Artithmeric 9 Issue #2

18 but they wore everyday clothes. It was not until issue #3 that the Fantastic Four wore their distinctive uniforms. There were reasons for that, of course, as any comic-book historian will tell you, but that comic at the time was special and remains so today partly because of the way the realities of the super powers in terms of both their great advantages and severe disadvantages gradually dawned on the reader at the same time as they became apparent to the characters in the stories. Reading Marvel comics in the 1960s felt a bit like reading comics in real time, just as reading webcomics does today. It felt fresh and new. Different. Surprising, even. Today, in the age when the 60’s Marvel and DC 9th Art superheroes dominate the 7th Art films being shown in our cinemas it would be new, different and surprising to see stories about superheroes who wear normal clothes and not fantastic costumes. Times change. Every now and then you have the pleasure of reading a book that surprises you. That happened to me most recently when I read the first seven issues in the Powers Squared comic-book series. These comics too feature people with super powers, but they do not (as yet) wear costumes. The seven books in the series thus far have followed the lives of twin brothers Marty and Eli Powers as they have made the transition from home life to college life. At the same time they have continued to cope with the extraordinary powers they were granted when young and that appear to be developing well beyond the empathetic wordless communications possessed by some sets of twins. Indeed (and without wishing to spoil the story) they gradually become aware of their developing powers in seeming real time along with the readers of the books. The writers, father and son writing duo David and Paul Hankins, manage this difficult-to-do task quite perfectly. It is clear when reading the books that they are well written. Something that