LNH/REVIEW: The Tribulations of Kid Review Special: Powernaut 1987

[Drew Perron]

Kid Review turns on the camera and waves, sitting back on a pink couch. "Hullo! 
Kid Review here, reporting from a top-secret location while the ReviewSat is 
being fumigated."

Writer's Block Person sticks their head in from off-camera. "Hey, just so you 
know, it's your turn to change the kitty litter."

Kid Review shoos them off, then turns back to the camera. "As part of my Big-Ass 
Catchup Project, I'm going to be reviewing some of the storylines that have come 
out on RACC... well, 'recently' is probably the wrong word, but within the past 
while. And I'm starting with Powernaut 1987!" They clear their throat, which 
devolves into a coughing fit, leading them to take a drink of water, rub their 
chest, and clear their throat again. "Ahem," they say, in their most stentorian 
Reviewer Tones.

"Powernaut 1987: An interesting, self-contained little adventure."

"We've seen this Powernaut before, but only in passing, as part of Powernauts 
yet to come, or a coalition of all Powernauts there have ever been. (Or as the 
liberal arts teacher at the Power School.) This is the first story we actually 
get *about* Jeff Goldblatt, and in true Powernaut form, it reflects the era in 
which it's set - a straightforward origin story based on celebrity culture."

"Or as straightforward as the Powernaut ever gets, anyway. Many Powernaut comics 
have had a problem with fitting in enough exposition to contextualize what it is 
we're doing this time and how the greater elements of the Powernaut and 
Superhuman World mythos fit in. Here, tho, things work pretty well, simply by 
introducing something and rolling with it. Do we know what the Infrared 
Sunbreaker Choir is? Not from this comic (tho, as always, there are helpful 
links to the Superhuman World wiki), but we know they're weird and cosmic and 
have a cool name and want to stop the Powernaut movie, and here, that's really 
all that matters."

"On the website, Scott talks about 'a certain level of crappy art, suitable for 
1987 drawing software', but honestly, the art for this one's pretty good! 
There's a few odd soft shadows, but I love how the characters are shaded with 
variations on their own color rather than just black, and the lack of outlines 
works really well. Plus, the simple face of the Sunbreaker gets some really good 
expressions, and honestly, I *really* love the head of the Choir's pose in #1 - 
it's manic and determined and just a bit unhinged and just a bit cool."

"The basic story itself is pretty good. That said, there's some places where I'm 
not sure what's intentional ambiguity and what isn't. Should I understand what, 
exactly, happened with Sunbreaker at the end? These are small quibbles, though. 
Overall, it's a nice, fun, mostly self-contained Powernaut adventure, and that's 
worth a lot."

Drew "trying to not worry too much and just charge thru" Perron