Since the debut of the series, Kieron Gillen and Caspar Wijngaard’s unconventional superhero epic The Power Fantasy has enchanted, captivated, and enraptured readers with its impressive scope, bold storytelling, and distinctive art, which vastly sets this book apart from all others. With this title from Image Comics, the creative team has continued to rewrite the rules for what is possible within the medium of comics, and has consistently delivered excellence across over a years worth of comics without seeing a decline in quality. That is something that is not easy to achieve with a book that is as inventive, imaginative, and innovative as this one. In The Power Fantasy #16, the creative team gives us yet another exciting installment in a series that has never ceased to amaze us with the quality, consistency, and impressiveness of the storytelling.
Across 15 sprawling issues, The Power Fantasy has expanded on a long-standing conflict between superbeings that call themselves “The Superpowers”. Throughout the series, these Superpowers have lied to, betrayed, and manipulated each other. At times this conflict has emerged as an unsteady armistice to keep the peace and prevent all-out war between The Superpowers, while other times direct violence has been carried out amongst the The Superpowers, such as when the Atomic known as Etienne Lux was neutralized by the other Atomics after Etienne assassinated the sitting U.S. President. The Superpowers have also saved all of reality from collapsing, such as when the entity known as The Queen attempted to drill into Hell during the Second Summer of Love in 1989, as detailed in The Power Fantasy #7. While the Superpowers were successful in defeating The Queen and saving reality from collapsing, all of Europe was destroyed in the battle. The Power Fantasy #7 is a cataclysmic issue of epic proportions, one with tremendous stakes, and perfectly encapsulates the scale and breadth that readers of The Power Fantasy can expect.
The Power Fantasy #16 opens with a bombastic battle with stakes as big as the Second Summer of Love in The Power Fantasy #7. Eliza Hellhound, who previously sold her soul to defeat The Queen, has been unraveling after learning that everyone in her life has lied to her and learning of the existence of Hell. This came to a head in The Power Fantasy #15 when Eliza attempts to destroy all of reality herself, akin to The Queen nearly collapsing reality during the Second Summer of Love in 1989. Heavy tried to neutralize Eliza by placing a miniature black hole in her head, Eliza retaliated by killing Heavy. The Power Fantasy #16 with Valentina facing off against her friend Eliza, knowing that all of reality will cease to exist if she is unable to stop Eliza.
A final battle to decide the fate of all reality. (Credit: Image Comics)
SPOILERS AHEAD for The Power Fantasy #16!
With all of reality at stake, Valentine had no choice but to cast out Eliza, with the Pyramid sealing the hole to the lower dimension created by Eliza, thus saving reality and ensuring Eliza can hurt nobody ever again. It’s a devastating moment for both Eliza and Valentina, as we have witnessed Eliza’s long and tragic narrative arc throughout the series, and Valentina was forced to put down a dear friend. After the hole is sealed by the Pyramid, we cut to a news talk show host where a representative of the Pyramid, Dr. Eldritch, is talking about the destruction caused by Eliza. They estimate that the death toll should be no more than thirty million. To put that in perspective, the Second Summer of Love in 1989 led to nearly one billion deaths. Dr. Eldritch says, “we have been exceedingly lucky”. While this may be a pragmatic assessment of the devastation, it also seems to be downplaying the significance and emotional weight of thirty million people being killed.
Much of the focus on the issue centers on Valentina, who is determined to save as many people as possible. To do so, Valentine must travel to an alternate timeline to team up with Etienne, seemingly to try and prevent the events that led to the deaths of Eliza Hellhound and at least 30 million people. How successful will this plan be? Fans and readers alike will have to wait and see what Valentine and Etienne get up to together when the series returns with The Power Fantasy #17, which at the time of writing does not have a release date.
Kieron Gillen addresses the future of The Power Fantasy #17 in a letter to readers, which acknowledges and confirms that the series will continue behind issue #16, however there will also be a gap to give the creative team time to map out the future direction of the series and have some issues finished and ready for publication prior to solicits going out for subsequent issues of The Power Fantasy. As Gillen writes in his letter, “This will be a journey, and we can’t wait to go on it with you”.
While Gillen did not confirm when the series can be expected to resume, we can expect future issues of the book to be released in late 2026 or early 2027. In the meantime, readers can pick up volume three of The Power Fantasy trade paperback in comic shops on March 26th and in bookshops the following April.
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