posted 01-02-2001 02:44 AM               

This eighth issue kicks off a new story arc called Role Play. Never having read Powers before, I had little trouble following the story, although there are some pieces of subtext I'm sure I missed. The story is about the murder of a group of college students who had been engaging in a live action role playing campaign in which they all pretended to be powered, but while this is an interesting premise and setting, the strongest point of the writing is the dialogue. I quoted my favorite exchange over on another thread, but the whole issue is strong -- I felt like I had a good grasp of the main characters by the end of the issue, and the conversations with minor or supporting characters really work to create the feel of this particular setting. (An offhand mention by another cop that being the first to arrive at a power's murder scene can be highly lucrative does much to set the tone.) As I said, this is the opener of a new story arc, and I am definitely on board for the remainder.

The artwork is very simple but very good. It looks a lot like the style associated with the Paul Dini-Bruce Timm DC animated series without being derivative, and the use of shadows and colors to set the mood and tone is very effective. Oeming also does a good job of conveying a lot of information in his panel layouts, although some of those layouts can be confusing -- a couple of times I read the left page of a spread in its entirety before reading the right page, when I should have taken in the whole spread as one large page. I don't mind that at all -- it just tells me I have to read more carefully, which is not something I mind saying about a comic.

A trade paperback collecting the first Powers story arc ought to be out in the next week or two, and I'm sure this arc will be collected eventually, but I will definitely be picking up the monthly issues at least for the remainder of this arc.

(Edited to fix a coding error.)

posted 04-10-2001 09:20 PM               

Secondly, for a book that is, in its essense, supposed to be fairly dark and grim, the dialogue is just hysterical at times. I'm in love with the characters already, especially the main characters, Walker and Pilgrim.

Also, being a superhero junkie (Dave, guard my back in case Warren Ellis tries to jump me), I like the fact that I can read something completely differnt and still get my RDA of superpowered entities.

As for the art, they do things with light and shadow that are simply amazing; Half the story is told using expertly shaded panels containing absolutely no dialogue. Damn good.

Finally, I picked up the Powers Coloring Book in Brave New Worlds (support your local comics retailer) the other day and it was extremely funny in a satirical way. The ability to poke fun at public service messages and still be cool - you have to admire that.

posted 10-19-2001 11:29 PM               

I like your point about the contrast between the grim tone of the homicide stories and some of the banter between Walker and Pilgrim. The book never slips into parody, which is important, but it also sort of highlights the way humor is a defense mechanism, to help the mind deal with the overwhelming nature of the stuff these cops have to deal with.