Powers #1 – Review

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

The Story: Detectives Christian Walker and Enki Sunrise try to learn to live with each other as they embark upon their first case together.

What’s Good: Powers is a rightfully celebrated series and I can assure you that this relaunch issue lives up to its previous volumes.  In more or less every way, this is the definition of what a good comic should be.

Certainly, all of the Bendis hallmarks are in place.  The staccato dialogue and the creative profanity are in fine form.  That said, what also returns is Bendis’ ability in Powers to portray multi-layered, real, and complex human relationships.  It’s all the more impressive that he manages this with Enki Sunrise, a character that has remained ill-defined and two-dimensional up until this point and was one of the few weak spots of Powers’ last arc.  Finally, Bendis manages to flesh out the character a bit and give her a little more life.  Moreover, he’s actually well on his way to making her likable.  Readers of Powers will know this to be no small feat.

And he does this through minimal, subtle strokes.  In a few pages of near-wordless action, we arguably learn more about the character than we have through the entirety of the last arc.  Furthermore, when she attempts to forge a bond with Christian, the dialogue is expertly played; her conversation is scattered, stumbling, and awkward.  Really, the syntax says as much about the character and her desires as her actual words.

For a first issue, Bendis also manages a large scope.  Upon finding an old associate dead, we get a flashback to a period of Christian’s past that is all gaudy film noir.  I’ve always loved Bendis’ visiting of Christian in previous eras, as his treatment of these time-periods are evocative yet honest, and this is the case here.  I also have always enjoyed noticing the subtle differences, and similarities, between Christian’s personality then and now.  It’s an absolute pleasure to see a Christian this month that is, for lack of a better word, an asshole, if not a tag-along.

Beyond this, the sense of mystery is palpable and Bendis makes me want more.  This is also thanks in large part to Oeming’s artwork, and this is his best work in some time.  His paneling is as abstract and creative as ever (one memorable double-page spread tracks our characters’ path across a street and up a building), without causing the confusion that Powers’ previous arc was at times guilty of.  Colorist Nick Filardi also improves the series, alleviating it of the slightly excessive darkness of prior issues.

Oeming’s style urban environments are absolutely beautiful despite their seeming simplicity, heavy with mood and dark ambiance.  His rendition of the flashback is also well done: it glows with just enough life and vibrancy to distinguish it from the present day without becoming overly self-conscious, and of course ,the present-day is as grim and gritty a place as ever.

What’s Not So Good: None whatsoever.  Some might say that we didn’t get enough information regarding the actual murder and make cries regarding plot progression.  Relax, it’s only the first issue and besides, Powers has long been more about the characters anyway.

Conclusion: Comics bliss… This should satisfy even the most stalwart Bendis-hater.

Grade: A

-Alex Evans