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POWERS #14 (Best of the Week!)
Highly Recommended (9/10)
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Image Comics
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Mike Avon Oeming
Colors: Peter Pantazis
Letters: Ken Bruzenak
Copy editor: K.C. McCrory
Price: $2.95 US |
It's been a while since I hung out with the Powers crew. I missed a couple of issues... don't ask me how, I honestly couldn't explain it. My interest in the title certainly hasn't waned, and neither has the quality. Bendis and company offer up a thoroughly accessible and entertaining read. This is yet another intelligent, moody and funny issue.
Christian Walker and Deena Pilgrim are summoned to the scene of an apparent suicide because officers on the scene suspect a link to their investigation into the unexplained death of Olympia. Clues found on the scene lead the pair of detectives to a string of the late super-hero's lovers, including one with some answers, not to mention some fears and ambitions.
Oeming's art is as sharp and fun as ever. He manages to capture the lighter moments nicely, but when the script calls for gravity, he conveys that just as adeptly. What really caught my eye in this issue were the colors. Pat Garrahy is no longer handling the interior colors, and it shows. Pantazis's approach is markedly different, but it's still effective. His colors are much brighter. Along with Oeming, he conveys the fun of Silver Age super-heroics while also hitting on a similar film-noir feel that Garrahy brought to the book.
I had no problem picking up on the story, even though I started reading in the middle of the story arc. Didn't even need the "Previously" information on the inside-front cover. Bendis tells the reader everything he or she needs to know... not just about the Olympia story, but about the title in general. He weaves details about the characters -- specifically about their jobs and Walker's past as a hero himself -- seamlessly into the dialogue.
Bendis takes a grisly concept -- a messy suicide -- and turns it into something that made me smile. Sure, I have a twisted sense of humor anyway, but I'll be damned if Deena's annoyance isn't hilarious. Not only does it entertain, but it tells the reader something about her character, as well as Walker's. Bendis shifts the tone of the story around almost constantly, and it keeps things fresh and unpredictable.
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