Brother Power the Geek #2
writer: Joe Simon
art: Al Bare

grade: B

(deep inhale)

Okay. I'm going to do it. I'm actually going to defend this title.

I approach issue #2 with the understanding that few successful original concepts in comicdom found their voices immediately. Yet, while the first issue of BPtG was simply all over the place in terms of what it wanted Brother Power to be and do, the second issue begins to take true decisive steps, enough so that it's evident from this issue where the series was headed.

Essentially, foxley is right on the money when he asks:



I think the answer is "yes." Whereas "Pow" (as he's now affectionately nicknamed in this issue) presumably dropped out of his bid for congress when he became a fugitive of the law, this issue sees him starting again from scratch, working his way up from the bottom, from supermarket stock boy, to checkout clerk, to assembly line worker, to foreman, and finally to Chairman of the Board, fueled by nothing but idealism and a willingness to work hard. Better yet, he persistently uses his good fortune to help others, getting jobs for his slacker hippie friends from the first issue, reforming some villains by offering them jobs as well, and generally being a force for positive change by following his own heart. It's hokey to the max, and yet the series has begun to show signs of laughing at itself while also offering unapologetic idealism.

Given more time, I think this series would have become a real treat. And I have to say that I enjoyed this second outing far more than I ever enjoyed Prez.


Minor Details:

- Why is it that, wherever Pow goes, he runs into random groups of Neo Nazi thugs? Does Simon think these guys are hanging around every street corner or something?

- This issue, Pow is recharged by the beam from a searchlight. I guess it's better than a third bolt of lightening, but still...

- Why would a manufacturer of rockets for the US space program be in danger of bankruptcy due to a sluggish assemblyline? Clearly, the government wasn't dropping their contracts with the company.

- "Lord Sliderule": the villain who takes over factories, dressed in 16th Century courtly garb and surrounded by midgets and acrobats, through his cunning use of late 1960s computers to solve assembly-line problems??? I certainly hope Simon was laughing as hard as I was over this.

- The United States government makes contracts for space programs with agencies that promote someone to the position of CEO without doing a criminal background check on him? Let's not forget -- Pow is still wanted by the cops at this point.

- How many CEOs of aerodynamics production facilities contracted out by the government run the countdown themselves?

- Suddenly, Pow does not like to be called a "Geek," and yet his Hippie friends were the first to call him this.

- The cliffhanger ending to this issue leaves Pow orbiting space in a rocket, assuring us that he WILL return next issue: "The Geek will touch down in good time for the next issue...but you'll never believe WHERE!!" Guess we'll find out in the next review....


Plot synopsis in one sentence:

Pow is pulled out of the bay by some underprivileged teens who are fishing, he is without life and hanged out to dry so that they can take his clothes, A second random band of Neo Nazis decides to launch a raid to steal Pow's boots, they shine a search light on the area which inexplicably charges Pow and brings him back to life, he fights off the gang and befriends the teens, retelling his story and explaining that he does not like to be called a "geek," he decides to get a job at a supermarket in order to make something of himself while the teens scoff at this effort, he is quickly promoted to checkout clerk due to his hard work, a satisfied customer tells him her husband owns a missile plant and recommends that he be employed there, he arrives in time to find the company in danger of bankruptcy because it cannot speed up its assembly line, the company brings in Lord Sliderule with the completely mystifying agreement that, if he can speed up the assembly line, the company becomes his, Pow quickly solves the assembly line problem on his own and so Lord Sliderule and his men try to silence him, he defeats them and is promoted foreman and later Chairman of the Board and allows Lord Sliderule and his men to stay on as assembly line workers in order to give them a chance to reform, his hippie friends come demonstrating against war munitions, Pow meets them and explains the missiles are for space exploration and then gives them jobs on the assembly line too, Lord Sliderule decides to sabotage things by leaking to the press that the hippies are trying to sabotage production, thus concerning the US government, Lord Sliderule than creates the sabotage himself, the government learns that Pow is wanted by the law and suspects he might even be responsible, Pow is aided in escape by a former member of the Neo Nazi group who is apparently now working for him while his hippie friends, led by love interest Cindy (from last issue), expose Lord Sliderule's plan to the government, but not before Lord Sliderule traps Pow in a rocket that he launches into Earth's orbit, leaving us to wonder what will happen to Pow next.


Take it with a grain of salt or five, but the story has heart, idealism, and zaniness to spare. Given another four issues, I think it would have found the right balance and, thus, it's voice.

But what am I saying? With a run of 283.5 issues, plus an issue #0 and #1000, the series most certainly did eventually find a voice, though certainly not the one I expected.