by Nick - 07.24.06
In a shockingly awesome move, Newsarama has announced that they will publish every page of both Powers and Kabuki, online, for free. Every weekday you will be able to check the dedicated sites and get a new page. Powers is available starting today and Kabuki will follow shortly.
I got into Powers when it first came out and took the comic world by storm. Bendis took the superhero genre and turned it on it’s ear by weaving a crime-noir tale about cops in a city full of super powered folks long before others like The Incredibles touched on the subject. The heavy dialogue and in-depth characterization made Powers much deeper and more interesting than most comics and Oeming’s sparse but effective artwork brought the whole thing to life. While the comic has moved around from publisher to publisher and occasionally gotten lost in the dense plot, it has always been worth reading and has always pushed the medium.
Kabuki also took comics and shook them like screaming babies. Kabuki took poetry-like prose and combined it with drop dead gorgeous mixed media artwork for a new breed of comics. Kabuki elevated comics to an art form. Kabuki, like Powers, has moved around from publisher to publisher, but it has always been compelling. It is one of the few comics that I have been able to give to anyone; girlfriends, parents, and artistic friends and all of them have appreciated it. Heck, I even have a Kabuki statue and a bunch of David Mack prints.
So, please do check these out. You can’t get better than free. And if I can expose more 4cr readers to awesome comics like these I know it will draw more of you into the wonderful world of comics. Awesome news and a reason for bookmarks if I ever saw one.
Lovin this site. I am thankful i stumbled upon it. It’s my new homepage!
DarkTide - 07.24.06 9:38 pm
Powers is pretty much the best comic I ever read. I read it all the time on my morning train commute when I was in school - my buddy always bought the books. In retrospect I wish I would have bought them for myself instead of being such a moocher. Perhaps more than anything I appreciated the style of the artwork - it’s got a nice crisp “Batman: The Animated Series” look that simply can’t be beat.
It’s pretty cool they are doing this…but one page a day? It’s gonna take awhile for new fans to catch up.
gravitymachine - 07.24.06 9:51 pm
Cool - I’ve been wanting to check out “Powers” for some time - this will give me the chance to see if it’s as cool as rumored. If so, I can pick some up - and if not, well, at least it was free.
John Hummel - 07.24.06 10:53 pm
Awesome-ness
N Rumas - 07.25.06 4:58 am
Hot! I love Powers.
Kinda makes me wish I hadn’t spent all of that money on the graphic novels, lol.
Greg - 07.25.06 8:36 am
Greg - Really? I’d rather have them on my shelf than my hard drive.
amanaplan - 07.25.06 12:33 pm
Well, I’m a little turned off that there was an uncorrected typo on the very first page, but it’s looking to me like I’m gonna quickly get hooked enough to buy the graphic novels. After only 2 pages it reminds me a little of Watchmen or Midnight Nation but with a noir twist.
At very least, I’m adding it to my dailystrips job.
raindog - 07.25.06 2:53 pm
I should add that I realize just from the other art I’ve seen that it’s not going to be as heavy or cosmic or whatever as either of those GN’s.
raindog - 07.25.06 2:55 pm