Writer: Daniel Warren Johnson
Artist: Daniel Warren Johnson
Letters: Rus Wooton
Initial Thoughts
Do A Powerbomb: Black & White #1 is a great first issue. It captures the larger-than-life energy and the stakes of professional wrestling. It showcases all of the strengths of Daniel Warren Johnson as a storyteller and artist. Ultimately, it creates a fresh and unique story for fans of an untapped market in comic books. This book follows Lona Steelrose, a second-generation wrestler, as she tries to become the best, just like her mother was. The only expectation I had for this book was Johnson’s high-energy art, and he delivered so much more.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Wrestling With Your Past
Lona wants to be a professional wrestler so badly. The only thing standing in her way is the memory of her mother, Yua, who died in the ring as a result of a move gone wrong. Now, accidents happen all the time, especially in pro wrestling. This time, an accident was fatal. It was just a freak accident. One ring commentator even says, “Accidents happen in the ring, folks, it’s an awful truth…but a real one”. Yua knew what she was getting into. That is the risk you take when stepping into a ring. Lona, her daughter, obviously has nothing to do with what happened. However, the haunting memory of what happened to Yua and how it happened leaves Lona with no help from anyone in the business. Nobody wants Lona to meet the same fate as her mother. That wound is still so fresh.
Wrestling With Your Demons
Finally, after meeting Willard Necroton, a necromancer, she finally has a chance to wrestle in his tag team tournament. This is where things get interesting. To make sure she wrestles, Necroton entices her with the chance to bring her mother back if she wins. He treats her dead mom like fishing bait. She just needs to find a partner. The only one desperate enough to tag with her is the same person who was in the ring against her mother during her last match, Cobrasun. Cobrasun, after all these years, is a shell of his former self. Instead of performing in highly rated matches like he is used to, he is now wrestling in death matches. Death Matches are just pure shock and violence; the more blood, the better. There is no substance or story. It is a reason these matches are looked down upon.
The Art
Daniel Warren Johnson already makes incredible art. I have seen his art before, but the first book I read with his art was Absolute Batman 2025 Annual #1. That book was the first time I had seen his art in context with the story. Having this be about another passion of mine in professional wrestling seemed to be written just for me. I am confident in saying there is no artist working today who does action quite like Johnson. Thank goodness this book is about professional wrestling, so he can really showcase his art.
The matches are so grand. He truly makes them feel larger-than-life with larger-than-life characters. I thoroughly enjoy how often he draws from a worm’s eye view. It does such an incredible job showing scale. For instance, my favorite scene is Willard Necroton showing Lona around his castle and home. Many of the shots are framed in a worm’s eye view, looking up at everything. My favorite image is the shot of Necroton’s ring. The ground is cracking at the bottom. The clouds are ominous. The steps lead to the ring on top of a cliff. It all looks so dangerous and creepy. I wouldn’t expect a necromancer to have any other type of arena.
Final Thoughts
Daniel Warren Johnson’s Do A Powerbomb: Black & White #1 is a smash hit! Johnson delivers kinetic art and grounded writing. This book could be a good start for people who have not read Johnson’s work, as well as readers who missed the colored edition a few years back. One thing to note about this issue is that it actually groups the first issue with the second issue. So, although readers are getting the same story, the pacing and amount of writing are different. This book is also black and white. That might make people turn away from this. For others, whose style is more like manga, this might be a book worth getting. Both sides of the fence are okay! For me, there were times the panels got busy, and I needed to figure out what was what.
Personally, I like and can appreciate black and white books. However, I simply prefer color in my books. It is another piece of art that I enjoy studying/admiring, especially when the same people draw and color their books. Not to mention, I love professional wrestling. I am not as into it as I was when I was younger; however, it is still a passion of mine due to its storytelling and escapism. This book does a surprisingly good job recreating the cliffhanger excitement I had watching wrestling as a kid. I remember so many instances of the show going off the air right after or even right before the big rivalry faced off. I was always a fan of the grittier, more aggressive wrestlers. I loved watching the wrestlers fight. Seeing them finally square off after all of the smack talk and sneak attacks was so cool to me; the bigger the rivalry, the more interested I was.