Powers: Dioses

Powers (2000) #14

by Brian Michael Bendis, Michael Avon Oeming (Illustrator), Nick Filardi (Colorist)

Contiene Powers vol. 3, 7-11 USA

Dios ha muerto. Y Walker y su nueva compañera, la detective Enki Sunrise, están investigando su asesinato. Sí, Dios. Bueno, en realidad, uno de los integrantes del grupo de superhéroes Los Dorados, que se consideran a sí mismos una suerte de versión actualizada del panteón griego. Ah, además: Retro Girl se ve infectada con un virus mortal alienígena y Deena Pilgrim regresa, de una manera que te va a dejar de piedra.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Crime, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book, Mystery

168 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

A comic book writer and erstwhile artist. He has won critical acclaim (including five Eisner Awards) and is one of the most successful writers working in mainstream comics. For over eight years Bendis’s books have consistently sat in the top five best sellers on the nationwide comic and graphic novel sales charts.

Though he started as a writer and artist of independent noir fiction series, he shot to stardom as a writer of Marvel Comics' superhero books, particularly Ultimate Spider-Man.

Bendis first entered the comic world with the "Jinx" line of crime comics in 1995. This line has spawned the graphic novels Goldfish, Fire, Jinx, Torso (with Marc Andreyko), and Total Sell Out. Bendis is writing the film version of Jinx for Universal Pictures with Oscar-winner Charlize Theron attached to star and produce.

Bendis’s other projects include the Harvey, Eisner, and Eagle Award-nominated Powers (with Michael Avon Oeming) originally from Image Comics, now published by Marvel's new creator-owned imprint Icon Comics, and the Hollywood tell-all Fortune and Glory from Oni Press, both of which received an "A" from Entertainment Weekly.

Bendis is one of the premiere architects of Marvel's "Ultimate" line: comics specifically created for the new generation of comic readers. He has written every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man since its best-selling launch, and has also written for Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men, as well as every issue of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Ultimate Origin and Ultimate Six.

Brian is currently helming a renaissance for Marvel’s AVENGERS franchise by writing both New Avengers and Mighty Avengers along with the successful ‘event’ projects House Of M, Secret War, and this summer’s Secret Invasion.

He has also previously done work on Daredevil, Alias, and The Pulse.

Reviews

[Baba · Rating 4 out of 5]

2021 read: Another ground breaking volume. DC and Marvel have 'Gods' walking around like it's nothing - This volume beats another drum, and looks at the possible impact on society, the media and the police if 'Gods' do indeed walk the Earth! With a surprise helping hand from the FBI, detectives Sunrise and Walker find themselves looking for a God killer. What does it all mean? Are they really Gods? Where the Hell is Pilgrim? Can you kill a God? A volume that starts slow and picks up with Bendis and Oeming not really keeping the series fresh or as darkly comedic as earlier volumes. 7.5 out of 12.

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bendis introduces a new level of Powers, Powers who may or may not be the Gods of mythology such as Kronos and Artemis. One of them is murdered leaving Walker and Sunrise on the case along with Pilgrim who has returned as an FBI agent. The book is even darker than usual, that includes the art. Oeming's art was hard to follow in places. He went overboard with some of the shadows.

I do feel that with the erratic release schedule, collections are the format to read Powers in. The other thing odd about this collection is that the first issue was really in the last trade whether Bendis wants to admit it or not. It was only moved so that Bendis could end the last trade on the return of Deena Pilgrim.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yeah. I know. Reviewing the first and the last trade in a 14 book series probably isn't the best way to do it. But with this particular series, I think it's justified in that the series was so consistently excellent all the way through.

Now I don't meant to say it was the *same* all the way through. I mean it was consistently good. Part of what made it so good is the fact that the story didn't become an endless masturbatory rehash of things it had already done. Each story was new. Characters change and grow and make mistakes, suffer consequences and sometimes die.

So yeah. Everything that I said about volume one of this series carries through to the end. And I'm going to happily hop over and start reading the new series Powers: Bureau as soon as they get it in for me at the local comic shop.

[Melania 🍒 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,1/5

I can’t believe I’m done. After months and months of reading this series. It wasn’t bad, obviously,since I kept reading, but it was long, and it dragged on places and the art was bad ,just bad. In the end I’m just happy that I was able to finish this a**- long comics series.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a more serious, sombre Powers than I expected. The subject matter - so-called Gods getting killed - would warrant it if anything would in the Powersverse. It was a little harder for me to get through - found myself picking it up more often, not just gleefully burning up the pages in a single sitting.

There's a lot of running around, chasing mysteries and occasional punches of shock - and a lot of talking, hand-wringing and proselytizing in between as we're dealing with the quiet moments in between. I like how Walker is still under a veil of secrecy about his new power status and being watched by IA in lurking, furtive guilty shadows.

There's plenty of Bendis dialogue here, and enough of his smart ass personalities to keep my senses alert.

There's also a subtle feeling of escalation in this book - not just because it's "death of GODS" but something...well, maybe it's just the more serious tone, like Walker and his new partner are expecting shit to get heavy - like if I walked into a church with my partner, we might want to crack a joke but we're still too traumatized by a Catholic upbringing to enjoy the rampant opportunities for gallows humour.

This story escalates crazy near the end - a little out of context for this series, but entirely necessary to take us where it's headed next. Felt a bit like Bendis cribbed this from his run on Ultimate Spider-man, and I'm not sure there wasn't some other way to get to where we were headed considering the disaster doesn't specifically lead to a unique outcome. (Man it's hard not to spoiler in these reviews - and sometimes feels like a waste of effort considering how often other GR reviewers just dump the whole plot.)

Oeming varies his style a little here. Not like he's abandoned the 90-degree chin on Walker or anything that crazy, but it feels like there's (a) more round curves and edges and (b) deeper cinematic shadows to cast a darker mood over many aspects of the story. He usually gives the story a great deal of mood and depth, and only once did his layout choices completely piss me off (if you're going to illustrate a profound death scene, please don't put the most important part of the illustration where the book spine is going to obscure whether the wound was or wasn't fatal. Dick.)

I am good with this book, and terribly jazzed to see where they take the call-and-raise premise in the next series. Damn.

[Wing Kee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holy fraking hell! As I expected the last arc was a set up to pave the road for this! Once again Bendis and Oeming hit it out of the park. One of Powers' best things is the dialog and with Pilgrim back it was great. Amazing back and forth dialog with a great sense of character, just wonderful. Things that have been building, pressure that has been cooking finally all come to a head. Here are some highlights without spoilers:

1) The art, once again is amazing and the amount of splash pages and funky panelling by Oeming is amazing, it felt like I was out of breath constantly because the frames were so kinetic.

2) The story once again was engrossing and like with other Powers arcs it did not leave u hanging. Some people don't like the villain monologue, yes it's been done to the point of cliché, but (like the amazing Scott Snyder with Batman) if you understand the medium you are writing I'm and the strengths, freedoms and creativity it allows, you will find a way to make it fresh and amazing.

3) Consequences. Just like any great story, tension and conflict and confrontation have consequences, there is no invisible (often visible) net to catch our characters and make everything ok. This is Powers and shit will go down and it will be terrible shit.

With the end of this arc and still some of the questions posed not even answered it will be wonderful to see what happens next.

Onward to Powers Bureau!

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first issue of this arc is inexplicably at the end of Powers, Vol. 13: Z. Fortunately, it's all setup, so you might not even notice it's missing here when you're dumped into the mystery of a dead god.

Oh, and Deena's back. She doesn't entirely seem like herself, but maybe that's just because she's grown up a bit. It's wonderful to have her back, as her absence was mightily felt in the last volume.

Generally the story is good. The case is interesting, particularly as it offers a contrast between Powers and "gods". However, the last issue just knocks it out of the park. Oh, maybe it's a bit too similar to Powers, Vol. 6: The Sellouts, but I think it was part of a continued attempt to ratchet up the problems caused by Powers, rather than just repetition. I'm eager to see what comes next.

(The problem of course is that by this point the Powers publication schedule had become increasingly erratic, and the book was being rebooted again after 11 issues; these are problems that haven't yet been solved, putting a damper on the future of this fun series.)

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow. That was a great book but very dark. Too dark. More coherent than most of the others too but not in a comfortable way. But at some point this series will have to stop creating crazier stuff or it won't be believable. Well, actually it reached that point awhile ago. "Fight today, cry tomorrow". And what the heck went on with Heather? But how and why the gods were brought down was fairly believable-ish. But again left me wanting brain bleach. 3.5 of 5.

[Mohan Vemulapalli · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Powers: Gods" is a bit of a let down as volumes in this series go. It's not that it's not good, - it's just nowhere near as good as most of the rest of the series. Additionally, the book introduces a new class of Powers that claim to be Gods. This really feels like a a massive and unnecessary retcon even though the book tries to anchor this development to a character introduced in the third volume. In any case, the book showcases the usual strong writing and distinctive artwork "Powers" is know for. Additionally, Deena is back, which totally rocks.

[Phil Bova · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read some of the reviews before reading this particular volume. The series has come such a long way, and I have binge read since volume 3. And here it is, the final volume of Powers before things go federal.
And what a masterful and beautiful piece of writing this series has been, and the last issues were even better. I adore how Deena has grown as a character. When she became federal and started throwing her weight around, I praised her...because she did it in her own way, both respectful and insulting at the same time. She's become such an integral part of this series, going as far to say the most important part.
However our difference of opinion, it was nice to see her grow into her own. Looking forward to the coming Federal issues to see how Deena evolves more.
Christian Walker is a character within a character. He's so multi-layered and complex, yet he's also revealing in nature because he always wants to do was is right...which makes him so endearing. It's no wonder why his name is so well known, and respected. Both as Diamond and as Agent Walker
There have been many Powers that have come and gone, and while I will greatly miss some of the cool ones I enjoyed, I hope Bendis and Oeming have more coming. I'd like to see Powers integrated into society. Be that as it may, this has been the most enjoyable series reading I have done in such a long time, and it has been both fun and entertaining.

Cheers!
*Phil
Next Up: Powers Federal

[Vittorio Rainone · Rating 4 out of 5]

La terza stagione di Powers alza l'asticella dello scontro. Il detective Walker e la sua nuova companion Enki Sunrise si trovano a indagare su entità che si autoproclamano dei, e ne portano anche i nomi. Peccato che, manco a dirlo, uno di loro, Damocle, sia stato ucciso, per la precisione gli sia stata fatta esplodere la testa. Nelle indagini si inserisce la buona vecchia Deena Pilgrim, di fresca nomina federale, ma senza strafare e senza intralciare. Inutile dire che la situazione volge verso il caos più assoluto, con divinità uccise, una dopo l'altra, e un colpevole infine trovato, ma solo per caso e con la sottolineatura di una dettagliata confessione. Un uomo, con un suo virus poteri fatto in casa, ha acquistato la velocità e la forza tali da distruggere tre divinità. Il finale del numero diventa uno scontro all'ultimo respiro contro il potere dietro gli dei, ovvero i reali esseri soprumani che hanno dato caratteristiche potenziate alle vittime della mattanza del numero. Si scatenano onde di maremoto e tutti gli eroi disponibili si scontrano con un gigantesco guardiano, per sconfiggere il quale Triphammer muore, mentre risultano dispersi sia la nuova Retro Girl che il detective Walker, accorso in aiuto degli eroi nella sua fiammante uniforme di difensore della terra, subito dopo aver confessato ad amici e non che gli alieni gli avevano donato un nuovo potere. Nel prosieguo: i "poteri" passano sotto il dominio federale, e quindi tutti gli agenti coinvolti nella loro gestione sono "promossi" e hanno nuove regole da rispettare. Insomma: numero densissimo di roba, gestito al solito bene, con il suo ritmo cinematografico, da un Bendis che non smette di assestare ottimi colpi con quella che rimane la sua serie ammiraglia (con buona pace dell'esperienza Marvel Now), mentre ai disegni il solito Oeming si barcamena fra ottime, davvero ottime, inquadrature, e disegni talmente semplificati da rasentare (o superare) il fastidioso.

[Alejandro · Rating 3 out of 5]

And with this, I came to the conclusion that the series reached its peak two volumes ago and the rest is just Bendis and Oeming running on fumes. Volume One of "Powers: Bureau" is further confirmation of this suspicion…banter for the sake of banter, gratuitous sex scenes, etc. and etc. However, "Gods" commits the ultimate sin for any proud Chicagoan by turning it into a generic coastal city in its apocalyptic climax. No sense of the city, no sense of Lake Michigan and no sense that, if a superhero-created tidal wave would hit Chicago from Lake Michigan, it would take more than the downtown area.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am in a minority with my feelings for this volume, if the reviews are any indication. I actually didn't realize that this series continues in Powers: Bureau so I thought this was The End. Capitol. The End.

So, this actually doesn't end. :/ And I was really hoping for some sort of conclusion or other, I don't know, wrap up?

I also don't think there is a way for you to make me like Sunshine as a character. Show me with her poor abandoned nephew and her asshole husband as a way to humanize her all you want - I will not like this character or the way she is written.

[Gary Fortuin · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was some awesome stuff right there.

[Adriano Barone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sempre meglio.

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. I enjoyed the return of Deena Pilgrim, but that's about it.

[Koen Claeys · Rating 2 out of 5]

Powers ended with a big ‘Mèh!’.

[Matteo G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Volume number 13 was a big disappointment but with volume 14 we are back with a great story 👍

[Peter Evett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blow out disasters/crises/battle royales. A bit lesser on the character front tho. Still great work from both Bendis and Oeming to tell this giant story successfully and super tension/excitement.

[Fantifica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reseña de Laura Fernández · Nota: 7,3 · Reseña en Fantífica

A Brian Michael Bendis, el hombre del momento en La Casa de las Ideas (actualmente al frente de un número ingente de series mensuales), siempre le han gustado los detectives. Los detectives que una vez fueron superhéroes. Como Jessica Jones, la ex (Joven) Vengadora protagonista de Alias, la serie con la que Bendis quiso tratar de contagiar el éxito de la, por entonces (2001), recién creada Powers, al universo Marvel propiamente dicho. Porque en Powers, todo, desde los detectives hasta los superhéroes involucrados (por no hablar de los periodistas, de importancia mayúscula en la serie), son invento de Bendis. De Bendis y su socio, Mike Avon Oeming, ambos ganadores del Eisner precisamente por las aventuras de Christian Walker y Deena Pilgrim, los Mulder y Scully de los superhéroes.

Así, el propio Walker, detective de homicidios superheroicos, esto es, asesinatos de superhéroes, fue hace no demasiado superhéroe. Un superhéroe llamado Diamante. Pero se niega a hablar de su oscuro pasado aunque Deena Pilgrim, su cínica compañera, no deje de bromear al respecto. Pero eso era antes, cuando Christian y Deena formaban la pareja con más química de la historia del cómic de superhéroes. Ahora Walker tiene una nueva compañera, y, como ocurrió en Expediente X cuando Mulder desapareció y Scully tuvo que empezar a resolver misterios paranormales con un nuevo (y aburrido) compañero, nada es lo que era. Porque el motor de Powers, más que el morbo de toparse con cadáveres de superhéroes asesinados de forma absurda (en los primeros y muchísimo más interesantes números), era la pareja formada por Deena y Walker, una pareja que ya se rompió en el anterior volumen, Las águilas intrépidas, que incluía los primeros seis números de esta nueva era (la tercera) de la serie.

Y llegados a este punto, ¿qué ocurre en Dioses, el volumen que nos ocupa? Ocurre que Deena acaba de reaparecer, convertida —superados todos sus problemas con la ley, pues era sospechosa de asesinato— en agente del FBI, una agente especial al más puro estilo Dana Scully. Deena tendrá que echar una mano a su excompañero, Christian, y a su nueva partner, la poco fiable Enki Sunrise, en el caso de la muerte de Damocles, uno de los componentes de Los Dorados, un grupo de superhéroes que se consideran literalmente dioses y que quizá lo sean. Aunque ¿pueden morir los dioses? ¿Puede explotarles la cabeza? Porque eso es lo que le ha ocurrido a Damocles y lo que está a punto de ocurrirle a algún otro de Los Dorados. Y por si fuera poco, en televisión y en horario de máxima audiencia, ante el presentador estrella de Los Grandes Poderes. Como siempre, Powers mezcla investigación con cobertura mediática, una cobertura mediática alejada de la de los primeros números de la serie, que prefería las revistas de cotilleo superheroico. Revistas de cotilleo sustituidas por late shows que se toman muy en serio su trabajo.

Tan en serio como se lo toman los nuevos Christian y Deena. Porque si algo ha cambiado en todo este tiempo es el tono de la serie, que empezó siendo francamente absurdo, humorísticamente hablando, es decir, divertido, sin complejos, y que poco a poco se ha ido agriando hasta convertir cualquier nuevo caso en una lucha a muerte en la que no solo los detectives temen por su vida sino toda la humanidad. De hecho, en este volumen Deena y Walker se enfrentan al caso con más víctimas de su historia. Y lo peor está por llegar, porque lo que anticipa el fin de este volumen es que su trabajo ha dejado de ser el de un par de bichos raros en un departamento minúsculo para convertirse en algo realmente serio: casos federales. Sin duda, la serie por la que Bendis y Oeming se ganaron un Eisner empieza a dar muestras de desgaste, aunque aún podemos disfrutar de las discusiones entre Walker y Deena: como ya hemos dicho, lo mejor del policial más marciano de Marvel.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Powers is a bit of a nostalgia trip for me. I think I started reading it around 2004 back when I was heavily getting into comics again. It almost seems weird that Bendis has kept this series going on in the background of his career while he is busy remaking and breaking the Marvel universe.

I can't remember the last time I read a volume of Powers, but picking up this new edition I did not feel too lost in the story. Deena and Walker are still there and so are the chained speech balloons that spread across entire pages.

Walker is tasked with solving the murder of a super hero with godlike powers that claimed to be a god. Most of the story has him tracking down leads and unraveling a mystery while the motives of his superiors and colleagues sort of swirl around him. To my mind it was pretty standard Powers. Although I can't help but think that Bendis' dialogue seems a bit more... concise. It makes me wonder a bit if the older Powers books will hold up if I read them again.

[Trike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bends is best read in long form rather than issue by issue, because his stories take a while to build. The last installment of Powers is no exception. Some parts are laugh-out-loud funny, some parts are shocking, but all the parts fit together masterfully.

Like many superhero comics, Powers is suffering from "power creep" where characters become more powerful over time and the resultant stakes have to get raised as a result. In Powers: Gods, the story has gone beyond mere superheroes to genuine gods. It's still a murder mystery being investigated by cops on the beat, but as Walker's epic past has hinted, things are about to blow up big when someone starts killing gods.

I enjoyed this immensely. Definitely a worthy addition to the Powers story. And the ending has promises of even bigger things to come. I'm looking forward to it.

Hopefully before 2020.

[Jeff Raymond · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been ages since we got a new Powers trade, and when this finally arrived at my door, I put it off for a bit. I know that I hadn't been as hot on the series as I used to be, and things were getting progressively weirder, but you invest a good deal of time in a comic and you like to see it through if it's still good.

I was glad to see that Gods brought things back around to a lot of what I loved about Powers begin with. Deena's back in the fold, a good mystery, just enough weirdness to go around. It largely felt like a reboot of sorts, and that's more than okay by me. A great read overall.

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

My goodness, how long ago did the previous volume come out? I remember when POWERS was one of the best titles on the stands, one of my then current favorites, and each book offered a good reading experience with closure. It's been so long since the last book came out I couldn't even begin to explain what the last story was about or where it left off. This story arc has some awkward storytelling at times, but luckily it doesn't hinder the overall reading experience. But it ends like a bad habit, in the way many Marvel books do...to be continued. Unfortunately.

[Lord Humungus · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hopefully I'm wrong, but I feel I've already read the best Powers stories. This collection doesn't stand up there with the best, but it's not bad. I feel the author has written himself into a corner, doing as much as he can to change and expand the main characters, their roles in the world, even upping the scale and lethality of the bad guys. It was time for a shift and with this collection, I think Bendis certainly leaves the series open for some major changes.

Looking forward to reading the Powers:Bureau stuff.

[Scott Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

And...they're back! This is what powers should be. This volume feels more par for the course as Pilgrim returns (big surprise, right? She's only our cover girl!) and the powers team gets caught up in a series of murder of powers known as the golden ones who are throughout the volume are never quite clearly identified as either powers in the series' traditional sense or some kind of deities/avatars of the ancient Greek pantheon. This one builds to an apocalyptic ending that really shakes everything up and has all the payoff and direct impact that I felt the last volume lacked.

[Cliff Bumgardner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fourteen volumes in, Bendis continues to reinvent his world while Oeming illustrates it in beautiful detail. POWERS is one of the most original comic series I've ever read, combining the world of superheros with a hard-boiled crime procedural. Every book in the series is a treat, and there's just more to adore in Gods. If you're a fan, you've gotta pick this up. If you've never read an issue of POWERS, what're you waiting for? Stop reading this and go! Highly recommended.

[Chad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powers was one of the first comics series I devoured when I got into comics in general about a decade ago. Publication has been highly inconsistent since then, and I long ago switched to reading it in collections as a result. But it's so worth the wait every time! Bendis is never afraid to mess with the status quo, and that's on display in the ending here big time.

[Mely]

Manic Pixie Dream Girl Heather hugely annoys me, but if she was brought back only to be fridged, I will be annoyed even more.

On the other hand, Deena Pilgrim + Enki Sunrise is the best team-up ever.

[Philip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still interesting, but it feels like it has drifted too far from its original premise to be really great anymore. It's still about cops investigating murders of super-powered people, now the stakes are too high, with cases being of national or even global significance.