In this week’s Wednesday Comics Reviews, the team reviews the excellently-named It Killed Everyone But Me #1, then we go for a spin with Racer #1, and much more! Plus, Ensign’s Log and The Prog Report!
Powers 25 #1
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Michael Avon Oeming
Colorist: Nick Filardi
Letterer: Joshua Reed
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Review by Zack Quaintance
Powers — which turns 25 this year — was one of the first creator-owned comic I followed as a young reader. I was a superhero kid who hit his teen years in the late 90s / early 00s, which was a golden age of creator-owned superhero titles.
Yes, back then there was a pretty natural bridge for me from the books I read as a kid — Amazing Spider-Man, Batman, Uncanny X-Men, etc. — to a world of more complex and original superhero ideas. Through the recommendations of the manager at the local comic shop down the street from my house (shout-out to Graham Crackers Comics, the now-defunct Glendale Heights, Ill., location specifically), I made my way to Astro City, Rising Stars, and, eventually, Powers.
And I LOVED Powers. It’s almost hard now to explain to people who weren’t there (or even who were a bit older at the time) how vital and hip Powers felt at that time. By combining gritty police procedural noir with familiar superhero tropes, writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Michael Avon Oeming tapped into something essential within the zeitgeist at the time, a story that both took superheroes seriously and found new territory with new angles.
Combine that with Oeming’s kinetic and angular art as well as Bendis’ all-time great ear for dialogue, and Powers felt to me then like a true revelation. For many years it was the first off my stack on the weeks it came out, and, again, I absolutely loved it.
As the creators note at the start of this week’s new Powers 25, it’s somewhat rare for a creator-owned comic to have continued as long as Powers has, creative team intact. There have certainly been breaks over the years, but Powers always comes back. And it’s back again this week (obviously) with an energetic new evolution for its core concept, with new characters, and (as is fitting of 2025) new meddling in the work of the local level law enforcement officers from folks at the federal government level.
I found this issue to be both a welcome return for me as a long-time Powers reader, as well as something new and different and surprising. It would have been so easy for the creative team to just coast by on nostalgia. They have absolutely nothing to prove with this book. But they dug in and did the hard work and found a way to make Powers great and very much of this new moment.
It’s unrealistic, of course, to expect 25 more years of Powers (although never say never…), but if this first issue is any indication, we are at least going to get one more fantastic arc from one of the truly great creator-owned comics of our time. And that’s a special thing.
It Killed Everyone But Me #1
Writer: Ryan Parrott
Artist: Letizia Cadonici
Colorist: Alessandro Santoro
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
Publisher: Mad Cave Studios
Review by Jared Bird
Riverton, Washington, 1996. Two police officers find a massacre on the site of a rural cabin. Bodies are strung up, organs all over the floor, with bloody footprints on the ceiling. They only find one survivor, and she can barely bring herself to say a word. It Killed Everyone But Me sees Ryan Parrott (Power Rangers) team up with Letizia Cadonici (House of Slaughter) to tell a supernatural horror mystery about one woman who can’t escape her past, no matter how hard she tries.
Twenty-eight years later, Rachel has a job, a young daughter named Addison, and hasn’t been back to her home town in years. However, when a mysterious killing happens in an almost identical fashion to the one Rachel survived, she’s drawn back in no matter how hard she tries to escape it. Admittedly, this premise is vaguely similar to a number of things you might have seen or read before, but I think it smartly combines both final girl horror tropes and a well-worn mystery premise to create something new. The supernatural element that becomes more apparent as the issue goes on is admittedly, incredibly interesting, and provides a fascinating wrinkle to the premise that gives me hope the series will push past familiarity into something unique and striking. I admittedly love the pacific northwest setting though, and think it gives the series a particular shade of gothic and gloomy styling that I really enjoy.
Parrott does a good job with the script, particularly during the narration sequences that begin and close the issue. His dialogue is good, but is sometimes held down by the need to provide exposition or information. When he’s allowed to really focus in on the story and its themes, it really works in his favour, and Rachel is a well-characterised and interesting protagonist for a story like this, who is allowed to have flaws and complexities. Cadonici’s artwork is unfortunately one of the weaker elements here, with characters’ facial expressions often lacking in quality or appearing comical in serious moments or situations. The rest of the artwork is admittedly very good and it shines during sequences of horror and violence, so it is only that one element that needs additional work.
Overall, It Killed Everyone But Me is off to a good but flawed start. It shows signs of pushing past its familiar premise into something more interesting and exciting, and what’s already there is well made and put together if held back by simple, relatively minor issues. It’s great to see more horror comics get made, and ultimately this series provides more than enough unique twists on a familiar concept that it’s absolutely worth checking out, especially for genre fans.
Racer X #1
Writer: Mark Russell
Artist: Nuno Plati
Colorist: Giada Marchisio
Letterer: Buddy Beaudoin
Publisher: Mad Cave Studios
Review by Tim Rooney
Spinning off of David Pepose’s joyfully colorful Speed Racer reboot is the new Racer X series from Mad Cave, spotlighting Speed’s mysterious, long-lost brother. Mark Russell and Nuno Plati’s first issue doesn’t play cute with Racer X’s identity, instead giving a straightforward, completely narrated account of Rex Racer and what brought him to take on the masked persona.
Unfortunately, it also strips the character of any ambiguity in regard to his motives. There’s an acute case of “telling, not showing” here. The miniseries is billed as an origin story, but Russel’s script packs all of the details into just this first issue, cutting potential emotional or dramatic beats completely down to one or two panels and lines of dialogue. It’s hard to buy into the character’s tragedy without spending more time with Rex Racer.
The arguments with his father are perfunctory and cliché. It’s a shame there’s not more here. Nuno Plati’s art is serviceable, but the layouts are fairly nondescript, relying on heavy speed lines to try to convey the movement of the race scenes. In a series where a sense of motion and speed is so critical, it’s a major flaw. There are no major changes in angle or perspective or breaking out of the standard windowpane approach to paneling that could amp up the visuals. More often than not, the pages meant to read as “fast” just appear messy. Giada Maachisio’s colors add depth—both physical and emotional—to the art and the combination of the color scripting and Plati’s character expressions make the human moments work even in the short bursts they appear in. Buddy Beauddin does a fantastic job with the lettering, giving his word balloons and fonts a bit harsher angles and edges that nicely integrates Plati’s drawing style.
There’s nothing offensive or particularly bad here, but it would be better suited for younger readers than adults who have seen it all before. In that sense, the stripped-down straight forwardness feels at home with the Saturday morning cartoon origins of the franchise.
And there’s certainly something to be said for comics that parents can hand to their kids to enjoy. But anyone looking for an ambitious reimagining ala Dynamite’s Space Ghost will be disappointed.
The Blue Falcon and Dynomutt #1
Writer: Jimmy Palmiotti
Art: Pasquale Qualano
Colors: Jorge Sutil
Letters: Jeff Eckleberry
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
Review by Clyde Hall
It’s a good time to be a comic book fan fond of Hanna-Barbera’s adventure heroes. And of other cartoon characters getting proper graphic storytelling treatments this year. I’ve followed the adaptations of favorites like Space Ghost, Jonny Quest, Speed Racer, and the Herculoids.
Unfortunately, Blue Falcon and Dynomutt the Dog Wonder weren’t among my favorite HB characters. The mix of superhero action and slapstick comedy in the original cartoon never felt quite right, except perhaps as a beta test for the future humor of Space Ghost Coast to Coast. So a comic book treatment wasn’t of much personal interest.
Until I picked up a copy of 2018’s Super Sons – Dynomutt and Blue Falcon Special #1 from DC. Peter J. Tomasi scripted one of my all-time favorite DC/HB crossovers. It went light on the humor for an effective, poignant treatment of both the robotic super-dog and his Dark Knight-Lite human partner. For readers who have loved and lost a canine member of the family, the story was an uplifting adventure.
With Dynamite’s new series launching this week, I was hoping The Blue Falcon and Dynomutt would capture some version of the Tomasi magic, just without the DC universe ties. This sadly was not the case.
But it wasn’t for lack of effort. The issue opens with a perilous Blue Falcon situation, quickly followed by interpersonal secret identity developments for wealthy inventor and art collector Radley Crown. A tech breakthrough promises to elevate Crown’s crime fighting possibilities and improve what’s already the best life for him and his rescue dog, Dyno. That best life, however, takes a cruel downturn when man and dog become victims of a break-in. Its aftermath will put Crown’s talents for innovation to the test like no project before.
Writer Jimmy Palmiotti tries balancing an uncomplicated, upbeat narrative suitable for juvenile entertainment with a more mature serving of titillation and menace. The goal is a John Wick-style, heartfelt superhero story. Instead, the premiere comes off as cartoonish (and not in a good way) surface treatment on that theme, with an added layer of bloodletting and broken bones. The attempted plucking of readers’ heart strings strike mostly hollow notes.
All respect for Palmiotti, who went his own way capturing the essence of the simplistic source material while adding more adult overtones. But the result brings little to the Blue Falcon mythos while diminishing the classic cartoon’s humor and innocence, despite good intentions. As much as other adaptations this year have managed the tricky balance of adulting up the storylines of cartoon heroes while preserving the charm of their simpler iterations, this tale proves just how challenging such feats are.
The Pasquale Qualano art manages a blend of classic and modern elements the storyline attempted. The Dyno look is very reminiscent of the original cartoons, but realistic enough to fit within this new aesthetic. Qualano’s action sequences draw the reader straight into the conflict, though more passive panels of character development downtime stoke minimal empathy for our heroes.
Qualano’s work benefits from the color art of Jorge Sutil. The palette is brighter than the story’s tone without becoming a distraction. The realism is enhanced but the Saturday morning animation roots remain visible. The lettering by Jeff Eckleberry makes for panel-shaking sound effects which, again, help both convey and convert a cartoon into the comic book format.
Despite these pluses, the story itself leaves me hesitant to recommend the book to either fans of the original cartoon series, or comic fans hoping to see these characters get a more serious treatment. The premiere issue of The Blue Falcon and Dynomutt aims to please but may instead alienate both those target audiences.
Star Wars: Tales From the Nightlands #1
Writer: Cavan Scott
Artist: Soo Lee
Letterers: Comicraft’s Tyler Smith and Jimmy Betancourt
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Review by Jordan Jennings
The Jedi Knight Obi-wan Kenobi and his padawan, Anakin Skywalker, are dispatched to Ryloth to serve as the Galactic Republic’s representatives for the state funeral for Tarmid Dall, the head of the Twi’lek first family. Star Wars: Tales from the Nightlands #1 is set in the time between Episodes I and II of the Star Wars films, we get to see a younger Kenobi and Skywalker interact. This time-frame is poorly represented in Star Wars film and television series, but I appreciate it as a setting for stories. The dynamic between Kenobi and Skywalker has always been described as a brotherly relationship and less of teacher and student one. Cavan Scott does a solid job exploring that fraternal dynamic between the two jedi. Scott captures the voice of Anakin surprisingly well considering that it’s not a common variant of the character. The Anakin here feels very much like the transition in between the young, former slave to the decorated war hero he becomes over the course of the trilogy. He does brash, stupid deeds in an attempt to do the right thing.
Scott is ostensibly writing a Star Wars horror comic but doesn’t rely on the usual tropes we see with previous attempts. The plot is a play on the Mexican holiday- Día de Muertos, with the barrier between the world and the spirit realm, the Nightlands, being at their weakest. Anakin, trying to be a good guy, helps the granddaughter accidentally summon a demon. It’s a whole thing. Either way Scott gives this effectively creepy tale that is spooky but not too scary. It also sets up what appears to be a generational story where we will see future issues dealing with this demon in multiple iterations and that should be fun.
Soo Lee’s art is a perfect fit for this story. The art has a manga feel about it that captures the quiet moments effectively all while finding the right tone for this story. The way Lee illustrates Anakin as just being a couple years removed from Episode I is perfection and helps give the story the grounding it needs. This is not a story that would have worked with the Anakin found in Episodes II & III. He needs to feel hopeful, naive, and innocent. Lee distills all of that into the character. The Nightmare Conjuction scene, where the spirits leave the Nightlands, is beautifully illustrated and demonstrates the vibe quite well.
Lee’s color palette leans heavily into the blue-tones this issue which lends itself to the somber feeling of the moment as well as the supernatural. The color palette only breaks during the Feast scene and during a moment in the final confrontation that I don’t want to spoil. The art and writing come together there in such a way that it will give you chills.
Overall, Star Wars: Tales from the Nightlands #1 is a fantastic little horror comic to kick off the spooky season and a must-read for any Star Wars fan.
Ensign’s Log Stardate 9102025
As IDW’s Star Trek comics continue to expand, Ensign Avery Kaplan has enlisted here to keep a careful log!
- Star Trek: Lower Decks #11: It’s another one with the whales in Star Trek: Lower Decks #11, “Again With The Whales…” This issue was written by Tim Sheridan, with art by Philip Murphy, colors by Charlie Kirchoff, letters by Clayton Cowles and design & production by Johanna Nattalie. In this issue, the U.S.S. Cerritos undertakes a Second Contact mission to the Laaperians, introduced in Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 2’s “First First Contact.” But it’s really more of a sequel to Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. I particularly enjoyed the two-page splash spread that featured scenes from Star Trek IV. There are lots of references to that movie in this issue, as well as a few non-Franchise jokes that I enjoyed a lot. And the issue ends on a nice cliffhanger, setting up what’s sure to be an hilarious issue twelve. Visually speaking, there are a lot of great pages in this issue, which is a credit to Murphy’s art and Kirchoff’s reliable colors. Cowles does a typically excellent job on the lettering, especially when Matt and Kimolu are speaking. And Nattalie’s design continues to get the job done. As always, the biggest complaint I can muster for this series is that I wish it would include some Lower Decks-themed back matter! But even without that, this is another worthy issue of Lower Decks.
The Prog Report
2000AD 2449 (Rebellion Publishing): After a delay, this issue serves up the finale of Judge Dredd: Tunnels by writer Rob Williams, artist RM Guera, colorist Giulia Brusco, and letterer Jim Campbell. I think it’s a credit to this story that each week of the aforementioned delay, I found myself eagerly wondering when it would conclude. I’m a completionist reader, to be sure, but if this story wasn’t so good, I also wouldn’t have been so eager to get its ending. Anyway, I’m happy to report now that the ending was good and worth the wait. It’s a brutal ending to be sure, one loaded with physical violence as well as the violence of Dredd’s rigid ideology. His sneering at the pro-democracy folks (whose fate I won’t spoil here) hits as hard in this strip as any of the exploding headshots. On top of that, we also got a pair of satisfying conclusions The Prog clears the deck ahead of next week’s 2000AD 2450. There were multiple twists from the finale of The Ravilous Pact by writer T.C. Eglington, artist Steven Austin, colorist John Charles, and letterer Simon Bowlond. And after 18 great chapters, Scarlet Traces: Empire of Blood also concluded. That story was from writer Ian Edington, artist D’Israeli, and letterer Annie Parkhouse. I don’t have much to add about that one, other than it was a start to finish fun time. This week’s cover (above) is by Toby Willsmer. As always, you can pick up a digital copy of The Prog here. —Zack Quaintance
Column edited by The Beat’s reviews editor, Zack Quaintance.
Read past entries in the weekly Wednesday Comics reviews series or check-out our other reviews here!
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