Empowered: Internal Medicine – Review

By: Adam Warren (story & black-and-white art), Brandon Graham (color art)

The Story: I need 20ccs of ninja stars, stat!

The Review: Empowered is an interesting series in a number of ways, but one of them is the method of its release. Unlike a monthly series or even serialized graphic novels like DC’s Earth One line, Empowered is typically released in trade paperback volumes comprised of as many short chapters as the story demands. The upside is that Empowered is a tighter and more detailed world than many series can provide. The unfortunate side effect is, of course, that Empowered doesn’t come out all that often.

So, while it may delay volume 9 a bit, fans of this strange little ‘superchica’ that could will likely be happy to know that Adam Warren has released another Empowered one-shot. This story is a fun, fairly self-contained romp through the fascinating periphery of Emp’s world. It’s less a lost chapter than a micro-sized volume, complete with all the wit, action, and unique turns of phrase that would entail. While the shorter size obviously limits Warren, he merely takes fewer detours and takes advantage of the lower expectations on the issue to craft a complete little package.

Empowered vol. 8 – Review

By: Adam Warren (writer/artist)

The Story: THAT EBON-CLAD MISTRESS MAGE DEIGNED SPOOKY TAKES THE MOST BOUNTIFUL WENCH WITH A MILLION SIGHS ON ‘ONE HELL OF AN ADVENTURE.’

The Review: After a brutal wait, Empowered is finally back with another full-sized volume, ready to delight and intrigue. Despite the series’ reputation as a semi-erotic supercomedy, both elements fall far behind the drama of the plot; even our heroine herself bemoans the grimness that her stories have demonstrated recently. But never mistake drama for darkness or change for decline, for Adam Warren’s comedy is sweetened by tragedy and the volume’s introspective plotline is kept aloft by some adorable moments and excellent character work.

Empowered vol. 8 reads as a direct sequel to the past three volumes, particularly the dramatic events of the series’ fifth trade. As such you’ll have an idea what to expect if you’ve read those, not to mention the whole thing making sense. Warren keeps the promise of Ninjette and ThugBoy’s dark secrets on a simmer, providing worthwhile facetime with the beloved characters though their stories don’t advance terribly far. We also get to check in with the SuperDead, Syndablokk, and even Makro to similar effect.

Unlike most Empowered volumes, this one is only separated into two long stories. The first is kind of a break after the crazy drama of the past few volumes that deepens the world, sets up future developments, and examines what Hell means to the capes. At times it feels a little less relevant than some of Emp’s chapters and the use of Hell-related expressions to transition from scene to scene can feel a tad gimmicky, but there’s no denying that the story needed a moment to cool down nor that Warren hasn’t proved that there’s nothing trivial enough to not be a potentially game-changing plot point down the road.

Skullkickers #6 – Review

“The Blood Curse of the Amazombies” by Chris Sims (story), Joe Vriens (art), Marshall Dillon (letters); “The Sklaag” by Brian Clevinger (story), Jim Zub (art), Marshall Dillion (letters); “The Temple of Blrch” by Ray Fawkes (story), Scott Hepburn (art), Ian Herring (colors), Marshall Dillon (letters); “The Cleavin’ Part” by Adam Warren (story), Jeff Cruz (art), Marshall Dillon (letters)

The Story: Rather than one individual story, this issue is made up of four short ones. “The Blood Curse of the Amazombies” deals with a man under attack by the titular creatures (and our heroes’ efforts to rid him of the curse), “The Sklaag” is a classic ‘fish story’ (of a sort), “The Temple of Blech” is a nasty little piece of work about our heroes’ attempt to destroy a zombie cult (although it’s nasty for none of the reasons you’d expect), and “The Cleavin’ Part” is an oddly cartoony and beautifully drawn confrontation with a handful of soldiers.

What’s Good: First and foremost, congratulations to Skullkickers for six on-schedule issues! Although I really don’t feel that the little disclaimer inside the front cover was necessary, it IS a refreshing bit of honesty. Besides, the issue itself is excellent, and its placement between two story lines means there’s no real interruption in plot or storytelling. The amount of talent put together between these two covers is impressive indeed, and reading each creative team’s take on our two nameless heroes is an absolute blast.

the four stories presented here don’t play off each other or floe particularly well, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing–it turns the issue into a kind of grab bag, hopping from one story and creative team to the next, with the nameless heroes acting as the only common thread. Looking at the pages of wildly different but uniformly excellent artwork is a real treat. The whole feeling of the issue is one of a mini-annual, which is a fantastic vibe to get, and makes me hope that other series’ may follow this example and try something similar.