C2E2: Marvel Brings Back 'Supreme Power'

One of the smaller announcements to come out of C2E2 from Marvel's 'Next Big Thing'  panel was that writer Kyle Higgins will be tackling the (anti)heroes from Supreme Power in a new four issue mini-series under Marvel's MAX imprint.

Supreme Power was a  MAX series first released in 2003 by writer J. Michael Straczynski and artist Gary Frank, a title that revamped the characters from The Squadron Supreme.

I believe the idea was to complete with Wildstorm's The Authority and provide readers with an 'Ultimate' version of Hyperion and the other heroes from the Squadron.

In Supreme Power a baby is found in a crashed spaceship by a 'kindly couple' but is then quickly taken away by the government and over the next several years the child (named Mark Milton) is brainwashed into becoming the perfect American soldier.

This was called Project: Hyperion



During this time we discover that the ship that brought Mark to Earth seeded the planet with other super beings by way of alien bacteria.

Supreme Power ended in issue 18 when the characters moved to a new title 'The Squadron Supreme'.

In this series the government put together a super human task force, lead by Hyperion, to deal with domestic and foreign threat.

The series only lasted 6 issues. J. Michael Straczynski moved on to Marvel's Thor and Gary Frank to DC's Action Comic.

The Squadron Supreme were next seen in an 9 part crossover with heroes from The Ultimate Universe in a series called 'Ultimate Power'

This story lead directly into Ultimate Marvel's Ultimatum series and The Squadron Supreme's next volume which was written by Howard Chaykin.

This series ran for 12 issues.

When asked about the new  Supreme Power series during the C2E2 panel writer Kyle Higgins said "Supreme Power" works because it's "real people in the real world with the power of gods".

I was a big fan of the original Supreme Power series. I loved the character development and set ups behind the motivation to join The Squadron.

I didn't really like the series after J. Michael Straczynski's departure but I am interested in seeing what Higgins can do with what JMS started.

Tomorrow CBR will be interviewing Higgins about the new MAX title. I am eager to hear who will be drawing the book, the released dates and what he has to say about the story.

So stay tuned for that information as we will provide all the uber news.