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DC Comics relaunches The Power Company with a fresh mission and a grounded perspective on modern heroism. Spinning out of Black Lightning and DC Power: Rise of the Power Company, this oversized debut reintroduces Josiah Power and Jefferson Pierce as the central forces behind a new iteration of the team. Their goal: rebuild trust in heroes amid a rising anti-metahuman movement.
The Power Company Recharged #1
Creative Team:
- Brian Edward Hill – Writer
- Khary Randolph, Alitha Martinez, Norm Rapmund, Ray Anthony Height, Studio Sky Tiger – Artists
- Emilio Lopez, Alex Guimaraes – Colorists
- AndWorld Design – Letters
For their first mission, the Company sends out Jace Fox (Batman), The Signal, and Vixen to track a metahuman-targeting serial killer in Atlanta, Georgia. With Batman and the Outsiders writer Bryan Edward Hill at the helm, and a rotating crew of artists including Khary Randolph and Alitha Martinez, expectations are high for a revitalized, street-level superhero team. Unfortunately, while the debut issue delivers on concept and some high-energy moments, it falters in execution.
The Writing
Hill’s writing leans into the familiar: Batman resisting teamwork, crime-solving with near-instant deductions, and a dark, grounded tone. The setup is compelling, especially with the anti-metahuman themes and tension in Atlanta. There’s a real-world weight to the conflict that feels timely and gives the story urgency. However, this potential is undercut by how dominant Batman feels in what’s supposed to be a team book.
Jace Fox’s Batman overshadows The Signal and Vixen, whose contributions feel secondary or underdeveloped. The mystery resolves too quickly, with Batman wrapping things up using skills we’ve seen countless times before. There’s little challenge, little pushback, and not enough team dynamic to make this feel like anything but a Bat-led operation. Hints at future conflict—perhaps even betrayal within the team—tease deeper storytelling to come, but the issue doesn’t do enough to hook readers long-term.
Hill’s dialogue is solid, occasionally sharp, but it lacks the team chemistry that books like Justice League or Outsiders often lean on to draw readers into the interpersonal drama.
The Art, Colors and Letters
Visually, The Power Company: Recharged #1 is a mixed bag. The sheer number of artists—Khary Randolph, Alitha Martinez, Norm Rapmund, Ray-Anthony Height, and Studio Sky Tiger—results in a noticeable lack of consistency. Character designs shift from scene to scene, and the differences in line work and visual tone can be jarring. It’s enough to pull readers out of the story multiple times, and the lack of cohesion disrupts the issue’s pacing.
That said, there are standout moments. The splash panel of the house exploding is a stunning piece of sequential art—vibrant, kinetic, and explosively detailed. The colorists, Emilio Lopez and Alex Guimarães, bring those scenes to life with bold contrasts and a dynamic palette. One particularly striking moment features Vixen’s power activation—her transformation into a translucent rhinoceros is beautifully rendered and a high point of visual storytelling.
The lettering by AndWorld Design helps salvage some of the chaos. Onomatopoeia and motion lines blend well with the action, providing rhythm and clarity during fight scenes and intense moments. The church sequence, in particular, benefits from a moody color palette and thoughtful layout, showing what the book is capable of when everything clicks.
Final Thoughts
The Power Company #1 is an ambitious return for a concept that deserves modern reinvention. The themes—heroism under scrutiny, anti-metahuman rhetoric, and urban conflict—feel urgent and relevant. But the execution leans too hard into Batman tropes while leaving the rest of the team underdeveloped. Visually, the lack of cohesion among artists makes it difficult to stay immersed, even though there are flashes of brilliance in the artwork and coloring.
There’s undeniable potential in this new Power Company. The creative team has the right ingredients: a writer with a clear voice, characters with room to grow, and timely narrative themes. But unless the storytelling balances the ensemble cast and the visuals settle into a consistent tone, the series risks losing momentum after this first outing.
Overall Grade: 7/10
A promising but uneven debut that needs stronger focus and visual unity to fully spark.
Thanks for checking out my review for the NI Comics Bullpen. Let me know what you thought of the latest issue in the comments below! Hit me up on any social media platform here! Till next time…
