February is Black History Month in the United States. To celebrate, the annual DC Power anthology is returning once again with a new one-shot which lays the seeds for a surprise spin-off. DC Power: Rise of the Power Company is a 32-page special featuring four new stories, one of which will be expanded upon in a separate release later in the year.
The two-part 'Company Man' is written by Brandon Thomas and illustrated by Charles Stewart III, Anthony Fowler Jr., and Ulises Arreola. It focuses on Josiah Power, the superhuman attorney and leader of the now defunct Power Company (the heroes for hire squad created by Kurt Busiek and Tom Grummett back in 2002). Power will also cameo in January 15's Black Lightning #3, also penned by Brandon Thomas.
You can check out preview art from all four of the new stories in the galleries below.
Company Man
While Power mourns the loss of his nephew Daniel (who was killed in last summer's Absolute Power event), he decides that the answer is to re-form the Power Company as "the only solution to the problem of growing anti-meta sentiment, and Jefferson Pierce, a.k.a. Black Lightning, is the key."
Ring of Power
Writer Zipporah Smith and artists Kelsey Ramsay and Francesco Segala deliver 'Ring of Power,' which sees Vixen and Bolt join forces to battle a wave of "anti-metahuman sentiment in a hospital where citizens are getting treated for emerging abilities."
Unfinished Business
Cyborg and Green Lantern Jo Mullein take on Despero in this new story by John Jennings with art by Caanan White, Atagun Ilhan, and Andrew Dalhouse.
Dynamic Duo
Batman Jace Fox and Signal (Duke Thomas) team up in Vita Ayala, Ray-Anthony Height and Chris Sotomayor's 'Dynamic Duo,' in a tale that sees them "fight crime, drink ginger beer, and play Spades on the mean streets of New York."
Here's Khary Randolph and Emilio Lopez's main cover for the special, followed by variants from Alitha Martinez (with Mark Morales and Andrew Dalhouse), Davi Go, and Valentine De Landro.
The issue will also act as a prelude to a new one-shot launching in April. The Power Company: Recharged sees the return to DC of writer Bryan Edward Hill, with art from Khary Randolph and Alitha Martinez, and will explore how the new Power Company line-up – which includes Power alongside Black Lightning, the Jace Fox Batman, the Signal, and Vixen – work to "rebuild humanity's faith in heroes and fight against the rising tide of anti-metahuman hate" while also battling a serial killer who is hunting people with powers in Atlanta.
DC Power: Rise of the Power Company is published on January 29. The Power Company: Recharged will follow on April 30.
Jo Mullein is one of the best Green Lanterns of all time.
