As far as origin stories go, the first issue of Power Up seems to be following the standard formula closely enough; a person with a lackluster career and nearly nonexistent social life has vague inclinations for something more, with little tidbits of foreshadowing nicely tucked into the banality of their pre-superpower daily life.
What Kate Leth and Matt Cummings have done is put together a team of nascent heroes that definitely deviate from anything that could be considered formulaic. Amie, the protagonist we follow most closely, is a plus-sized woman of color working in a pet shop. She experiences a mysterious sudden feeling of power followed immediately by an attack from a strange being.
Amie thinks that she’s completely alone in this strange situation, but a burly construction worker, a suburban soccer mom, and a goldfish from the pet shop have also been experiencing similar sensations.
The thing I love most about Matt Cummings’s art is that most of his panels are focused very closely on the action or on facial expressions and are full of bright colors. Even though the amount of action in this first issue isn’t enormous, the art makes even brief, mundane interactions feel very dynamic. It really does a lot to establish a signature feeling for this new series right from the start.
Kate Leth is, as always, completely hilarious. Her dialogue feels very natural, and the way her characters banter helps to make them distinct and interesting right away. My favorite characters so far are the couple that runs the convenience store downstairs from Amie’s apartment. It’s the little interactions like purchasing milk from these two that really help us see what Amie is like and where she places importance.
I will say that there were a couple of things in this first issue that reminded me a lot of Bee & Puppycat; a younger, unambitious woman working a fairly dead-end job and consistently short on cash abruptly gains new abilities and interesting companions. However, I don’t think these similarities detract from the story or build-up of Power-Up’s first arc.
Fans of Bee & Puppycat, Leth’s other works, or general send-ups of the Magical Girl genre will be pretty pleased with this first issue, and hopefully they’ll be excited for the next issue!
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