The Power Fantasy #16: What You Won’t Do For Love

God has forsaken Eliza, and so she has chosen to forsake the world in response. As the last Atomic, Valentino is the only one left that can prevent the destruction of the world. However, when the cost to save the world becomes too high, Valentina opts to make a universe-shattering decision. 

Valentina has mostly been in the background of Power Fantasy since the beginning of the story, usually as the proverbial (and literal) angel of mercy on everyone’s shoulder. While she has been among humanity and has observed for decades, she has remained decidedly detached from them aside from her connection with the other Atomics. The one time she went against her God-given moral compass was the Summer of Love, and as a result one billion people died. Valentina has been a victim of her own code of ethics, which lead to the death of not only her best friend, but countless others, and her choice to finally move against those morals is perhaps one of the most tragic moments of the story thus far.

Kieron Gillen ends the first half of Power Fantasy with a deafening bang that effectively serves as a second half to issue 15. Whereas that issue dealt with Eliza’s choice to descend the world into Hell, this issue deals with Valentina’s choice to forsake Heaven. Both are framed as terrible events created through both desperation and love. Eliza’s love for God and Valentina’s love for humanity to be specific. Valentina’s choice to rewrite history is intentionally positioned as ultimately selfish, but it will be a while before we see the consequences of her actions, if there are any. 

Caspar Wijingard makes the end of the world look equal parts beautiful and horrifying. Everything is bathed in dark reds and blues, save Valentina who is shown as a bright white and yellow light in the all encompassing darkness. Various panels have no dialogue at all, allowing the art to tell the hopelessness of the story.