The Power Fantasy #15: Hell Is Other Atomics

When Etienne Lux was killed, Eliza Hellbound’s link to God was severed. Ever since then the countdown towards the apocalypse had begun, and at the turn of the millennium it reached zero. As Eliza aches to die, her madness threatens to take the entire planet with her. This pushes Valentina and Dev to action, but it might be too late.

Eliza has always been an outcast when it came to the rest of her fellow Atomics. While the others found different ways to express their views through the use of their powers, Eliza always held hers at bay, believing herself a demon cursed by the devil. The only thing that kept her in check was the false words by Etienne who pretended to be her god, without that connection she has nothing left to tether to the world. On the other side of the coin is Valentina, who ironically can not save Eliza despite being a literal angel. Her morals to protect humanity kept her from telling the truth, but in the end she proved Etienne, her inaction doomed the world she promised to protect and Dev’s love proved just as ineffective. 

Kieron Gillen excels at escalation of character actions. He did this to great effect during his stellar work on Immortal X-Men at the tail end of the Krakoan Age, and counties that work into Power Fantasy (which makes sense since Gillen said he formed this book based on concepts and ideas he couldn’t use for X-Men). What this keen insight into character gives us is an arresting and achingly human narrative where everyone is who they are for better or worse. There is no compromise and there is no change, because change has shown over the course of this series to lead to death. Etienne’s decision to reveal his secret caused his death, and in turn even though his failsafe wasn’t activated, the domino effect still cost lives. 

Caspar Wijingard’s art is also the perfect vessel that Gillen is able to tell his narrative through. Every line and color brings you right into this world of nukes trying to become human and it makes you not want to miss a single visual in every issue. This issue there are tinges of red that get more vivid the closer Eliza is to losing it all, only broken up when characters are inside rooms covered by gray or green walls. It commands your attention in a way few books on the shelves do.