Powers: Who Killed Retro Girl?

Rating:
Summary: Comic readers take note!
Review: "Powers: Who Killed Retro Girl?" is a welcome surprise. Brian Michael Bendis obviously wanted to write crime drama comics, but was a little trapped by the omnipresence of Superheroes. As a compromise, he did a superhero crime drama, and it is really, really good.

"Powers" is character driven and full of dry humor. The storyline is very dark, in the same tone as "Seven." The animated-style art work is excellent at portraying the serious subject matter, and the dialog between characters is perfect. I don't know another writer that has such a grasp of dialog.

The conscious use of panels is something I haven't seen since Matt Wagner's "Grendel." There are few creators in comic books that make full use of the comics medium, and most creators follow somewhat standard layouts and formulaic story lines. This is a comic for people who enjoyed Scott McCloud's "Understanding Comics."

If you are a fan of fun, high-quality, intelligent comics, you should read "Powers: Who Killed Retro Girl?" It is that simple.

Rating:
Summary: COULD HAVE BEEN MUCH MORE
Review: Before I mention POWERS: WHO KILLED RETRO GIRL, you should know that I am a huge fan of the work of Brian Michael Bendis and thus I know what he's truly capable of as a comic book writer. For those of you not familiar with Mr. Bendis, I strongly urge you to read the Ultimate Spiderman TPB's.

With POWERS Bendis is trying to start an original premise and on this fact alone it's a brave move. A title that focuses on normal police officers who investigate superheroes, villains, and the situations that surround them. Sounds like it could be a strong clever storyline involving the interactions of "real" people with costumed crime fighters like the phenomenal MARVELS by Kurt Busiek.

However, POWERS never really develops. The characters stay only a few steps above one-dimensional, with several being down-right ridiculous versions of comic relief. The heroes are also few and far between. The artwork leaves a lot to be desired, especially since we are given a story involving "real" people and it is being displayed with artwork that borders on cartoons and anime.

In a story involving a murder of a top-level hero (Retro-Girl) there needs to be a stronger emphasis on the suspects, the people invovled, and the people that knew and interacted with her. However, Bendis bounces his protagonists around from one errand to another and doesn't allow them to bond any more than he allows the readers to develop some form of connection with anyone coming through the pages of this story.

I have not followed the latest issues of POWERS but as a collection of the first story arc I was very disappointed in an idea with tons of potential that simply did not deliver.

Rating:
Summary: COULD HAVE BEEN MUCH MORE
Review: Before I mention POWERS: WHO KILLED RETRO GIRL, you should know that I am a huge fan of the work of Brian Michael Bendis and thus I know what he's truly capable of as a comic book writer. For those of you not familiar with Mr. Bendis, I strongly urge you to read the Ultimate Spiderman TPB's.

With POWERS Bendis is trying to start an original premise and on this fact alone it's a brave move. A title that focuses on normal police officers who investigate superheroes, villains, and the situations that surround them. Sounds like it could be a strong clever storyline involving the interactions of "real" people with costumed crime fighters like the phenomenal MARVELS by Kurt Busiek.

However, POWERS never really develops. The characters stay only a few steps above one-dimensional, with several being down-right ridiculous versions of comic relief. The heroes are also few and far between. The artwork leaves a lot to be desired, especially since we are given a story involving "real" people and it is being displayed with artwork that borders on cartoons and anime.

In a story involving a murder of a top-level hero (Retro-Girl) there needs to be a stronger emphasis on the suspects, the people invovled, and the people that knew and interacted with her. However, Bendis bounces his protagonists around from one errand to another and doesn't allow them to bond any more than he allows the readers to develop some form of connection with anyone coming through the pages of this story.

I have not followed the latest issues of POWERS but as a collection of the first story arc I was very disappointed in an idea with tons of potential that simply did not deliver.

Rating:
Summary: More great hard-boiled action from Bendis & Co.
Review: Being a follower of Brian Michael Bendis' work since his run on 'Sam and Twitch', I decided to pick up his hard-boiled-crime-story comic co-creation (along with Michael Avon Oeming), 'Powers'. It features an interesting premise: police detectives who investigate super-hero/villain homicides. True, it has just about all of the cliches you've come to expect from the genre. There's the loud, overbearing captain who wants our heroes to get the job done, and no excuses. There's the smarmy jerk cop who's always trying to butt in on our heroes' case, and knows just the wrong things to say. Let's not forget the spunky-yet-tough babe partner of the story's focal character. And of course we've got the medical examiner/ forensic pathologist who gets a bit too technical with his explanations, and eats his meals in the morgue amongst the fresh corpses in a nonchalant manner. Finally, and most importantly, the main protagonist has had a 'fall from grace' as it were, as well as a deep, dark secret. If you're looking for originality in these areas, you'll definitely be in for a disappointment.

But it wasn't really the settings or stock police-story cliches that drew me in; it was the dialogue. Bendis has a gift for penning amazingly realistic back-and-forth conversations between characters, and the many moments of sniping, bonding, and just plain revelations in this collection flow with the right tempo and intensity (granted you can picture the conversations in your mind, that is). The quality of the artwork may be a bit off-putting to some- Pat Garrahy's quasi-cartoonish renderings are reminiscent of the WB's animated 'Batman', 'Batman Beyond', and 'Superman' shows, although the language & situations are significantly more mature in nature. Personally, I found the art a refreshing change from the usual over-done super-hero-style doodlings. 'Powers' is one title that proves that the art isn't necessarily what makes a good comic book.

As for what I've heard from others that this particular TPB didn't develop and flesh out some of the characters to their fullest degree: this collection is merely a reprinting of the first six issues in an ongoing series. If you want development, check out ishes seven and beyond.

'Late!

Rating:
Summary: Cops and Capes
Review: For a few years now, there's been some fascination in the comic book world with fusing law enforcement stories with superhero exploits, merging the world of mundane but dangerous police work with metahuman action. To my way of thinking, this got kicked off with the underrated and dark "Marshal Law" series from Marvel's Epic line back in the late '80s. And of course, "Judge Dredd" laid some of the groundwork. More recently, we've seen "Sam and Twitch" spin off from "Spawn", and Alan Moore has given us the great "Top Ten".

"Powers", the first few issues of which are collected in the trade paperback "Who Killed Retro Girl?", is another step in this direction. The premise is that there are significant numbers of super-powered types flitting about, some good, some bad. There's a substantial media genre devoted to covering their deeds and misadventures, but in many ways, their existence is just taken as another fact of life. The cops, in particular, are for the most part rather blase about co-existing with these uber-vigilantes and high-powered punks.

This matter-of-fact attitude amongst the police force is one of the strengths of this book, giving us hilarious scenes where the bored cops stand by and watch a pair of dueling arch-nemeses while providing world-weary snarky commentary and complaining about having to miss the ball game while waiting for the super-brawl to end. Sure, some of the officers are a little starstruck, but only by the big names in the hero game. Since not all of the metahumans can be a Superman-level hero, though, there are all too many of them that are essentially punks poncing around in tights, endangering the populace and getting treated by the police force like any other perps.

The art is rather stylized (shading more towards the "cartoon" end of the spectrum than the super-realistic "Alex Ross" end) but works well for the most part, though a few panels end up being so murky and poorly laid out that it's hard to fathom what's going on. The main plot itself isn't altogether that terrific, but it's engaging enough. The real treat is the dialogue and the characters. Deanna Pilgrim and Christian Walker (gee, could the names be any more heavily freighted with symbolic import?) are well-developed protagonists with unique voices, the more so in the case of Pilgrim, who is the more flippant and excitable partner, largely in reaction to Walker's stoicism.

This is a solid and entertaining tale and a great introduction to an intriguing and ongoing series. (The second collected volume, "Roleplay", is rather a disappointment, but the current monthly issues are quite good.) A lot of background is established here, supporting characters are introduced, and the requisite hints at backstories are planted. For fans of this sub-genre of comics, this is definitely worth the time.

Rating:
Summary: Something new in the graphic novel genre
Review: I am a recent fan of graphic novels. Like many people, especially girls it seems, I had not read comics as a child. I thought they were all cheesy, concerned with flashy pictures and action, not indepth stories.

Then a friend introduced me to Brian Michael Bendis.

Powers: Who Killed Retro Girl? is in the super hero genre...but not. It starts of the series with a bang, and what's most interesting about the use of super hero storylines is that it explores the strange side stories you would never hear about in an issue of Superman or Daredevil. Super heroes in the news, as regular people, their home lives, what they are before and after powers, and how what they can do would effect the "real world" around them.

This is truely a unique series and the writing of Bendis in any comic shows what the medium can really do. This was my introduction to comics and it ensured I would continue to come back.

Rating:
Summary: Book 'em
Review: I recently read a Superman comic from 1991 which was a typical action-based story, exactly the type of tale that most non-comic readers probably imagine all comics to be like. Ten years on, although the traditional super-hero genre is still alive and well, there are other mainstream comics that break new ground, presenting accessible stories in a fresh and innovative style. Powers is one such comic. It's ironic, given my earlier reference to Superman as an example of the traditional style of hero, that Powers' inspiration seems to partly come from the Man of Steel himself....with a heavy dose of Hawaii 5-0's Steve McGarrett. Writer Brian Michael Bendis has transformed well-known titles including Spider-Man and Daredevil, in addition to penning his own original publications such as Alias and Jinx. Here he expertly tells the story of a former super-hero turned cop, Christian Walker, who specialises in cases involving the super-hero fraternity with the help of his fiesty sidekick Deena Pilgrim. Walker is an imposing figure, tall, square-jawed and dedicated. The artwork by Michael Avon Oeming is suitably untraditional - very cartoonish, much more so than the majority of comic books, and very distinctive. I would rank Powers alongside the Preacher series as a good example of slightly left-field but still highly readable comic book writing. Read it alongside the latest Superman while watching those 5-0 re-runs and you'll soon get the point.

Rating:
Summary: Good little read...
Review: Let me first say that I have read many of the other reviews which are for the most part very good. I would probably have given this 3.5 stars if it was available but alas it was not. If you want a description of the comic's plot check those out. As for me I found the book to be somewhat inconsistent. Don't get me wrong, the writing (story) was very good, and the characters were fun and likeable. The killers reason for committing murder was new, believable, and interesting; in short I liked the twist. The only real criticism I can give to the book is that some of the dialogue is a bit fake. Detective Walker is often written as though he should be talking through the mouth of some 19 year old dispatch (or inarticulate rock star for that matter), and some of Pilgrim's lines seem a bit to ridiculous to not be contrived, i.e. "Why are you so far up my uterus, man?" Perhaps Oeming was trying to emmulate Kevin Smith dialogue here (who he has also worked with) but I for one, consider borrowing from a hack, unwise. (If this is untrue or slanted my deepest appologies to Mr. Oeming, but Kevin Smith really does [stink].) That aside there was also too much cut and paste art work in this for my taste, and the art work was not really what I am partial to; but that is personal preference and shouldn't effect wether or not you buy this (assuming you haven't); for all-in-all it is a good little read and worth the 15 bucks, or whatever you spend on it. Take it home, plop down on the couch and try to enjoy yourselves - it wont be very hard.

Rating:
Summary: Bendis's best work in my opinion!
Review: Powers is yet another attempt at making those with "powers" more realistic and is a compilation of a series from Image (collecting the first 6 issues) that has been turned into this great graphic novel, continuing the marketing trend towards targeting the twenty and thirty-somethings who grew up reading comicbooks and who are thus more open-minded than the average reader. Powers reminded me of Alan Moore's Top Ten in many ways, but this isn't a bad thing! The Powers story arc presented revolves around the murder of Retro Girl (cool name by the way), an all-American girl who is pretty, spunky, and superpowered and thus beloved by the people. Lucky for her she wasn't a hunchback pygmie I guess. The main character is a stoic detective named Christian Walker, who is actually a nice guy (think Clark Kent as a cop) and this was very refreshing as I think we've all seen the mean uncompromising tough cop routine wayyyy too many times already. He is partnered with a diminutive female detective who's personality varies from being a nosy you know what to an effective yet idealistic cop. There's also a hilarious little girl that Det. Walker has to take care of who keeps asking him what a clitoris is. Bendis writes some of the best natural dialogue I've encountered. People stutter, make jokes that are sometimes lame, and the characters don't all sound the same. This is what has been lacking in other similar works in American pop culture. The story centers around the death of Retro Girl, but there are sub-plots that mainly help the reader learn more about the world that Det. Walker and company inhabit. There is, for example, an interesting Ironman/Tony Stark-like character who has a past connection to Retro Girl and is considered a suspect. There's the strange yet eclectic criminal element that adds spice to this rich world. There are only a few credible leads for the detectives to follow up, but the story never gets boring. We also get the now common use of tv commentary and news segments that Frank Miller started back in his original Dark Knight series in 1980s. Bendis keeps things moving and interesting you'll find yourself done in a matter of hours. Aside from the 6 issue story, this graphic novel contains an interesting script of the 1st issue and this could prove useful to those people looking to become writers of graphic novels and are looking for a superlative example of the medium. There is a short promotional strip that appeared and a gallery of characters and the evolution of how the characters were given their current appearances. Kind of superfluous if you ask me, but fans will appreciate I imagine. This graphic novel comes with a hefty price tag though (I got lucky and got it used less than half the price), but this one's kind of worth it, especially considering its immense entertainment value. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Superhero detective story
Review: The Powers concept is to write a detective story, with normal human protagonists, but with a twist: superheroes exist in the world. The target audience is the adult (or at least older teen) market; the stories are gritty, and action sequences are sparse. This story, reprinting Powers numbers 1 through 6, details the investigation into the murder of Retro Girl, the world's pre-eminent super-heroine. The strength of the story is the characters; the leads (the detectives) are great. The mystery itself (with requisite big revelation at the end) is only so-so.