Powers, Vol. 1: All the New Powers

Powers (2015) #1

by Brian Michael Bendis, Michael Avon Oeming (Illustrator)

Just in time for the debut of the long-awaited POWERS TV show! The Eisner Award-winning POWERS tells the story of homicide detectives Christian Walker and Deena Pilgrim, who are assigned cases specifically involving powers. If a superhero falls dead from the sky or a super villain is found dead in the gutter, it's up to Walker and Pilgrim to solve the case. But having barely survived the most harrowing case of their careers and discovering government corruption of the highest level, Walker and Pilgrim are now faced with the most difficult decision they've ever had to make. the discovery of a power no one has ever seen before!

Powers (2015) 1-6

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Crime, Superheroes, Fiction

200 pages, Hardcover

First published July 21, 2015

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]

Just the 8 issues and incomplete as of July 2019. A massacre of humans by an unknown Power in a world where new Powers seem to be appearing everyday sees Sunrise and Pilgrim on the case. This first arc is pretty cool with all three main character beginning to act out on the trauma they've undergone in previous seasons! This plays really well and if the series returns while Bendis is at DC, there's a lot more to come. 9 out of 12, Four Star reading. The second unfinished arc (#7 to #8) starts at the beginning of Diamond's career.

2019 read

[Oscar · Rating 5 out of 5]

The band getting back together!

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Snark.

Hard-edged cops, sarcastic villains, salty citizenry.

Banter.

A good damned mystery.

An off relationship between two cops.

Looming threats by people we don't know how bad they can get.

This sounds like nearly every Powers book that came before, and yet is still just as readable after umpteen volumes of classic Bendis/Oeming.

[Lost Planet Airman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yeah, once I picked it up, I couldn't put it down.

When last we saw, Deena Pilgrim and Christian Walker had broken a major scandal in the Powers division of the FBI, but Walker had had his powers taken and was left near death. Now, Walker has left the force and drinks to forget the tragedy his powers have brought, as new Powers spring up, bringing mass murder to the city.

[Trike · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I didn't give this a second glance when I saw it because I thought it was merely a repackaged collection of the original Powers book, because the cover is so similar to the original. Turns out it's a continuation of the story. Who knew?

So Deena Pilgrim and Enki Sunrise are back on the force, working powers cases, while Christian Walker is drowning his sorrows at strip clubs. Suddenly there are a bunch of new powers on the scene (hence the title), and Pilgrim and Sunrise are trying to get to the bottom of it.

I definitely got the sense Bendis was using the Pixar movie The Incredibles as his inspiration -- there's even a nearly identical scene between a mysterious woman and Walker that echoes the recruitment scene between Mirage and Mr. Incredible, except that it takes place in a strip club -- but because this is Powers, the whole thing is seedy and sordid and blood-drenched. Wonderfully so.

I like that they're having fun with it, too, as when a minor background character in the police station is ranting about how they're all on TV. Referencing the Powers TV series, of course. (I haven't seen it because it's on a game console or something.)

I love this brand of superhero noir, and I'm looking forward to the next installment. Powers is back, baby.

[Frédéric · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've probably waited far too long to read this latest volume of Powers (so far) and haven't managed to get back into the swing of things.

I suppose there's a time for everything and that time has come and gone.

That said, if the flame hasn't been rekindled, the book isn't disgraceful, even if Bendis resorts to shamefully easy procedures to close the story.

[Alex Sarll]

Pilgrim and Sunrise are back with the city PD, Walker is not on the force and not in a good place, and there's an unexplained epidemic of new superpowers which has just resulted in a yachtful of dead rich people. In many respects, from the shadows to the snarky dialogue, this is classic Powers. But the problem with that is, I don't know how we got here from the previous volume. At least, I assume it was the previous volume, because - as if to prove that it's not just corporate properties which think renumbering is the way to be accessible - this resolutely insists it's Volume 1 and offers no hint to the reading order of a series that's in fact been running for the best part of 20 years. Did I miss some issues after the second volume of Powers: Bureau, or has there just been a time jump? Because either way, there's no explanation here of how the protagonists dealt with the enormous conspiracy they uncovered there, or why it hasn't dealt with them. And all this soft reset presumably to appeal to a hoped-for Walking Dead-style audience boost brought in by a TV adaptation which in fact went largely unnoticed and has now been cancelled. Whatever the thinking, it leaves an otherwise good book unnecessarily frustrating in some respects.

[Scott Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very much a set-up volume in which Bendis and Oeming get the band back together, but it's still a strong story, and the old magic is there.

[Jonathan Roberts · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow I thought Tarantino used a lot of F words..... This was an entertaining book, a lot like the earlier Power series, but something was different, maybe the quality of the trade or the art or maybe Bendis was trying too hard, something was a little off that made this less fun then the original. Still interesting I will look for other trades.

[Will Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Following Detective Pilgrim and also has Walker in a really good mystery involving new powers. Bendis is great at writing dialogue when people are mouthy.

[Timo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did not realize that I had missed Powers. But I had. This was fun again. Not perfect but really good fun. Looking forward for the next one.

[Gary Fortuin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty average stuff for the Powers series. Rich guys. Smart guys. Bad guys. Hard headed cops. Strip clubs with ex-powers sulking about. The usual.

[Craig · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really think this title has run its course...

[Earl Lord]

This was cool!!

I like how it continued the story of pilgrim and you get to see the evolution of her character. That ending I didn't see coming!!

[Matteo G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing, read the whole volume in one go, if you've liked powers so far, that's another great one

[Robert C · Rating 5 out of 5]

A new beginning for the long running series!

[Kai · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up.

[Elia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished Brian Michael Bendis' and Michael Avon Oeming's POWERS, like all of it. Every single issue. Except the novel (The Secret History of Deena Pilgrim) and based off of the reviews, I have no interest watching the tv show. Powers Bureau which is the 4th series is my least favorite of the bunch. Every time they renumber (and I presume there was a long hiatus each time), the storytelling weakens a bit and the continuity feels off. I know it's intended to bring new people into the fold, but Bureau was easily my least favorite of the bunch. The final story, the 5th series, titled ALL NEW POWERS and BEST EVER are more of a return to form and a decent wrap up to our beloved characters. As a whole this was a series that really peaked early. The earlier issues were a unique mix of noir, police procedural, and critique of the obsession with superheroes, the media and the larger world played a huge part in the series, and at the heart of it all were the two leads Deena Pilgirm Chris-tian Walker. The first and second series are both mostly pretty excellent and feel like a complete story, as it went on, it felt like revisiting old friends, and it did get tired the longer it went. Yet, I really enjoyed my time with the series overall, all 100+ issues of them.

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super @#$%!
Highly recommended.