Empowered 1-7 + specials and sketchbook (Minutemen-DTs and others)

Well, I started reading Empowered once again, to prepare for book 7, and enjoy it as always, so I figured you should all get a chance to enjoy the best manga style sexy superhero comic.


Not only is costumed crimefighter "Empowered" saddled with a less-than-ideal superhero name, but she wears a skintight and cruelly revealing "supersuit" that only magnifies her body-image insecurities. Worse yet, the suit's unreliable powers are prone to failure, repeatedly leaving her in appallingly distressing situations . . . and giving her a shameful reputation as the lamest "cape" in the masks-and-tights business. Nonetheless, she pluckily braves the ordeals of her bottom-rung superheroic life with the help of her "thugalicious" boyfriend (and former Witless Minion) and her hard-drinking ninja girlfriend, not to mention the supervillainous advice from the caged alien demonlord watching DVDs from atop her coffee table . . .





Empowered returns for further misadventures, as a distress-prone girl wonder struggles with life on the superheroic C-list! Clad-or unclad, as fate would too often have it-in her embarrassingly revealing and maddeningly unreliable supersuit, she fights a neverending battle against overly sensitive supervillains, irrationally envious superheroines, and her own body-image issues! Meanwhile, her boyfriend, Thugboy, plays with fire when he foolhardily attempts to compliment his profoundly insecure sweetheart on the awe-inspiring power of her . . . well, booty. And her often-inebriated gal-pal, Ninjette, pursues a drunken and ultimately disastrous mission to acquire Empowered some respect-by force if necessary! All this, plus crossword-obsessed goons, speech-impaired superbeasts, "Ninjas Gone Wild," and even a few self-help hints from nigh-omnipotent cosmic overlords! You know, the usual.





As if life as an often-struggling superheroine weren't already hard enough, now costumed crimefighter "Empowered" discovers that another female superhero is ripping off her distress-prone persona-and cashing in, big-time! Even worse, her relationship with live-in boyfriend (and semi-reformed Witless Minion) Thugboy has run afoul of an extremely literal set of "power issues" ! Worse yet, a singularly bloodthirsty and ruthless ninja clan is gunning-no, make that shurikening-for Emp's best friend and karaoke partner, Ninjette! Can our unlucky but still plucky heroine prevail over all these obstacles as well as the further threats posed by foreign fanfiction outrages, her own supersuit's attempts to manipulate her self-esteem, and the revelation of (gasp!) her real name?





Costumed crimefighter Empowered is briefly overjoyed to find herself in the running for one of the superhero community's annual Caped Justice Awards (or "Capeys")--only to discover that her nomination was merely a cruel joke by her obnoxious superpeers. But when the masked masses face a cataclysmic reckoning for previous heartless hoaxes, can our perpetually struggling heroine overcome her resentment and save the day? And can she cope with the further problems posed by cross-dressing vigilantes, dying wishes from preteen wannabe supervillains, telepathic "booty calls," a deeply depressed ninja, bedroom "cosplay" conflicts with her boyfriend, and even . . . Hummer® fu?





After saving much of the superhero community from certain doom, costumed crime fighter Empowered is dismayed to find that, in the suspicious eyes of her caped colleagues, she's gone from being merely a "pair of training wheels for supervillains" to possibly being a closeted supervillain herself! Worse yet, she's wrestling with envy and resentment that her roommate Ninjette and boyfriend Thugboy are now more popular in masks-and-tights circles than she is! Meanwhile, our stressed-out superheroine must also unravel an alien-spawned body-image conspiracy, overcome "cosplay" dress-up disasters at work and in bed, and try to survive a potentially lethal confrontation with her teammate Sistah Spooky!





After a fiery disaster claims the lives of several teammates, costumed crimefighter Empowered stumbles upon an ugly little secret of the masks-and-tights business: a growing number of ill-fated superheroes have found out the hard way that, while their bodies are still mortal, their superpowers are not . . . Now, only our downtrodden but doggedly determined heroine can save the (semi)living superdead from a very genuine "fate worse than death," while simultaneously grappling with the challenges of vengefully vacationing ninja clans, car-trunk carpet burn, superhero-fantasy-league drafts, excessive bedroom chatter, and deals with the devil both figurative and literal! All this, plus Emp's not-so-secret origin is revealed at last!





While costumed crime fighter Empowered makes a startling discovery regarding her status as an all-too-frequent “damsel in distress,” Ninjette confronts her own sordid past and frighteningly uncertain future as she battles alone against an entire clan of supernaturally durable ninja. What's more, can our hard-luck heroines withstand the challenges of supervillainous minivans, dueling “daddy issues,” doomed-but-still-hot boyfriends, undead karaoke-party crashers, and spoiler alerts from hell itself?





Even as costumed crime fighter Empowered fights a desperate battle against a functionally invulnerable, grave-robbing supervillain inside a secret underground mausoleum for fallen superheroes, back at Emp's apartment, the alien demonlord imprisoned upon her coffee table spins a tempestuous tell-all tale of the often-struggling heroine's deepest secrets . . . The scruple-free storyteller soon reveals how all of Empowered's many frustrations at work, at home, and even in the bedroom can be conveyed strictly through the vocabulary of her extraordinarily expressive exhalations, thus making her . . . "The Wench With a Million Sighs!"




The badass, broom-swinging vigilante Maidman, the “cross-dressing crusader,” is interviewed by the super-phony “celebricape” TV host of an ill-fated talk show. The confab soon degenerates from happy chatter to cape-on-cape violence! Meanwhile, costumed crimefighter Empowered exploits Maidman's fearsome reputation not only to victimize hapless supervillains, but also to get the upper hand on her recalcitrant boyfriend!




And here is a goodie, an Empowered sketchbook :)
Adam's first sketchbook since 1996!
Collects commissioned sketches from the last two years; a previously unpublished 6-page story promoting the release of Empowered Vol. 6 (an "Empowered Q & A" originally appearing online); and 4 unused, unpublished pages from Empowered Vol. 6.