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| Front cover of Empowered Book 1 |
Score (out of 5 Capes)
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| 4.5 / 5 Capes |
Hilarious introduction to a barely-competent super-heroine and her universe of friends, teammates and personal insecurities.
My Review
Since 2026 marks the 40th anniversary of Dark Horse Comics, I am doing a short series of reviews that look at some Dark Horse graphic novels and trade paperbacks.
This is the fourth and final review of my Dark Horse 40th Anniversary reviews. I have more or less selected one from each of the four decades they have been around.
The books published over the years by this successful late-80s upstart comics company covers a broad range of styles, topics and genres. After some early successes, the company followed up with limited series movie tie-ins and spin-offs for popular sci-fi movie franchises like Aliens and Predator.
They have also always made room for innovative graphical storytelling and early-wave Manga.
While the Empowered books are a step away from Manga proper, they still self-consciously embrace many of the graphical and storytelling characteristics.
The stories collected in this first volume face a new-character + new-series challenge: introduce the reader, who is used to a certain kind (or range) of superhero stories and how they are told, to this unusual and pattern-defying new heroine and her bizarre group of friends and co-workers.
And they nail it! It is hard to imagine how these stories could do any better at introducing Empowered and her world. With great humour and tongue firmly planted in cheek, writer, creator and artist Adam Warren reveals, through dialog and action, the source and limits of her powers, her decidedly C-List accomplishments, her teammates, her circle of friends and their origins, and of course her manifold number of insecurities: she's too fat; too easily defeated, feels like an imposter, only has a rudimentary understanding of how her own suit works.
Warren freely eschews elements like introductory setup or denouement. With laser focus, he zeroes in on one specific theme in each of these brief tales, packing into their four to eight pages all you really need to know. Who are these villains and how did they capture Empowered? Not important! All we need to know is that her suit is once again in tatters, she is once again bound and gagged, and this time that setup will reveal the history of her unusual superhero name, for but one example.
By fully leaning into the approach, Warren makes it work. One by one short little story at a time, he fills out a textured picture of Empowered, her strengths and many, many weaknesses, her alcoholic ninja BFF, her reformed thug of a boyfriend, her rivalry with Sistah Spooky (and the Sistah's own demons and origins) and so much more.
Empowered Book 1 is a master-class in both focused story-telling and gradual exposition.
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| Superb supporting characters |
The laughs run through nearly every page. The sheer banality of some of the conundrums; her over-serious Super-homeys teammates; the clever dialog; the bizarre entourage.
The funniest of the supporting characters has to be the alien demon overlord who lives in a belt on her coffee table. As absurd a sentence as that was to type, it all makes sense in the universe of Empowered. And the caged monstrous villain provides the most awesome running commentary on the domestic life of our hero, liberally sprinkled with Asgard-level self-proclamations.
Of all the books Dark Horse has produced in its 40 years of existence, Empowered is one of my all-time favourites. And Book 1 is one of her very best, with its pacing, humour, and sheer ability to winsomely introduce our heroine and her rich surrounding characters and universe.
4.5 Capes out of 5!
Note: the book is rated Mature. While there is no explicit nudity, graphic depictions of violence or sex, and even the naughty language is bleeped out, the themes and very suggestive materials are definitely intended for adults!
What I loved
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Indignant Emp lectures her opponent |
As a parody of the superhero genre, Empowered has a bizarre set of powers, limitations, friends and enemies. Creator Adam Warren gives every superhero comic book trope imaginable a clever twist.
But it means that we can't bring any of our assumptions about how comic book superheroes work. And this introductory volume must disabuse us of any notion that we know how anything works in her universe.
Like the super-suit as the source of her powers. It is certainly not unheard-of, calling to mind the symbiote of black-uniform Spider-man-slash-Venom or, to a lesser extent, the armor of an Iron Man.
But with a twist of unpredictability, lack of an instruction manual and shockingly easily reached limitation.
In perfect graphical narrative manner, Warren shows us both this fact and its implications through story rather than telling us in long paragraphs. By the time we reach the pictured confrontation with someone after the suit for themselves, we are all to aware of how little it works for her, especially the precipitous drop in power levels once it gets ripped. So these panels just put into humorous words what we've already seen in stories.
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| More suit limitations explained |
Or back-stories of supporting characters or Emp herself. Sure, the well-worn trope has the villain inserting a long monologue to gloat about their grand plans or sad-sack origins. But here, Warren gives us a new twist: not an origin of powers and dedication to justice, but rather an explanation of where the very unique moniker "Empowered" came from.
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| Rival Sistah Spooky taunts for more explanation |
With many such clever, creative and well-paced explanations and moments of revelation, Warren introduces us to the unique powers and insecurities of Empowered as well as to her fellow heroes, villainous opponents and supporting characters.
What I didn't love
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| Inter-Story 4th-wall breaking chats |
A typical superhero trade paperback collection will put the cover of each issue in between the stories themselves. Does the volume collect six issues? You are likely to see the covers of all six collected issues, possibly with variant covers included as a bonus.
The Empowered stories in this collection are shorter than the typical superhero comic, so more than three dozen fit into this volume. But since these stories did not follow the typical path of a superhero comic, they don't have covers per se.
In place of the non-existent covers, Warren precedes some stories with standalone images. Others have Empowered break the fourth wall of theater and address the reader directly.
They add humour and illustrate some of her personality and especially insecurities. But they are also the most cringe-worthy parts of the book.
Warren does such a great job, within the story, at making us laugh or feel her pain at the humiliations and embarrassments, that these interstitial addresses add little to the experience or the character. They work best when, like the example above, they become more meta, focused less on the character and more on the story of Empowered as an artistic endeavor.
Related Reviews
Henchgirl by Dark Horse Comics
Starblazers space manga volume 1
Quick Reference Details
Writers: Adam Warren
Artists: Adam Warren
Published By: Dark Horse Comics
Published When: April 3, 2007
Parental Rating: Mature
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| Back cover of Empowered Book 1 |
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