This book is almost two years old... how can it keep surprising me so well? I suspect it's because Bendis and company treat their characters like no one is safe, and you never know what could happen next. That became clear in the closing part of the last arc, but it's made even clearer in the opening part of this issue. Powers has always been about how normal people deal with super people, but it's more interesting than that; in this issue and in previous issues, it shows that both the super-powered and the normal people are fallible, and often act in stupid or illogical ways, which helps drive the plot but also helps to give the book its more realistic tone.
Bendis and Oeming deliver an explosive start to this issue, and I was hooked for the whole thing. I was quite shocked by the opening pages of this issue, which made for yet another big status quo change I wasn't expecting. By building up the characters, the reader is as drawn into the consequences of the opening sequence as the characters themselves, and it's easy to let yourself get caught up in the anger and the frustration that Deena, Walker and others express as the issue goes on.
It's probably a good thing that Deena and Walker are fictional characters, because if they could escape the page, I suspect they'd kick Bendis's ass for giving them such a constant hard time. This issue sees considerable frustration and potential guilt for Deena in future issues, as well as serving up a look at how Walker is handling his mandatory retirement. If you guessed "not all that well, with more than a little well-earned bitterness," then move to the head of the class.
The real power of the book comes in the back half, though, when we see just how far Deena Pilgrim is willing to go when she's angry. It's a nice contrast to the more predictable type of rage seen in this week's issue of Green Lantern, and I found her reactions more believable and with far more interesting long-term ramifications as well. Oeming does not shy away in this issue from the blood, violence and fury that surrounds the characters, and the images are some of the most powerful to grace Powers so far, which is saying something considering some of the shockers we've seen already. And, although I say it every time we see an issue, it bears repeating that everyone on this creative team is clearly working as hard and as good as the rest, because Pantazis's colors and Bruzenak's lettering reinforce the story, whether it's the bright oranges that pop off the page early on, the glowing green that contrasts with the red blood or the terrific silhouetted sound effects that really stand out.
Powers is a book that could coast along just on a great atmosphere, sense of humor and talent. Really, the plots could be so thin and predictable as to belong in a Liefeld book and I'd probably still enjoy this book for the craft that goes into it. But when you marry solid talent with stories that keep me turning pages and anxiously awaiting each issue, what you get is a book that is not only good now, but that folks will look back on as some of the best comics that the 2000s had to offer.
