Powers #6

This is not a comic for just any reader.

For one thing, Powers is loaded with adult content - extreme violence, vulgar language, nudity - it's basically an "R"-rated version of a comic book.

One of the great (and sometimes maddening) things about this series is: you never know where it's going next. The earliest issues combined the gritty detective genre with superheroes, as it focused on Detective Christian Walker and his partner, Deena Pilgrim, as they solved gruesome murders involving superheroes and villains (herein referred to as "Powers").

But things have changed a lot since then. Deena is off the force after a traumatic experience and Walker - still a Detective - has become, in secret, a cosmic protector of Earth.

This issue is a great example of the wide range of story possibilities all this creates, as the story careens from a grisly murder investigation to a trippy cosmic battle to save the Earth.

It's a real tour de force by writer Brian Bendis and artist Michael Oeming. The writing is as sharp and alive as anything Bendis has done (which is saying something), and the art is powerful and intense, and Oeming is equally at home in the alley or in parallel dimensions.

If you're new to the title, I'd recommend looking at some of the collections to see if this is your kind of comic. But if you're able to handle the adult material, this really is a comic you should be reading.

Grade: A-

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