Creator Daniel Warren Johnson’s art on this last issue of Do a Powerbomb is fantastic, some of the best action art. In the series and beyond. Johnson really ups the ante with the final wrestling match, which has newly reunited (sort of) father and daughter wrestling team Cobrasun and Lona fighting God. God’s a big wrestling fan and a brutal opponent. Johnson does nothing with God as a character, which is fine. He’s in the middle of the biggest possible cop-out for a story—is Do a Powerbomb supposed to be a retelling of a Greek myth, maybe—so it’s nice he doesn’t stop for another big cop-out.

Sadly, despite the best-in-class artwork—so damn good—the comic itself is beyond disappointing. Johnson managed to turn his compelling, textured narrative into something he can resolve with platitudes. And there aren’t any surprises in the issue (other than how good the art gets); Johnson forecasted the whole conclusion a few issues ago.

Johnson’s banal, tepid conclusion hurts the series overall—maybe not as badly in a single sit reading the collection versus delay between issues—but it’s still exceptionally lazy stuff.

Powerbomb can’t be a disappointment overall—not with that art, not with Johnson so boldly forecasting the book’s trip into trite starting a couple of issues ago.

I never thought, starting the book, there’d be so little to talk about when it was over.

I guess it’s technically my favorite Christian comic book, but it’s not like there are a lot of candidates.

I love that art, though–shame about the writing.

For the first time on Powerbomb, there’s cause for concern. I’m not actually concerned because I’ve got faith in creator Daniel Warren Johnson—he’s more than earned it by this point—but this issue’s at the “shit or get off the pot” moment in the series, and Johnson’s approach is to ask for five more minutes.

The issue opens fine, flashing back to Cobrasun after his wife’s death, checking in with his brother-in-law, who gives him a good smack. Johnson then goes back even further to Cobrasun and the wife’s meet cute. She was scouting wrestlers and took to him, despite the way he wears his mask to hide something. In the present, Lona is injured and unconscious, so their “I’m your father, Luke” conversation is also delayed—who knows how the issue would read if Johnson didn’t constantly delay promised moments. Cobrasun’s freaking out, but then there are also their competitors from last issue duking it out.

At the end of last issue, Johnson promised a doozy of a fight between the competitors, who both have a dead child to resurrect, so there can be only one. It’s disappointing Johnson rushes through their fight, always going for perfunctory or worse (using TV footage to recap something).

Johnson does get around to one of his outstanding threads, which may or may not foreshadow the big resolution next issue.

He’s a lot more invested in the flashbacks—and rounding Cobrasun out as a character—and it would have been better just to do this issue for Cobrasun. I’m not sure. Maybe next issue will make everything okay, but… there’s cause for concern.

The more I think about the issue, the more pronounced the problems become and, consequently, the more I worry about the finale.

Maybe if the final twist weren’t the biggest eye roll of a deus ex machina possible.

Great art as always, with Johnson proving very adept at the character drama. Hence, a full flashback issue for Cobrasun’s secret origin would’ve been a better choice.

Either way, there will be lots to talk about next time. Unless Johnson just pushes it off to Powerbomb Too.

Creator Daniel Warren Johnson outdoes himself with this issue of Do a Powerbomb. It’s an almost entirely action issue, with Lona and Cobrasun fighting for the championship. The winner gets to resurrect a dead person of their choice—in Lona and Cobrasun’s case, her mom and his wife (actually, it’s unclear if they were married). Lona still doesn’t know Cobrasun’s her father; she assumes he’s helping resurrect her mom because he feels bad about killing her.

I mean, he does feel bad about killing her (during a wrestling match), but there’s so much context. And all of it surrounds the characters as they decide to have a potential fight to the death for the championship. They don’t want the traditional rules—especially since their opponents are from a universe where pro wrestling isn’t staged. They want to be able to fight anywhere in the arena, they don’t want to have to tag in, and they want to use, well, weapons. Barbed wire baseball bats, barbed wire folding chairs. Pretty much anything they can use to cause some damage.

Cobrasun has been fighting in these kind of matches for a decade (or so), but it’s Lona’s first time. She’s scared. Johnson bakes that fear into the greater context. It’s a wrestling match action issue, complete with a ring announcer and wrestling moves, but it’s not just the final match; it’s also so much more dangerous than usual. Even for Powerbomb.

The action’s a truly superb balance between the pro-wrestling theatrics, the additional danger to the wrestlers, as well as the overarching tensions of the comic itself. Johnson teases at Lona and Cobrasun’s opponents’ backstory vise-a-vie needing someone resurrected but waits until the cliffhanger to delineate. In doing so, he introduces an entirely integrated subplot with just a couple issues left.

Powerbomb’s exceptional work.

I’ve been getting the necromancer host of the Death Lyfe inter-dimensional wrestling tournament wrong; it’s Nectron, not Necro. So not an ape named Ape situation.

This issue’s relatively self-contained, despite a big reveal in the last few pages. It’s just the story of Lona and Cobrasun’s next wrestling match in the tournament. Creator Daniel Warren Johnson opens the issue with a flashback establishing their opponents this issue, some real mean dudes from some destroyed dimension. They had a warrior capable of taking out Nectron, but he died, so these wrestlers need to win Nectron’s tournament to get Nectron to resurrect the warrior to slay him. Him being Nectron.

Johnson gets through that backstory briskly, punctuating the flashback with a brilliant sports training montage sequence. It’s got the cadence of a Rocky movie, except Johnson’s doing it with composition and text. Beautiful work. And he knows it because he does it again a little later for Lona and Cobrasun. They’ve decided to work together, even though she hates him because he killed her mother, and he feels very guilty about it, with him being Lona’s father and the woman he killed’s lover and all.

We even get more backstory about how they fell in love—or at least the implication of how they fell in love—as a tag team before Lona was born. Obviously. Though she doesn’t know it. And the big reveal isn’t the parentage; Johnson’s clearly keeping that one until later.

Lona and Cobrasun’s wrestling match is intense and vicious, but nothing compared to the next one, presumably the first other match they’ve seen. They’re also surprised—like I was surprised—to discover there’s another team from Earth. Johnson very quickly introduces the other team, establishes their stakes, and gets them in the ring for their match. The match actually literally interrupts Johnson establishing the stakes. Johnson’s got great instincts for when the exposition has done its job, and he should move on to action.

So it’s a self-contained action issue with major story threads weaved throughout.

It’s not the best issue of the series; Johnson doesn’t do anything jaw-dropping; it’s just an excellent, still excelling issue of Powerbomb. However, even when Johnson has a (relatively) simple issue to execute, he still bristles with energy.

Powerbomb’s electric. And next issue seems like it’s going to kick major ass.

Powerbomb does not disappoint with its first issue at the tournament. Creator Daniel Warren Johnson starts with a bunch of emotion—last issue’s cliffhanger revealed wannabe wrestler Lona’s dad is actually Cobrasun, the wrestler who killed her mom. The opening scene fills in the backstory when Dad visits her uncle.

Their quick, boozy conversation reveals the ground situation we didn’t get in the first issue (since it was from Lona’s perspective as a little kid). Mom and Dad didn’t want to have to try explaining Dad being the heel wrestler, but eventually, they were going to tell Lona. So Mom knew she was wrestling Dad. So did the uncle. And it’s not impossible Mom knew he’d killed her.

But Powerbomb isn’t just about Lona’s sadness and Dad’s self-loathing; it’s about all the wrestlers in the tournament’s loss and self-loathing. When one team loses, they lose everything, something Johnson makes sure the reader feels—especially as it dawns on their opponents, who alternately show empathy and apathy.

It also turns out the other wrestlers aren’t playing by the same rules as Lona and her dad (she doesn’t find out Cobrasun’s her dad, though his protectiveness is a liability); pro wrestling in other dimensions isn’t a show; it’s for real. One of the other teams—who we haven’t met yet—is from Earth, so presumably there will be something to that match if and when it happens.

This issue has three fight scenes: two wrestling matches and a bar fight. Johnson emphasizes emotionality over mechanics. Well, the emotionality in the bar fight and one wrestling match, then the brutality of the other match. It helps set up the cliffhanger. Lona and Dad barely make it through their first day, and the next promises to be even more dangerous.

Once again, it’s a great issue. Johnson’s got a nice narrative distance pivot with Lona and Dad becoming joint protagonists (though uneven, as he’s keeping big secrets) while downgrading Necro, the inter-dimensional necromancer throwing the tournament, to an announcer role. The action’s faster-paced than before too, which is fine for the opening matches, but presumably, Johnson will slow the fights down again at some point.

The issue’s so affecting—the losers’ losses so palpable—I’m hoping against hope for a mega-happy ending. The not-psychopathic characters, even those just introduced this issue, deserve it.

Well, despite being curious about something related to the issue’s Brobdingnagian last page reveal when creator Daniel Warren Johnson set it up last issue… I can’t remember the last time I’ve been as surprised by a comic. It’s a perfectly solid narrative choice but also entirely unexpected. Johnson started Powerbomb last issue doing one comic, then changed to another, then another. So now he’s on to a fourth–or at least a three and a half.

It’s still about Lona Steelrose teaming up with an inter-dimensional necromancer (named Necro), who loves pro-wrestling and wants to stage his own tournament, but the tournament is just a MacGuffin. The reveal this issue promises so much character development and such wide arc swings, Lona will be lucky if they don’t decapitate her.

Necro gives Lona the backstory in the opening. He tried taking over the galaxy, got busted, and exiled to an island where he discovered the earthly joy of television. So what’s his favorite show? Pro-wrestling, of course. But fighting to the death is passé (and why would anyone do it) unless there’s some fantastic prize.

He’s a necromancer, after all, so why not have the prize be resurrecting a person of the winner’s choice.

Now, presumably, Necro could just resurrect someone without the whole wrestling tournament, but why wouldn’t he combine the two?

Lona’s not only got to decide if she wants to do an inter-dimensional death match to potentially resurrect her mom but she’s also got to find herself a partner because Necro’s throwing a tag team tournament.

In her search for a partner, she sees a particularly brutal wrestling match, which also gives Johnson the opportunity for some action. The issue’s very visual talking heads for most of it—including Lona’s decisive call home to dad to say goodbye—but the wrestling’s gruesome.

In a good way, both in terms of artistic skill and narrative import. I can’t imagine next issue will have another big reveal—Johnson’s got to start the story sooner than later; he’s only got five more issues—but there’s so much material he’s already got to work through.

Powerbomb’s fantastic.

There’s something about the comics form and wrestling. The way an artist can choreograph the fight to emphasize the danger and drama. Because of the ring, much like boxing, the attention can better focus on the action. Unlike boxing, there are flamboyant outfits and a range of moves, though Powerbomb creator Daniel Warren Johnson doesn’t seem to be creating any new wrestling moves here, at most amplifying existing ones. Well, so the commentators imply. And no comic creator seems to do a wrestling bit without loving the potential of the “sport.”

Quotations because it’s still pro-wrestling. Johnson mentions the physical risks for entertainment in the back matter, which is the first time I can remember ever seeing it put so plainly. They’re (bad) actors, (sometimes good) athletes, but they’re actually risking their lives to put on this show.

Powerbomb #1 is the series setup. It opens with champion Yua Steelrose defending her title against Cobrasun. Yua’s successfully fended off nine previous challenges, so she’s ready for this next one. Unlike the seemingly rowdy and callous Cobrasun, Yua’s all about family, whether it’s daughter Lona or just the fans. The fans are family too. Except then it turns out Cobrasun’s bringing more to the ring than just trash talk, and Yua’s in for a devastating match.

When the fight and immediate fallout are done, the action jumps ahead ten years. Lona’s desperate to become a pro-wrestler herself, except she can’t find a trainer. In addition, her family’s unwilling to support her, and she can’t do it alone.

Enter a creepy punk with a lightning grip with an offer.

Now, the creepy punk was actually in the comic before—and his creepy lair (oh, it’s a lair) is the first-panel establishing shot—but Yua and Lona’s story is so compelling he doesn’t make as much of an impression as he would otherwise. The final reveal promises one hell of a comic, though it could probably get away with just being seven different wrestling matches visualized by Johnson. The art’s controlled frantic, bursting with energy, and the writing’s full of heart.

It’s an outstanding comic, both in terms of art, writing (Johnson’s dialogue’s just okay sometimes, but his pacing’s phenomenal), and setup.

Can’t wait for more.