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Powers: Definitive Collection #4
Powers Book Four
In a world where superheroes soar through the sky, homicide detectives Christian Walker and Deena Pilgrim travel the dirty city streets below doing their grueling work. Assigned to the special "powers" cases, they face the worst their city has to offer.
When all powers are declared illegal, a bloody powers crime wave hits the city hard. A hero has returned, but is it enough to keep the city safe from the crossfire as the city's most powerful villains gun for one another in a massive turf war? And how far will Detective Pilgrim go to prove she has what it takes?
From New York Times best-selling writer Brian Michael Bendis (Superman, Ultimate Spider-Man, Jessica Jones) and artist Michael Avon Oeming (Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye, United States vs. Murder, Inc., Mice Templar), comes the entire fourth year of the Eisner Award-winning series Powers.
Powers Book Four collects Powers #1-18 and a treasure trove of behind-the-scenes content from the making of this superhero noir classic.
When all powers are declared illegal, a bloody powers crime wave hits the city hard. A hero has returned, but is it enough to keep the city safe from the crossfire as the city's most powerful villains gun for one another in a massive turf war? And how far will Detective Pilgrim go to prove she has what it takes?
From New York Times best-selling writer Brian Michael Bendis (Superman, Ultimate Spider-Man, Jessica Jones) and artist Michael Avon Oeming (Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye, United States vs. Murder, Inc., Mice Templar), comes the entire fourth year of the Eisner Award-winning series Powers.
Powers Book Four collects Powers #1-18 and a treasure trove of behind-the-scenes content from the making of this superhero noir classic.
600 pages, Paperback
First published January 5, 2011
4 people are currently reading
109 people want to read
About the author
Brian Michael Bendis
4,450 books2,563 followersA 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
September 24, 2019
The first three arcs of the Icon series relaunch of Powers. The writing seems a lot tighter now that Bendis is moving away from some of the procedural stuff. I like the juxtaposition of Walker and Pilgrim as the true heart of a hero emerges with Walker while Pilgrim sinks further and further into the muck. Meanwhile, their friendship shines through.
December 22, 2024
Love this series!
July 6, 2020
Back and even more visceral (if possible), this volume has 3 really solid arcs that cover the unconventional origin stories of .
Bendis really goes for it here and uses some wild framing devices, my favourite of which was a series of Stand Up Comic rants to tie in to the themes of the third arc. Fans of the preceding volumes will definitely dig and enjoy the Powers-verse expanding here.
Bendis really goes for it here and uses some wild framing devices, my favourite of which was a series of Stand Up Comic rants to tie in to the themes of the third arc. Fans of the preceding volumes will definitely dig and enjoy the Powers-verse expanding here.
August 5, 2012
The past 3 weeks I've been going thru series that I have collected and not read. Two weeks, I read thru Walking Dead. This week it was Brian Michael Bendis's Powers.
The super hero/cop idea has been kicked around a bit. Moore's Top Ten is the equivalent of Hill Street Blues. Brubaker and Ruka's Gotham Central is along the lines of NYPD Blue or Law and Order -- focusing on the Law. Powers is more of a buddy cop drama along the lines of Lethal Weapon. Walker and Pilgrim are Briggs and Murtoch, but they change who is who through out the series.
Over the four collections, Bendis and illustrator Michael Avon Oeming use all sorts of story telling techniques to keep the story fresh and interesting. The use of the media almost becomes a third character in these stories.
I'm looking forward to the 5th edition this September.
The super hero/cop idea has been kicked around a bit. Moore's Top Ten is the equivalent of Hill Street Blues. Brubaker and Ruka's Gotham Central is along the lines of NYPD Blue or Law and Order -- focusing on the Law. Powers is more of a buddy cop drama along the lines of Lethal Weapon. Walker and Pilgrim are Briggs and Murtoch, but they change who is who through out the series.
Over the four collections, Bendis and illustrator Michael Avon Oeming use all sorts of story telling techniques to keep the story fresh and interesting. The use of the media almost becomes a third character in these stories.
I'm looking forward to the 5th edition this September.
February 29, 2012
Murder? Internal affairs? A new Retro Girl? Aliens? Protector of the Earth? Okay, guys, I'll go along with all of this . . .
September 28, 2012
Legends: 4/5; Psychotic: 3.5/5; Cosmic: 4.5/5
May 23, 2013
Doesn't this %!$@#%@ Bendis %$!@$!%! know %$!%$!@ any $#@%@# other !$%!%@$#%!! words?
May 11, 2025
(This review covers the complete series)
A gritty mix of crime drama and superhero deconstruction, set in a world where people with powers are often selfish, reckless, or corrupt. It follows homicide detectives Christian Walker and Deena Pilgrim as they investigate crimes involving people with powers. The writing mixes noir-style dialogue with grounded character development, while the shadow-heavy art gives it a stylish, atmospheric look.
A gritty mix of crime drama and superhero deconstruction, set in a world where people with powers are often selfish, reckless, or corrupt. It follows homicide detectives Christian Walker and Deena Pilgrim as they investigate crimes involving people with powers. The writing mixes noir-style dialogue with grounded character development, while the shadow-heavy art gives it a stylish, atmospheric look.
July 10, 2023
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.
May 3, 2025
I was discussing this book with some friends the other day, and we came to a realization about modern fiction: we've been spoiled by big twist endings and conspiracies, and it hurts our ability to enjoy simple stories without fancy finales. (I think the first season finale of True Detective dealt with some of this as well, at least from the buzz I heard.) Because of this, I'm regularly uncomfortable with the ending of Powers stories--this series is NOT about big, complicated endings. But for some reason I always expect them.
Having said that, I was getting really annoyed with the dangling plot threads in this volume. But they do all start to come together at the end, so I can't really complain too much. Anyway, this volume has all the same strengths as the previous volumes (well-drawn characters, moodiness, realistic dialogue, stylized art), and the same problems, as mentioned above. In this volume, Bendis is trying to pick up the pace a little bit, so there's too much happening at times, and there are the dangling plot threads. But overall, it's more of the same, in the best possible way.
Having said that, I was getting really annoyed with the dangling plot threads in this volume. But they do all start to come together at the end, so I can't really complain too much. Anyway, this volume has all the same strengths as the previous volumes (well-drawn characters, moodiness, realistic dialogue, stylized art), and the same problems, as mentioned above. In this volume, Bendis is trying to pick up the pace a little bit, so there's too much happening at times, and there are the dangling plot threads. But overall, it's more of the same, in the best possible way.
June 23, 2012
Better than last volume, but I'm bothered by the typos (your/you're confusion, its/it's confusion, changing a name from Anna to Ana issue to issue) and the blatant overuse of copied art. In one instance, an establishing shot is reused as a screenshot of a video, which doesn't make sense. Another issue reuses an image of Deena lying on her bed, except it's mirrored. Obviously, she did not move her nightstand and mail and windows to the opposite side of the room, and decide to lie on the other side of the bed. I don't want to insinuate that anyone working on the book is not working hard, but those types of errors smack of laziness. That said, Powers still has an interesting story driving it, and it's worth checking out.
September 13, 2015
I liked this volume, but not as much as the previous ones. I feel like it's drifting too far away from the procedural format that it had in the beginning and I really liked that. The juxtaposition between powers and the cops was cool. I'm not sure where they're heading with this, though. Hopefully it won't be a gigantic mess like other graphic novels I could mention. *cough*Fables*cough*
June 6, 2020
The breakdown per story arc:
* Powers, Vol. 8: Legends - 1 Star of 5 stars
* Powers, Vol. 9: Psychotic - 2 Stars of 5 stars
* Powers, Vol. 10: Cosmic - 3 Stars of 5 stars
* Powers, Vol. 8: Legends - 1 Star of 5 stars
* Powers, Vol. 9: Psychotic - 2 Stars of 5 stars
* Powers, Vol. 10: Cosmic - 3 Stars of 5 stars
May 4, 2019
A lot of stuff happend in this one. The intrigue still get me hooked and i'm looking for the next volume of this MASSIVE collection.
August 4, 2019
Hoping this is not the final trade.
August 28, 2014
Wow.
Deena babe, I love you but you need some help. Also...Yay for Christian!
Deena babe, I love you but you need some help. Also...Yay for Christian!
April 14, 2013
A good story. Really. I was getting annoyed 2/3's of the way thru. The payoff was worth it.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews