Powers #22

Released: January 3, 2007

Publisher: Icon (Marvel)

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Art: Michael Avon Oeming

Colors: Peter Pantazis

Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos

Cover: Michael Avon Oeming

 

The cover has the new RetroGirl, a great cover truly, but she’s nowhere in the comic. Ignore that fact and focus on what is in the comic: the worst art Avon Oeming’s drawn in a long time, which means it’s still more entertaining and prettier than a lot of the comics on the shelf. It just isn’t up to par with his usual crispness.

 

A lot of it looks a bit rushed and Oeming has several pages full of empty black space. Now some of that black space can be attributed to a preference of style, one designed to be moody, but in reality it just causes Oeming to draw smaller panels with less detail (well, what passes as detail for Oeming). The office scene with the Police Captain is easily the worst offender, half a page of gaping blackness takes away from the growing tension in the plot rather than enhance it. Plus, he reuses panels more than he has before, ‘zooming’ onto certain ones and repeating them.

 

As bad as it is compared to his normal work, the issue still has enough drama and emotion to get by. Bendis uses one of his usual tricks, focusing on a tangent that sets the mood instead of the plot, to make us feel slightly creeped out by all the death. Then a couple of beat cops take the stage long enough to provide a much needed moment of levity.

 

Yet, we’re still just in the middle of a ‘who-done-it’ with more bodies piling up. So too are all the sub-plots, some of them put so far on the backburner that I can barely remember their point. Bendis has been weaving his way through them while keeping the ‘cop’ theme in the forefront with continual casework for our two detectives. With the tension rising, now isn’t the time for a ‘breather’ issue but sometime soon would be nice. If nothing else, then to maybe let Oeming take the time to draw an issue properly.

 

Still, this is a great series with two creators doing some of their best work, both at this time in the series and in their careers. I know I just picked apart this issue, but it really is a blip on the screen next to the countless great issues preceding it. So take the low rating with a grain of salt.

 

Although, this is hardly the time to jump onboard—I’d just pick up the trades, and wait till after this homicide-bonanza is solved.

 

Rating - 6