Tommy Watts is back in the arena in America’s Got Powers #3, with everyone – spectators, friends, and government figures – wondering if he can repeat his performance from issue one. Here’s the description from Image:

From zero to unlikely hero, Tommy Watts is the new face of America’s Got Powers, the most-watched TV show on the planet! Behind the girls, glamour and glory though, there are hard personal truths to face and when he does face them, Tommy might just break the world.

Jonathan Ross is still expanding the scope of his story. The government has all sorts of twisted plans for San Francisco’s superpowered teenagers and some of them have gone into hiding to escape. It’s this new group that makes their play as Tommy faces off against the show’s toughest competitors.

While I hardly expected Ross to focus solely on a reality TV show about meta-human teenagers, I’m surprised that he left his initial concept behind so quickly. The TV show aspect is still present, but it’s really not important to the overall plot, although Ross does use it to highlight a number of flaws in contemporary society. The new additions give the plot more depth, but also come across as a bit clunky.

The amount of content Bryan Hitch is able fit onto a page while maintaining legibility is astounding. Even the smallest panels are absolutely packed with content, but still make sense. I was also impressed by how well Hitch differentiates all the different characters, since most of them are wearing the AGP uniform.

The art is also more realistic this issue, even though by comics standards it was pretty realistic already. Tommy in particular has a drawn and almost haggard appearance, which is understandable given that he thinks he’s about to die.  However, some of the faces lack depth and look too flat on the page.

While the story develops problems as it gets more complicated, the art is shockingly good, especially Bryan Hitch’s attention to detail and the volume of content he fits on each page.

3.5/5