Book-It 'o12! Book #42
The Fifty Books Challenge, year three! (Years one, two, and three just in case you're curious.) This was a library request.
Title: Powers, Vol. 1: Who Killed Retro Girl? by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming
Details: Copyright 2006, Jinxworld Inc
Synopsis (By Way of Back Cover): "Heroes glide through the sky on lightning bolts and fire. Flamboyant villains attempt daring daylight robberies. God-like alien creatures clash in epic battle over the nighttime sky. And on the dirty city streets below, Homicide Detectives Christian Walker does his job.
Detective Christian Walker has to investigate the shocking murder of one of the most popular superheroes the world has ever known: Retro Girl. Walker is teamed up with spunky rookie Detective Deena Pilgrim, and the murder investigation takes them from the seediest underbelly a city has to offer, to the gleaming towers that are home to immortal beings.
As shocking twisted hidden truths about Retro Girl come to light, Walker finds that to solve this crime, he might have to reveal his own dark secret.
This definative collection of the very first Powers story features high grade paper stock, an all new Oeming sketchbook, a presentation of Bendis's original script for Powers issue one, the Powers strips, a gallery of unused art and covers, and a key to the Powers superstar cameos.""
Why I Wanted to Read It: I was given a clump of graphic novels (mainly superhero comics, which aren't really my interest) and several of them were of the Powers series, which I found surprisingly engaging. The first I read of this series (again, I stress out of order), was Powers, Vol. 3: Little Deaths, and I actually read somewhat in order by having the one intended to be next ( Powers, Vol. 4: Supergroup, and then went back out of order with Powers, Vol. 2: Roleplay. This is technically continuing on descending order, since it's the first.
How I Liked It: The first of a series is always going to be a curious dance. The longer the series, the less likely it is that the creators have gotten their visions "correct" by the opening book.
The art is choppier and more "cartoon-y" (although no less lacking in gigantic, unrealistically rendered boobs on just about every female character past puberty). The dialog, while never especially snappy, is somehow even more stock here. Even the hallmark, that is, the redeeming factor of this series, the richly filled in pop culture details of the world in which the series takes place, is anemic. All of these are to be expected in the first of a series, but given all holding it back, it's somewhat of a wonder that this series did actually get off the ground.
Reasons why exist perhaps in the seeds the authors plant in the both the suggested backstories as well as a promised future. The devotion that creators have to their series is evident even in a sloppy, awkward beginning.
Notable: A quick background check reveals that although this edition was published in 2006, as to be expected, the series actually first ran earlier, starting in spring of 2000.
This makes it all the more squirm-worthy to see two pages (four panels) devoted to detectives Christian Walker and Deena Pilgrim out for a smoke (hers) and the horizon of the city in clear view. A flaming streak (a closer look reveals it to be two fighting superheroes) smashing into the side of one of two closely spaced buildings (and causing a plume of smoke damage to filter up to the sky) is uncomfortably familar (and had me questioning the date of publication only due to the near-draconian ban on various media and the backlash against any pop culture output that even resembled 9/11 that made it out).
Title: Powers, Vol. 1: Who Killed Retro Girl? by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming
Details: Copyright 2006, Jinxworld Inc
Synopsis (By Way of Back Cover): "Heroes glide through the sky on lightning bolts and fire. Flamboyant villains attempt daring daylight robberies. God-like alien creatures clash in epic battle over the nighttime sky. And on the dirty city streets below, Homicide Detectives Christian Walker does his job.
Detective Christian Walker has to investigate the shocking murder of one of the most popular superheroes the world has ever known: Retro Girl. Walker is teamed up with spunky rookie Detective Deena Pilgrim, and the murder investigation takes them from the seediest underbelly a city has to offer, to the gleaming towers that are home to immortal beings.
As shocking twisted hidden truths about Retro Girl come to light, Walker finds that to solve this crime, he might have to reveal his own dark secret.
This definative collection of the very first Powers story features high grade paper stock, an all new Oeming sketchbook, a presentation of Bendis's original script for Powers issue one, the Powers strips, a gallery of unused art and covers, and a key to the Powers superstar cameos.""
Why I Wanted to Read It: I was given a clump of graphic novels (mainly superhero comics, which aren't really my interest) and several of them were of the Powers series, which I found surprisingly engaging. The first I read of this series (again, I stress out of order), was Powers, Vol. 3: Little Deaths, and I actually read somewhat in order by having the one intended to be next ( Powers, Vol. 4: Supergroup, and then went back out of order with Powers, Vol. 2: Roleplay. This is technically continuing on descending order, since it's the first.
How I Liked It: The first of a series is always going to be a curious dance. The longer the series, the less likely it is that the creators have gotten their visions "correct" by the opening book.
The art is choppier and more "cartoon-y" (although no less lacking in gigantic, unrealistically rendered boobs on just about every female character past puberty). The dialog, while never especially snappy, is somehow even more stock here. Even the hallmark, that is, the redeeming factor of this series, the richly filled in pop culture details of the world in which the series takes place, is anemic. All of these are to be expected in the first of a series, but given all holding it back, it's somewhat of a wonder that this series did actually get off the ground.
Reasons why exist perhaps in the seeds the authors plant in the both the suggested backstories as well as a promised future. The devotion that creators have to their series is evident even in a sloppy, awkward beginning.
Notable: A quick background check reveals that although this edition was published in 2006, as to be expected, the series actually first ran earlier, starting in spring of 2000.
This makes it all the more squirm-worthy to see two pages (four panels) devoted to detectives Christian Walker and Deena Pilgrim out for a smoke (hers) and the horizon of the city in clear view. A flaming streak (a closer look reveals it to be two fighting superheroes) smashing into the side of one of two closely spaced buildings (and causing a plume of smoke damage to filter up to the sky) is uncomfortably familar (and had me questioning the date of publication only due to the near-draconian ban on various media and the backlash against any pop culture output that even resembled 9/11 that made it out).