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Nuclear Power
Nuclear Power is a darkly poignant alternate history of the Cuban Missile Crisis that posits the lengths to which an authoritarian government will go to deceive its citizens -- much like "The Handmaid's Tale meets The X-Men." Nuclear Power was written by Desirée Proctor & Erica Harrell (Marvel's Comunidades, Mercy), illustrated by Lynne Yoshii (DC's Gotham Garage, 2017 DC Comics New Talent Workshop), and published by Fanbase Press.
This collected edition includes all six issues of the original series and features a foreword by Dr. Katie Monnin (writer - Teaching Graphic Novels, Diamond Bookshelf's "Katie's Korner") and a study guide by Dr. Stephen J.C. Andes (Associate Professor of History - Louisiana State University / writer - Zorro's Shadow). The bonus content offers readers, educators, and librarians the opportunity to utilize the collected Nuclear Power trade paperback as an educational resource for examining challenging topics like disinformation and xenophobia, providing opportunities for greater discussion and understanding.
SYNOPSIS:
October of 1962. The Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union is at its peak when the unthinkable nuclear war. Sixty years later, the remaining 13 states rose from the ashes to form the American Union, governed by the authoritarian Joint Chiefs of Staff and protected by a border wall to keep out nuclear radiation . . . and the individuals who were enhanced by it. Nuclear Power is a darkly poignant alternate history of the Cuban Missile Crisis that posits the lengths to which a government will go to protect (or deceive) its citizens. When the Joint Chiefs’ dark secrets are revealed, will survivors on both sides of the wall join forces to fight for their right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, or will their differences forever divide them?
This collected edition includes all six issues of the original series and features a foreword by Dr. Katie Monnin (writer - Teaching Graphic Novels, Diamond Bookshelf's "Katie's Korner") and a study guide by Dr. Stephen J.C. Andes (Associate Professor of History - Louisiana State University / writer - Zorro's Shadow). The bonus content offers readers, educators, and librarians the opportunity to utilize the collected Nuclear Power trade paperback as an educational resource for examining challenging topics like disinformation and xenophobia, providing opportunities for greater discussion and understanding.
SYNOPSIS:
October of 1962. The Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union is at its peak when the unthinkable nuclear war. Sixty years later, the remaining 13 states rose from the ashes to form the American Union, governed by the authoritarian Joint Chiefs of Staff and protected by a border wall to keep out nuclear radiation . . . and the individuals who were enhanced by it. Nuclear Power is a darkly poignant alternate history of the Cuban Missile Crisis that posits the lengths to which a government will go to protect (or deceive) its citizens. When the Joint Chiefs’ dark secrets are revealed, will survivors on both sides of the wall join forces to fight for their right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, or will their differences forever divide them?
156 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 19, 2021
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19 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
November 5, 2021
An alternate history story where the Cuban Missile Crisis kicked off a nuclear war. Seventy years later, the rust belt is all that's left of the American government, now run by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The existing society is very much cloistered and militaristic. Most fetuses are deformed and pregnancies terminated. Outside the American Union, tribes of survivors exist, most people there are variants with one of two powers. From here you can probably see where this is headed. It's your standard dystopian future story where everyone has been lied to, although done well. The art uses a monochromatic color palette with each issue a different hue. I thought that got a bit carried away at times but otherwise the art was solid.
November 5, 2021
"Nuclear Power" is a well constructed graphic novel with compelling, if not inspiring, artwork. The premise is promising, but in the end the book does not deliver anything we have not seen before many times. All in all a good and entertaining read, but not a groundbreaking work.
April 8, 2022
A fairly standard alt-history with superpowers elevated by higher stakes and real consequences. The Cuban missile crisis sparks WWIII, resulting in the depopulation of the planet, because nuclear war is quite a bad thing.
It’s commentary about the lust for power, among other things, somewhat hampered by a couple clunky infodumps. This actually could’ve used a few more issues to flesh out, which is the opposite of how I usually feel. But this story is so epic and far-reaching that being pared down to its basic components and bare-bones story kind of does it a disservice. Other than that, it’s solid.
The art by Lynne Yoshii initially comes across as cartoony, but anyone who reads manga won’t have an issue with it.
It’s commentary about the lust for power, among other things, somewhat hampered by a couple clunky infodumps. This actually could’ve used a few more issues to flesh out, which is the opposite of how I usually feel. But this story is so epic and far-reaching that being pared down to its basic components and bare-bones story kind of does it a disservice. Other than that, it’s solid.
The art by Lynne Yoshii initially comes across as cartoony, but anyone who reads manga won’t have an issue with it.
June 6, 2022
A great alternative future comic that fell just shy of 5 stars.
The set up to this story established in the first three issues was so solid. The world building and foundations it laid down promised a great story ahead but then the story started to derail during the fourth issue and then there was no turning back to fulfil the high expectations created.
The comic didn’t quite manage to recover from the sudden unexpected deaths of several characters, which, after the second death, felt almost meaningless. Then it ambled towards a finish that focused more on optimism than realism in its attempts to wrap up the fair few loose ends and close off the unexplored avenues. It felt rushed and half-hearted and that was something that probably could’ve been remedied by having more issues to explore events and pace the plot better.
The art was brilliant. The covers were beautiful and the interior art utilised monochromatic colour palettes to wonderful effect, displaying changes in setting and tone.
So all in all, very good! Just a few hiccups that let it down towards the end.
The set up to this story established in the first three issues was so solid. The world building and foundations it laid down promised a great story ahead but then the story started to derail during the fourth issue and then there was no turning back to fulfil the high expectations created.
The comic didn’t quite manage to recover from the sudden unexpected deaths of several characters, which, after the second death, felt almost meaningless. Then it ambled towards a finish that focused more on optimism than realism in its attempts to wrap up the fair few loose ends and close off the unexplored avenues. It felt rushed and half-hearted and that was something that probably could’ve been remedied by having more issues to explore events and pace the plot better.
The art was brilliant. The covers were beautiful and the interior art utilised monochromatic colour palettes to wonderful effect, displaying changes in setting and tone.
So all in all, very good! Just a few hiccups that let it down towards the end.
January 3, 2022
Great alt history piece! I loved the exploration of feminism and nationalism through science fiction. Suspenseful and thought provoking. Wonderful read!
July 9, 2022
This was an intriguing alternate history graphic novel, with a turning point at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis. While I had some minor quibbles with how things fell apart, once they did, the alternate history flowed believably, if you can absorb a few McGuffins, like the very strange genetic "variants."
I was a little disturbed by the idea of a nuclear torpedo, because it's such an amazingly, stupidly suicidal weapon, but it was a real device, and in fact there was one in the Soviet submarine fleet near Cuba. Thus, the difference in how this submarine acted becomes part of the change in history.
I still think that it's an amazingly, stupidly suicidal weapon, because the range of the torpedo is less than the blast radius of the warhead. Then again, there were nuclear artillery shells in the U.S. armaments in the 1950s and 1960s, so the torpedoes are only a little more stupid.
In this case, though, the story is more about society in this alternate world, and how the powers-that-be have abused their authority. As the story develops, that authority had truly shaky roots.
Overall, it's worth reading for the story. The art is good, but not great. I don't know why, but the facial expressions on several pages seemed odd, and that was distracting. Not horrible, just not great.
I was a little disturbed by the idea of a nuclear torpedo, because it's such an amazingly, stupidly suicidal weapon, but it was a real device, and in fact there was one in the Soviet submarine fleet near Cuba. Thus, the difference in how this submarine acted becomes part of the change in history.
I still think that it's an amazingly, stupidly suicidal weapon, because the range of the torpedo is less than the blast radius of the warhead. Then again, there were nuclear artillery shells in the U.S. armaments in the 1950s and 1960s, so the torpedoes are only a little more stupid.
In this case, though, the story is more about society in this alternate world, and how the powers-that-be have abused their authority. As the story develops, that authority had truly shaky roots.
Overall, it's worth reading for the story. The art is good, but not great. I don't know why, but the facial expressions on several pages seemed odd, and that was distracting. Not horrible, just not great.
August 7, 2022
The story was very intriguing and the art style of being sort of monochromatic where the highlight color (green blue etc.) changed every chapter/issue (I was reading the TPB so I don't know which is correct) was something I had never seen before. Going in I wasn't sure I would like that "color style" but after a short time it just seemed natural.
August 21, 2021
I've had the good fortune to read each issue before it's released and with each passing month my excitement seeing those emails come in grows. Simply put this is a beautiful book that balances the heavy lifting to set up an alternate history with nuanced characters and delightful action.
August 21, 2021
Great book - an intriguing, multilayered, prescient title.
March 31, 2025
Nukes in 1962 and now the genetic push back finds us with a persecuted female officer, which thankfully is married to a man who is of lower rank. It was a start, perhaps it gets better.
January 1, 2026
A little overly smoothed in the plot, but an effective condensation of something like East of West, Department of Truth, and other alternative Cold War outcomes.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews