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Empowered #11
Empowered Volume 11
Costumed crimefighter Empowered finds herself the desperate prey of a maniacal supervillain whose godlike powers have turned an entire city of suprahumans against her.
Not good! Outnumbered and under siege, aided only by a hero's ghost, can Emp survive the relentless onslaught long enough to free her enslaved teammates and loved ones, or is this--*gulp*--The End?
From comics overlord Adam Warren comes Empowered , the acclaimed sexy superhero comedy--except when it isn't, as in this volume's no-nonsense, wall-to-wall brawl guaranteed to bring tears to the eye and fists to the face!
Not good! Outnumbered and under siege, aided only by a hero's ghost, can Emp survive the relentless onslaught long enough to free her enslaved teammates and loved ones, or is this--*gulp*--The End?
From comics overlord Adam Warren comes Empowered , the acclaimed sexy superhero comedy--except when it isn't, as in this volume's no-nonsense, wall-to-wall brawl guaranteed to bring tears to the eye and fists to the face!
216 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2019
4 people are currently reading
64 people want to read
About the author
Adam Warren
190 books130 followersAdam Warren (born 1967) is an American comic book writer and artist who is most famous for his original graphic novel Empowered, for adapting the characters known as Dirty Pair into an American comic book, and for being one of the first American commercial illustrators to be influenced by the general manga style.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
October 6, 2019
The strange origin of Empowered (that Adam Warren started out doing bondage comics on commission, starting liking the character he created, and turned her into something more than a fanboy obsession) means that the comic has always evolved. Warren has constantly shifted the story to more and more actual female empowerment, more and more emotional content, and wider and wider scopes.
For me, this volume represents perhaps the largest shift to date. After last volume's cliffhanger, you knew there was a fight about to happen. And much of the book is a fight scene, lasting at most a few hours. But interspersed within that fight scene are tons of meaningful flashbacks that end up leaving the reader with a ton of epistemological questions --- most notably, just what is going on with the superheroes in this universe? It's a credit to Warren that when I finished this entry, I wasn't actually sure what genre Empowered belonged to anymore.
As always, Warren hits all the important emotional buttons, and the dialogue is the usual crazy nuts. (I can't think of anyone who writes as much over-the-top dialogue as Warren.) It's not the funniest volume, but it's not meant to be, and it absolutely advances plot (which hasn't been always true with past entries).
With Volume 10, I wanted to read the next installment because of the cliffhanger. With Volume 11, I want to read the next installment because I am genuinely unsure of where the narrative will go.
For me, this volume represents perhaps the largest shift to date. After last volume's cliffhanger, you knew there was a fight about to happen. And much of the book is a fight scene, lasting at most a few hours. But interspersed within that fight scene are tons of meaningful flashbacks that end up leaving the reader with a ton of epistemological questions --- most notably, just what is going on with the superheroes in this universe? It's a credit to Warren that when I finished this entry, I wasn't actually sure what genre Empowered belonged to anymore.
As always, Warren hits all the important emotional buttons, and the dialogue is the usual crazy nuts. (I can't think of anyone who writes as much over-the-top dialogue as Warren.) It's not the funniest volume, but it's not meant to be, and it absolutely advances plot (which hasn't been always true with past entries).
With Volume 10, I wanted to read the next installment because of the cliffhanger. With Volume 11, I want to read the next installment because I am genuinely unsure of where the narrative will go.
January 4, 2021
People I respect have been saying for a decade now that we shouldn't call things we like "guilty pleasures," no matter what they are — "just own your pleasures!" they say. I don't think any of those people have read Empowered, which is the definition of a guilty pleasure. It's such joyful trash, with uber-titillating character designs, a ton of gratuitous skin, and an endless back-and-forth between the lead character blushing and self-effacing her way through humiliation after humiliation, and then kicking ass anyway. What started out as a randy, plot-light bondage comic has turned into a rapidly escalating action-drama: this volume is almost entirely one extended, multi-stage, constantly growing battle, where the superhero lead has to take on most of the heroes and villains of this world, as they're puppeted by a vengeful psychic. It's visually dynamic, breathless stuff that suffers a wee bit from repetition — there are only so many ways for our heroine to VWORP her way to safety while losing yet even still more of her minimal support network — but it's a pretty thrilling read at the same time. I look forward to every volume of this silly, sex-addled, booty-focused series. Guiltily.
November 7, 2020
I rarely write a review, but I had to for this issue. I've read every Empowered volume, and for me, this is by far the most intense and rewarding story in the series. Empowered (Emp) is put through a "trial by fire" and must fight to survive. Rarely do we get to see Emp kick SO MUCH butt in one volume, but this was a non stop barrage of all her skills. So much has lead to this issue and it was such a satisfying tale. (That being said, make sure you read the other 10 before this one!). Adam Warren put his all into every frame, I couldn't get over the detail. I love his style and readers of the series will appreciate the evolution of Emp's character that gives her a place among the pantheon of the greatest superheroes.
October 2, 2019
Oh. My. Goodness.
So the end of volume 10 gave us one of the sweetest scenes ever...that became a brutal awful nightmare. This volume opens up with Elissa explaining to Kozue and Thugboy why she can't say the word "that rhymes with shove".
I don't know if I've noticed this, but this volume really drove home that fuck that hetero-normative relationship, Ninjette/Emp/Thugboy should be the end game. They are clearly better together.
Back to this volume - we get a lot of pieces that make better sense if you look backwards at the comic. Rivet admits to a lot of wrong doing on his part in letting the others belittle, bully and harass Emp so much, then we see how Elissa and Rivet originally met (and why she believes in him so much) which THEN gets further explanation from Mindf*ck 's asshole evil brother Jacob aka Neurospear.
Seeing Mindf*ck again was painful (I love her) but seeing that ending fight? Wherein we learn just how far thinking she was? THANK YOU.
While I didn't cry as much in this volume as 10, there was a lot of moving bits worth lingering over. There is a bit of humor int he flashbacks, but largely this is definitely a wall to wall brawl like it promises. Emp really steps up and maybe she will be who saves us all.
So the end of volume 10 gave us one of the sweetest scenes ever...that became a brutal awful nightmare. This volume opens up with Elissa explaining to Kozue and Thugboy why she can't say the word "that rhymes with shove".
I don't know if I've noticed this, but this volume really drove home that fuck that hetero-normative relationship, Ninjette/Emp/Thugboy should be the end game. They are clearly better together.
Back to this volume - we get a lot of pieces that make better sense if you look backwards at the comic. Rivet admits to a lot of wrong doing on his part in letting the others belittle, bully and harass Emp so much, then we see how Elissa and Rivet originally met (and why she believes in him so much) which THEN gets further explanation from Mindf*ck 's asshole evil brother Jacob aka Neurospear.
Seeing Mindf*ck again was painful (I love her) but seeing that ending fight? Wherein we learn just how far thinking she was? THANK YOU.
While I didn't cry as much in this volume as 10, there was a lot of moving bits worth lingering over. There is a bit of humor int he flashbacks, but largely this is definitely a wall to wall brawl like it promises. Emp really steps up and maybe she will be who saves us all.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 10, 2019
Emp has long been my favorite series (going back more than 10 years now--man, time flies), and this volume doesn't disappoint. Fast and brutal action, illustrated beautifully (and all of Warren's life-ref sketching he's done the past few years really shows in the illos here).
Despite what is essentially a cover-to-cover brawl and chase, Warren manages to break in a few flashbacks to add extra emotion to the action. And--being Warren--you know he uses these flashbacks and foreshadowing to build a sense of dread (dread of the Oh-no-I-really-hope-this-isn't-going-where-I-think-it's-going variety).
Anyway, another knockout volume.
Despite what is essentially a cover-to-cover brawl and chase, Warren manages to break in a few flashbacks to add extra emotion to the action. And--being Warren--you know he uses these flashbacks and foreshadowing to build a sense of dread (dread of the Oh-no-I-really-hope-this-isn't-going-where-I-think-it's-going variety).
Anyway, another knockout volume.
January 17, 2020
This series' ability to continually pull at all my heartstrings and feels remains amazingly strong. A+++ work!
October 20, 2019
Adam Warren pours it on with the eleventh installment of his creator-owned Empowered series. Blamed for the death of his sister, Empowered is forced to endure a city-wide gauntlet by psychotic telepath Neurospear. One by one, villains and heroes are turned into little more than puppets with the sole purpose of eliminating the titular heroine. Aided by a psychic fragment and her team leader, Empowered must survive the night if she has any hope of ending Neurospear’s threat once and for all. Adam Warren continues to evolve his kinky cape into a fully-realized character. This chapter offers a few insights into the super suit, Empowered’s daddy issues, and a powerful threat; the majority of the volume is just a full-on brawl. Warren’s action scenes are good, but the dark mixtures of his grayscale art can blend characters, background, and effects into murky panels. While still a good story, the heart and humor found in earlier volumes is noticeably absent in this one. Empowered: Volume 11 is a darker twist on the happy-go-lucky ride, but should lead to bigger and brighter things on the horizon.
November 15, 2019
Reckon with the man Adam Warren and his works! Especially Empowered. I gotta say the only thing that’s gotten worse about the Empowered series is that they don’t come out as often as they used to. Is it a superhero comic? A parody of superheroes? A manga? A sci-fi story? It’s really all of those things. Adam Warren has been able to grow and mature his little baby which started out as short “sketches” of a damsel in distress into a full grown mature “woman” of a comic. One that has something to say. But then again, Warren has always been criminally underrated.
Empowered 11 is the first time we’re dealing with a single sequence instead of the back and forth snippets that have been the style since the beginning. Yes, hot off the events of Empowered 10, this volume deals with the aftermath in one long shot. Gone are the lead-in briefings catching us up on what we need to know, as most of the exposition is seamlessly blended into the story. In Warren’s style of comic wit and fast-paced action, we are dealt with a story powered by struggles, power vacuums, insane character designs, pop-culture references, a nice mixing of brains and brawn, and a clever ol’ button at the end the way only Warren can deliver. Unfortunately, like the previous few volumes, it’s kind of hard to reconcile a superhero who’s on the one hand so capable and focused on the task at hand, and at the same time such a sad sack that needs to be propped up by everyone around her. I don’t know if any of us really want a friend like that. Then again, she has saved everyone’s lives on multiple occasions. That aside, there is absolutely no doubt, now more than ever, Warren’s artwork is an absolute mammoth to behold: his story vividly coming off the page in such a dynamic way, all due to the mastery of a single pencil. Since it’s been so long since the previous Empowered volume and my memory ain’t what it used to be, I struggled a bit following exactly what the backstory is these characters, which is a great excuse to reread the series.
Empowered 11 tries something new and succeeds at it: it ups the ante and uncovers a lot more along the way. Whether this volume has left its creator completely decimated is another story. The Empowered series doesn’t seem to be slowing down, and when it’s this good, why should it?
Empowered 11 is the first time we’re dealing with a single sequence instead of the back and forth snippets that have been the style since the beginning. Yes, hot off the events of Empowered 10, this volume deals with the aftermath in one long shot. Gone are the lead-in briefings catching us up on what we need to know, as most of the exposition is seamlessly blended into the story. In Warren’s style of comic wit and fast-paced action, we are dealt with a story powered by struggles, power vacuums, insane character designs, pop-culture references, a nice mixing of brains and brawn, and a clever ol’ button at the end the way only Warren can deliver. Unfortunately, like the previous few volumes, it’s kind of hard to reconcile a superhero who’s on the one hand so capable and focused on the task at hand, and at the same time such a sad sack that needs to be propped up by everyone around her. I don’t know if any of us really want a friend like that. Then again, she has saved everyone’s lives on multiple occasions. That aside, there is absolutely no doubt, now more than ever, Warren’s artwork is an absolute mammoth to behold: his story vividly coming off the page in such a dynamic way, all due to the mastery of a single pencil. Since it’s been so long since the previous Empowered volume and my memory ain’t what it used to be, I struggled a bit following exactly what the backstory is these characters, which is a great excuse to reread the series.
Empowered 11 tries something new and succeeds at it: it ups the ante and uncovers a lot more along the way. Whether this volume has left its creator completely decimated is another story. The Empowered series doesn’t seem to be slowing down, and when it’s this good, why should it?
February 22, 2020
Arrancando en el cliffhanger en que terminó el volumen anterior, la historia se desarrolla frenéticamente mostrando una implacable batalla de Emp contra prácticamente todo mundo, dado que el villano Neurospear controla a varios Superhomeys a la vez para atacar brutalmente a la heroína. A ratos, el castigo que recibe parece excesivo y su resistencia al mismo inverosímil. También hay múltiples flashbacks que dan una carga emocional a la trama, evitando que todo sea acción. Lo que no me gustó es que Warren juega con el foreshadowing, haciéndonos esperar algo muy malo para después resolverlo de manera un tanto similar al deus ex machina. Si bien no deseo que a ninguno de los personajes principales le pase algo horrible, sí siento que algo así le daría mucho más peso a la historia para elevar el riesgo y el peligro. No obstante, sí hay un par de pérdidas importantes dentro del canon de Empowered y podemos ver atisbos de una subtrama general que parece replanteará el status quo del mundo narrado en los siguientes tomos. Si tan sólo Warren pudiera publicarlos más rápidamente...
November 26, 2019
How does this series keep getting better and better? I just don't understand it - from humble beginnings as quality softcore wank material, it has just continued to mature from volume to volume to be one of the best comics being published today. It's one of the few I still follow, and one of the fewer still that I feel authentically excited by the chance to read a new volume of. These are some of the best characters and the most authentic feeling relationships in all of superherodom, and at this point every volume is pretty much guaranteed to have a moment so powerful it gets me weepy by the end.
October 11, 2019
Wow... best book in the series. The by-line for this comic series is "A sexy superhero comedy [except when it isn't]", this story falls heavily on "isn't" side. It's largely the culmination of events that started moving near the end of volume 5 (so this book isn't a good place to start reading) and it resolves a number of story threads, answers a bunch of questions, has some truly dark moments and tells a great story (and also has some really satisfying just-desserts moments)
June 11, 2021
Im gay and have feels
Adam Warren always makes me cry in the best of ways. His characters are so human, so relatable that it always makes me feel like I'm right there with Emp, feeling everything with her. Minus the brutal beat down, of course. Which is good, because I don't have a super suit. And as Ninjette, says-- I WANT THAT POLYAMORY SCENE. The love between the main characters is so real and powerful, I can only hope they get a happy triangle
Adam Warren always makes me cry in the best of ways. His characters are so human, so relatable that it always makes me feel like I'm right there with Emp, feeling everything with her. Minus the brutal beat down, of course. Which is good, because I don't have a super suit. And as Ninjette, says-- I WANT THAT POLYAMORY SCENE. The love between the main characters is so real and powerful, I can only hope they get a happy triangle
December 20, 2021
Empowered siempre ha sido una parodia del fan service en los cómics y los mangas, pero con momentos oscuros y trágicos esparcidos a lo largo de sus primeros diez volúmenes. Esta última historia es completamente seria, oscura y llena de acción de principio a fin. Es la culminación de varios arcos narrativos de este cómic y una prueba de que es algo más que un relato picoso de superhéroes.
June 16, 2025
WOW, i cannot believe where this series has ended up compared to where it started. A pinup BDSM joke character, becomes a baddass super chick doing legit heroics. I was super happy to learn there is another volume. Not sure how much longer this can go on, but very impressed so far.
September 24, 2019
My favorite volume of this series in ages. Maybe the best one yet.
October 7, 2019
Best book yet!
Great continuation of the series, several loose ends get tied up. Let the apocalypse roll, hopefully sooner rather than later.
Great continuation of the series, several loose ends get tied up. Let the apocalypse roll, hopefully sooner rather than later.
November 1, 2019
Worth the wait. Warren kills it with the art that almost killed him (apparently). Lots of big splashy emotional moments. Looking forward to all these plot threads paying off. ;P
March 15, 2020
Wish the Comixology version didn't have a black border around the edge of the page. Makes the actual art much smaller on the screen than it needs to be.
September 4, 2020
It's incredible how powerful this series is.
September 26, 2021
As usual, Adam Warren proves he's a master of both storytelling and dialogue-writing with the latest volume of Empowered, an outstanding book you should read!
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews