Writer/artist Daniel Warren Johnson pays tribute to the spirit and drama of professional wrestling with the first issue of his new series Do a Powerbomb! The simplistic, aggressive narratives of the mega-popular performance art are given a quick-paced comic book treatment in an opening issue that covers one hell of a lot of ground for an opening chapter. Johnson moves in quickly and keeps the action straight through the first issue, introducing the hero Lona Steelrose. A firm grounding in an authentic world of Matt’s and turnbuckles is mixed with something more in the form of magic and necromancy in a promising first issue.

Lona has lived and fought in the shadow of her mother her whole life. Family is very important to her. Things get complicated when a wizard of the dead asks her to join the most dangerous and challenging adventure of her life. Earthbound opponents are only the beginning. Loan is entering a world that she could not have known. She’s a world champion in WAY over her head. Things are about to get crazy for one of the all-time greatest.

There are quite a few different ways to approach professional wrestling from a non-performance perspective. The show business/entertainment industry end of pro wrestling would be a fascinating angle to approach the milieu. Johnson approaches the drama of pro-wrestling with straight-ahead respect for the stories delivered in and around the mat. The heroes and the villains of pro wrestling are given a serious presence in page and panel that feels reverent to the spirit of the stories being told. Lona is an amalgam of wrestling heroes throughout recent history. Her story reflects that of so many others as she enters into a supernatural conflict. 

The world of pro wrestling rarely gets the kind of vivid graphic punch that could really propel it off the comics page. There IS bone-jarring action in the first issue of the series, but Johnson’s art bathes the story in heavy shadows. There isn’t much room for the bright colors and swift kinetics that would make the action feel powerful, but that’s not the sort of thing Johnson is going for. He’s using the trappings of pro wrestling to deliver a story of heroic action that could be set just about anywhere. It may not harness the full visual potential of the ring, but the drama is delivered to the page in a way that makes good use of the comic book format. 

Johnson clearly has his heart in the right place with an epic heroic adventure for the mat, but there are so many ways that a story like this could fall into inadvertent comedy if he’s not careful. The supernatural might feel perfectly at home in the wrestling ring. Still, it could just as quickly become very, very silly as is apparent by some of the tone that seems to overcome art and script when the whole reality of the premise begins to sink in.

Grade: B+