Powers (comics)
| Powers | |
|---|---|
The cover of Supergroup, a compilation of issues 15 to 20.
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| Publication information | |
| Publisher |
Image Comics Icon Comics (Marvel Comics) |
| Schedule | Monthly |
| Format | Ongoing series |
| Genre | |
| Publication date | April 2000 to present |
| Number of issues | Vol. 1 #1–37 Vol. 2 #1–30 Vol. 3 #1–11 Powers: Bureau Vol.1 #1–11 Vol. 4 #1–current |
| Main character(s) |
Christian Walker Deena Pilgrim |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) | Brian Michael Bendis |
| Artist(s) | Michael Avon Oeming |
| Letterer(s) | Brian Michael Bendis Ken Bruzenak |
| Colorist(s) |
Pat Garrahy Peter Pantazis |
| Creator(s) | Brian Michael Bendis Michael Avon Oeming |
| Editor(s) |
K. C. McCrory Jamie S. Rich |
| Collected editions | |
| Who Killed Retro Girl? | |
Powers is an American creator-owned police procedural comic book series by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Michael Avon Oeming. The series' first volume was published by Image Comics from 2000 to 2004. In 2004 the series moved to Marvel Comics as a part of its Icon imprint.
Combining the genres of superhero fantasy, crime noir and the police procedural, the series follows the lives of two homicide detectives, Christian Walker and Deena Pilgrim, assigned to investigate cases involving people with superhuman abilities, who are referred to colloquially as "powers".
Brian Michael Bendis, Michael Avon Oeming and David W. Mack became friends while all three were working on individual small press projects. Bendis says that he also began to "analyz[e] why it was that I [had] never attempted to write a superhero comic" at the time, while he was writing crime books such as Jinx and Goldfish, despite his love of the genre. Concluding that Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns and Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen had sufficiently explored the genre, Bendis decided to work in other genres." The series' concept was derived from his love of crime fiction and police procedurals in general, as well as specific works such as Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, Janis Joplin's biography,Taxi Driver, T-Men, Traffic) and Visions Of Light: The Art of Cinematography, and would take the form of a Behind the Music-type look at superheroes.Powers, Oeming says, is "a superhero universe seen through the eyes of the police... [as] observed by the media" and everyday individuals. Bendis' intention was to view the "cliches of the superhero genre through the harder eyes of the cops," but with the added layer that (echoing "Behind the Music") "every arc has some footing in a famous rock star story." Bendis' scripts are often compiled from "a list of scenes," eschewing "the big exploding ending" in favor of a "character-driven or psychological ending." Indeed, in experimenting with plots, the duo swiftly moved beyond 'mere' police procedurals (despite those being both creators' "favorite stories"), constantly pushing each other creatively in new ways. In conceiving plots for the series, Bendis emphasizes the purpose and themes in the narrative over "just being cool", and allowing the theme to dictate the direction of the story.
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