Every February for Black History Month, DC takes the opportunity to check in with their rich collection of Black characters and provide the greatest and most promising Black talent in comics new opportunities to break new ground with them in an anthology comic we call DC Power. This year’s DC Power: Rise of the Power Company is no different, except that this anthology has a very specific curation. Many of the characters we see in this special—characters like Vixen, Black Lightning, Jace Fox, the Signal and Josiah Power—are coming together for an upcoming reboot this April of the Power Company, a superhero team created by Kurt Busiek and Tom Grummett over twenty years ago.

In a framing story by Brandon Thomas, our updated Power Company begins to take shape for a new chapter in the works from writer Bryan Edward Hill. We spoke to Thomas about rebuilding the Power Company, what’s been happening in team leader Josiah Power’s life since he vanished from the spotlight and what to expect next.

We haven’t seen much of the Power Company in over 20 years. Can you bring us up to speed on Josiah Power?

Josiah Power was a skilled lawyer whose latent metahuman powers were activated by an alien gene bomb, which effectively ended his legal career. He rebounded from being imprisoned by people that wanted to weaponize his and others’ new abilities and created a “heroes for hire” style super team called the Power Company, which was built around the structure of a law firm with partners, associates, etc. The team was filled with new heroes like Skyrocket, Witchfire and Striker Z, who did some real good, until the team disbanded for some of the reasons most superhero teams eventually split up.

Josiah’s been off the scene for a while now, but after suffering an incredible personal loss during the events of Absolute Power, he’s been inspired to re-emerge and assume a new role in a new world that’s never been more distrustful and hostile towards metahumans. Amanda Waller has broken the understanding that used to exist between superheroes and the general public, and Josiah is taking it upon himself to help put it back together with a new Power Company that will prove to the world one mission at a time that there’s nothing to fear, and most of the people in the world with powers are just trying to save you.

When the original series launched in 2002, the Power Company was always billed as a superhero team inspired by the structure of a law firm, with partners, associates, and paid and pro bono clientele. Does that still describe them now, or has the Power Company become something else?

I don’t want to get too far ahead of what’s coming, but I will say that Josiah being a lawyer is a huge, integral part of his character, and that kind of firm structure in a superhero team was incredibly unique and something you’d want to at least reflect in any new version. So, it’s probably safest for me to simply say…stay tuned.

The Power Company was originally the brainchild of Kurt Busiek, who worked on developing the concept for twenty years before it was finally published. Your story in this DC Power special sets up a follow-up story by Bryan Hill to come. How much did you get to work with Kurt, or Bryan, on this new direction?

I didn’t have the chance to collaborate with Kurt on this, though I’m a huge fan of the original Power Company and the work he and Tom Grummett did. As someone that came into the game in the early ’90s, Tom in particular holds a special place in my heart, with his work on the Superman/Superboy books, and his amazing stint drawing Tim Drake, the greatest Robin of all time.

Anything that [Grummett’s] done means the world to me, including that original run of Power Company. So, it was an honor to really get the ball rolling on this new take.

Editor Marquis Draper has served as the main conduit for everything, and though I don’t know exactly where Bryan Hill will take things, I know what the overall mission statement is. Just from that alone, this new Power Company will be a great read for fans old and new.

Much of this story feels like it’s setting up the next chapter in your current project, Black Lightning. What direction do you see Jefferson Pierce headed in?

Oh, it’s definitely that. Given the importance of Jefferson to Josiah Power and what he’s building, it just made sense to seed the next phase of his story here. I’m unsure what the future holds for the Power Company and Black Lightning, but I’m ready and waiting for another opportunity to keep delving into this amazing family and trying to solidify them all as a vital, thriving pillar of the DCU.

One particular character I was surprised not to see in Josiah Power’s life anymore was Rupert, Josiah’s partner who was all but textually confirmed to be his lover in the original series. Is that an aspect of Josiah’s private life you or Bryan discussed approaching for this relaunch?

I’m not sure what Bryan is planning on that front, but this is definitely something that was considered for my story. It was decided not to include him only from a space concern, given we only had ten pages and had to accomplish several important things in a very tight window. To give Josiah a more personal connection to the events of Absolute Power, we created a previously unrevealed nephew that tragically lost his life during the event, and who Josiah holds Amanda Waller and her movement personally responsible for. It was extremely important to me that this character wasn’t Rupert, so that when space and the story allow it, he can return as a critical part of Josiah’s supporting cast.

Fans shouldn’t worry, the character and the relationship are in great hands with Bryan.

Why does now feel like the right time to bring the Power Company back?

I think the concept has always been an incredibly strong one, and the time is always right for great ideas. Also, I see this as something of a partial extension of the successful DC Power events that have become an annual staple for DC. I feel like the same spirit and intent of that project is now being directly infused into this new version of the Power Company, grafting that original idea and approach with a new perspective. The result is an idea that fans have been waiting for years and years to see, so I hope they’ll support it and reward the effort that’s gone into it from a lot of talented creators, both past and present.
 

DC Power: Rise of the Power Company #1 featuring “Company Man” by Brandon Thomas, Charles Stewart III, Anthony Fowler Jr. and Ulises Arreola is now available in print and as a digital comic book.