REVIEW – Powers In Action #1

POWERS IN ACTION #1 - AW YEAH / ACTION LAB COMICS

Story & Art by Art Baltazar

Have you ever gotten a really great job, but the first day didn't go quite as well as you had hoped?  Maybe this is something you dreamed of doing all of your life, and your car wouldn't start.  Maybe you spilled coffee all over your shirt just before you walked into the building.  It may be a bit different for superheroes, but that is one thing that few (if any) are immune to.  Let's find out what is happening in Powers In Action #1 from Action Lab.

Right away we meet Lynx and Ocelot, sibling heroes who are on their way to their first meeting of The Hero Squadron.  Since no hero can turn a blind eye to crime, they decide to do one more thing before getting to their meeting.  As you can probably imagine, it doesn't go the way that they would like.  Even when they get to the meeting, things don't get off to the best start.  Before they can smooth things over with their new fellow crime fighters, they are called to action.  A familiar nemesis to one of the team is doing something very bad guy-like, so the team jumps in to action.  We get to see plenty of action and get plenty of cheesy hero jokes from this point on.  We also get a bit of a teaser at the end of a new arrival that, judging by their one line of spoken words, appears to be a new villain.

Since I enjoyed Art Baltazar's work with IDW, I decided to give this book a shot.  I am glad I did, because it was a really fun read.  It reminded me of Saturday morning cartoons back in the 70s and 80s.  We also find out that this book was inspired by Images of Art Comics from around the same time, so it makes perfect sense.  The cheesy lines felt very on point and nostalgic, so I definitely felt right at home.  The characters were fun, with some interesting powers to go right along with them.  The villains being a bit cheesy themselves was something else that really sold me.  Look, not everything has to be serious and have this deep and interconnecting storyline.  That's great too, but sometimes you just want to kick back and feel like a kid again reading comics.  Contrary to the belief and big mouths of some talking heads recently, that's ok.  Not only did I have fun with these characters, this is something that I feel like I could read with my son.  Some of the greatest joy you can have as a parent is sharing the things that you love with your child.  With the vibrant colors and fun characters, Powers In Action certainly fits that mold.  I'm looking forward to see what kind of trouble this wacky bunch gets into next.

RATING:  PULL / BUY