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Howard Chaykin, Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Ron Marz, Louise Simonson, Walter Simonson, and Thom Zahler are coming to Baltimore Comic Con

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Join the 2025 Baltimore Comic-Con this October 17-19, 2025 at the Inner Harbor’s Baltimore Convention Center. The Baltimore Comic-Con welcomes comics guests Howard Chaykin, Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Ron Marz, Louise Simonson, Walter Simonson, and Thom Zahler to this year’s event. You can purchase tickets now!

Howard Victor Chaykin is a longtime veteran of the comic book business. As a cartoonist — both writing and drawing — he has been a major influence on the direction of comics, referred to frequently as one of the principal architects of the modern comic book. His signature creation, American Flagg!, introduced a new level of narrative complexity, depth of character, and point of view in its text, not to mention a previously unseen level of design and craft to the visual nature of an all-too-frequently staid and timid medium. And, yes, sex that wasn’t confined to pinup posing for most proclivities to enjoy. Chaykin continues to produce work that pushes the envelope of concept, context, and content in comics…his The Divided States of Hysteria, for example, a comic book which, thanks to social media, enraged an entire new generation of the willfully ignorant who might have had a better case if they’d actually read the damned book. Chaykin’s Hey Kids! Comics! is a fictionalized history of the comic book business, a love letter written with just a frisson of acid in the ink, to the field he’s loved and called home for over five decades. His magnum opus bebop comic book, The Time² Omnibus, might still be out there…and The Black Kiss Omnibus, four hundred pages of unredeemed filth, is in stores now.

Phillip Kennedy Johnson broke into comics in 2015 with the BOOM! Studios miniseries Last Sons of America and Warlords of Appalachia, leading him to DC Comics and Marvel, where he is best known for his acclaimed work on Superman and Action Comics, Marvel’s Alien series, Green Lantern: War Journal, and his current fan-favorite run on The Incredible Hulk. He has also written such characters/titles as Aquaman, Captain America, Marvel Zombies: Resurrection, Extreme Carnage, and his creator-owned series The Fellspyre Chronicles at DC Black Label and Crocodile Black at BOOM! Studios. Johnson has also been published with Archaia, IDW, Aftershock, Dynamite, and Scout Comics.

Louise Simonson has, like her husband Walter, contributed significantly to the comic book industry. “Weezie”, as she is known, began her comics career as an editor at Warren Publishing before leaving for Marvel to edit titles including X-Men, New Mutants, and Star Wars. Departing the editorial role in favor of writing, Weezie has contributed to storylines in Marvel’s Marvel Team-Up, Web of Spider-Man, and Red Sonja, and was responsible for the introduction of Apocalypse in X-Factor as well as the launch of Power Pack. At DC Comics, she worked on Superman: The Man of Steel and The Adventures of Superman.

Louise and Walter Simonson

Walter Simonson has made vast contributions to comics publishing, as a writer, an artist, and even in founding publishing imprints. He was recognized in 2012 at the Harvey Awards in Special Award for Excellence in Production/Presentation and Best Domestic Reprint Project for Walt Simonson’s The Mighty Thor, Artist’s Edition from IDW, and in 2013 for Alien: The Illustrated Story from Titan Books for Best Graphic Album of Previously Published Work. He also received the Hero Initiative Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010 at the Harvey Awards. Walt’s career began in the 1970s at DC Comics, where he worked on titles such as Weird War Tales, Manhunter, Metal Men, Orion, Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl, Vigilante, and Hercules Unbound. Over at Marvel Comics, Simonson has had numerous noteworthy runs, including The Rampaging Hulk magazine, X-Factor, Fantastic Four, and Thor, on which he was responsible for the introduction of Beta Ray Bill and Thor as a frog.

Ron Marz has been writing comics for more than three decades, starting his career with a lengthy run on Silver Surfer for Marvel. Since then, he has worked for virtually every major publisher and compiled a long list of credits, including stints on Thor for Marvel, Green Lantern and Superboy for DC, Star Wars for Dark Horse, and the historic Marvel vs. DC crossover. He co-created the Green Lantern Kyle Rayner during his landmark run on the title.

Marz is also known for penning numerous inter-company crossovers, including Green Lantern-Silver Surfer, Batman-Aliens, Batman-Tarzan: Claws of the Catwoman, Green Lantern-Aliens, and Amalgam title Doctor Strangefate. He was Senior Writer at CrossGen Comics, where his titles included Mystic, Scion, Sojourn, and The Path.

Other credits include his acclaimed run on Witchblade, as well as Magdalena, Artifacts, and Cyber Force for Top Cow/Image, and many others. Marz’s creator-owned series include the all-ages tale Dragon Prince at Top Cow; the historical adventure Samurai: Heaven and Earth at Dark Horse; the vampire tale Shinku at Image; and cosmic graphic novel Resolution.

Marz has also written for video games, including multiple Skylanders titles, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, Spider-Man 2, and more. He is currently part of the narrative team for Blizzard’s Diablo franchise. Marz also teaches comic book writing at the Jacob Krueger Studio, based in Manhattan.

Thom Zahler is a northeast Ohio-based comic book artist and writer. He’s particularly known for his romantic comedy comics. In 2006, he debuted Love and Capes, the superhero romantic comedy about the adventures in love of an ordinary bookstore owner and her accountant boyfriend…who also happens to be the superhero The Crusader. In 2014, he introduced readers to Long Distance, a story about two young professionals who meet while stranded at an airport during a snowstorm and decide to date even though they both live in different states. In 2016, he debuted Time and Vine for IDW, about a magical time-traveling winery.

He is the writer and artist of the hit Cupid’s Arrows series on WEBTOON, chronicling the story of a pair of Cupids who get couples together across the world. His previous WEBTOON was Warning Label, featuring a girl cursed by her ex-boyfriend so that every guy who asks her out gets the list of what they need to watch out for.

His current projects include the young readers’ series The Ghost Whiskerers for John Carpenter’s Storm King comics line, about cats that see ghosts (starring Zahler’s own cats). He is also the artist on Rocketship’s Angry Birds series.

He is also a frequent writer and artist for IDW. He is a regular contributor for My Little Pony, and has also contributed to Star Trek and Disney Tsum Tsum Kingdom.

Zahler has written for the Disney XD cartoon Spider-Man Web Warriors, where he wrote the first part of the season finale “Contest of Champions.” He is also a frequent contributor to the Topps’ Star Wars card sets. He recently wrote the second episode of the Knights of the Zodiac Netflix series.

He continues to work as a cartoonist, illustrator, and letterer for many companies across the country.

He is a graduate of the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art and of Lake Catholic High School.

He lives at his palatial estate, Zahlerdu, in Northeast Ohio. Okay, he doesn’t really call it “Zahlerdu” but if he did, it’d be because he liked Orson Wells’ “Citizen Kane” and not that Olivia Newton John disco-and-roller skating movie. It’s not really a palatial estate, either, but it is a nice place.

See more of Zahler’s artwork at www.thomz.com or follow him on Instagram and X at @thomzahler.

2025 GUESTS

This year’s confirmed guests for the show include: Kaare Andrews (Spider-Man: REIGN 2), John Beatty (Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars), Russ Braun (The Boys), Jim Calafiore (NED, Lord of the Pit), Keith Champagne (Stranger Things), Howard Chaykin (Time Squared), Jim Cheung (Young Avengers), Frank Cho (Harley Quinn), Amy Chu (Emma Frost: The White Queen), Chris Claremont (X-Men), Becky Cloonan (Somna), Steve Conley (The Middle Age), Michael W. Conrad (Manowar: Invictus), Jeff Dekal (Something is Killing the Children), David Finch (Moon Knight), Trish Forstner (Feral), Franco (Deadman Tells the Spooky Tales), Barbara Friedlander (Swing with Scooter), Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (DC Nation), Mike Grell (Green Arrow: The Longbow Hunters), Phillip Kennedy Johnson (Incredible Hulk), Tula Lotay (Barnstormers), Kevin Maguire (Justice League), Laura Martin (Nubia: Queen of the Amazons), Shawn Martinbrough (Red Hood: The Hill), Ron Marz (Green Lantern), Mike McKone (Red Goblin), Bob McLeod (New Mutants), Adriana Melo (Action Comics), Josh Middleton (Aquaman), Al Milgrom (Spectacular Spider-Man), Mark Morales (Thor), Trevor Mueller (Albert the Alien), Sarah Myers (TMNT Saturday Morning Adventures), Tom Nguyen (The Switch), Kevin Nowlan (Batman: Sword of Azrael), Dan Parent (Sabrina the Teenage Witch), Andrew Pepoy (Simone & Ajax), Barbara Perez Marquez (The Cardboard Kingdom), Amy Reeder (Power Girl), Esad Ribic (Conan the Barbarian), Afua Richardson (Kahhori: Reshaper of Worlds), Craig Rousseau (Herculoids), Jim Rugg (Street Angel), Louise Simonson (The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special), Walter Simonson (Thor), Joe Staton (Dick Tracy), Mark Waid (Justice League Unlimited), Maria Wolf (Phoenix), Rich Woodall (Electric Black), John Workman (Wild Things), and Thom Zahler (Love and Capes).

Preview: Power Pack: Into the Storm #5

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Power Pack: Into the Storm #5

(W) Louise Simonson (A/CA) June Brigman
Rated T
In Shops: May 01, 2024
SRP: $3.99

A POWER-PACKED CONCLUSION!
When the enemy’s attempt to siphon Franklin Richard’s powers goes horribly wrong, the Power Pack must figure out how to reverse the damage – and save their friend in the process. But in a battle of wills, the obvious solution may not always be the wisest…

Power Pack: Into the Storm #5

ITHACON 47 reveals its guest lineup

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Ithacon

ITHACON has revealed the many guests coming to the convention taking place on April 27th and 28th. They’ve already announced that Shelly Bond will be participating, but there are a number of other industry giants holding panels and manning booths from start to close.

Known to some as “Weezie,” Louise Simonson will be joining ITHACON and speaking on panels such as The Legacy of Superman, alongside other special guest Roger Stern.

Simonson is best known for her work on ”X-Factor”, ”New Mutants”, and ”Superman: The Man of Steel”, as well as ”Steel”. Walt Simonson, Louise’s husband and creator credited for rejuvenating the Thor series, brings to ITHACON his experience working on Marvel Comics like The Mighty Thor and X-Factor —the latter being a joint project with Louise.

Mike Gold is an American comics writer, editor and publisher. He worked as Group Editor and Director of Editorial Development at DC Comics, and co-founded both First Comics, and the National Runaway Switchboard for which he was also the Director of Communications. Gold will be joining Shelly Bond and Tom Peyer on a panel to discuss their time as editors in the industry.

J.G. Hertzler is best-known for playing Chancellor Martok on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Alcalde Ignacio De Soto in Zorro. Hertzler has an incredible amount of industry experience, ranging from guest appearances on numerous TV shows, to lending his voice for video games and film characters, and even audio book recordings for Barsk: The Elephant Graveyard, and its sequel.

Philip Bond originally worked in the British alternative comic scene, first publishing the ‘Atomtan’ series. He’s known for Bond went on to draw for the seminal Deadline magazine, and created a few titles there before having selections of his work featured at DC/Vertigo and ultimately transitioning to work fully in the US, with his wife Shelly Bond.

Roger Stern co-published a popular fanzine publication, Contemporary Pictorial Literature back in the 1970s that led to the formation of Charlton Bullseye magazine. For ten years, he was the senior writer of the Superman titles for DC Comics. Now, he’s known for his writing contributions for radio, television, and the stage —creating scripts for everything from sketch comedy to flash-animation. Stern has written hundreds of stories about such diverse characters as Green Lantern, Supergirl, Starman, the Atom, and the Justice League for DC Comics; and Spider-Man, Captain America, Doctor Strange, the Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, and the Avengers for Marvel.

Also joining the convention is Chris Condon: the writer of ongoing Image Comics series THAT TEXAS BLOOD with artist J acob Phillips, along with its Wild West spinoff, THE ENFIELD GANGMASSACRE that was selected as one of the best comics of 2023 by The Hollywood Reporter, The Comics Journal, CBR, and The Comics Beat. He has also written for DC, Marvel, Z2, AfterShock, Mad Cave and Dark Horse.

Lastly, Emmy and Ringo-award winner Dean Haspiel will also be in attendance this year. Not only did he create Billy Dogma and The Red Hook, he also illustrated for HBO’s Bored To Death, is a Yaddo fellow, a playwright, and helped pioneer personal webcomics. His published work includes writing and drawing for Marvel, DC/Vertigo, Archie, Image, and Webtoon on comics such as The Fox, Spider-Man, The Fantastic Four, X-Men, Deadpool, Superman, Batman ’66, Wonder Woman, and Godzilla.

Preview: Power Pack: Into the Storm #4

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Power Pack: Into the Storm #4

(W) Louise Simonson (A/CA) June Brigman
Rated T
In Shops: Apr 03, 2024
SRP: $3.99

The Power siblings are free from Snark and Brood clutches – and on strict orders not to interfere any further with the battle. But with their friends still at the enemy’s mercy, interfering seems like the least the Power Pack could do! But the Powers aren’t the only ones looking to take action, and one wrong move could have explosive consequences…

Power Pack: Into the Storm #4

Preview: Power Pack: Into the Storm #3

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Power Pack: Into the Storm #3

(W) Louise Simonson (A/CA) June Brigman
Rated T
In Shops: Mar 13, 2024
SRP: $3.99

CELEBRATING FORTY YEARS OF POWER PACK! The Power Pack have been cornered by competing Snark and Brood agents, and their only hope for rescue is their old allies, the X-Men! But can Storm reach the siblings before they lose something – or someone – dear to them?

Power Pack: Into the Storm #3

Underrated: Havok and Wolverine: Meltdown

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This is a column that focuses on something or some things from the comic book sphere of influence that may not get the credit and recognition it deserves. Whether that’s a list of comic book movies, ongoing comics, or a set of stories featuring a certain character. The columns may take the form of a bullet pointed list, or a slightly longer thinkpiece – there’s really no formula for this other than whether the things being covered are Underrated in some way. This week: Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown.

Havok & Wolverine: Meltdown

I don’t remember the first time I read this story, but it was likely in the UK reprint magazine Wolverine Unleashed in the mid to late 90’s. That was also the last time I read it, so when I saw the collected edition at my LCS for $15 I couldn’t pass it up – now because Wolverine is a little bit more marketable than Havok, the trade was just called Wolverine: Meltdown.

Originally published in the late 80’s, Meltdown was written by Walter and Louise Simonson, with illustrations by John J. Muth and Kent Williams. The story is set around the Chernobyl nuclear disaster of the mid 80’s, and finds Havok and Wolverine caught up in the midst of a plot to end the world in nuclear war from the shadows. The art has a wonderful painted look to it at times, but the artists aren’t afraid to experiment with multiple forms of media throughout the book. It’s a choice that is divisive to some – I’ll freely admit when I was younger the art did nothing for me, but I enjoyed the story a fair bit, whereas now I find myself absorbed in the art more than the writing which is a strange twist on how I usually find myself feeling when coming back to stories I haven’t read in 20 some years.

It’s easy to imagine the way this story would have felt when initially released as it presents another possibility behind the Chernobyl disaster as an intentional act to snare the X-Men. Looking back now, it’s a great premise to a story, and one that still holds up despite the very specific time setting. Admittedly, I’ve no idea or memory as to how in continuity/canon this story is within the X-Universe but the story is entertaining enough to allow you to just enjoy it as is, and seeing Wolverine and Havok team up together is still a relatively rare event even today – and while I’m probably in the minority here, I’d love to see more chances for these two mutants to come together on the page.

The main reason I wanted to talk about this book today is solely because it’s a story that I’d completely forgotten about. This isn’t one of the classic Wolverine or X-Men stories that people will talk about, and honestly nor should it be, but it’s still an enjoyable tale that still stands the test of time; admittedly it’s the artwork that will pull you in more than the story, because this is a book that just looks utterly fantastic. The art is at times risky and pushes the envelope of what comics would typically feature 30 years ago (and yet is far more common today). Do yourself a favour and check this story out if you can – it’s a four issue mini series that shouldn’t break the bank if you hunt the individual issues.

Unless the comics industry ceases any and all publication look for a future installment of Underrated to cover more comics that aren’t cracking the top 100.

Preview: Power Pack: Into the Storm #2

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Power Pack: Into the Storm #2

(W) Louise Simonson (A/CA) June Brigman
Rated T
In Shops: Feb 28, 2024
SRP: $3.99

When agents of both the Snarks and the Brood – old enemies of the Power Pack – attack the Power siblings overnight, it will take the combined might of the siblings and their allies to escape in one piece. But the Powers are not the only prize their enemies seek…

Power Pack: Into the Storm #2

Baltimore Comic-Con ’24 Announces Eddie Campbell, Frank Cho, Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Louise and Walter Simonson

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What better way for the 25th Anniversary Baltimore Comic-Con than to begin the 2024 guest announcements in earnest? The 2024 Baltimore Comic-Con will take place at the Inner Harbor’s Baltimore Convention Center on September 20-22, 2024. In addition to an already-announced Jim Lee, the convention presents comics superstars Eddie Campbell, Frank Cho, Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti, and Louise and Walter Simonson as guests for thre 25th Anniversary event! Tickets for the show are on sale now.

Eddie Campbell has been in comics for a long time. He was the artist on Alan Moore’s From Hell and even published it himself. He recently made a digitally colored edition of the book. He is also known for the omnibus editions of Alec: The Years Have Pants and Bacchus, complete in two volumes. His latest work is The Second Fake Death of Eddie Campbell.

Ringo Award winner and Harvey and Eisner Award nominee Frank Cho launched his career as a comic strip artist at the University of Maryland-College Park student newspaper, penning University2, which was the predecessor of his creator-owned syndicated strip and comic series, Liberty Meadows. His body of work also includes Marvel Comics’ New Avengers, Mighty Avengers, Shanna the She-Devil, New Ultimates, and X-Men: Schism, as well as Jungle Girl for Dynamite Entertainment. His recent work can be seen on covers from DC’s Harley Quinn.

Award-winning artist Amanda Conner started in comics working on the Marvel Comics Barbie line and Disney’s Gargoyles comics, which quickly led to her working with the top writers in the field, such as Grant Morrison, Mark Millar, Warren Ellis, and Garth Ennis on titles such as X-Men, Vampirella, Two-Step, and her creator-owned Eisner nominated one-shot, The Pro. 

Since then, Amanda has moved on to illustrating many of the top comics in the industry including Supergirl, Painkiller Jane, Wonder Woman, Power Girl, Terra, Gatecrasher, and so much more. She was the co-writer and artist along with Darwyn Cooke on the Before Watchmen: Silk Spectre project and has since worked with her writer/husband co-writing and illustrating Harley Quinn series for DC Comics, and her own creator-owned series BOOM-POW for her company Paperfilms. Her work can currently be seen in numerous covers for Marvel, DC, and so many other companies. 

Jimmy Palmiotti is a multi-award winning intellectual property creator and world building architect with a wide range of experience and background in advertising, production, editorial, screen writing, film production, media presentation, and video game development. Just a few of his clients include Nike, Disney, Marvel Studios, Warner Brothers, Lion’s Gate, Fox, Paramount, Dream Works, Lotus Entertainment, New Line, 2KGames, and THQ Nordic.

Co-founder of such companies as Event Comics, Black Bull Media, and the Marvel Knights imprint – a division of Marvel Comics that launched Marvel films and TV properties including the supervision of the titles Black Panther, Punisher, The Inhumans, and Daredevil, which all became blockbuster properties. At Warner Brothers, Jimmy wrote Jonah Hex, Power Girl, Batman, and Superman, and with his wife, award-winning artist Amanda Conner, Harley Quinn.

Jimmy has created and co-created numerous series and characters for a range of other companies and his own imprint, Paperfilms, which is co-owned with his wife, Amanda Conner. They currently create new Intellectual Properties covering a wide range of genres, and he is currently writing the new monthly series Deadly Tales of the Gunslinger for Todd McFarlane.

Louise Simonson has, like her husband Walter, contributed significantly to the comic book industry. “Weezie”, as she is known, began her comics career as an editor at Warren Publishing before leaving for Marvel to edit titles including X-Men, New Mutants, and Star Wars. Departing the editorial role in favor of writing, Weezie has contributed to storylines in Marvel’s Marvel Team-Up, Web of Spider-Man, and Red Sonja, and was responsible for the introduction of Apocalypse in X-Factor as well as the launch of Power Pack. At DC Comics, she worked on Superman: The Man of Steel and The Adventures of Superman.

Walter Simonson has made vast contributions to comics publishing, as a writer, an artist, and even in founding publishing imprints. He was recognized in 2012 at the Harvey Awards in Special Award for Excellence in Production/Presentation and Best Domestic Reprint Project for Walt Simonson’s The Mighty Thor, Artist’s Edition from IDW, and in 2013 for Alien: The Illustrated Story from Titan Books for Best Graphic Album of Previously Published Work. He also received the Hero Initiative Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010 at the Harvey Awards. Walt’s career began in the 1970s at DC Comics, where he worked on titles such as Weird War Tales, Manhunter, Metal Men, Orion, Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl, Vigilante, and Hercules Unbound. Over at Marvel Comics, Simonson has had numerous noteworthy runs, including The Rampaging Hulk magazine, X-Factor, Fantastic Four, and Thor, on which he was responsible for the introduction of Beta Ray Bill and Thor as a frog.

This year’s confirmed guests for the show include: Marty Baumann (Pixar artist), Mark Buckingham (Fables), Jim Calafiore (NED, Lord of the Pit), John Cassaday (X-Force), Howard Chaykin (Time Squared), Frank Cho (Harley Quinn), Michael Cho (Star Wars: Hyperspace Stories–Qui-Gon Jinn), Amy Chu (KISS: The End), Steve Conley (The Middle Age), Katie Cook (Nothing Special), Steve Epting (New Avengers), Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (DC Nation), Greg Hildebrandt (Star Wars), Jamal Igle (Superman), Barry Kitson (Amazing Spider-Man), Jim Lee (Superman), Al Milgrom (Spectacular Spider-Man), Terry Moore (Strangers in Paradise), Dan Parent (Sabrina the Teenage Witch), Andy Price (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic), Alex Saviuk (Web of Spider-Man), Liam Sharp (X-O Manowar Unconquered), Louise Simonson (The Death of Superman 30th Anniversary Special), Walter Simonson (Thor), John K. Snyder III (Suicide Squad), Mark Sparacio (Omega Paradox), Joe Staton (Dick Tracy), Brian Stelfreeze (Black Panther), and Marv Wolfman (What If…? Dark: Tomb of Dracula).

Preview: Power Pack: Into the Storm #1

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Power Pack: Into the Storm #1

(W) Louise Simonson (A/CA) June Brigman
RATED T
In Shops: Jan 24, 2024
SRP: $3.99

Alex, Julie, Jack and Katie Power are super-hero siblings determined to do their part to protect the world despite their young age. The problem is that their parents don’t want them to have powers – and can’t know that they do. But when their friend Franklin Richards has a premonition of a galactic threat hurtling their way, the Power siblings will have to decide what kind of heroes they want to be – and what they’re willing to give up along the way.
Original creators Louise Simonson and June Brigman return to explore an exciting new adventure from the early days of the POWER PACK!

Power Pack: Into the Storm #1

Preview: Power Pack: Into the Storm #1

Posted on by

Power Pack: Into the Storm #1

(W) Louise Simonson (A/CA) June Brigman
RATED T
In Shops: Jan 24, 2024
SRP: $3.99

Alex, Julie, Jack and Katie Power are super-hero siblings determined to do their part to protect the world despite their young age. The problem is that their parents don’t want them to have powers – and can’t know that they do. But when their friend Franklin Richards has a premonition of a galactic threat hurtling their way, the Power siblings will have to decide what kind of heroes they want to be – and what they’re willing to give up along the way.
Original creators Louise Simonson and June Brigman return to explore an exciting new adventure from the early days of the POWER PACK!

Power Pack: Into the Storm #1
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