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A superheroine who keeps finding herself in bondage or with her magical costume torn apart, dealing with self-confidence and body issues with the help of her supervillain henchman boyfriend? That would be Adam Warren's Empowered, a cult-favorite "sexy superhero" comic that parodies and embodies the whole "damsel in distress" fetish at the same time. Gags of both kind await you under the jump.
Empowered gets her powers from her costume and her body issues from a lifetime of hanging out with superheroines with perfect physiques. Her continual ability to find herself tied up and gagged by whatever villain happens to be around at the time? That would be down to her initial audience, according to Marvel and DC veteran Warren:
Two years ago, I was plowing my way through a bunch of commissioned sketches for various folks, and hit a streak of, shall we say, "distressed damsel" requests. (Welcome to the exciting world of not having a regular gig in comics or elsewhere, BTW! Gotta earn that cash somehow, baby) Nothing too graphic or very "extreme" about them, but these latter commissions become very tiresome very quickly... So, in place of boringly static sketches of "Wonder Woman runs afoul of her frickin' golden lasso yet again" and the like, I started drawing a series of very short, theoretically humorous "continuity pieces" about a plucky but oft-distressed superheroine, under the obviously ironic title of Empowered... I ended up playing down some of the original version's more "Good Girl" elements, though some of that stuff's still in there... (After all, I still owe those fellas their "distressed damsel" commissions) For the most part, the focus drifted into broader degrees of ribaldry and sex comedy, not to mention general-purpose hammering on the goofier tropes and implications of the superheroic experience.
The third volume in the series hit stores this week, and somewhere, Bettie Page would be proud.
Empowered preview [Dark Horse Comics]
Comments
OK, that's funny... and intriguing at the same time. I like the idea of a superheroine with body issues, though from these few drawings, her physique doesn't appear that bad. I wonder what superheroines she was hanging around with? They must have had breasts like beach balls...
and now i need a glass of wine
Her raccoon eyes are freaking me out, yet I have no problem with the bondage. I wonder what that says about me.
I thought this had already been done? Or has this been in the works so long that I thought it has already been released?
The arts not blowin' me away though. Too "webby" in form...
@B: that we have something in common?
I'm eagerly awaiting volume 3. It's a good title to pick up for a simple read.
@tetracycloide: HAHAHAHAHA I had to wipe tears or laughter after that
*got a download as soon as he read this*
Comedy gold, I assure you. Definitely NSFW but not porn either.
I always thought that the "loner" heroes had it easy because they could wear trench coat-casual, thus avoiding the problems inherent in the super tight airbrushed-on costumes.
You can see many more samples of empowered, and his other work at his Deviantart.com gallery.
[adamwarren.deviantart.com]
Empowered is an awesome comic. It's very funny and extremely well done, and the characterization is much deeper than just 'girl gets tied up all the time'. I heartily recommend it to anyone who likes super-powered humor or super-cheesecake. :)
Here's an example of one of the best Empowered episodes, that gives you an idea of the humor and characterization I'm talking about: "Schrodinger's Catgirl". (Warning: Near-nudity, as in most Empowered episodes.)
adam warren is a great big ball of talent. mainstream comic art is mostly lumpy, ugly,dross, drenched in a colour gradiented camouflage, but his line-work is genuinely beautiful.pretty hot too
@B: it says we have something in common
I like Adam Warren! I have his Bubblegum Crisis doujinshi that Dark Horse published years ago, and this one anime con I volunteered at almost invited him but for some reason decided that the guy who draws MegaTokyo would be a much better guest artist (which if you want to compare the two based on style, storytelling, and street cred, obviously the artist the con chose was the wrong choice).
Oh this book series has been excellent. I'd recommend it to anyone who can enjoy a bit of bawdy humor and love it when superheroes( as a concept) get lampooned.
This series I would say is Warren's best work to date. I think this is greatest thing that could happen, when his character designs, dialogue, and layouts all work together in concert its unstoppable. I'm a life time fan
I'm kind of reminded of Phoebe Zeitgeist, though maybe lacking Michael O'Donoghue's special sickness.
@Lizfu: Yeah, honestly adam warren is the better artist. Fred art is all right, I think they made the change based on the fact that anime fans tend to be internet people, and probably more familiar with megatokyo than any of warrens work. Which is a shame
Wonder Woman called, she wants her cliche back. :P
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