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Post by masterofquackfu on Aug 16, 2016 9:53:01 GMT -5
As I am considering books that I never really got into back in the day(70's, 80's, 90's), one of the ones that I've been thinking about is Power Pack. I bought a few issues of the title during its run, but always came off as relatively unimpressed. I guess the fact that they were all children may have played a part in my lack of inspiration for the title. Anyhow, just wondering if there were any Power Pack fans out there and, if so, what is it about the book that really drew you to it? Thanks.
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Post by Bronze Age Brian on Aug 16, 2016 10:54:07 GMT -5
Yes! The Louise Simonson run is great. Even though the character's are kids, Simonson tackled some tough issues they had to deal with among society in the 80's. It can get pretty dark and gritty, and is a lot more fun of a read today as opposed to when I was a kid. Simonson's understanding of kids with powers on the verge of adolescence is remarkable. Not only are they faced with the Snarks (a reptilian alien race) but also local crimes, drugs, and racial tensions. My favorite issue is #32, when Power Pack fight an abusive crack-dealer called the Garbage Man. The Pack have to team up with a guy named Trash Man and his crew, which were kids that worked under Garbage Man but have turned against him. After Garbage Man is defeated, there is this classic exchange:   Simonson wasn't afraid to tackle these real world issues. That is the aspect that drew me in. |
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Post by tingramretro on Aug 16, 2016 12:31:22 GMT -5
I loved Power Pack, the first few years or so at least. It was well written, it was thought provoking, it was fun, and the lead characters were likeable and innocent. I wish there were more books like this around today.
Why is Mass Master no longer an active part of the Marvel Universe?
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Confessor
CCF Mod Squad
Not Bucky O'Hare!
Posts: 10,212 
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Post by Confessor on Aug 16, 2016 17:56:24 GMT -5
In the mid-80s they reprinted Power Pack in the back of Return of the Jedi Weekly here in the UK for a while, but it never interested me at all. I used to skip it every week. I think that, like the OP, the fact that the heroes of the strip were all children made it seem a bit naff or not very exciting. I do remember being aware that the strip was tackling some pretty gritty themes though. It's not a strip I've ever felt compelled to read as an adult.
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Post by rom on Dec 2, 2016 11:55:26 GMT -5
Interesting blast from the past re: Power Pack. As a kid when this was first released (around the age of the kids in the series), I was never interested in reading this for whatever reason - I guess I thought it may be boring, and I was also collecting a lot of other titles at the time - so couldn't really afford this title anyway.
I did get the first Classic Power Pack Trade back in the 200X's, but haven't read this yet. This thread is making me want to at least read the issues in this first Trade. Looks like an intirguing series, and I may appreciate this more as an adult than I would have as a kid.
The panels reprinted above re: drug use are very topical to the time period. I remember the extremely disturbing drug issues in both New Teen Titans and Frank Miller's Daredevil during the early '80's - very grim stuff here. And, of course, the whole Cloak & Dagger origin (originally seen in PPTSSM in the early '80's) was drug-related; and, the criminals that C & D went after were almost always involved in drugs.
Going along with this, I also remember drug use being a big problem when I was in middle & high school in the early - late 1980's. |
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Post by Cei-U! on Dec 2, 2016 14:35:53 GMT -5
I like what I've read of Power Pack (up through the October '86 issue) quite a lot. I came to it late, having only first read it within the last five years. The kids seemed very real to me, their reactions to acquiring powers and becoming integrated into the larger Marvel Universe were believable, and their inter-sibling relationship had a ring of truth to it most sitcoms would kill to achieve. And June Brigman was a great choice for the art. The subtlety of her characters' facial expressions and body language suggested she'd spent many hours observing, if not drawing, real children. At the risk of sounding sexist, I think she and Louise Simonson brought the series a warmth and empathy toward their young protagonists their male contemporaries were, for whatever reason, incapable of. Plus it featured the best use of Dragon Man, a personal favorite, ever!
Cei-U!
I summon Alex, Julie, Jack, and Katie!
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Post by urrutiap on Dec 2, 2016 14:39:46 GMT -5
I was a little kid in the early 1980s. Power Pack was my most favorite comic book back then. My Holy Trinity of comic books back then were
Power Pack
Alpha Flight
G.I. Joe
the alien lizard bad guys in Power Pack they still creep me out lol.
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Post by brutalis on Dec 2, 2016 17:09:44 GMT -5
Collected the 'Pack in the day. Was one of the few comics which had kids done right. In both the way of their characterization and in drawing. They weren't kids in adult bodies and their being younger than every other hero around them was part of the draw to the series. Problem was the longer the series went on it was hard to continue seeing these "kids" acting/reacting like the newest kids in the superhero community because they were being placed into more and more adult situations.
I very much liked that Matter Master was part of the Fantastic Four Foundation with all the youngsters of the various MUverse together under the tutelage/protection of the Fantastic Four. The Founding Father's showing that they were watching out for the next generation of hero's.
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Post by urrutiap on Dec 2, 2016 19:10:59 GMT -5
I find it funny it's hard to even find old back issues of Power Pack at the comic book shop but I can easily find old Alpha Flight and Marvel's run of Elfquest at the comic book shop. I must not be looking hard enough to find Power Pack at the comic shop. Guess they're hidden really well between Power Man aka Luke cage and something else
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Post by Red Oak Kid on Dec 2, 2016 19:19:54 GMT -5
I find it funny it's hard to even find old back issues of Power Pack at the comic book shop but I can easily find old Alpha Flight and Marvel's run of Elfquest at the comic book shop. I must not be looking hard enough to find Power Pack at the comic shop. Guess they're hidden really well between Power Man aka Luke cage and something else A book like Alpha Flight probably had a much higher print run than Power Pack. |
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Post by cellardweller on Dec 2, 2016 22:38:44 GMT -5
I wasn't a regular reader of PP, but was familiar with them from when they did crossover stories with X-men/X-Factor/New Mutants
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Post by badwolf on Mar 13, 2017 18:12:19 GMT -5
I had the first 30-something issues of PP when it first came out. It's very much for younger readers, but I think I was around the age of Alex or Julie at the time. I recently bought the "Classic" TPB out of nostalgia. I don't expect to like it as much as I did then but who knows. I'll probably pass the book onto my best friend's daughter at some point (she's 5 now, so maybe in a year or two?)
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