Darthphere
Kneel before 'Drox!
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ARTICLE
I understand where hes coming from, it seems its the case with a lot of other Review sites too. WHo knows. I doubt this will lead to much discussion but I posted so that means talk about it.
By the way EW is owned by Time Warner....
Super 'Powers'
Ken Tucker reviews Bendis and Oeming's book... but first, the EW editor-at-large has a bone to pick with Marvel
After a couple of months of frustration, I figured, Why not share this with you and get it off my chest? I started this comic-book review spot on the EW.com website in the hope of offering guidance and opinions on every sort of mainstream or small-press comic book in a reasonably timely fashion i.e., the week the book under scrutiny is published. It's worked out fine with publishers ranging from DC to Drawn & Quarterly, with one exception: Marvel. I've interviewed Charlie Huston for his Moon Knight writing gig, but I've written only one review of a single Marvel comic so far the debut of Secret War and that's only because an editor here scored a copy and loaned it to me (thanks, Nisha!). As for everything else Marvel, nada. The behemoth company doesn't seem interested enough in being covered by a general-interest magazine like EW to send out review copies. So, just wanted to tell you, if and when I review a Marvel comic, it'll be one that's either on the stands at the moment, or a back issue you can find at your local comic shop. Don't like that situation and want timely recommendations? Please bombard Marvel Comics. Thank you and now, back to comics reviewing...
Powers # 18 (Icon)
Distributed by Marvel (see? I'm trying to cover their stuff), Powers is written by Brian Michael Bendis, the best writer of wised-up pop culture dialogue this side of Joss Whedon or Elmore Leonard. Bendis has a huge mainstream-comics career (Spider-Man need I say more?), but this is my favorite of his books. It's about two homicide detectives, Christian Walker and Deena Pilgrim, who operate in a world where people with superpowers have to register with the government and are viewed generally with suspicion basically, as potential criminals.
Bendis and his co-creator, artist Mike Avon Oeming, distinguish their premise from, say, the mutants of X-Men by suggesting something both obvious and novel: that powers corrupt, or can at least drive a person crazy. At the start of the series, in 2000, we were given to understand that Det. Walker used to be a ''power'' himself, a good-guy who went under the moniker of Diamond, but that he'd lost his powers. Walker and Pilgrim (he's a big muscle-mass; she's short and lithe) encounter all sorts of superheroes gone deranged, villains trying to pass as good in short, every sort of behavior.
It's Bendis' ability to create such a wide array of human personalities, combined with the sleek, dark-hued drawing of Oeming, that makes Powers a special book. In the current issue, the detective duo continue their investigation of a man who was killed when a green-costumed superhero fell on and splattered him. Turns out the man killed was a ''cosmic guardian'' and hoo boy, you can just imagine how that complicates the cops' case.
As always, the moody-broody suspense is enhanced by marvelously bleak, clever humor. There's a two-page spread in which we're shown, in a sort of police-lineup manner, every green-costumed hero working around the city the variety and invention of Oeming's drawings of these people (or in some cases, creatures) is wondrous.
I should also mention that Powers features the most entertaining letters page in comicdom. It's always extra-long, with Bendis permitting fans to lavishly praise or damn him, and he responds with a distinctive blend of affection, sarcasm, and commonsensical exasperation that makes him all the more likable. As far as comics superstars go, Bendis is the canniest: He seems the most approachable, even as his talent is immense and intimidating. Grade: A-
I understand where hes coming from, it seems its the case with a lot of other Review sites too. WHo knows. I doubt this will lead to much discussion but I posted so that means talk about it.
By the way EW is owned by Time Warner....
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