Each Friday, we'll be letting a different DC.com writer share what they'll be reading over the weekend and why you might want to check it out. Here's this week's suggestion for a perfect Weekend Escape!

Power fantasies can be a helluva drug. Whether we’re talking dreams of flying, wielding superpowers, or simply commanding attention in a room with your very presence—power fantasies are one of our biggest collective addictions. Best of all, they’re a relatively harmless one because for most people, fantasies remain exactly that: something that can’t ever come true.

But what if it could?

This is the story—or cautionary tale—of Josh Jaffe. A middle-aged, out-of-work father of two, Josh has reached a point in his life where he feels totally powerless. Until one day he isn’t. This is the story of what can happen when an everyday man is suddenly made powerful, and how it can make his life better…before it makes it a whole lot worse. This is the story of Eric Kripke and John Higgins’ six-issue DC Vertigo series, Jacked.
 

THE PREMISE:

Josh Jaffe is stuck in a rut. After being laid off from his job, he’s long since grown out of touch with his family, his neighbors and himself. Out of shape and balding, he becomes consumed with self-loathing until his younger brother suggests he try a new kind of brain steroid that’s available online. Knowing little about its chemical effects or legal status, Josh throws caution to the wind and tries “Jacked.” Days later, he’s suddenly consumed by a psychotropic haze, followed by increased strength and senses. Now he’s the hero of his young son, is once again romancing his wife and has regained the confidence he needs to carry himself through job interviews.

But when that newfound confidence leads him to help someone in danger, Josh quickly finds himself in a situation far more deadly than he signed up for. Suddenly, he’s got hitmen and gangsters after him, pushing his dependence on Jacked to the limit. Will he be able to come out of this calamity alive? And even if he does, how can his life return to normal when he’s got superpowers?
 

LET’S TALK TALENT:

Jacked is the brainchild of Eric Kripke, the longtime TV writer who’s made a name for himself on shows like Supernatural and more recently, The Boys. Fans of The Boys should recognize Kripke’s unmistakable voice in Jacked right away. Kripke excels at dealing with the otherworldly, heightened reality of genre storytelling and marrying it with a world-weary, smart-mouthed perspective (think Karl Urban’s Billy). Never one to shy away from his obvious influences, Kripke writes Josh as someone who grew up a fan of superhero media, and his trademark satirical eye gives the book an edge that takes a second glance at tropes most superhero stories don’t often reconsider.

Kripke’s world here is presented with clear-eyed frankness by artist John Higgins. A veteran of hard-hitting comics such as 2000 AD and Before Watchmen, Higgins might be best known for his psychedelic colors on Batman: The Killing Joke. In this story, his realistic style powers the real-world nature of the series, and there’s a lot of beauty in its ugliness. Josh is a normal, if somewhat unsightly person, with his wife and children looking as typical and unassuming as can be. This only serves to make the action sequences feel extra-over the top, which is both amusing and entertaining as Higgins brings this humdrum normality into classic super-powered excitement.
 

A FEW REASONS TO READ:

• This is a Vertigo series dealing with superpowers, so the concept of the genre is treated in a very no-nonsense, realistic manner. That makes the story less predictable and much more adult, which offers something refreshing and unique for fans of traditional superhero tales.
   
• Written in 2015, the story centers around male insecurity and feelings of unworthiness—topics which have only grown more centered in online spaces. Kripke and Higgins keep a smart eye on how men can be brought down low, and how honesty, trust and love are the only real qualities that can bring them back up—and not superficial feelings of empowerment.

• The “Jacked” supplement is a straightforward drug parable, which again is no less relevant now than it was ten years ago. The value in cautionary tales such as this one is to show how turning to the wrong substance to alleviate feelings of inadequacy doesn’t end when you’re an adult, or when you get married and have children.
   
• Jacked asks some of the same provocative questions and explores some of the same moral ground that Kripke would go on to expand on in The Boys. How does one adapt to a world of violence if they can’t get hurt, but can cause grievous harm to others? Josh Jaffe doesn’t want to hurt anybody or cause harm with his powers, but there’s little helping it when people are shooting at you with guns. But is that enough to justify it when the deck’s stacked so decidedly in your favor?
   

WHY IT’S WORTH YOUR TIME:

We’ve been given a lot of stories where normal guys seize power and go on violent rampages in recent years, from John Wick to Nobody. While these can be entertaining, Jacked takes those power fantasies and dissects them in the sort of incisive way that only comics can offer. Jacked has got action, suspense and violence, but it’s an emotional and psychological story, with a normal man with normal fears and anxieties at its heart. At a brief six chapters, Jacked is a fast-paced read with sumptuous artwork and a wry approach to action that makes us feel less alone in being honest with our fears and hopes. And yes, it makes great, gory use of Vertigo’s M-rating. Did you really expect anything else from the guy behind TV’s The Boys?
 

Jacked by Eric Kripke, John Higgins and Sotocolor is available as a softcover graphic novel in bookstores, comic shops, libraries and digital retailers. It can also be read in full on DC UNIVERSE INFINITE.

Donovan Morgan Grant writes about comics, graphic novels and superhero history for DC.com. Follow him on Bluesky at @donomark and X at @donoDMG1.

NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely those of Donovan Morgan Grant and do not necessarily reflect those of DC or Warner Bros. Discovery, nor should they be read as confirmation or denial of future DC plans.