The Unlikely Heroes of Boom! Studios’ ‘Power Up’ Are Magical

Every kid knows their mom is a superhero, even if they don’t have actual superpowers. (Although my daughter has wondered more than once how I always know what she’s thinking.) Power Up from Boom! Studios, a phenomenally fun, new, all-ages miniseries, puts a spin on the magical girl genre by adding a superpowered mom to the lineup. And a dude. And a laser whale.

Power Up, written by Kate Leth with art by Matt Cummings, is the six-issue origin story of an unlikely team of superheroes. The story focuses on Amie Bloom, who works in a pet store and can barely scrape together change for a gallon of milk.

On a day like any other at the shop, Amie and a fish in the store named Silas are bathed in a strange light, immediately followed by a dark creature’s attack. Their superpowered adventures are about to begin!

They’re not the only ones who see the light: Construction worker Kevin and married mom-of-two Sandy also suddenly find themselves with superpowers, although none of them know why. They’re brought together as another monster attacks and realize they need to stick together to get to the bottom of it all.

This is an original and diverse cast of superheroes that I can’t wait to see more of. Not only is Amie adorable with a realistic body shape (and I want her penguin hoodie), Kevin is unashamed of his skimpy magical girl uniform. “It’s my armor,” he says, with a touch of pride. Add to that a mom of two teenagers in the mix, and I’m in love.

There are very few mothers in comics, much less superpowered ones, and I feel like there’s a kindred spirit in the pages of Power Up thanks to the inclusion of super-strong Sandy. I’m just sad that there will only be six issues to see a super mom in action.

Power Up #1 and #2 are now available at your local comic book store and ComiXology for $3.99 an issue.