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POWERS #18
Highly Recommended (10/10)
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Image Comics
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Michael Avon Oeming
Colors: Peter Pantazis
Letters: Ken Bruzenak
Copy Editor: KC McCrory
Price: $2.95 US/$4.70 CAN |
I've read a lot of super-hero vs. super-villain fights and seen a lot of car chases, but I've never seen it done the way it was done in this issue of Powers. Bendis and Oeming give you the feel for what it must be like for normal people to look up at a fight in a way that only Astro City and Marvels have
accomplished before. There's also some nice characterization stuff going on,
particularly in the relationships between Walker, Deena and Zora, and a truly
shocking ending.
While this has always been a
book that benefits from creative synergy, from the writer and artist all the way
to the colorist and letterer, it was Bendis as writer that drew me to the book
in the first place. However, Oeming has become as much of a draw as Bendis was
in the first place, and he really shows off his stuff in this issue. The chase
scene is played out in a very cinematic way, but with an all-too-real attention
to destruction and death. The "slow motion" as Deena tries to rescue people from
a falling helicopter, or Zora's last minute rescue, are fantastic moments. And
the general feel of power, coming from the auras of Zora and Boogiegirl, is only
one example of the stellar coloring job by Pantazis.
Mind you, Bendis isn't
content to sit back and let the readers watch the pretty light show and chase.
The interaction between Zora and Deena, however brief, was a terrific and
revealing moment of characterization, a nice humanizing touch that only makes
the ending hit harder. And the frustrating stupidity of the Channel Seven copter
comes through quite well in the dialogue, and in the reactions that Deena and
Walker have to it.
However, for all that I love
Bendis's dialogue and appreciate how much of the pacing probably comes from his
script, this is really the artists' show. I have never seen a chase scene this
good in comics, and I was impressed that the artists managed to keep the action
something we could relate to on a basic level, all the while letting it play out
like a big-budget action movie. There are some truly spectacular images in this
book.
"Supergroup" has been probably my favorite Powers storyline so far, providing not only a look at the realities and politics of super-powers in the Powers world, but also some of the most incredible
action and artwork that the series has had.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review, or discuss it on the Fourth Rail message board. |
