>>80252332Power creep isn't generally a huge problem outside of cape comics. When a story is building toward a resolution and the characters are continually discovering more about themselves and progressing their abilities, 'power creep' ceases to really be power creep, but rather becomes an interesting part of the story that is enjoyable to keep up with.
BLAME! is a great example. More and more of the main character's robotic traits come online as the series progresses, and, as such, you start to learn of his true nature. Similarly, 'power creep' in the comic serves to demonstrate the passage of time. Much of the comic transpires over massive time scales, but, seeing as most of the characters are immortal, there isn't much dialogue, and the story rarely lingers long in one area, this has to be conveyed by means other than what you'd usually see, and 'power creep' actually does that pretty well. As the main character's journey progresses, the creatures opposing him become steadily more advanced, indicating that hundreds, if not thousands of years are passing while he traverses the megastructure in which the story is set.
Power creep is a problem primarily when there is no end to it. This is why cape comics struggle with their characters so often. They never end, nothing ever truly concludes, so things just get bigger and badder and more ridiculous until nothing really has any meaning anymore, and consistency starts to really suffer.
Basically cape comics as a giant narrative are total trash. They suck at delivering a consistent, powerful narrative that the audience can engage with. Cape stories as taken apart from the whole can be good, though sometimes the damage caused to them by their shitty overarching narrative manifests in a way that makes you cringe.
