Dynamic duo in print and off

Pierce alumni co-create comic book

NICK MARTINEZ Features Editor @NickEsai

Most siblings share a special bond, but for Paul and Trevor Hankins, they have super powers, or at least their alter-egos do.

The Hankins brothers cocreated their comic book, “Powers Squared,” which tells the story of twin brothers, much like themselves, who have been granted super powers.

“Even when we’re separate, people still think of us as Paul and Trevor, so in Powers Squared, we tried to put some of that in there,” Paul Hankins said. “They’re seen as Marty and Eli, and even though we’ve been seen as a unit, we still do things differently from each other, just like the characters in the book. Just like me, Marty is more extroverted, and just like my brother, Eli is a little more introverted.”

As identical twins, they were inspired to create something beyond themselves. The comics protagonist duo, Marty and Eli Powers, are going to college and they discover they have super powers that they share.

“They’re kind of figuring out what to do with their powers and they have to also stop this scientist named Dr. Atlas from harnessing their abilities and using them for evil purposes,” Paul Hankins said.

Paul Hankins explains where the idea of creating the story began and why they chose to use a comic as its median.

“While we were going to Comicon, we went to panels and at some point we decided we wanted to be there in person, giving the A’s instead of asking the Q’s,” Paul Hankins said.

“So, we were trying to think of a way to do that and a comic book seemed like one of the easier ways to because for a comic you don’t have to be an expert in any particular field.”

Besides the two brothers working on the comic, other people have to be involved to put it together. Paul Hankins who writes the script explains their process of creating the comic.

“I guess you could say it’s like frankensteining a page,”