Review: The Power Knights - Unbounded
Writer/artist Keithan Jones is the creator of The Power Knights, characters he first drew at the age of ten years old, making this a lifetime labour of love. Like many African-American kids, he loved comics but did not see very many characters in them who looked like him, so he set out to rectify that omission and has now founded his own company KID Comics.
Six super-powered warriors, once enslaved by a sorceress to enact the will of a galactic tyrant king, find themselves on a planet called Earth, freed from the control that once bound their will. One of them, Warseed, uses his new freedom to exert control over the primitive inhabitants of his new home, assuming the human identity Marcus Krain in the city New Angeles and plotting to create an army of mutants to take over the world.
One of his human recruits, young Davion Watson, rebels and is nearly killed by Krain, fleeing to warn his brother Kandle. His life is saved by Dragon Blaze, one of Warseed's former comrades, who turns Davion into a cyborg. The conversion, however, leaves Davion mentally unstable...
The other four Knights - Princess Raxi, Bluzara, Camouflage and Metalstar - are allied with Dragon Blaze against Warseed. But will they be any match for his platoon of super-enhanced monsters?
Meanwhile, the spacecraft that brought our heroes to Earth has been acquired by the US government who are testing its capabilities. Maverick test pilot 'Octa-Gun' takes it on a test run to the Moon and back, in preparation for the possibility of an alien invasion.
Back in the city, Detective Tripli of New Angeles Police Department is investigating the disappearance of the Watson brothers. She knows that 'Krain' is not all he appears to be, but can she expose him before it is too late?
It is a rich, complex story and the separate threads are deftly interwoven. There is colourful, explosive action aplenty and also more introspective themes; Davion's struggle with his rage, Raxi's guilt at the atrocities she was forced to commit... by her own father. It all adds up to a very satisfying package that will entertain fans of all ages. Jones is as accomplished an artist as he is a storyteller, his well-polished characters bursting off the page with relentless energy.
Fans of mainstream superhero comics will find plenty to enjoy here, and the sci-fi elements only add more to the mix. If you are familiar with Marvel's Micronauts you will find a similar blend of action with the exotic, a combination that ticks lots of boxes for those with a passion for everything out of this world.
The Power Knights - Unbounded 1-3 on Comixology
Zak Webber
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