Reviewer: Andy Logan
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Michael Avon Oeming
Colorist: Peter Pantazis
Letterer: Ken Bruzenak
Editors: James Lucas Jones & K.C. McCrory
Dammit, a month just can’t pass by fast enough when it comes to some comic book titles. The Walking Dead is one…Gotham Central is another…and Powers is yet another.
Opinion seems pretty much divided on Bendis these days – you either love him, or you hate him. Me? Well, I don’t read his entire monthly output – who could afford to do that? – but lets say that of those titles I DO read…I really dig his work.
And nowhere, in my humble and oh, so UNinformed opinion, does he produce better work than that within the pages of Powers. Yeah, yeah, I know – I’m saying that without having read his entire monthly output, but I struggle to imagine how he could top this stuff on a regular basis.
Truly, everything about this comic is just awesome – God, I feel like SUCH a fan boy right now, but ah, screw it – even a cynical old soul like me can mark out occasionally, if the conditions are right.
And boy, oh boy, are the conditions right with this comic book title.
There are some wonderful underlying plots and story threads bubbling under here, each and every one of them so deliciously dripping with deadly import and intent that you could get a headache trying to keep up.
When will Walker discover Pilgrim’s “secret”, and what will his reaction be when he finds out?
Who’s got the Power Jewel?
Who killed The Joke?
Are the two Cops involved in Blackguard’s murder telling the truth…the WHOLE truth?
Does Walker’s tie REALLY turn his boss on?
All these threads are balanced with the usual slice of media coverage and “person on the street” reaction that makes the Powers universe seem so real; far more so at times than the DC and Marvel ones, where – apart from a handful of titles – the action is only viewed from the super powered protagonists point of view.
Allied to this is a healthy dose of humour, superbly complimented by Michael Avon Oeming’s cinematic sytle art. In fact, Oeming (he only lets certain people call him that) is as much as part of this book’s joy as Bendis is. Oeming has an art style that perfectly compliments the writing, his ability to render subtle facial expressions and body language perfectly matched by his knack for wringing every last drop of dramatic tension from a scene.
This entire review sounds like one long piece of ass-kissing, and I’m aware I haven’t pointed out any flaws at all…but that’s what being a reviewer is all about; you take what you like and praise it, you take what you dislike and explain why it didn’t work.
I’m not ashamed to lose what little credibility I may have by saying that for me, Powers – at this moment in time – has NOTHING that doesn’t work. It really is that. Damned. Good.
BUY IT!!!
