unstable molecules

FF return in their own title! Who is giving it a try?

Full Spoilers:

Spoiler: show

The prison planet L'ar Gath V. Yondu Udonta turns in Julie Power for a bounty. He returns back to his ship and onboard are the Future Foundation. Turning in Julie is a ruse to get her inside, and Bentley has designed nanobots that are living in her hair and will be able to deactivate security. Onome is also able to hack into the cameras so the FF can see what is going on inside the prison. Julie heads for a prison cell from which power readings matching Molecule Man are emanating from. There she finds some tough-looking girl who refuses to go along with her; that is until Julie mentions she is a hero from Avengers Academy. The prisoner, introducing herself as Rebecca, is very interested now and seems to ask a question to figure out which Spider-Man lives in this reality (if he had a Spider-Mobile) and is pleased to find confirmation. Meanwhile in the ship the Moloids suddenly spot on one of the screens that Reed Richards is a prisoner here too! Alex wants to break in and get him but Yondu says it is crazy and Bentley concurs it can't be done. Onome however points out that Yondu has a huge overclocked gun they can use, although she will have to modify it because in its current state it would liquefy the person pulling the trigger. With Julie giving the signal from inside, the nanobots are activated and all power is cut and cells opened. She tells Rebecca to head to the showers for extraction through the water reservoir, but the girl demands to retrieve the things that were taken from her. With the power off Julie has access to her powers and with Rebecca holding on she zips through the prison at lightspeed. Outside Onome has blasted a hole in the wall with the supergun and Alex says he, Yondu, and Dragon Man will head inside while Onome returns to the ship with Artie and Leech. Bentley is supposed to go back to but doesn't follow orders; fortunately he is useful in the fight though as he has a slingshot and marbles that open dimensional wormholes among other things. Alex makes it to Richards but finds Reed has other prisoners guarding him including a Shi'ar Warbird named At'Li. It is then that Richards turns around and reveals he is The Maker!

So (and again SPOILER! alert) for those speculating in HoX about the Maker's possible involvement, he is currently on a prison planet in outer space.

Overall I thought this was alright. There were definite positives like Whitley does a good job in the first issue in giving a spotlight to multiple members of his fairly large cast. (Though I personally demand more Artie and Leech in the future!) And that last page reveal was indeed pretty surprising. As Whitley kind of alludes to himself in his note at the end, the book seems more like it is lighthearted and then suddenly you get this crazy dangerous threat at the end. And confusingly I at first actually thought that was THE Warbird at the end but she has a different name.
I am not a fan of the weird Molecule Man scavenger hunt that drives the title, but the fun characters give the book potential. We will see if it can meet that potential over time.

But stop trying to make MCU Yondu happen. It's annoying.

I am not a fan of the Robson art overall, and in particular I don't know why Alex Power is drawn like he has become all jacked up on steroids.

Well as I said before

Spoiler: show

The Maker explained in New Avengers post-SW that he exists as one mind across multiple bodies. So he can use multiple versions of himself at once.

I just don't see

Spoiler: show

the Maker being a big presence in an X-men reboot storyline

being very thematic or interesting. I really don't think that theory is very likely.

I may check out this first issue. I like fun teen books.

I liked it, fun with some good action. Nice intros and insight into each character's outlook. Although I would have appreciated more detail on Artie and Leech. I remember them but they didn't even get a tiny name/power description caption box in the beginning.

Any thoughts on who the girl prisoner they're trying to rescue is? From her questioning, I take it she may not be native to our timeline?

I have to ask, who was Julie's ex-girlfriend? Someone from the Runaways? Is she a lesbian now? I only ask because I've read very little of the Power Pack over the years so this was totally new for me.

Cyke wrote: ↑

10 Aug 2019, 01:47

I liked it, fun with some good action. Nice intros and insight into each character's outlook. Although I would have appreciated more detail on Artie and Leech. I remember them but they didn't even get a tiny name/power description caption box in the beginning.

Any thoughts on who the girl prisoner they're trying to rescue is? From her questioning, I take it she may not be native to our timeline?

I have to ask, who was Julie's ex-girlfriend? Someone from the Runaways? Is she a lesbian now? I only ask because I've read very little of the Power Pack over the years so this was totally new for me.

She does appear to not be from here. Going off the name Rebecca rumor has it that she is

Spoiler: show

Rebecca Barnes, a female version of Bucky Barnes. A couple versions have appeared across the multiverse

Julie's ex is indeed Karolina Dean (aka Lucy in the Sky) from Runaways. Karolina is dating fellow teammate Sister Grimm now instead.

Cyke wrote: ↑

10 Aug 2019, 01:47

I liked it, fun with some good action. Nice intros and insight into each character's outlook. Although I would have appreciated more detail on Artie and Leech. I remember them but they didn't even get a tiny name/power description caption box in the beginning.

Any thoughts on who the girl prisoner they're trying to rescue is? From her questioning, I take it she may not be native to our timeline?

I have to ask, who was Julie's ex-girlfriend? Someone from the Runaways? Is she a lesbian now? I only ask because I've read very little of the Power Pack over the years so this was totally new for me.

I believe Julie said she was bisexual in the kickoff story to this which was in Fantastic Four.