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So yeah, the first comic review I’m posting on a video game blog.

For a concept of what Powers, created by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming, is: consider the series as a homicide crime scene investigation show, such as Law & Order and NCIS to name a few. The twist to the formula is that the victims are super powered heroes and villains, in a universe not associated with Marvel or DC so no 52nd death of Superman or finding Doctor Doom dead in an alleyway. So let’s take a look at Powers Vol. 1: Who Killed Retro Girl?

The artwork is simple but the mood from the shading and color as well as the body language and facial expressions on the characters are well delivered in each panel. And before you Linkara fans comment in, yes some of the women have the hour glass look but they’re not over sexualized. There were some multi-panels cramped on a few page spreads but they weren’t as bad during the beginning of the investigation at the bottom of the pages.

The main characters, Detectives Christen Walker and Deena Pilgrim, actually came off as normal people, as far as normal people get in a world full of powers (people with powers). Not only do the main protagonists show some character but everyone in the comic shows some, with most of them usually smartasses. The coroner can also make an impression when he talks about how little his M.D. degree helps him during these cases (How does one perform an autopsy on Superman without Kryptonite?).

While the plot does feel cramped by the multi-panels a bit the story does go smoothly, also giving some panel time for Detective Walker’s back story. Like any homicide show they start from the crime scene and work their way up to catching the murderer. There are some snags, however, when the victim Retro Girl was somehow killed when she was supposedly invincible to any assault against her. Throughout the story the detectives have to find out who did it and how they did it.

It’s a very good read and something different for the usual audience of super hero/villain comics. Art is simple and expressive, characters are likable and rememberable, and the story, while following the homicide formula, works in the powers part of the universe cleverly. Definitely worth a read.