The toy-inspired comics of the 1980s may be gone, but their intellectual property remains! Your Major Spoilers review of Power Lords #1 from Oni Press awaits!
POWER LORDS #1
Writer: Dennis Culver and Matt Hotson
Artist: V. Ken Marion
Colorist: Andrew Dalhouse
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
Editor: Karl Bollers
Publisher: Nacelleverse/Oni Press
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: January 29, 2025
Previously in Power Lords: When deep-space smuggler Adam Power comes into possession of the mysterious Power Jewel, he finds himself transformed into something far greater and more powerful than the sum of his parts – only to discover he’s been drafted into an eons-old battle between good and evil that could rend entire galaxies asunder!
IN THE BEGINNING
Power Lords #1 opens one year ago, as the Power Lords fend off an attack by the forces of Arkus, an insectoid creature whose evil is apparently legendary enough that he was imprisoned for life. Savor, Sydot, and Shaya hold off the invading forces long enough for their leader, the blue-skinned Lord Power to arrive and start cracking skulls. Before they can finish the bad guys off, though, Lord Power (Adam to his pals) falls prey to an artificial wormhole, getting thrown through time and space to parts unknown. A full year later, Adam is working as a smuggler and space pirate somewhere else in the galaxy, seeking a map that will lead him to an unknown treasure while his friends follow close behind. Also on his trail, Raygoth, the GOON of DOOM, wants nothing more than to kill Adam Power and steal the treasure for himself. Just when their battle gets to the point where you wonder why Adam isn’t transforming into Lord Power, the other shoe drops.
The treasure is Adam’s Power Crystal itself!
THAT GUY LOOKS LIKE HE-MAN
As a card-carrying member of Generation X (the sociological grouping, not the mutant team), I remember the Power Lords advertising blitz of 1983 pretty well. I can hear the theme song in my head, and remember seeing ads in all my comic books, but… I know literally nothing of the lore of the world. That’s not something that would normally bother me, as the book does a pretty good job of explaining the Masters of the Universe-inspired world of Revell’s super space team, but it does exacerbate one of the book’s most troubling bits. The modern-day adventures of pirate Adam are very much in the post-modern vein of the Guardians of the Galaxy, with him in a Star-Lord-style role as the young hothead and designated hero. The first half of the book, however, has to grapple with the tongue-in-cheek naming conventions of the original property. I love the idea of a villain cheerfully naming himself the Goon of Doom, but it’s hard to sync that with the more dramatic story they want to give us. The art is a mix of wild-and-wacky alien design work (like Bakatak, the porcupine-like alien privateer) and dramatic action (such as when he uses his quill attack on a group of mundane security guards). Marion’s art is a little cartoony, evoking J. Scott Campbell and Todd Nauck, which feels like an odd choice for a story that clearly wants the Power Lords to grow up like we, the audience, have.
BOTTOM LINE: SOME FUN BITS TO BE HAD
Despite that slightly confusing tone, Power Lords #1 has some important things going for it, giving us an interesting way into the lore of a universe that many probably haven’t seen and some very interesting takes on the toy’s designs, earning a better-than-average 3 out of 5 stars overall. I don’t know if Power Lords fans are a thing, but if so, I can’t imagine they’re too upset about this one.
But you guys all agree that Savor is just cyborg He-Man, right?
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POWER LORDS #1
It's an odd melange of wacky cartoon antics and dead-serious pew-pew space adventure, this one draws a lot on the movie adventures of the Guardians of the Galaxy.
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Writing5
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Art6
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Coloring6
Once upon a time, there was a young nerd from the Midwest, who loved Matter-Eater Lad and the McKenzie Brothers... If pop culture were a maze, Matthew would be the Minotaur at its center. Were it a mall, he'd be the Food Court. Were it a parking lot, he’d be the distant Cart Corral where the weird kids gather to smoke, but that’s not important right now... Matthew enjoys body surfing (so long as the bodies are fresh), writing in the third person, and dark-eyed women. Amongst his weaponry are such diverse elements as: Fear! Surprise! Ruthless efficiency! An almost fanatical devotion to pop culture! And a nice red uniform.