Powers #3 - Icon Comics (Marvel Comics)

POWERS No. 3, May 2015

When the co-creator of “the original comic book series” somewhat detrimentally refers to it as “Powers TV’s lesser known sister”, it is arguably clear which of the two mediums is of paramount importance in their minds… And is presumably the reason why Brian Michael Bendis’ profanity-laden soulless narrative to Issue Three of “Powers” is so lamentable. Certainly it is hard to fathom out why else a five-time Eisner Award-winning writer would produce such staid almost child-like dialogue, overly-long stagnating scenes and arguably illogical plot points.

In fact it is hard to find anything within this periodical’s twenty-five pages worthy of praise. Except perhaps the Cleveland-born author’s handling of ‘good girl turned bad’ Rainbow'. Whose panic attack at the prospect of incarceration leads her to seriously ‘fly off the handle’ and amply demonstrate why Deena Pilgrim is such a ‘cult figure’ within creator-owned comics. However even this colourful four-page scene depicting the homicide detective eventually bringing down her prisoner with a bullet, appears overly-long and disappointingly contains some of the worst language imaginable.

Admittedly Bendis’ storyline is not devoid of action. In fact once the reader has endured a tediously long conversational piece between Pilgrim and her Chief, as he drags the cop ‘back to the Police station specifically to rip her one’, there isn’t a moment’s pause to be had. But all each ‘set-piece’ seems to do is provide the Wizard Award-winner with even more opportunities for having his characters prolifically swear or curse, whilst giving artist Michael Avon Oeming the chance to once again demonstrate his all-too inconsistent and amateurish-looking ‘animation-style’ line art.

Indeed the American penciller’s illustrations are decidedly substandard throughout this comic and badly undermine what little interest his collaborator’s script generates to the point where it even has a negative impact upon the long-awaited much-anticipated return of Christian Walker as the 'superhero' Diamond. Such a notable decline in the artwork is especially evident when it can be so readily compared to some of Oeming’s earlier work on the title courtesy of a back-page advertisement to buy the 2010 comic book series digitally. It’s therefore little wonder that the sales for so lack-lustre a magazine saw this issue’s circulation figure drop to just 10,485 copies in May 2015.

The variant cover art of "POWERS" No. 3 by David Mack

Powers #2 - Icon Comics (Marvel Comics)

POWERS No. 2, March 2015

It really is exceptionally hard not to see “Powers” as little more than an enormous sales gimmick for this title’s adaption into an American online streaming television series. Certainly there appears little other reason for writer Brian Michael Bendis and “Marvel Worldwide” to distribute such distasteful poorly-written and dreadfully-drawn nonsense. Even if the New York City-based publishers are printing it under their creator-owned imprint “Icon Comics”; something which tends to lend itself to much more edgy mature adult-orientated content. 

Blatant advertising, such as this issue’s cover boldly declaring the programme’s broadcast date on Sony’s Playstation Network, is perfectly understandable given the series’ accomplishment and readers may even excuse the five-time Eisner Award-winner for furnishing them with excruciating detail about the development deal during the lengthy introduction to his letters page “The Line Up”.

But far less likely to be forgiven is the quality of the Cleveland-born author’s storyline for this book. It really does leave a lot to be desired and genuinely feels like the former “architect of the Ultimate Marvel Universe” has rushed this magazine’s script through in order to meet the television show’s debut. Why else would he spend five dreary dialogue-heavy pages simply explaining that the murder victim was a nice well-liked individual, and another six depicting Christian Walker being gratuitously mugged in his own apartment?

Sadly such a disheartening observation arguably gains even more weight when one considers the writer’s stilted monotone dialogue and his heavy overreliance on profanities. Bendis is infamous for his (mis)use of swear words in his magazines. But with this comic it would seem that whenever he was stuck giving one of his character’s something informative or meaningful to say, he mindlessly just gives them an expletive and lazily moves on to the next scene.

Tragically Michael Avon Oeming’s pencils would also seem to support this theory of ‘everything being done on the hurry up’, despite the fact that the periodical is being published as a bi-monthly. His tense front page illustration of Walker and Pilgrim is by far the best piece of artwork in this comic book, as the vast majority of his interior figures disappointingly resemble little more than stick-men with balloon heads and Chibi-like eyes. 

Admittedly there is a lot of raw power and energy on show when the American artist depicts the former homicide detective battling a crowbar-wielding intruder, and as such the frantic panic-filled fist-fight works well as a piece of semi-gripping drama. But the Eagle Award-winner’s awkward, even ugly-looking caricatures make it extremely hard for anyone to fully immerse themselves in the action; especially when the ‘cartoonesque’ figures are swearing all the time.

The variant cover art of "POWERS" No. 2 by Mike Allred and Laura Allred

The United States Of Murder Inc. #1 - Icon Comics (Marvel Comics)

THE UNITED STATES OF MURDER INC. No. 1, May 2014

As the brain child of Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming, the creators of the Eisner Award-winning comic book title “Powers”, Issue One of “The United States of Murder Inc.” promises both plenty of profanities in its dialogue as well as artwork which arguably is an acquired taste for many. But it also offers its 18,474 readership the opportunity to accompany ‘made-man’ Valentine Gallo on a double-sized adventure into the dark murderous underworld of a mafia-run alternative America… and what an edgy atmospheric journey full of double-dealing and blood-letting it is.

Right from the start, as a well-dressed but anxious looking young socialite joins ‘The Family’ and clumsily accepts to meet a Senator on behalf of the organisation, it’s clear that the American writer’s script is going to live up to his aspiration of being “very good crime fiction except multiply it by one hundred”.

The train excursion to Gallo’s rendezvous in Washington D.C. is full of tension and nervous energy, as Don Bonavese’s newest recruit first encounters a group of drunk obnoxious passengers, and then later a mysterious guardian angel called Jagger Rose who appears awfully handy with a firearm. The meeting with Senator Fuller is classic film noir, set within an exquisitely rich “boys only” club, where the uniformed porter immediately ushers Valentine through the foyer upon seeing the Family’s brooch pin fastened upon his suit’s lapel. The exchange is equally as moody and familiar, with the bald congressman doing all the talking, all the protesting, yet seemingly acquiescing to the organisation’s demands nonetheless. It also comes as little surprise that the briefcase left with Fuller soon explodes, presumably killing everyone in the building as well as Gallo’s best friend Dino.

In many ways though Bendis then uses this sequence of predictable events against the reader, providing something of a genuine surprise. As first Mister Tuzzo and Mister Bloom deny any knowledge of the ‘hit’ on the senator, and then, despite her foul-mouthed behaviour at the start of the book, the made-man’s “Ma” reveals herself to be one of three government undercover operatives attempting to infiltrate the Mafia. Somewhat more jaw-dropping however is the fact that the eighteen-year old was also “born an undercover Federal Agent.”

For much of this comic Oeming’s artwork, despite being overly simple and highly-stylized, manages to get the job done competently enough. Indeed his artistic partnership with colorist (and wife) Taki Soma, really helps create a dingy, corrupt and dangerous world within which violence and death can swiftly fall upon the unprepared.

Unfortunately what it is incredibly hard to do is differentiate between the characters of Valentine and Dino. Both are young dark-haired Caucasian men wearing blue-black suits. The only perceptible difference being that Gallo’s friend has slightly wavy hair and wears a pair of shades. So when the Senator is blown up, and the American illustrator produces first a terribly underwhelming double-splash of the building exploding, followed by an equally unimpressive two-page drawing of Valentine being catapulted forwards by the force of the blast as seen through the reflection of Dino’s glasses. It is pretty hard to appreciate that the groggy and bloodied survivor depicted clutching a pair of shades in his hand is in fact the Mafia’s latest acquisition, and that the dead partially mutilated body lying against a railed wall is actually Dino. Indeed it isn’t until the funeral, when Mister Tuzzo point-blank demands “I want to hear it from you, Valentine” that it becomes apparent who has actually died.

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis, Artist: Michael Avon Oeming, and Colorist: Taki Soma with Javi Pina

Powers #1 - Icon Comics (Marvel Comics)

POWERS No. 1, January 2015

Possibly when it comes to reading comics there is an especially strong prudish streak inside me. For within mere seconds of opening this book, and catching sight of just the second panel, I was dishearteningly flipping back to the front cover looking for some sort of ‘Mature Content’ warning and remembering the ‘good old days’ of the Silver and Bronze Age when the Comics Code Authority forbade the use of all colourful metaphors.

Surprisingly there was no such cautionary graphic to be found. But there again “Powers” is part of the “Icon Comics” imprint, a trade name designed by “Marvel Worldwide” to keep certain ‘A-list’ creators working for the American publisher rather than have them take their creator-owned titles to a rival production company. And writer Brian Michael Bendis, winner of five Will Eisner Comic Industry awards, amongst many others, is most definitely an ‘A-list’ author.

Unnecessary profanities and blatant nudity aside however, this first in a new run of crime noir adventures concerning super-powered homicides also has the hurdle of a fourteen year-long backstory to overcome. Fortunately being previously oblivious to the ongoing series is not a barrier as the four-time Wizard Magazine award-winner has crafted an opening issue which requires no prior knowledge of the title’s earlier publications; significantly hefty though they are. Indeed it lands the reader smack bang in the middle of an arrest, as detective Deena Pilgrim repeatedly discharges her firearm into the 'backside' of the fleeing ‘power’ Red Wave.

From there Bendis provides us with a brief insight into the dark, lonely, perturbingly paranoid home life of our heroine before the police specialist, accompanied by her partner Enki Sunrise, faces the formidable challenge of capturing the killer of a yacht-full of rich socialites.

Sadly it doesn’t really matter how intriguing or enticing the plot to a comic is when the artwork is as abysmal as that drawn by co-creator Michael Avon Oeming. Definitely distinctive, the American illustrator can clearly draw extremely well when presumably given the time, as the slightly cartoony but eye-catching cover artwork to Issue One of “Powers” proves. But his interior pencilling is arguably beneath child-like, as his inconsistent characters lurch from panel to panel with stick-like features, over-sized balloon heads, and an awkward ever-evolving grasp of human anatomy. Certainly it is hard to fathom out how previous volumes were able to generate strong enough sales for Oeming to quit his job as a security guard and become a full-time artist.

The variant cover art of "POWERS" No. 1 by David Marquez