Editing Power Pack (section)

==Publication history==
===Original series===
During the early 1980s, Marvel Comics had a policy that all their editors should also be writers. [[Louise Simonson]]  was encouraged to think of a series she could write, and eventually she pitched a team of pre-teen siblings with superpowers called Power Pack. Simonson later explained:
{{blockquote|I had resisted [[Jim Shooter|Shooter]]'s encouragement to write stuff or do freelance stuff because I thought he had writers whose livelihoods depended on their doing books and it didn't feel fair to take the work away from them. I had a job. But then Shooter hired a whole batch of new editors, and my workload was cut in half. I got bored and I thought I should create something rather than take one of the jobs that were already there, so I proposed the idea for "Power Pack" to Shooter. He eventually loved the idea, and so that was my taste of writing. I found it more challenging than editing, and way more fun, because I had been editing for a long time so I think it had gotten too easy for me.<ref name="GenRoles">(March 8, 2013). [http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=44169 Women in Comics: Simonson, Nocenti Talk Marvel & Gender Roles in Comics], Comic Book Resources.</ref>}}

Simonson chose [[June Brigman]] as ''Power Pack'''s penciler because of her talent for drawing children.<ref name="GenRoles"/> The ''Power Pack'' series premiered in May 1984 (cover date August 1984) in a double-sized issue inked by [[Bob Wiacek]].<ref>Marvel Comics' original advertisement, indicating a May 1, 1984, release date</ref> The series continued into 1991, during which time Brigman and Wiacek were replaced by [[Jon Bogdanove]] and [[Hilary Barta]] as principal artists. The ''Power Pack'' letters column, titled "Pick of the Pack", printed drawings and jokes about the characters submitted by readers, an unusual practice for a Marvel title.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

In the first story of the series, the alien Kymellian known as Whitey is fatally injured by the alien villains known as Snarks. He gives the four Power children his powers before dying. His mass control power goes to Jack, his energy and disintegration power goes to Katie, his ability to fly goes to Julie, and his control over gravity goes to Alex. In issue #25, the team's powers are temporarily stolen, then returned but rearranged. Due to this "power switch", each Power Pack child now has an ability wielded by one of their siblings, leading to a change in codenames.<ref>''Power Pack'' Vol. 1 #25 (Marvel Comics).</ref> The Power Pack children finally switched their costumes to match their new powers in issue #47. In issue #52, another rearrangement of powers and codenames occurred.

[[File:Powerpackad.jpg|thumb|right|Advertisement for the debut of the team's comic book (1984)]]
Unlike superheroes such as [[Spider-Man]] or [[Batman]] who were orphaned, free agents, or teenagers often trusted to be on their own without supervision, Power Pack was made up of pre-adolescent siblings who had a close relationship with each other, as well as their supportive parents Jim and Maggie Power. Early in the series, the children decided to keep their powers and superhero activities concealed from their parents, believing it would cause them stress and worry. This decision led to several moral compromises and feelings of guilt for the Power Pack members whenever they had to lie to friends and family or allow harm to occur because helping could mean revealing their abilities.<ref name="PPVol1-28">''Power Pack'' #38</ref> The question of whether or not the powers should be revealed was also an ongoing source of debate among the children. ''Power Pack'' readers also argued the matter out in the series letter pages. During Jon Bogdanove's story "Revenge of the Bogeyman", which served as a tie-in for the crossover [[Inferno (Marvel Comics)|Inferno]], the parents learn their children are superheroes.<ref>''Power Pack'' Vol. 1 #42–43 (Marvel Comics).</ref> In an epilogue to the story, writer Julianna Jones depicted Jim and Maggie Power as so overwhelmed by the situation that they increasingly suffer psychological breakdowns and become convinced that they are not fit parents for superheroes. To help the Power family, the [[New Mutants]] team convinces Jim and Maggie Power that they were deceived and their children were never superheroes. This restored the secret identity status quo and led Power Pack to keep their heroic lives a secret again.<ref>''Power Pack'' Vol. 1 #44 (Marvel Comics).</ref>

Despite the characters of ''Power Pack'' being children, the series often dealt with mature issues.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Markstein|first1=Don|title=Power Pack|url=http://www.toonopedia.com/powerpak.htm|access-date=April 2, 2020|website=Don Markstein's Toonopedia}}</ref> Many of the social problems of the 1980s found their way into the book's storylines. Among the themes addressed were pollution,<ref>''Power Pack'' #48–49</ref> drug abuse,<ref>''Power Pack'' #7–8, #29–32</ref> runaways,<ref name="ppcad">''Power Pack/Cloak and Dagger: Shelter from the Storm'' (1990)</ref> kidnapping,<ref>''Power Pack'' #12, #14, #20, #22–26, #39–40; ''Uncanny X-Men'' 195</ref> gun violence,<ref>''Power Pack'' #29, #30</ref> bullying,<ref name="PPVol1-28" /> orphanhood,<ref>''Power Pack'' 18–20, 27</ref> and homelessness.<ref name="ppcad" /> Stories regularly depicted the Power children learning and debating how to use their potentially lethal powers responsibly, often on their own but sometimes with guidance from older heroes such as Spider-Man. In one early issue, Jack was wracked with remorse when he thought he had killed a man.<ref>''Power Pack'' #8</ref> In a later story arc, Katie seriously injures a Snark prince named Jakal, which causes her immense guilt and leads her to call herself a "monster".<ref>''Power Pack'' #23–25</ref>

As the series went on, the children were shown to slowly age and mature. In issue #1, Alex is 12 years old, Julie is 10, Jack is 8, and Katie is 5.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}} In issue #45, Julie graduates from elementary school with honors in English, and the story says she will join Alex at school 44 (an actual middle school existing in [[New York City]]).{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

The same year Power Pack debuted, the team appeared alongside Spider-Man in a special comic designed to discuss children targeted by sexual abuse. The one-shot issue, written by Louise Simonson, was distributed for free and reprinted in the comics sections of many major newspapers.<ref>''Power Pack and Spider-Man''</ref> Marvel continued the campaign by featuring the characters in print [[public service announcement]]s.<ref>''Power Pack'' #23</ref> Later the same year, the writers used the Snark Wars storyline (wherein the children are kidnapped by the evil Snark alien race) to address the issue of child abduction. During the same storyline, photos of missing children were printed in lieu of the comic's regular [[Comic book letter column|letters column]].<ref>''Power Pack'' #22–26</ref> In 1989, the Power Pack teamed-up with [[Cloak and Dagger (characters)|Cloak and Dagger]] in a special graphic novel addressing teen homelessness and runaways. Hotline telephone numbers for [[Covenant House]] were printed on the back cover.<ref name="ppcad" />

Along with Spider-Man and the duo of Cloak and Dagger, Power Pack frequently encountered members of the [[X-Men]] and New Mutants. In issue #16, they met Franklin Richards (son of [[Mister Fantastic|Mr. Fantastic]] and [[Invisible Woman]] of the [[Fantastic Four]]), and in issue #17 Franklin became a part-time member of Power Pack himself.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}} He joined on many other adventures, occasionally staying with the Power family for days at a time when his own family were off on adventures.

Starting with issue #34, the ''Power Pack'' series regularly rotated writers. Simonson wrote issues #35, #37, and #39–40, while John Bogdanove wrote issue #36, issues #42–43, and issues #47–52. Howard Mackie wrote issue #34, Julianna Jones wrote issues #38 and #44–45, Steven Heyer wrote #41, Terry Austin wrote issues #46 and #53, Judy Bogdanove wrote #54, and [[Dwayne McDuffie]] wrote issue #55. During Jon Bogdanove's final issues, Franklin Richards returned as a regular member of the team.

Further changes involved Alex Power mutating into a Kymellian without explanation, forcing him to hide from his girlfriend Allison (who soon dates someone else) as well as from public life.{{citation needed|date=January 2021}} The series was cancelled with issue #62. The final issue, printed in the fourth quarter of 1990 (cover-dated February 1991), depicted the team and their parents journeying into space together.

One year after the original series' cancellation, creators Louise Simonson and June Brigman teamed up for the one-shot issue ''Power Pack Holiday Special'' (published in fourth quarter of 1991, with a cover date of February 1992). The one-shot comic resolved the cliffhanger the series had ended on, restored the Power Pack's original powers, and undid some of the changes to the characters done during the run by Michael Higgins and Tom Morgan. ''Power Pack Holiday Special'' also included a short comedy story involving an art style that evoked ''[[Calvin and Hobbes]]'', and a short story that showed an older, teenage Julie dealing with romance and self-esteem issues.

The ''Power Pack'' stories were reprinted by [[Marvel UK]] beginning around 1986. It was Marvel UK's practice at the time to use a less well-known series as a secondary story in a comic devoted to more recognizable characters, and ''Power Pack'' became the back-up "strip" in a run of Marvel's licensed ''[[Star Wars]]'' weekly ''[[Return of the Jedi]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rebelscum.com/photo.asp?image=/comics/mvukrotjw082.jpg&text=Star%20Wars:%20Return%20of%20the%20Jedi%20Weekly%2082 |title=cover of UK Star Wars comic showing Power Pack as back up strip |publisher=Rebelscum.com |access-date=May 30, 2013}}</ref> During this period, it was printed partly in black and white and partly in color, as was the main ''Star Wars'' strip. ''Power Pack'' subsequently became the back-up strip for the UK ''[[ThunderCats (comics)|ThunderCats]]'' comic, where it remained until its eventual replacement by the ''[[Galaxy Rangers]]'' series.

===2000 miniseries===
A four-part ''Power Pack'' mini-series published in 2000 depicted the children as now being slightly older than when they had last been in the 1991 ''Power Pack Holiday Special''. Katie was now in the fifth grade (having skipped two grades due to her intelligence), Jack had joined Julie in middle school, and Alex was now a teenager in high school. James and Maggie, the children's parents, were now aware that their children were also the heroes of Power Pack and accepted it. The Power children now wore masks when in costume and their superhero activities were largely restricted to "practice sessions" in the forest around their new home in [[Bainbridge Island, Washington|Bainbridge Island]], {{convert|10|mi|km|spell=in}} from [[Seattle]]. The series once again pitted the Pack against Queen Mauraud and the Snarks.

===Return of Power Pack===
[[Joe Quesada]] announced in a ''New Joe Fridays'' column at [[Newsarama]] that Power Pack would be returning to the Marvel Universe in late 2007, after the events of ''Civil War''.<ref>[http://www.newsarama.com/NewJoeFridays/NewJoeFridays24.html NEWSARAMA.COM: NEW JOE FRIDAYS&nbsp;– WEEK 24, A WEEKLY Q&A WITH JOE QUESADA] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061210011306/http://www.newsarama.com/NewJoeFridays/NewJoeFridays24.html |date=December 10, 2006}}</ref><ref>[http://www.newsarama.com/NewJoeFridays/NewJoeFridays35.html NEWSARAMA.COM: NEW JOE FRIDAYS&nbsp;– WEEK 35, A WEEKLY Q&A WITH JOE QUESADA] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070218072744/http://www.newsarama.com/NewJoeFridays/NewJoeFridays35.html |date=February 18, 2007}}</ref> However, due to the various delays within their release shipping schedules for Marvel Comics, these plans were put on hold. A new Power Pack story was commissioned for the 2007 Marvel Holiday Special,<ref>''Marvel Holiday Special'' 2007&nbsp;– Piece of Cake; Merry Christmas; Secret Santa (Loners story); The Meaning of Christmas</ref> which would have been the first original material featuring the full cast in the standard Marvel Universe since the 2000 mini-series. It was briefly summarized as "Power Pack relives holidays past" in official Marvel solicits, but the story was scrapped from the publication at the last minute, when it was decided to prioritize the recently canceled title ''The Loners'', which featured Julie Power among its cast. A ''Loners'' story written by [[CB Cebulski]] ran in place of the Power Pack story, though the official solicitation information still listed the Power Pack story and description.

Three of the Power siblings{{Snd}}Alex, Jack, and Katie{{Snd}}appear within ''[[Fantastic Four]]'' #574 (2010) as guests celebrating Franklin Richards' birthday. They were all depicted as only slightly older than they had been in the 2000 mini-series, with Alex still a teenager.<ref>''Fantastic Four'' #574</ref> During the story, Alex was invited to join Reed Richards' [[Future Foundation]].<ref name="Fantastic Four #579">''Fantastic Four'' #579</ref> He then made frequent appearances in the ''Fantastic Four'' series.<ref>''FF'' #15</ref>

In 2020, a five-issue limited series written by [[Ryan North]] and illustrated by Nico Leon began publication as part of Marvel's ''[[Outlawed (comics)|Outlawed]]'' event.<ref name="Outlawed">{{cite web|last=Marston|first=George|url=https://www.gamesradar.com/inside-the-return-of-power-pack-and-tying-into-outlawed-with-writer-ryan-north/|title=Inside the return of Power Pack (and tying into Outlawed) with writer Ryan North|date=August 2020|accessdate=May 4, 2021|website=[[GamesRadar+]]|publisher=[[Future US]]}}</ref>

"Power Pack: Into The Storm," a monthly five-issue series written by [[Louise Simonson]] and penciled by [[June Brigman]], began publication in January 2024.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://bleedingcool.com/comics/louise-simonson-june-brigman-revive-power-pack-from-marvel-comics/ | title=Louise Simonson & June Brigman Revive Power Pack from Marvel Comics | date=September 13, 2023 }}</ref>