Powers: Take Two

Bendis & Oeming Launch Powers, Vol. 2 in March 2004

ORANGE, CA — 8 December, 2003 —
With Powers #30, creators Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming forever altered the status quo of their award-winning superhero crime drama. Over the next seven issues, they treated readers to a brief history of the Powers universe, but now they’re ready to unveil the next stage of the series’ development: Powers, Vol. 2 will launch as an all-new series this March. An exclusive story leading into the new series and introducing an all-new character will be published in Wizard’s EDGE magazine that some month.

“After one of the world’s most powerful superheroes unhinges, destroying entire cities in his wake before finally destroying himself, the President of the United States declares all Powers illegal,” explained Bendis. “In the new Powers number one, we follow homicide Detective Deena Pilgrim back to work after a lengthy sick leave. We are taken on her tour of the new world of Powers, where all Powers are illegal, a world without heroes and a world almost cracked in half by super-powered villains run amok and unchallenged. So essentially, this is a whole new chapter in the Powers saga, making the new number one completely thematic.”

For fans of Bendis’ work on Marvel’s Daredevil, Ultimate Fantastic Four, Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate X-Men, Powers, Vol. 2 is the perfect introduction to what has been one of comicdom’s most critically lauded creator-owned series ever.

“Having entered the convention circuit again after a lengthy absence it was amazing how many of my die-hard Daredevil and Ultimate Spider-Man fans were not aware that i was the writer of Powers,” Bendis said. “Once they found out, they’d buy the entire library of trades right off the table, so clearly, we needed to get the word out that Powers is not only one of my titles, but that it is a totally unique comic book experience or fans of superheroes or crime comics.”

Added Oeming, “This really is a perfect place to step into the Powers world! If you’ve been wondering what this is all about, now is your chance to find out!”

And of course anyone curious about Powers’ rich back story need look no further than the shelves of his or her local comic book shop. The bulk of the series — Powers #1-30 — has been collected in six trade paperbacks, and the seventh installment (the “history lesson” from issues 31-37) is currently planned for an early summer release.

“I know I’m not supposed to say it, but Powers is my favorite comic,” said Image Publisher & Vice President Jim Valentino. “It’s the one comic I can’t wait to read whenever it comes out, and I’d say that even if Image didn’t publish it!”

Powers, Vol. 2 #1 is solicited in the January issue of Previews and is scheduled to reach comic book stores on March 24.