DC Power: A Celebration #1

ComicBook.com

While this book is meant as a celebration of Black stories, they have great value for all readers and the quality speaks to that. This may be DC's best anthology to date and one can only hope that it is the start of more of these stories from these creators outside of just this one month.

The Super Powered Fancast

Story 1: A powerful and thought provoking story of resilience that highlights an all too real problem. The story evokes a lot of emotion and contains some great art. Story 2: A great short story with not only awesome action, but a great message. Story 3: A nice short story that has some entertaining moments. It should have been longer to allow for more development between the characters and the conflict. Story 4: An entertaining story that does a great job of expanding the character of John Stewart as well as showcase what a great strategist he is. Story 5: An engaging short with a great message for those who follow these characters. There are some great inspirational moments in the short along with some great art. Story 6: A great short that is both fun and entertaining for fans of both characters. I love the banter between the two characters and how playful it is. Story 7: An entertaining story whose politics are less than subtle. The premise is entertaining and the art looks great. Story 8: A reprint of Jemison’s story from the first issue of the series, the short does a great job of showcasing the character and her history. It also beautifully showcases the art of Jamal Campbell.

Geek Dad

The short preview of Far Sector in the back nicely hooks people for the inventive sci-fi series, and overall this is a great anthology without any weak links. The creative teams do justice to this excellent bans of heroes.

Batman-News

Most of these stories are incredible and capture the essence of so much in such a short amount of pages. The diversity of stories, of emotions, of problems and characters really makes this anthology stand out and if you approach it with a critical lens then you are going to be rewarded by thoughtful depictions of many of the problems currently plaguing the world. The lessons that can be learned from these stories are inspiring and I am glad to see many of these superheroes empowering themselves through their communities as both are elevated and ready to take on what they know to be the problem!

Lyles Movie Files

DC Power is a nice showcase of characters that are continuing to shape the new direction of the DC Universe and hopefully will still remain relevant another decade or two from now.

But Why Tho?

DC Power: A Celebration #1 turns a spotlight on the Black heroes inhabiting the DC Universe, with a collective of Black creators at the helm. Hopefully, this isn’t a one-and-done deal, as I’d love to see the spotlight turned on even more Black heroes. It truly lives up to its name of being a celebration.

Graham Crackers Comics

The main reason that I scooped this up is the story featuring everyone’s favorite All-Star Squadron member, Amazing Man. With similar powers to Marvel’s Absorbing Man, Will Everett’s personality made him a stand out in those issue of Roy Thomas’s masterpiece title. And here is no different as Evan Narcisse’s story evolves the character magnificently. The war is now over and Will is still facing the same prejudices just having a different interpretation. Sprinkle in a little true life history, and this one reminds us what the world was like back then. It also shows us that sometimes a flashy costume isn’t the best way to fight injustice. Shaving his head and growing some facial hair to distance himself from his WWII identity, Will is still fighting the good fight but now from the shadows. And Darryl Banks does an amazing job of capturing the art styles from the All-Star Squadron title in the flashbacks. With 9 other stories featuring such heroes as Black Lightning, Nubia, and Vixen, this one does a great job or representing Black History Month.

Dark Knight News

In a world where racism and homophobia still run rampant, despite how much popular media would have you believe otherwise, books like DC Power: A Celebration are essential. Specials like this, the DC Pride anthologies, and the Marvel Voices titles all have a common goal; awareness for a different culture. As the Marvelous competition eloquently put it, it’s about giving everyone a voice. Let’s hope that people listen.