with a man, who opens his eyes. Mr. Bryce, the new liaison to Hyperion isn’t too happy about the visit, but even less happy with Hyperion’s response. Hyperion does some investigating, and it leads to a confrontation with Dr. Spectrum. To be continued.
Straczynski is really telling this story at a great pace. Things seem to be progressing very naturally. Hyperion’s worldview is altering, which can’t be good for the status quo. And Amphibian’s growing presence is something to be watched.
The art is some of the best out now. Frank’s design on Amphibian is beautiful. She looks very distinct. The book is also full of facial expression. Frustration, surprise, and anger are all over the place. And that last page is a killer.
