Powers #10 – Review

by Brian Michael Bendis (writer), Michael Avon Oeming (art), Nick Filardi (colors), and Chris Eliopoulos (letters)

The Story: The murderer of the Golden Ones reveals his backstory and we learn that there are far, far bigger and nastier things out there than the Golden Ones.

The Review:  Wow…just….wow.  If anything, this issue is proof that when it comes to Powers, Brian Bendis does not hold back.  From the absolute, gut-wrenchingly vivid brutality of the serial god-killer’s backstory to the manner in which Bendis expands his comic’s universe and the stakes of this story, Bendis has basically laughed at the idea of limiting how far Powers can go.  It’s a brave and unflinching performance from Bendis in what is, in my opinion, by far the best issue of Powers since it relaunched.

When reading the murderer tell his story through a confessional tape, it becomes increasingly shocking and downright disturbing to read.  Bendis pulls back the curtain on the Golden Ones for us to see the ugliness and depravity that lurks behind.  They are certainly less than the golden gods they portray themselves at and are, in the case of Damocles at the very least, nothing more the humans that have come into incredible power, only to become twisted and depraved as a result.  I cannot describe how intense this extended scene, and narration, was.  To say that it “hits hard” is putting it lightly.  There is no holding back, no sugar coating, and Powers lives up to its “mature readers” label.  Through words alone, Bendis paints an unfathomably brutal scene that is as appalling as it is haunting, one that feels real, while also highlighting what has become a theme in Powers – that superpowers take the old adage “absolute power corrupts absolutely” to new heights of accuracy.

Spinning out of this, Bendis also really expands the scope of his universe, which really makes it clear why Powers is becoming Powers: FBI; the stakes have been far larger and so have, well, the powers.  What has long been a police procedural involving superpowers has suddenly become a statement on the relationship between god and man.  It almost feels as though Bendis puts a Lovecraftian spin to Powers; in revealing the true nature of the Golden Ones and whether they really are gods, we end up getting an answer that leads to more questions, an answer that tells us of the enormous, unimaginable, ancient powers that lurk behind the workings of the world.  The Golden Ones were small fries compared to these cosmic forces and in violating the threshold between god and man, man pierces the veil between the two just a little bit, and the result is a punishment of biblical proportions.  We end up a hell of a long way away from the safe, old police procedural.  Instead, there’s a sense that Powers, with its cops and criminals, have gone too far, played with powers too far beyond understanding, and the result is Cthulian promises fulfilled.  To hammer home this point, this revelation of the great powers at work behind the scenes of Powers universe is accompanied by a shocking, tragic character death, one that sees polar opposites meet, true and unquestionable representatives of the godly and the human/mundane; suffice it to say, it does not go well.

WCBR’s Top Picks

Dean’s Top Picks

Best of the past week – Mind Mgmt #1 – Well, that was easy!  I’ve had a few weeks without a standout winner of “Best of the week”.  Those weeks can be like picking which brand of vanilla ice cream is your favorite.  So, it was wonderful that Matt Kindt gave us this gem.  This issue was head and shoulders above everything else I read this week.  The story was clever and interesting: plane full of people develop amnesia mid-flight.  The art was somber and unique.  And the production qualities on the comic were top notch.  It was so nice to see proper, high-quality newsprint in a comic versus all this cheap-ass, glossy paper that the Big 2 shovel at us.  Track it down or find it digitally.

Most anticipated this week:

1). The Walking Dead #98 – After a brief period when I felt like I might be falling out of love with TWD, Kirkman has hooked me back it these last few issues.  Something very bad is going to happen as Rick’s group comes into conflict with this new character.  It’s almost like TWD is going all Mad Max on us.

2). American Vampire #27 – The last issue took us into the 1950’s deep south and showed us both the prejudice that happened to black folks during that time period and a cool new monster with a canine sensibility about him.  So, while Scott Snyder is continuing to explore the history of America in this series, he’s also expanding the scope of his monster story.  And….the art is always gorgeous; even when they get a stand-in artist they’re able to find guys like Roger Cruz.

3). The New Deadwardians #3 – This series has been a huge breath of fresh air as it shows a 1910’s London beset by zombies.  But rather than having a bunch of haggard survivors eating 3-year old cans of pinto beans and living in boarded up houses, this world is all nice and clean because the English chose to protect themselves in a certain fangy way.  This issue promises a closer look at the zombies and I can’t wait to see what other little differences the creators have in store for us.

4). Rachel Rising #8 – Hard to believe that we’re already up to #8 with this series.  It feels like the preamble is just about done and stuff is about to get “real” in Rachel Rising.  I mean….last issue ended with bodies erupting from the ground in the cemetery and landing in the shape of a pentagram.  That’s…..not good, not good at all.  Plus, the art is lovely.  Read it.

5). Glamourpuss #25 – I don’t understand why everyone doesn’t read Glamourpuss.  The art is always “off-the-charts” good and the story is like a double-scoop of insanity.  This lampooning of the fashion-models he’s been doing for the last few months has been wicked.

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Alex’s Top Picks

Pick of the Week: Justice League Dark #9 – I’ll be honest: while there were a lot of good reads this past week, there wasn’t one read that blew me away.  That said, JLD was one of the biggest disappointments for me out of the new 52 (possibly only Catwoman disappointed me more) and this issue, Jeff Lemire provides many of the foundational components that were lacking during Milligan’s tenure.  There’s a sense of enthusiasm and energy in the, a clear direction, a plot that’s going somewhere, and an actual team dynamic.  I really like the idea of Constantine really taking charge as team leader as well.  I did, however, find the colors a bit too bright at times and I’m not yet entirely sold on the “Justice League” more Indiana Jones, action-adventure tone the book has taken on.  Even if we’re moving away from horror, I’d prefer Lemire to keep it urban fantasy.

Most Anticipated: Batman Annual #1 – As a kid who grew up watching Paul Dini and Bruce Timm’s Batman: the Animated Series, the Mike Mignola designed Mr. Freeze was my favourite villain.  Aside from looking cool, I loved the brooding, tragic nature of the character.  After what feels like years since reading a Freeze comic, I’m getting one of my childhood favourites introduced into the new 52, red goggles and all, by Scott Snyder, a guy who can do no wrong.  Sold!

Other Picks: Animal Man Annual #1 – It’s a giant-sized issue of Jeff Lemire’s Animal Man, a book that’s easily within my top 3-5 of the new 52.  Not much else you need to know.

Powers #10 – Powers was one of the books responsible for getting me back into comics around 7-8 years ago, so it’ll always have a fond place in my heart.  It really is Bendis and Oeming doing what they do best and feeding off one another like any ideal writer/artist team should.  It’s great to have this series shipping regularly again.

American Vampire #27 – AV may jump time periods quite a lot, but it’s amazingly consistent in its quality.  Frankly, I don’t think there’s ever been a bad issue.  American Vampire is a guaranteed good read and a nice mix of action and horror with great art.  No reason to miss out.

Incredible Hulk #8 – So…Aaron’s last arc wasn’t that great, but the point one issue, apparently, was really good and a huge change of pace.  Similarly, this arc seems to be a bit less ridiculous than the last arc.  If you read PunisherMAX, you’ll remember that it took Aaron an arc or two to find his voice and proper tone for that book as well and that may be the case here too.  So I’m hopeful to see if he’s made the correct adjustments here, as the point one issue seemed to suggest.  Also, it’s a Hulk issue…drawn by Steve Dillon.  That is really, really weird.  It’s either going to be totally fresh, unique, and cool or….a complete disaster.  I’m really, really curious to see how this book ends up looking.