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The Power Fantasy #1-5
The Power Fantasy Volume 1: The Superpowers
It’s 1999. Six indescribably powerful people each have the destructive capability of America’s nuclear arsenal.
If they come into conflict, the world ends.
The Power Fantasy is a pop culture-infused, superpowered, Cold War thriller about the spying, scheming, and violence these people will do to avoid coming into open conflict.
Come dance to the ticking of the doomsday clock with KIERON GILLEN (The Wicked + The Divine, DIE) and CASPAR WIJNGAARD (Homesick Pilots, All Against All).
The eternal fight against fighting starts now.
Collects issues #1-5.
If they come into conflict, the world ends.
The Power Fantasy is a pop culture-infused, superpowered, Cold War thriller about the spying, scheming, and violence these people will do to avoid coming into open conflict.
Come dance to the ticking of the doomsday clock with KIERON GILLEN (The Wicked + The Divine, DIE) and CASPAR WIJNGAARD (Homesick Pilots, All Against All).
The eternal fight against fighting starts now.
Collects issues #1-5.
136 pages, Paperback
First published February 11, 2025
50 people are currently reading
672 people want to read
About the author
Kieron Gillen
1,484 books1,915 followersKieron Gillen is a comic book writer and former media journalist.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 176 reviews
August 6, 2025
Kieron Gillen is an excellent writer, perhaps best known for his Image Comics creator-owned works such as Phonogram and The Wicked + The Divine. However, I am a bit ashamed to admit I mostly know about this writer due to his X-Men comics. That, and Star Wars as well. I really enjoyed the science fiction ambitions of the Sins of Sinister crossover, and he was instrumental in the Fall of X saga which ended the highly regarded Krakoan era of Marvel’s mutants.
But most of all, I appreciate Gillen’s run on Immortal X-Men. Which was not quite a superhero comic, as it was concerned with the politics of the mutant superhuman government. This is what primarily fascinated me. It was brilliant, captivating, and unlike any other comics I have read. Gillen spoke of the themes he was exploring in this book: “What does leadership mean, and can we have a better form of it? What is government? What do we owe each other? Why do we protect each other?”
That said, like all mainstream comics, Immortal X-Men was limited within the corporate confines of continuity and the work-for-hire nature of writing characters that appear in movies. As far as he pushed it, the X-Men will one day move past any kind of attempted legacy by way of reboots and relaunches. There will be a new status quo, and what happened before may not count. It’s fine, it’s the way of brands and franchises, and I still enjoy those sorts of comics. I just have to be aware the most literary of stories are going to be outside of those boxes.
And finally I am getting to The Power Fantasy, Gillen’s current ongoing series published by Image which is one of the best new comics available now. And of course it goes further than anything that couldn’t have come out of Marvel. Not quite of the superhero genre, Power Fantasy is about the implications of superhuman powers “in the real world” but on the scale of nuclear annihilation. Perhaps like Watchmen, but what if there were six Dr. Manhattans all stalemated in a Cold War?
The premise is that there are superpowered Atomics in this world, but in particular there are six individuals who possess the power to destroy the entire planet (six omega-level mutants, if you will). How would the balance of life and death work if these six could never fight? Because if they did fight, the world would be destroyed and the story would be over.
Told in a nonlinear fashion, the first chapter opens in 1966 in the hippie era, in which omnipath Etienne Lux—kind of like Professor Xavier—has a philosophical conversation about ethics with Santa Valentina—a literal extradimensional angel kind of like Superman. Then it jumps to 1999 with a plot that sets everything up well. Ray “Heavy” Harris—who has the power of a Singularity and leads a sort of Krakoan haven for his fellow Atomics/mutants—faces an attempted assassination by the U.S. government. When it fails, he threatens to destroy an entire state. Etienne Lux ethically compromises with an outcome that will cause the least amount of casualties: He kills the U.S. president and the entire presidential administration.
And that’s just the first issue. I won’t spoil anything else, suffice to say I really enjoyed the slow burn of revelations in the following chapters that reveal more of the political instability and history of this world. The other Superpowers are introduced, which include a Dr. Strange-esque mage, a literal demon to counterpoint the angel, and a Japanese girl who may or may not be a Kaiju. These are godlike beings, far above humanity, and the exploration of the balance (or imbalance) of power with such unrelatable characters is the point.
There are many hints about past historical moments that are only revealed slowly. Such as this world’s version of the Cuban Missile Crisis. An alien invasion in 1978. And an event in 1989 that precipitates the collapse of the Communist bloc, but also leaves an entire continent destroyed. The fun of reading this series is going back and rereading again and again to catch all the little clues as the narratives jumps around through time. Gillen is a masterful storyteller, who knows how to create shocking last-page panels leaving the reader wanting more. Full of badass moments, with art by Caspar Wijngaard that is just expressive and cartoony enough, it’s an exciting science fiction comic that feels very different from the usual superhero stories about punching bad guys to save the day.
The graphic novel reprinting the first five issues is very much worth reading and rereading. Highly recommended. The second volume, reprinting issues six through eleven, will be published next month. Each new issue is the highlight of my pull list, and I’m always looking forward to reading more and finding out what happens next, in the familiar yet terrifying world of The Power Fantasy.
But most of all, I appreciate Gillen’s run on Immortal X-Men. Which was not quite a superhero comic, as it was concerned with the politics of the mutant superhuman government. This is what primarily fascinated me. It was brilliant, captivating, and unlike any other comics I have read. Gillen spoke of the themes he was exploring in this book: “What does leadership mean, and can we have a better form of it? What is government? What do we owe each other? Why do we protect each other?”
That said, like all mainstream comics, Immortal X-Men was limited within the corporate confines of continuity and the work-for-hire nature of writing characters that appear in movies. As far as he pushed it, the X-Men will one day move past any kind of attempted legacy by way of reboots and relaunches. There will be a new status quo, and what happened before may not count. It’s fine, it’s the way of brands and franchises, and I still enjoy those sorts of comics. I just have to be aware the most literary of stories are going to be outside of those boxes.
And finally I am getting to The Power Fantasy, Gillen’s current ongoing series published by Image which is one of the best new comics available now. And of course it goes further than anything that couldn’t have come out of Marvel. Not quite of the superhero genre, Power Fantasy is about the implications of superhuman powers “in the real world” but on the scale of nuclear annihilation. Perhaps like Watchmen, but what if there were six Dr. Manhattans all stalemated in a Cold War?
The premise is that there are superpowered Atomics in this world, but in particular there are six individuals who possess the power to destroy the entire planet (six omega-level mutants, if you will). How would the balance of life and death work if these six could never fight? Because if they did fight, the world would be destroyed and the story would be over.
Told in a nonlinear fashion, the first chapter opens in 1966 in the hippie era, in which omnipath Etienne Lux—kind of like Professor Xavier—has a philosophical conversation about ethics with Santa Valentina—a literal extradimensional angel kind of like Superman. Then it jumps to 1999 with a plot that sets everything up well. Ray “Heavy” Harris—who has the power of a Singularity and leads a sort of Krakoan haven for his fellow Atomics/mutants—faces an attempted assassination by the U.S. government. When it fails, he threatens to destroy an entire state. Etienne Lux ethically compromises with an outcome that will cause the least amount of casualties: He kills the U.S. president and the entire presidential administration.
And that’s just the first issue. I won’t spoil anything else, suffice to say I really enjoyed the slow burn of revelations in the following chapters that reveal more of the political instability and history of this world. The other Superpowers are introduced, which include a Dr. Strange-esque mage, a literal demon to counterpoint the angel, and a Japanese girl who may or may not be a Kaiju. These are godlike beings, far above humanity, and the exploration of the balance (or imbalance) of power with such unrelatable characters is the point.
There are many hints about past historical moments that are only revealed slowly. Such as this world’s version of the Cuban Missile Crisis. An alien invasion in 1978. And an event in 1989 that precipitates the collapse of the Communist bloc, but also leaves an entire continent destroyed. The fun of reading this series is going back and rereading again and again to catch all the little clues as the narratives jumps around through time. Gillen is a masterful storyteller, who knows how to create shocking last-page panels leaving the reader wanting more. Full of badass moments, with art by Caspar Wijngaard that is just expressive and cartoony enough, it’s an exciting science fiction comic that feels very different from the usual superhero stories about punching bad guys to save the day.
The graphic novel reprinting the first five issues is very much worth reading and rereading. Highly recommended. The second volume, reprinting issues six through eleven, will be published next month. Each new issue is the highlight of my pull list, and I’m always looking forward to reading more and finding out what happens next, in the familiar yet terrifying world of The Power Fantasy.
March 19, 2025
I don't want to oversell it but The Power Fantasy is pants shittingly awesome according to my specific tastes. It's a mature super hero book in a way that's more than super heroes killing each other and occasionally saying fuck. Godlike super heroes know they could destroy the world and are trying desperately not to, much like the threat of mutually assured destruction during the Cold War. That's all I want to say because I don't want to spoil very much but I find the characters compelling and whatever is unfolding to be thought provoking.
October 28, 2025
This was really good!
Read
December 22, 2024It's not as if he hasn't had creator-owned hits in the meantime*, but The Power Fantasy is very much Kieron in the same pop mode as The Wicked + The Divine, and thus far seems to be meeting with similar success. Deservedly so, in that it takes the interpersonal heart of that book, the relationships between a group of larger than life but still all too human characters, while slotting them into an alternate history of the 20th century which, in contrast to all the 'but what about...' itches that used to bother me in WicDiv, has so far yet to miss a worldbuilding beat. It also robs the leads of that book's easy out: the gods got to live fast, have messy make-outs and break-ups, and die young. This is a comic about people who have known each other for decades, changed in all sorts of ways, and still have to at least rub along together. Not just to avoid social awkwardness, like for most of us past a certain age, the risk of ructions that feel like the end of the world, but because in their case a falling-out could mean the literal end of the world.
Because yes, on one level this is another attempt to answer the old, old question of 'what if superheroes were real?', one informed by decades of power creep since it was first asked, such that in Kieron's last Marvel stint, many if not most of the characters he was writing were theoretically so powerful that if they really went to town on each other, the results would be apocalyptic. Except they couldn't be, or if they were, everything still had to be put back neatly within a month or two, because Marvel is meant to be 'the world outside your window' so there's always a finger on the scales, a safety net behind every confrontation. And, understandably given the state of the world, The Power Fantasy wants to know how those stories would look if they, like us, didn't have editorial mandates limiting how fucked things could get.
The geopolitical parallels are explicit: this is a world where, since 1945, plenty of people have had superhuman abilities, but the term 'superpowers' is restricted to those with a destructive capability equivalent to the United States' nuclear arsenal. Of whom, as the story begins, there are half a dozen. As well as the United States itself, of course, which is famously chill about this sort of thing. Oh, and even aside from differences of opinion and approach, and sometimes being various degrees of arsehole, the superpowers aren't even necessarily in full control of their abilities, which is particularly tragic in the case of Masumi, an artist whose depressive episodes are...well, you know Johnny, the painter from The Fast Show? Imagine how that sketch would play if there were a city-sized death toll at the end. But for this first arc, while we do meet the others, and glimpse some of those no longer with us, the focus is on Etienne, who's essentially Charles Xavier crossed with Chidi from The Good Place. It's fun how some people react to that description with 'And he's the good guy, right?', and others the exact opposite.
So far I've only talked about Gillen, but it would be remiss not to mention his artistic partner, the great Caspar Wijngaard. They previously collaborated on Thunderbolt, another superhero deconstruction, but though that was an excellent comic which didn't get quite the attention it deserved, it was also very different to this – more overtly meta, more given to making a point of playing with form**. Whereas The Power Fantasy is, yes, jumping back and forth around a Cold War timeline even more tense than it was here, but for all that, direct. Not simplistic, never that, but definitely pop. It's really very good.
*I'm always tempted to say that Die was surprisingly big for a midlife crisis story told through a history of RPGs, though when you consider the core roleplaying audience, and its overlap with comics readers, I don't know why it should ever have seemed like a surprise.
**OK, playing with form within the comics pages, I should say – Kieron can't help himself, but so far in TPF it's mainly been playing silly buggers in the indicia.
Because yes, on one level this is another attempt to answer the old, old question of 'what if superheroes were real?', one informed by decades of power creep since it was first asked, such that in Kieron's last Marvel stint, many if not most of the characters he was writing were theoretically so powerful that if they really went to town on each other, the results would be apocalyptic. Except they couldn't be, or if they were, everything still had to be put back neatly within a month or two, because Marvel is meant to be 'the world outside your window' so there's always a finger on the scales, a safety net behind every confrontation. And, understandably given the state of the world, The Power Fantasy wants to know how those stories would look if they, like us, didn't have editorial mandates limiting how fucked things could get.
The geopolitical parallels are explicit: this is a world where, since 1945, plenty of people have had superhuman abilities, but the term 'superpowers' is restricted to those with a destructive capability equivalent to the United States' nuclear arsenal. Of whom, as the story begins, there are half a dozen. As well as the United States itself, of course, which is famously chill about this sort of thing. Oh, and even aside from differences of opinion and approach, and sometimes being various degrees of arsehole, the superpowers aren't even necessarily in full control of their abilities, which is particularly tragic in the case of Masumi, an artist whose depressive episodes are...well, you know Johnny, the painter from The Fast Show? Imagine how that sketch would play if there were a city-sized death toll at the end. But for this first arc, while we do meet the others, and glimpse some of those no longer with us, the focus is on Etienne, who's essentially Charles Xavier crossed with Chidi from The Good Place. It's fun how some people react to that description with 'And he's the good guy, right?', and others the exact opposite.
So far I've only talked about Gillen, but it would be remiss not to mention his artistic partner, the great Caspar Wijngaard. They previously collaborated on Thunderbolt, another superhero deconstruction, but though that was an excellent comic which didn't get quite the attention it deserved, it was also very different to this – more overtly meta, more given to making a point of playing with form**. Whereas The Power Fantasy is, yes, jumping back and forth around a Cold War timeline even more tense than it was here, but for all that, direct. Not simplistic, never that, but definitely pop. It's really very good.
*I'm always tempted to say that Die was surprisingly big for a midlife crisis story told through a history of RPGs, though when you consider the core roleplaying audience, and its overlap with comics readers, I don't know why it should ever have seemed like a surprise.
**OK, playing with form within the comics pages, I should say – Kieron can't help himself, but so far in TPF it's mainly been playing silly buggers in the indicia.
March 8, 2025
As with sex: I'm confused, but intrigued.
January 12, 2025
I wonder if this is what it felt like when watchmen was coming out
March 30, 2025
TWATD meets The Authority. Gillen has a strong track record when it comes to critiquing super powered humans, and in this series he seems to be focusing on the power struggles and game theory more than the melodrama. It feels like you're jumping in at the fifth reboot of an established franchise rather than starting from scratch. Caspar's art is both neat and monstrous, and there are some smart and subtle layout decisions throughout. The whole package is excellent, and I'm looking forward to being disappointed by the rest of the series.
February 12, 2025
dude turned that guy into a meatball wtf
May 6, 2025
4.5 stars. Intense!
February 16, 2025
3.5 stars.
September 18, 2025
This is another interesting spin on Super Heroes(?) OK ..Super Powers....where most of the main characters are really annoying .
December 24, 2024
Fresh off an amazing stint on X-Men, Gillen is playing in a more anti super powers way with the Power Fantasy.
But how can a book that tries it's best to actively avoid conflict and violence be so good? Its the dramatic, nail biting tension, knowing it's a house of cards that can tumble at any minute. None of our Atomics are "good" people, but thats the fun of watching them keep that fragile and ever elusive "peace". While the information rollout is small, and Eitten seems very close to a more action heavy Xavier, this book has me gripped. The balls alone to have at least the first year and half planned out, and to drop a timeline of issues in the third takes guts.
But how can a book that tries it's best to actively avoid conflict and violence be so good? Its the dramatic, nail biting tension, knowing it's a house of cards that can tumble at any minute. None of our Atomics are "good" people, but thats the fun of watching them keep that fragile and ever elusive "peace". While the information rollout is small, and Eitten seems very close to a more action heavy Xavier, this book has me gripped. The balls alone to have at least the first year and half planned out, and to drop a timeline of issues in the third takes guts.
February 2, 2025
Power Fantasy Volume 1 presents readers with a meditation on the ethics of power that feels wholly immersive and character-focused.
September 22, 2025
It's wild how much this feels like it *should* be right up my alley, but it just doesn't work for me. It has so many tropes I usually adore: magic, superpowers, a Cold War setting, political machinations. This is even written by one of my favorite writers! But for two big reasons, I don't find it very appealing.
1) There's too much going on. The narrative constantly jumps between the perspectives of at least 5 characters, and there's also lots of jumping back and forth through time and space. The world building is really complicated, and if it weren't for a timeline of events that's included in this volume, I would be incredibly confused as to what's going on.
2) There are no likeable characters in my opinion. This is one of those stories that seems to just want to explore how much humanity sucks. There's no one I want to root for. In fact, the person I would consider the main character, Etienne, is the worst of all. He claims to do everything based on "ethics," but also seems to have no sense of empathy or remorse. I just can't stand characters like that, and it's hard to be invested in a story when you don't like the main character.
So, sadly, I will not be continuing with the series. I'm glad so many other people seem to enjoy it, but it is not for me.
1) There's too much going on. The narrative constantly jumps between the perspectives of at least 5 characters, and there's also lots of jumping back and forth through time and space. The world building is really complicated, and if it weren't for a timeline of events that's included in this volume, I would be incredibly confused as to what's going on.
2) There are no likeable characters in my opinion. This is one of those stories that seems to just want to explore how much humanity sucks. There's no one I want to root for. In fact, the person I would consider the main character, Etienne, is the worst of all. He claims to do everything based on "ethics," but also seems to have no sense of empathy or remorse. I just can't stand characters like that, and it's hard to be invested in a story when you don't like the main character.
So, sadly, I will not be continuing with the series. I'm glad so many other people seem to enjoy it, but it is not for me.
March 24, 2025
As a friend said, "Has Kieron ever steered us wrong?" This is a fun read that delves into some of the more philosophical approaches to power. What if the world's greatest telepath was a hard-line utilitarian? What if an unkillable gravity manipulator was a hedonist? What if a transdimensional Kantian being came to save us all and stayed? I'm excited to see where it goes!
April 8, 2025
This is a truly amazing first volume. It takes the typical destruction present in superpowered battles and pushes it to its logical extreme - there are six people on Earth with potentially apocalyptic superpowers, and if they ever get into a fight, the world will end as a consequence. But each of the six Superpowers has their own worldview and their own vision of the future, and they constantly get into conflicts with each other. Much of the comic is dedicated to their negotiations and their conflicting personalities as they try and screw each other over in subtle ways.
Santa Valentina is really hot and she's also the most like a traditional superhero, a (literal) angel who believes in the inherent goodness of humanity and wants to help. Telepathic Etienne Lux is a pragmatist who wants to do what's most ethical, but not necessarily what's good, to the point where the first scene in the entire comic is him trying to convince Valentina that the most ethical thing for them to do is to take over the world. Heavy is a gravity manipulator who doesn't think his actions through and mostly hangs out with his cult. Magus is a former anarchist and cult leader turned right-wing operator of the US government with his own secret goals. Eliza Hellbound is a former member of Magus' old cult who sold her soul to Hell (she isn't very focused on in the first volume though). And probably my favourite is Masumi, who swaps places with a devastating eldritch horror whenever her mood gets too low so she's constantly questioning if the people around her, if her friends and her girlfriend, really care about her of if they're just trying to placate her. It's a super depressing story both for her and for her girlfriend Isabella (compliment?).
I also really love the worldbuilding. The emergence of the Superpowers in the 1940s has had major knock-on effects on the rest of the world, sometimes in small ways and sometimes in truly devastating ones. The artwork is excellent too. I loved the way it toys around with colour and lighting, such as whenever Etienne telepathically communicates with someone or during the flashbacks. Can't wait to read the rest of the comic and see how things go horribly wrong!!
I sure am glad that we don't live in a world where a handful of megalomaniacs hate each other and will destroy the world if they ever get into a fight, and the only guarantee that humanity won't be completely wiped out is that they've promised that they won't fight each other. What a fun hypothetical :))))
Santa Valentina is really hot and she's also the most like a traditional superhero, a (literal) angel who believes in the inherent goodness of humanity and wants to help. Telepathic Etienne Lux is a pragmatist who wants to do what's most ethical, but not necessarily what's good, to the point where the first scene in the entire comic is him trying to convince Valentina that the most ethical thing for them to do is to take over the world. Heavy is a gravity manipulator who doesn't think his actions through and mostly hangs out with his cult. Magus is a former anarchist and cult leader turned right-wing operator of the US government with his own secret goals. Eliza Hellbound is a former member of Magus' old cult who sold her soul to Hell (she isn't very focused on in the first volume though). And probably my favourite is Masumi, who swaps places with a devastating eldritch horror whenever her mood gets too low so she's constantly questioning if the people around her, if her friends and her girlfriend, really care about her of if they're just trying to placate her. It's a super depressing story both for her and for her girlfriend Isabella (compliment?).
I also really love the worldbuilding. The emergence of the Superpowers in the 1940s has had major knock-on effects on the rest of the world, sometimes in small ways and sometimes in truly devastating ones. The artwork is excellent too. I loved the way it toys around with colour and lighting, such as whenever Etienne telepathically communicates with someone or during the flashbacks. Can't wait to read the rest of the comic and see how things go horribly wrong!!
I sure am glad that we don't live in a world where a handful of megalomaniacs hate each other and will destroy the world if they ever get into a fight, and the only guarantee that humanity won't be completely wiped out is that they've promised that they won't fight each other. What a fun hypothetical :))))
June 16, 2025
There are six unfathomably powerful superheroes on Earth, living in uneasy detente with each other and the governments of the world. This is an examination of global politics in the mutually assured destruction nuclear age, viewed through the lens of superheroes. Kind of a functional companion piece to Supergod, though in that book the superpowers are tied directly to their country of origin and in this one they operate in parallel to the nation-states of the world.
The thinkiest of the six quasi-heroes lays out the fundamental problem with power on the scale of Superman and Professor X (and nations with nuclear arsenals). "The ethical thing to do is take over the world. Actually, killing [all of the superpowers] is the first solution. Our existence is fundamentally immoral. Neither nation nor person should have the power to kill the world. The ethical thing for us to do is not exist.
"However, we are not monsters. If we go away and then someone arrives on our level who is a monster? The world would be hell. We have two options: world tyranny, or an impossible balancing act that needs to be maintained indefinitely. But you'd rather be a shepherd than a queen? Balancing act it is.
"We can't ever come to blows, any more than the human nuclear states can. No one would survive."
Gillen bends over backward to let the story unfold rather than spooling it out, and while I appreciate show-don't-tell, I think Power Fantasy overcorrects. I'm still a bit confused as to what some of the six powers are capable of, and what they want, and even (slight spoiler but not really) how Europe got wiped off of the planet.
But I love the attempt to take this level of power seriously and apply it to real world circumstances. Power Fantasy has some, um, issues but I'm giving it an aspirational 5 stars for its sky high potential.
The thinkiest of the six quasi-heroes lays out the fundamental problem with power on the scale of Superman and Professor X (and nations with nuclear arsenals). "The ethical thing to do is take over the world. Actually, killing [all of the superpowers] is the first solution. Our existence is fundamentally immoral. Neither nation nor person should have the power to kill the world. The ethical thing for us to do is not exist.
"However, we are not monsters. If we go away and then someone arrives on our level who is a monster? The world would be hell. We have two options: world tyranny, or an impossible balancing act that needs to be maintained indefinitely. But you'd rather be a shepherd than a queen? Balancing act it is.
"We can't ever come to blows, any more than the human nuclear states can. No one would survive."
Gillen bends over backward to let the story unfold rather than spooling it out, and while I appreciate show-don't-tell, I think Power Fantasy overcorrects. I'm still a bit confused as to what some of the six powers are capable of, and what they want, and even (slight spoiler but not really) how Europe got wiped off of the planet.
But I love the attempt to take this level of power seriously and apply it to real world circumstances. Power Fantasy has some, um, issues but I'm giving it an aspirational 5 stars for its sky high potential.
June 26, 2025
The Power Fantasy Volume 1: The Superpowers is a bold, poised opener from Kieron Gillen and Caspar Wijngaard—clean lines, sharp edges, and a plot that holds its cards just close enough to keep you leaning forward. The premise is high-stakes: six superhuman individuals, each powerful enough to reshape the world, locked in a decades-long stand-off to prevent exactly that. But the execution is what sells it.
There’s a quiet dread running through this thing, like watching gods grow bored. Gillen’s dialogue is clipped, pointed, and smarter than it lets on, while Wijngaard’s art floats somewhere between cool detachment and simmering threat. Panels feel spacious until suddenly they don’t. Every page knows the value of silence.
What impresses me most is the restraint. You expect spectacle—and it delivers when it needs to—but most of the tension comes from a look, a conversation, a map on a wall. This is Cold War paranoia retooled for the post-superhero generation. Clean, elegant, and twitching with menace.
Five stars. It’s sleek, confident, and already feels like something big.
There’s a quiet dread running through this thing, like watching gods grow bored. Gillen’s dialogue is clipped, pointed, and smarter than it lets on, while Wijngaard’s art floats somewhere between cool detachment and simmering threat. Panels feel spacious until suddenly they don’t. Every page knows the value of silence.
What impresses me most is the restraint. You expect spectacle—and it delivers when it needs to—but most of the tension comes from a look, a conversation, a map on a wall. This is Cold War paranoia retooled for the post-superhero generation. Clean, elegant, and twitching with menace.
Five stars. It’s sleek, confident, and already feels like something big.
March 2, 2025
One of my favorite series that's coming out right now. So fucking good, so interesting. Instant recommendation to anyone. Shortened simplified explanation; six superheroes in the world, each one has the ability to end the world. They've been in the world for decades and if they ever went to war with eachother its potentially extinction level event. So how does that intersect with the world governments, and how do they handle knowing that they aren't the most powerful things around.
May 20, 2025
There's a reason this series was nominated for an Eisner. Vol 1 is a fantastic explosion of world-building, conflict exploration, and character building that leave you feeling like you're holding something special in your hands before it's even over. You'll never get to read this for the first time again, and that's exactly why you should pick it up now.
November 19, 2025
4.5
This is one of Gillen's great works, that much I think I can already tell.
It's only that, as a first volume, and with such a rich world and story, there is a few things I am yet having a bit of trouble grasping completely. But the fact the whole thing is so well thought that they already provided you a timeline, with mentions to in which chapter things are going to happen, it makes it so the reader can slowly but surely understand this high stakes game.
Loving all the ethical dilemmas and character nuances involved in this story. I will read volume 2, for sure.
This is one of Gillen's great works, that much I think I can already tell.
It's only that, as a first volume, and with such a rich world and story, there is a few things I am yet having a bit of trouble grasping completely. But the fact the whole thing is so well thought that they already provided you a timeline, with mentions to in which chapter things are going to happen, it makes it so the reader can slowly but surely understand this high stakes game.
Loving all the ethical dilemmas and character nuances involved in this story. I will read volume 2, for sure.
March 6, 2025
This story rules. Cannot wait to see where it goes.
November 7, 2025
Like everything from Kieron Gillen, this series is about a group of people with different powers and complicated relationships, and is also entirely original and deeply creative.
December 7, 2025
7.5/10
December 7, 2025
Maybe I just haven’t read enough superhero comics.
December 11, 2025
this is like a superhero version of DIE
if you like die you will like this
if you like die you will like this
January 7, 2026
A really great concept of superheroes, however, I couldn’t really get into that. I did not care about any of those characters, their past or present life, or anything else.
December 20, 2025
intriguing but not sold. I know Gillen is great at world building and vol. 3 is probably awesome! But sticking around to see if six super powered arse holes fight... meh.
March 18, 2025
Really strong start to a somewhat mutant coded world and the ethical challenges through it.
September 7, 2025
an impressing start to what feels like something special, I'm really excited to get volume 2 and see where these characters go.
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