America’s Got Powers #5 Review


America’s Got Powers generally releases every other month. I’m not sure why, although I assume Bryan Hitch‘s beautiful art takes a bit more time to complete that that of most comic books. If that is the reason, I don’t mind in the least, because it’s well worth the wait. (If you don’t believe me, just check out the first two pages.) Unfortunately, two months does make it a bit more difficult to keep up with the story. Still, with only one issue to go, everything will be wrapped up soon. Here’s the official description of America’s Got Powers #5 from Image:

After the Event that created a whole generation of super-powered kids, Tommy Watts has finally discovered what his gift was: The ability to give super powers to others. Now, as the government’s enhanced soldiers battle the outcast super-teens, Tommy can’t decide which side to fight for!

Over the course of the series’ run, Jonathan Ross has slowly shifted the thematic focus away from the nature of reality television and turned it into more of a political critique. Politics and comics share a long history, so in and off itself this is fine. The problem is that Ross seems to be throwing every political or military evil he can think of into the pot. We’ve got military overreaction, the end justifying the means, inability on the part of adults to understand youth, and more. It’s a hot, bubbling mess of indictment.

Tommy’s portion of the issue is dominated by a very exciting conversation, so he shares time with the battle going on down at the waterfront. That battle is where Hitch really gets to strut his stuff, with lots of distant, wide-angle shots that nevertheless manage to be incredibly detailed. The conversation scenes with Tommy are a bit less virtuosic: most of the faces are fantastic, but others are a bit lumpy (although it’s hard to tell with Tommy himself, as he’s a bit the worse for wear and those may be bruises). Inkers Paul Neary and Jason Paz and colorist Paul Mounts do amazing work in this section, however. Mounts’ conflicting reds and blues in the scene are beautiful and mirror Tommy’s internal conflict about the choice he has to make. Those two sources of light, in turn, create some great inking opportunities, which Neary and Paz take full advantage of.

The conclusion Ross brings us to at the issue’s end is odd; it feels like we’re a single battle away from wrapping up the series, and yet there’s enough uncertainty surrounding the choice Tommy made  that things could still get worse before they get better. As great as the art from Hitch, Neary, Paz, and Mounts is, the story is so much political sound and fury, with very little in the way of a message. Hopefully, in the issue it has left, the series will find a way to say something meaningful.

 3/5

 

S#!T Talking Central