What do you think?
Rate this book
Powers (Dark Horse Edition) #1
Powers, Volume 1
In a world where superheroes soar through the sky, follow homicide detectives Christian Walker and Deena Pilgrim on the dirty city streets below. Assigned to the "powers" special cases, they will face the worst their city has to offer.
The shocking murder of America's superhero sweetheart, Retro Girl, has the world in mourning. The investigation takes Walker and Pilgrim from the city's seedy underbelly to the gleaming towers that are home to immortal beings. As shocking truths about Retro Girl come to light, Walker finds that to solve this crime, he might have to reveal his own dark secret.
From creators Brian Michael Bendis (Superman, Ultimate Spider-Man, Jessica Jones) and Michael Avon Oeming (Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye, Murder Inc., Blue Book), comes the entire first year of the Eisner Award-winning series Powers.
Collecting Powers #1–#11, the complete Powers comic strips from Comic Shop News, the Powers Coloring/Activity Book, a treasure trove of behind-the-scenes content from the making of this superhero-noir classic, and a brand-new cover by Michael Avon Oeming!
The shocking murder of America's superhero sweetheart, Retro Girl, has the world in mourning. The investigation takes Walker and Pilgrim from the city's seedy underbelly to the gleaming towers that are home to immortal beings. As shocking truths about Retro Girl come to light, Walker finds that to solve this crime, he might have to reveal his own dark secret.
From creators Brian Michael Bendis (Superman, Ultimate Spider-Man, Jessica Jones) and Michael Avon Oeming (Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye, Murder Inc., Blue Book), comes the entire first year of the Eisner Award-winning series Powers.
Collecting Powers #1–#11, the complete Powers comic strips from Comic Shop News, the Powers Coloring/Activity Book, a treasure trove of behind-the-scenes content from the making of this superhero-noir classic, and a brand-new cover by Michael Avon Oeming!
464 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 15, 2022
26 people are currently reading
46 people want to read
About the author
Brian Michael Bendis
4,417 books2,569 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 25, 2023
This is a nice collection for fans of the Powers series.
I've read this before in single-volume form but I think it reads better this way. Basically, this is Powers, Vol. 1: Who Killed Retro Girl? & Powers, Vol. 2: Roleplay.
If you're new to this series, it follows two cops, Christian Walker & Deena Pilgrim, from the Powers division who try to solve the cases that involve the superhero in their city.
It might not sound very interesting at first, but the plot thickens as it goes on and it turns into a real soap opera.
Good stuff.
Recommended.
I've read this before in single-volume form but I think it reads better this way. Basically, this is Powers, Vol. 1: Who Killed Retro Girl? & Powers, Vol. 2: Roleplay.
If you're new to this series, it follows two cops, Christian Walker & Deena Pilgrim, from the Powers division who try to solve the cases that involve the superhero in their city.
It might not sound very interesting at first, but the plot thickens as it goes on and it turns into a real soap opera.
Good stuff.
Recommended.
August 13, 2023
Copaganda, and not interesting enough to pull it off. I liked the panel with the interdimensional traveller though; real pity it never came up again.
February 29, 2024
Браян Майкл Бендіс до свого приходу в Marvel зумів здобути собі невелику популярність завдяки кримінальним коміксам по типу "Jinx" та "Powers". І на фоні невеликої ностальгії за ним, та того, що він провалився у яму неактуальності, вирішив прочитати декілька номерів "Powers". Як виявилося я здійснив велику помилку. Чому? Давайте ж дізнаємося.
Сам комікс відбувається у світі в якому суперздібності є чимось звичним і розповідає про те як детективи Крістіан Волкер та Діна Пілґрім розслідують різні справи пов'язані із людьми в яких є суперсили.
Перша арка називається "Who killed Retro Girl" і триває 6 номерів. В ній ми й знайомимося з Волкером який рятує дівчинку Калісто та отримує в напарники Діну. Першою справою для них стає вбивство дуже популярної героїні Ретро Дівчини. І читати цей сюжет було справжньою мукою. Не знаю чи це через те, що я давно від Бендіса нічого не читав і просто відвик від того як він пише, чи через те, що пишучи в інді він міг себе не фільтрувати та тулити стільки тексту, скільки йому захочеться. Тут були цікаві ідеї, мені дуже сподобався початок, коли я ще не усвідомив масштабів пиздецю, і таємниця навколо минулого Вокера, але це все просто тоне в океані максимально унилого тексту через який я продирався з криками "Та коли ж ти вже закінчишся". І я розумію, що зроблено це було для того, щоб познайомити нас зі світом та деякими героями та лиходіями які в ньому проживають, й вистроїти робочі стосунки між нашими героями, але вийшло все дуже так собі й навіть саме розслідування вийшло не дуже.
Сьомий номер є ван-шотною історією в якій Волкер нянчиться з автором коміксів Вореном Елісом, які написав такі мало відомі комікси як "Трансметрополітен" та "Керівництво". Загалом вийшов досить окейний номер, в якому було декілька роздумів про тодішній стан коміксів. Що цікавого то цей номер пізніше надихнув Вільямсона запихнути Бендіса у свого "Нігтегриза" (відгуки на якого ви можете знайти на каналі).
Друга арка називається "Roleplay" яка триває з 8 по 11. На території місцевого університету починають помирати студенти в костюмах героїв і наші протагоністи починають розслідування. Взагалі ось цей сюжет вийшов вже кращим, тонна діалогів все ще присутня, але в купі з невеликою тривалістю сюжету мені це читалося не настільки нудно. З того, що варто зазначити це одну побочну лінія з персонажем з минулої арки й враховуючи, що з ним тут стається то мені цікаво чи Бендіс тут засетапив якусь таємницю на майбутнє чи просто вирішив вивести його, бо не знав, що з ним робити.
Щодо малюнку Майкла Ейвона Омінґа то тут загалом все досить добре. Його малюнок дуже нагадує стиль Брюса Тіма, і якщо вам подобається його робити, то й зайде малюнок Омінґа. З цікаво також можу виділити те, що тут інколи робиться цікаві побудови фреймів й інколи вони не зовсім спрацьовують, хоча пара прикольних моментів є.
Моє знайомство з серією "Powers" вийшло не дуже приємним, ситуація звісно трохи покращилася після першої арки, але я не впевнений, що найближчим часом повернуся до цього коміксу.
Сам комікс відбувається у світі в якому суперздібності є чимось звичним і розповідає про те як детективи Крістіан Волкер та Діна Пілґрім розслідують різні справи пов'язані із людьми в яких є суперсили.
Перша арка називається "Who killed Retro Girl" і триває 6 номерів. В ній ми й знайомимося з Волкером який рятує дівчинку Калісто та отримує в напарники Діну. Першою справою для них стає вбивство дуже популярної героїні Ретро Дівчини. І читати цей сюжет було справжньою мукою. Не знаю чи це через те, що я давно від Бендіса нічого не читав і просто відвик від того як він пише, чи через те, що пишучи в інді він міг себе не фільтрувати та тулити стільки тексту, скільки йому захочеться. Тут були цікаві ідеї, мені дуже сподобався початок, коли я ще не усвідомив масштабів пиздецю, і таємниця навколо минулого Вокера, але це все просто тоне в океані максимально унилого тексту через який я продирався з криками "Та коли ж ти вже закінчишся". І я розумію, що зроблено це було для того, щоб познайомити нас зі світом та деякими героями та лиходіями які в ньому проживають, й вистроїти робочі стосунки між нашими героями, але вийшло все дуже так собі й навіть саме розслідування вийшло не дуже.
Сьомий номер є ван-шотною історією в якій Волкер нянчиться з автором коміксів Вореном Елісом, які написав такі мало відомі комікси як "Трансметрополітен" та "Керівництво". Загалом вийшов досить окейний номер, в якому було декілька роздумів про тодішній стан коміксів. Що цікавого то цей номер пізніше надихнув Вільямсона запихнути Бендіса у свого "Нігтегриза" (відгуки на якого ви можете знайти на каналі).
Друга арка називається "Roleplay" яка триває з 8 по 11. На території місцевого університету починають помирати студенти в костюмах героїв і наші протагоністи починають розслідування. Взагалі ось цей сюжет вийшов вже кращим, тонна діалогів все ще присутня, але в купі з невеликою тривалістю сюжету мені це читалося не настільки нудно. З того, що варто зазначити це одну побочну лінія з персонажем з минулої арки й враховуючи, що з ним тут стається то мені цікаво чи Бендіс тут засетапив якусь таємницю на майбутнє чи просто вирішив вивести його, бо не знав, що з ним робити.
Щодо малюнку Майкла Ейвона Омінґа то тут загалом все досить добре. Його малюнок дуже нагадує стиль Брюса Тіма, і якщо вам подобається його робити, то й зайде малюнок Омінґа. З цікаво також можу виділити те, що тут інколи робиться цікаві побудови фреймів й інколи вони не зовсім спрацьовують, хоча пара прикольних моментів є.
Моє знайомство з серією "Powers" вийшло не дуже приємним, ситуація звісно трохи покращилася після першої арки, але я не впевнений, що найближчим часом повернуся до цього коміксу.
April 14, 2024
Man, I really wanted to like this. I really dig the bones of the story, and think the idea is a super neat one. How police would work in a world of superpowers is very intriguing. But I simply could not get into the dialogue and art, and some of the story beats and character choices felt off. It's totally possible that it is just a me thing, but I don't think I'll continue this one.
It's almost Batman: The Animated Series, but something in the linework feels weird to me. The dialogue placement is also pretty wonky at times, and there were a few moments where I had to figure out the right order to read things.l, which always pulls me out of the reading.
It's also somehow not word heavy, and very wordy at the same time. You'll get the occasional paragraphs filling the sides of a few pages, but no speeches or diatribes from characters. Dialog is actually fairly terse, but there is a lot of back and forth between characters. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the dialogue bubbles are all over the place, with no consistency. It can be difficult to parse who is saying what at times. Sometimes it's the usual left to right, top to bottom per page. But out of no where they'll throw a two page spread that doesn't really look like a spread, and treat it like it's one page, wanting you to read across the seam left to right.
I read it digitally, so maybe my file got a little borked up in the download? I don't know. Friends whose opinions I trust love it and said this was right up my alley, but this was a rare miss for me.
It's almost Batman: The Animated Series, but something in the linework feels weird to me. The dialogue placement is also pretty wonky at times, and there were a few moments where I had to figure out the right order to read things.l, which always pulls me out of the reading.
It's also somehow not word heavy, and very wordy at the same time. You'll get the occasional paragraphs filling the sides of a few pages, but no speeches or diatribes from characters. Dialog is actually fairly terse, but there is a lot of back and forth between characters. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the dialogue bubbles are all over the place, with no consistency. It can be difficult to parse who is saying what at times. Sometimes it's the usual left to right, top to bottom per page. But out of no where they'll throw a two page spread that doesn't really look like a spread, and treat it like it's one page, wanting you to read across the seam left to right.
I read it digitally, so maybe my file got a little borked up in the download? I don't know. Friends whose opinions I trust love it and said this was right up my alley, but this was a rare miss for me.
September 7, 2025
This is a four, though that might be rounding up a little bit.
I went into this having heard of it, being somewhat superficially familiar with it across media, but not much else (beyond knowing Bendis' style).
I will say that this was the least Bendis of what I have read, meaning the least time spent on quirky dialogue, and the least feel of each character falling into the personality tropes that he seems to favor. That's a good thing, in my opinion.
That said, it fits into what I expect from Bendis in the respect of being solid set-up and introductions, but the culmination of each storyline is a bit underwhelming.
My favorite part, which was a single issue, was Warren Ellis going on a ride along. It was good to not have the story take itself too seriously for an issue, before getting back to the concluding portion of the main storyline...
... which, to expand on what I wrote above, was a bit too quick in concluding, had everything closed up suddenly and unexpectedly tidy, was not something where the mystery was set up for a reader to realistically piece it together, and just wasn't satisfying to me.
A decent read, but I don't think I'd spend much money on it or come back for future volumes (I picked this one up when it was free on Kindle).
I went into this having heard of it, being somewhat superficially familiar with it across media, but not much else (beyond knowing Bendis' style).
I will say that this was the least Bendis of what I have read, meaning the least time spent on quirky dialogue, and the least feel of each character falling into the personality tropes that he seems to favor. That's a good thing, in my opinion.
That said, it fits into what I expect from Bendis in the respect of being solid set-up and introductions, but the culmination of each storyline is a bit underwhelming.
My favorite part, which was a single issue, was Warren Ellis going on a ride along. It was good to not have the story take itself too seriously for an issue, before getting back to the concluding portion of the main storyline...
... which, to expand on what I wrote above, was a bit too quick in concluding, had everything closed up suddenly and unexpectedly tidy, was not something where the mystery was set up for a reader to realistically piece it together, and just wasn't satisfying to me.
A decent read, but I don't think I'd spend much money on it or come back for future volumes (I picked this one up when it was free on Kindle).
June 9, 2025
I thought this was good. It’s a traditional detective cop plot with superhero flavoring. This omnibus collects the first two trades. who killed retro girl? And Role-play.
Positives if you’re into detective fiction, powers has the tone and characterization of a cop drama, correct. While Oeming art is not my favorite I think it’s gets the job done
Negatives: some pages are over stuffed with dialogue balloons and for me I think you need to keep your word out in a comic to the minimum because it just gets really clunky to read if overstuffed and if you’re gonna overstuff your dialogue, you should just write a book.
The Warren Ellis standalone issue does not hold up for obvious reasons and also this was better done in nailbiter.
I feel for both arcs They have a compelling mystery, but they wrap up into neatly of a bow and I would’ve liked things to either be a bit messy or uncertain, but this is probably done because they didn’t know how many issues they were gonna do.
Did I love this? No, did I like it? Yes will I read the next omnibus probably.
Positives if you’re into detective fiction, powers has the tone and characterization of a cop drama, correct. While Oeming art is not my favorite I think it’s gets the job done
Negatives: some pages are over stuffed with dialogue balloons and for me I think you need to keep your word out in a comic to the minimum because it just gets really clunky to read if overstuffed and if you’re gonna overstuff your dialogue, you should just write a book.
The Warren Ellis standalone issue does not hold up for obvious reasons and also this was better done in nailbiter.
I feel for both arcs They have a compelling mystery, but they wrap up into neatly of a bow and I would’ve liked things to either be a bit messy or uncertain, but this is probably done because they didn’t know how many issues they were gonna do.
Did I love this? No, did I like it? Yes will I read the next omnibus probably.
February 12, 2024
Noir-ish series about cops in the Powers division who have to deal with the superhero community. Some good, some bad. I instantly cared about our main detectives, Walker and Pilgrim. Noir-ish art and style, good world building of where these powers come from and how things work in this world. Definitely continuing onto book 2. Im new to this series but this edition included a lot of great additional content for background.
March 18, 2023
Surprisingly good superhero-adjacent comics! I think the fresh part of it was that it's mostly about mundane cops dealing with superhero bullshit in a world that vaguely reminded me of Venture Brothers. The stories are well thought out. The art and shading reminded me of Hellboy, and I liked how experimental the panel layouts got.
July 28, 2025
The beginning of a stellar series of work, probably Bendis and Oeming's defining title!
September 10, 2025
Fun concept and universe, but the awful art and, at times, cheesy indulgences in the writing threaten to make it all fall apart.
July 26, 2025
I’ve meant to read this forever and finally did, and you know what it’s a lot of fun. Quick witted, fast-paced, and intriguing all day long. It’s wordy af though! Don’t think I’ve seen this much dialogue squeezed into panels since Alan Moore! But it really fit the characters and world well. The art is ehhh but it also fit the world, despite me not loving it.
Fun book, worth checking out the rest of the series for sure.
Fun book, worth checking out the rest of the series for sure.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews