Power Broker is yet another series from Unlikely Heroes Studios. Man I hope this means they’re capping their number of original series. As much as I love The Surgeon, I wanna see more of The Unthinkables. Then there are the number of creator-owned series like Finding Dee. Oh well, this series has more than enough charm and character to make up for it.
Series Synopsis
From the official press release:
Thirty years ago, the secret to super powered abilities was unlocked.
Geneticists were hailed as heroes, as the promise of a new age of human
achievement shined bright. Instead, their work was quickly
commercialized, and the foundation of society buckled beneath the deluge
of black market super-powered beings. In response, a task force of
professional supermen was commissioned to police the city of Potentia
and neutralize this growing threat–they call themselves POWER BROKERS.
Power Broker: Capitalized Super Powers
Todd Vicino writes what a world of commodified superpowers can look like. It’s both exciting and more than a little worrying. Each issue shows the pros and cons of such a world. For example, Power Broker opens with a postcard that POV character Mason Cleaver practically compares to Las Vegas Adult Entertainment cards. It’s an ad that beckons people to it to live their power fantasies, Jackass style. But the homeless population offers a glimpse into the dark side. There’s a feeling that only the rich, influential, and connected can live like gods. Enough for death matches to have cloning tech to keep combatants alive.
Therein lies a central conundrum. As much as I want biotechnology to be patent-free, superpowers might be where lines needs to be drawn. If the black market alternatives are bad, just imagine what perfectly legal private doctors would do without any of the safeties. But what happens when that life-saving tech is tied to getting powers and people can’t afford them? Those kind of questions are always in the background; it’s not even the main plot. It gives the sense that there’s an entire world for readers to lose themselves in and imagine living in it.
Meet The Power Brokers
The CBA (Central Brokering Agency) have a pretty interesting concept going for them. To combat the more dangerous threats, these agents get the power necessary to take on the roided out monsters that pop up. For example, Mason has the standard durability, strength, and reflexes, but he also has precognitive powers to be in the right place and time. Thankfully he avoids the Minority Report burdens by acting when the crime happens instead of jumping the gun. He’s practically what I hoped Spider-Man could’ve been in Civil War II.
Mason: The Fate Cleaver
That’s a pretty good comparison actually, Mason is highly sociable and treats his colleagues like good friends. He also likes to indulge in the small things like french fries, treating that like it’s the highlight of his hit. His job as a CBA agent gives him just as much purpose as it serves as an escape fantasy. In one page, the reader finds that the death of his wife still haunts him. The next issue highly implies how much drive he has to put on a brave face. Walking off an assassination attempt after visiting that wife’s grave would get under anybody’s skin.
But those aren’t the only layers Mason has. He’s plays a great detective with different faces, having the insight to play the bad cop but has to be coy with the situation. Remember after an assassination attempt, his partner thought he snapped. But Mason trusts Kira and his precognitive abilities to make sure that doesn’t happen. Sometimes he doesn’t even need to use that power to get insights from a death match manager. Or empathetically connect with a more powerful precog, understanding what she goes through. Although it does look like these skills also puts a wall between Mason and Kira.
Like The Best Police Procedurals
Speaking of Mason’s partner, Kira Bedford acts like a sisterly foil to him. Between them is a sign of not just respect but enough trust to put their lives in the other’s hands. But as stated before, that doesn’t mean there aren’t frustrating stages that test Kira’s patience. Like not being transparent about his scare tactic, or when the talk with the other precog suggests Mason’s death wish. Thankfully, she’s got a layer of humor to complement her serious demeanor.
The other agents Mason interacts with have plenty of likable quirks. He and one of the forensics Sam like to exchange cliches like roommates. Sam has plenty going for him with his background being potential for new stories with his bouncy personality.
Then there’s the agency director. He’s a stoic figure who accepts the world as is, but he can’t help but be frustrated by the people who abuse it. Especially since he has to rub shoulders with a couple of them at times. You would too when one of them infects you with a virus that systematically endangers yourself and others. So he has to be subtle to remain in control and get the right people where he needs them. Both for himself and his city.
And Their Worst Nightmare
Now it’s time to go into the villain of this series, Madame Duvray. She’s one of the people responsible for kicking off the state of the new world. But she wouldn’t be the villain if she didn’t capitalize on its status. If that isn’t enough, Vicino and Kutzer present her with a menacing aura. The way her eyes stay wide open during her public appearances feels like a predator staring through your soul. Or worse a junky getting high off of her status while doing behind-the-scenes black market work.
Even worse is how Duvray dominates everyone under her. For example, she uses her butler as a literal chew toy to relieve stress. Then she uses one of her mutant monstrosities to torture Mason’s failed assassin. But that’s not the worst part, it’s how they’ve more or less surrendered their souls to Duvray. With every word spoken with HDE’s lettering, she all but has the entire city of Potentia wrapped around her finger. Whatever her endgame is, the Brokers face an uphill battle.
Super Powers Highlighted
…Finally done with the exposition. The art and presentation of Power Broker leave a bit of an impression. Jon Kutzer gives pretty fine detail throughout just the first issue. In just a two page spread he gives every character a bit of personality with body, posture, and powers. This uniqueness compounds with colorful outlines around them, or at least when they’re on the ground.
But then there’s something that doesn’t quite sit right with me, the amount of detail. Some of this is to great affect with the smooth designs of technology and the amorphous bodies some characters. That goes double for the “Jackers” with more grotesque bodies.
By issues 3 and 4, there’s an air of suspense around empty rooms and the angles that make some characters look small. Like the scenes with the director, the scenes in conjunction with losing his composure feels foreboding. Readers can feel his desperation as he goes to everyone he can to stave off something worse.
Plus in grid pages, seeing Duvray’s butler give a pep talk to prisoners about to become Jackers is positively terrifying. It’s from the angle that he speaks as he looks down on them as they’re caught in a perfectly laid trap. All the while about to unleash unseen monstrosities on our unsuspecting heroes.
Power Broker Infrastructure
Now that we’ve got the visuals out of the way, let’s go into the solid storytelling. Vicino proves not just to be a decent world builder or character writer, he’s got a knack in plot progression and comic language. Every issue feels like it could be a casual reader’s first. There’s enough detail that calls back and forth between issues to keep readers in the loop. All thanks to foreshadowing, cliffhangers, pacing, and dramatic structure. While it’s not necessary to read every issue, it sure does feel rewarding.
Get A Power Broker While Supplies Last
Power Broker looks like another good series to look at how superpowers shape the world. Sure there’s a whole lot of exposition for a first issue, but at least they have good visuals to go along with it. Not to mention the second issue introduces a great villain and has a cleverly written sequence into crime drama. Meanwhile issues 3 and 4 play up the suspense in anticipation for a huge conflict and finish. All with lovable characters that share in wanting more developments. Besides I wanna see more the futuristic art on display in this world. For now this series gets 9/10.
The ink’s not dry yet so feel free to subscribe for more developments. Thanks for coming to the end and as always remember to look between the panels.