KERPOW! #1, by Scout Comics on 9/18/24, catches up with Jacob Blakowski years after witnessing the murder of Midknight and Starling. Have the heroes returned, or is his mind playing tricks on him?
Credits:
- Writer: Tom Fyans
- Artist: Julio Brilha
- Colorist: Rod Fernandes
- Letterer: Marco Della Verde
- Cover Artist: Julio Brilha
- Publisher: Scout Comics
- Release Date: September 18, 2024
- Comic Rating: Teen
- Cover Price: $4.99
- Page Count: 28
- Format: Single Issue
Covers:
Analysis of KERPOW! #1:
First Impressions:
Well, okay. Kerpow! #1 isn’t bad, not bad at all. Readers who like grounded superhero stories in the same arena as Kick-Ass will like the gritty tale of costumed vigilantes, gangsters, and a young man who may or may not be crazy. Some details will trip you up, but this story is off to a promising start.
Plot Analysis:
Kerpow! #1 begins with young Jacob Blakowski reading a comic in his room late at night. Suddenly, Jacob hears a ruckus in his living room, and he leaves his bedroom to investigate. What he sees haunts him for years to come – Jacob’s father guns down famed vigilante Midknight, and Midknight’s sidekick, Starling, flees through a window to be hunted and killed later (off-panel).
Tom Fyans tale starts with an exciting and attention-grabbing start, even if the details are mildly confusing. What was Midknight doing in Jacob’s house? Why would Jacob’s father instigate a shootout in his own home against a costumed vigilante? These are minor quibbles, but more quibbles will stack up as the issue progresses.
Twelve years later (or nine years later, depending on which panel you pick), Jacob attends college in New York for Mechanical Engineering. One day, Jacob agrees to meet his father for Lunch. During their meal, a man dressed in a shabby reproduction of a Midknight costume rushes to their table and opens fire with a shotgun, wounding Jacob in the shoulder but missing the target, Jacob’s father, Tyler Blakowski. Tyler rushes the assassin and beats him to death. In the aftermath, we learn from the investigating detectives that Tyler evolved from a small-time enforcer to the city’s most dangerous gangster after he earned the reputation of killing Midknight.
Fyans’s use of a would-be assassin is a clever device to inform the reader about Tyler Blakowski’s current status quo, build the world, and create an inciting incident to put Jacob on the path for what comes next. That said, the quibbles stack up. News reporters say Midknight disappeared 12 years ago, but the narration caption says nine years passed since the murder. Jacob’s friend, Chip, accidentally runs into him before class in a panel that makes it look like Chip deliberately charged his friend. Again, these are small quibbles, but they have the same effect as a smooth road with multiple speed bumps.
Later, Jacob wakes up in the hospital to find Starling in his room, urging him to get up and continue his fight against injustice as Midknight. Jacob believes he’s hallucinating from his head wound (???) since Sterling is supposed to be dead, and even if he isn’t, he hasn’t aged a day in 9 or 12 years. After Jacob is released from the hospital, his father insists on moving Jacob to an upscale apartment. Tyler asks Chip (called Michael?) to step outside for a private chat with his son. Tyler forcefully insists Jacob keep a gun in the apartment for protection.
Fyans successfully escalates the atmosphere of tension by showing how the attack on Tyler invites more killers to take their shot, particularly by using Jacob as leverage if they nab him. It also raises the tension between Jacob and his father by putting them at odds over Tyler’s dangerous life choices. But again, quibbles abound.
During the assassination attempt, Jacob is shot through the shoulder. Why is his head bandaged, and why is talking about a head wound? Chip is short for Charles, so why does Tyler refer to Chip as Michael? Why does Jacob enter his new apartment with a cane? It’s these little inconsistencies that continually interrupt the reading experience.
The issue ends with another bizarre visit, a field trip, and a fateful discovery that’s either real or one heck of a hallucination.
Overall, Kerpow! #1 has all the right ingredients to act as a spiritual successor to more familiar properties such as Kick-Ass. If Tom Fyans can get a better handle on the continuity errors, this series has the potential to be a hit.
Artwork and Presentation:
Julio Brilha and Rod Fernandes deliver Big 2-quality art with super clean lines, excellent character designs and details, and fantastic coloring. Scout is typically thought of as one of the “smaller” publishers, but this comic has all the visual quality and appeal of a top-tier property.
Art Samples:
Final Thoughts:
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KERPOW! #1 is a great-looking comic with an interesting concept, strong character moments, and a kick-ass cliffhanger. That said, the reading experience is regularly interrupted by consistency errors that lessen the entertainment factor. With a little more focus from the editing team, this series has the potential to be a hit.
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