Review: ‘The Power Fantasy’ #14 Slowly Simmers With Tensions

When you fight fire with fire, at some point, you’re going to have to try to justify your actions. And that’s exactly what Heavy tries to do, losing his girlfriend in the process, who can only see him now as a “fucked-up, posturing, delusional hippy idiot”. And Heavy isn’t the only one with relationship issues in this issue, either. All this and a fear shared by Magus and Valentina that Eliza Hellhound could be problematic in the not-too-distant-future. After all, with Etienne believed to be gone, Eliza believes God has stopped speaking to her. And without her faith, where can she turn when her trust has gone?

The Power Fantasy #14 is an issue of increments. Writer Kieron Gillen writes a series of moments in the lives of the Atomics that all accumulate across this issue to create a tone of simmering tension. Chess pieces are being moved and characters placed in situations that seem to be heading in one cataclysmic direction. Gillen has once again given us a superhero story with very little superheroing, but rather more philosophical wonderings to give the reader pause for thought. 

Caspar Wijngaard once again delivers a clean and contemporary design-conscious art that is perfect for this very modern book. Flatter colours of the characters stand in stark contrast to his more textured and looser colours in several scenes, giving it that pop-art sensibility that’s as much a part of this series DNA as is the writing. 

The Power Fantasy remains one of the comic books I look forward to reading every month. And with the slow-burning build-up of tension in this issue, I’m even more eager to know what happens next.

The Power Fantasy #14 is out now from Image Comics.