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A review by jstilts
Power Pack Classic Volume 3 by Terry Austin, Walt Simonson, Louise Simonson
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Finally, I've caught up and read beyond where I left Power Pack back when I was nine! I'm happily surprised to say it holds up extremely well - tense, exciting, sad and wholesome fun that leads to the grandest of finales.
This volume follows the super-siblings and their unknowing parents into dark territory, as the kids super-powered actions out their mother in hospital for almost the entirety of the book. The children feel this deeply, blaming themselves, each other - fear, anger and sadness snap at their heels.
Midway there is a rather touching Thanksgiving story, where the children try to cheer up their father, themselves and some of the very lonely characters they've met along the way. Katie - the youngest of the siblings - endangers her mother's life with a kind but badly-thought gesture that is breathtakingly stupid, highlighting how very young and how very powerful she is.
Past this, intergalactic affairs heat up with the return of the Snarks, and Katie's self-hatred of the pain her powers have caused others (she really is a stand-out character) lead to dramas that seared on my mind for decades, down to individual panels. Finally I get to the resolution, and it didn't disappoint!
Nostalgic though this was for me, it stands up well - good superhero shenanigans for tweens, especially well grounded in family drama and love and empathy.
It's couched in good messages, almost a little saccharin but not quite. Certainly you'll be safe in the knowledge that anything dangerous and outrageous the Power Pack siblings do, they'll point out in dialogue that it's not for unpowered children to try!
This volume follows the super-siblings and their unknowing parents into dark territory, as the kids super-powered actions out their mother in hospital for almost the entirety of the book. The children feel this deeply, blaming themselves, each other - fear, anger and sadness snap at their heels.
Midway there is a rather touching Thanksgiving story, where the children try to cheer up their father, themselves and some of the very lonely characters they've met along the way. Katie - the youngest of the siblings - endangers her mother's life with a kind but badly-thought gesture that is breathtakingly stupid, highlighting how very young and how very powerful she is.
Past this, intergalactic affairs heat up with the return of the Snarks, and Katie's self-hatred of the pain her powers have caused others (she really is a stand-out character) lead to dramas that seared on my mind for decades, down to individual panels. Finally I get to the resolution, and it didn't disappoint!
Nostalgic though this was for me, it stands up well - good superhero shenanigans for tweens, especially well grounded in family drama and love and empathy.
It's couched in good messages, almost a little saccharin but not quite. Certainly you'll be safe in the knowledge that anything dangerous and outrageous the Power Pack siblings do, they'll point out in dialogue that it's not for unpowered children to try!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: War