I Don’t Know How The Power Fantasy is Gonna Top That Latest Gut Punch Reveal

In both reality and fiction there may be one thing that is more dangerous than power and its secrets. On their face, the idea of secrets — information withheld or concealed, usually to avoid a consequence — doesn’t seem like such a terrible thing. People keep relatively harmless secrets every day in the name of basic privacy. But not all secrets are benign and when you combine secrets with the volatility of a world containing superpowered beings it’s not just feelings that could be in the balance but the fate of the entire world. This is where The Power Fantasy from Kieron Gillen and Caspar Wijngaard brings us in issue #9 and it’s the revelation of a couple of secrets in particular that could save the world or be its entire undoing.

The Power Fantasy sees the Superpowers in a strange and strained situation. Jacky Magus has previously entered into an alliance with the U.S. government after Etienne killed the president, it’s discovered that Heavy has a secret Superpower son who could end up being a dangerous player in the mix, and Masumi is already hanging by a very delicate emotional thread. All of that threatens to blow up in everyone’s faces in the issue (potentially literally). We start to realize that Heavy may not have the biggest handle on things when it comes to his secret son and that he’s not necessarily entirely confident about his own stance. We also finally see Isabella be honest with Masumi, revealing their own bitter feelings about how the Atomics (and particularly Masumi) survive over and over while humans die in droves when things go wrong. It’s a huge risk, but opening up that secret both unburdens Isabella and seems to do some good for Masumi as well.

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But it’s the big secret that gets revealed in The Power Fantasy #9 that may be the most dangerous thing the story has faced to date, something that is poised to be more of an issue for how it could upset the balance of power and what it means for the already delicate dance the Atomics are doing. Jacky Magus has been doing some sneaky stuff for a while and everyone’s been trying to get Eliza on their side, but as it turns out, what’s really going on with Jacky goes back to the catastrophic Second Summer of Love in 1989. It also turns out to have major, major connection to Eliza and how she’s ended up the way she is. The issue hits Eliza — and the reader — with the gut punch that Jacky isn’t exactly who he seems to be.

I’m not going to spoil the reveal — that should be read for itself — but it’s one that changes everything and not only does Gillen set it up brilliantly with the writing but Wijngaard’s art, particularly as Eliza realizes what she’s being told, is absolutely phenomenal. Gillen tees things up perfectly, with Etienne commenting on the random nature of how big revelations of truth really are. He’s speaking about Matsumi when he talks about luck and stakes, but he may as well be speaking about what Jacky reveals to Eliza except while we see how Matsumi’s luck plays out the reader is left to wonder what will come with Eliza. Wijngaard’s art gives nothing away, but somehow simultaneously captures every nuance of relief and horror in Eliza’s face as so many pieces start to fall into place for her. She’s very much our window into this moment and it in a way that feels like screaming without a sound. To put it another way, it’s a cliffhanger that hits as though you’ve already fallen right into the ground at top speed. You know something has broken, but you’re also in no position just yet to take stock of just what.

That is perhaps what makes The Power Fantasy as a title work so well generally, but this issue specifically excel. The things you expect to be catastrophic — powers, Matsumi having to deal with emotional distress, Heavy’s secret son — are somehow less dangerous than the thing you didn’t really see coming, the secret so well-kept that it’s really more of a bomb, one that no one might survive. The Power Fantasy has always been a story of layers and complicated relationships, but issue #9 takes things to a completely different level — and it may be the best of the series to date.

Rating: 5 out of 5

The Power Fantasy #9 is on sale now from Image Comics.