Here's an illo featuring a new character from EMPOWERED vol. 5, the latest installment of my ongoing "sexy superhero comedy" published by Dark Horse Comics, now on sale at a retailer near you!

This is "****ing Oyuki-chan" (named thusly due to her peculiarly profane speech patterns), who only makes a cameo appearance in vol. 5, but has a more major role in future volumes.* If you've read EMPOWERED vol. 5, I'd really appreciate it if you could avoid going directly SPOILER-y regarding her brief appearance in the book...

Anyhoo, as you might guess from her outfit, she's a kunoichi (female ninja) like Ninjette, though obviously rather more well-endowed than her colleague in a certain area... (Which gives her the crucial edge of having one more place to retain a throwing spike, of course.) I screwed up her eyes a bit in this illo, which is unfortunate, as she's supposed to always be expressionless, with wide, staring, lifeless eyes... like a doll's eyes... Instead, here, she just kinda looks confused. Well, I think I pulled the effect off a bit better in her EMPOWERED 5 appearance.

You can see a wee preview of EMPOWERED 5 here: [link] ...and more pages from the same story accompany an interview I just did for Comic Book Resources: [link] (Note that CBR gave my throwaway line about not being a "real artist" just a little more emphasis than I intended, but it's no biggeh.)

You can order EMPOWERED 5 online at Dark Horse's retail website at: [link] or at Amazon.com: [link] Keep in mind, though, that while Dark Horse's site has the book in stock, bookstores--including Amazon-- may not get it in stock for some time yet. (Comics retailers, including online sites like TFAW, often get EMPOWERED volumes well before the bookstores do.)

Note that both sites have links for ordering previous EMPOWERED volumes, as well; or, you can quite possibly find these volumes on the shelves of of your friendly neighborhood comics retailer or bookstore, though not at MY local Barnes & Noble, annoyingly enough... And if they don't carry the books, just ask said retailer to order 'em for you; believe me, they'd be happy to take your money.


*Hint: Said more major role involves sound effects such as "GCHOK" and "SHLUKK".