The Power Fantasy #3– Mini Review

The Power Fantasy has been revealing itself bit by bit, pulling back layers since it started. In the first two issues, those layers were mostly character-based, showing us who these men and women are based on their words and actions. With the third issue, Kieron Gillen and Caspar Wijngaard peel back layers of history, showing us what has happened in this world since 1945 and how those events have shaped this ensemble. Even as they’ve revealed more of this world, Gillen and Wijngaard have asked more questions that they’ve left unanswered for the time being. 

Wijngaard’s artwork is a mask over the darkness of this story. This issue's central character Valentina is quite literally an angel on Earth and he draws her as an angel who is one of us. As Gillen and Wijngaard show us her actions throughout the second half of the 20th century, Wijngaard uses bright, airy colors that show us a world without boundaries. Those colors shift to darker hues, constricting the world until the pressure pushes Valentina to a breaking point. Then those bright, airy colors become a show of her power and its nearly infinite expanse. 

This issue shows us so much of the history that has formed these characters but also shows that there are many layers yet to go. Like the first two issues, The Power Fantasy #3 is still unveiling to us what this story is and what it is capable of from both the characters and the creators.  Altogether, we’re ninety-ish pages into this story. We’ve learned so much and yet barely broken the surface of this world and these characters.