Empowered: a Quick Review

With a bit of trepedation, I picked up Adam Warren's "Empowered" yesterday.  Despite the fact that I've always been a fan of Warren's writing as well as his art, at first glance this book apeared to be a piece of bondage fan-service.  And well, comics have a really poor track record in dealing with women or sex.  To my relief, Empowered may actually be the first comic book sex comedy that's actually funny, and in the process, it takes some nice shots at well-known comics cliche's like the "damsel in distress" element of comics.  

( The Detailed Review:  )

My conclusion?  This is actually a really sweet book, which despite the farcical elements, has a heroine that feels more real than most of the boy's fantasies posing as "empowered women" in comics.  I think in part it's because anyone can relate to jobs that are humiliating, with co-workers that are jerks.  largely though, it's because like the heroine, many of us find the real meaning and joy in our lives through the people we love and care about. 

In short, while the situations may be fueled by typical comic book fan's fantasies, our heroine doesn't exist solely to act them out; she has a character of her own.  And that is pretty empowered.