October 05, 2001

Comic Review: Powers: Who Killed Retro Girl? (Bendis / Oeming)

Not many things fall into the "Crime fiction / Superhero" genre, as the spine labels this book. I haven't been in much of a superhero mood lately, probably due to world events, but I was able to enjoy this. The murder mystery wasn't really deep, since there didn't seem to be any clues to follow, but it seemed to hold true to the police drama side of things. I always appreciate seeing superheroes in a more realistic environment, which this provided. It is a shame that this is such a rarity in superhero stories. The artwork was fine, although not exactly my ideal. Kind of a manga-influenced look, and a little cartoony, with some noir-ish themes thrown in, but settling into its own workable style. It makes me excited to try Bendis's straight-up crime stories, where the characters and setting don't have to struggle through the layers of superhero genre. I guess it is hard to make a realistic, emotional story when the characters and setting are designed to be iconic in some way. Hrmm...

Posted by babar at October 5, 2001 12:46 AM