EMPOWERED 5 title page

Here's the title/ credits double-page-spread for EMPOWERED vol. 5, the latest installment of my ongoing "sexy superhero comedy" published by Dark Horse Comics, due out on June 24, 2009. ("Ongoing" as in, there WILL be a vol. 6.)

Tricky part is, I have to produce these title-page dealies long before I've finished the rest of the book... and, given the fact that I often tinker with (or remove entirely) stories from each book, this occasionally forces me to guess what story elements I should depict surrounding Emp. One time, on vol. 3's title spread, I guessed incorrectly, and included a Spartan helmet (part of her boyfriend Thugboy's cosplay outfit) that didn't actually appear in the volume at all... [link] Oops!

Anyhoo, this one's pretty accurate, save for the fact that the scale model of Joint Superteam Space Station 3 (aka "the d10," for obvious reasons) resting on Emp's back is a bit "off-model." Oh, well. As the weapons might hint, there is indeed a bit of ninja shenaniganery in this book, and a bit of duct tapery as well (which, wackily enough, becomes a fairly important plot element in the catastrophic final story in the volume). Also accurate is our heroine's embarrassed expression, due to the fact that you can see her backside from this angle...

After numerous unfortunate production delays, EMPOWERED vol. 5 is now slated to hit the shelves on June 17th, a date which seems pretty solid. (Er, barring unforeseen printing problems, which luckily haven't been much of an issue for the last few volumes.) The last story in the book, a 54-page action epic, was quite the long, grueling, twist-laden ordeal to complete; that's not inappropriate, though, given that the story itself is ABOUT a long, grueling, twist-laden ordeal.

Here's the (recently revised!) solicitation copy:

After saving much of the superhero community from certain doom, costumed crimefighter “Empowered” is dismayed to find that, in the suspicious eyes of her caped colleagues, she may have gone from being merely "an easily distressed pair of training wheels for supervillains” to possibly being a closeted supervillain herself! Meanwhile, our stressed-out superheroine must overcome other challenges aplenty, ranging from gossip-prone cosmic overlords learning Too Much Information from her mother and “cosplay” dress-up disasters at work (and in bed!) to duct-tape-happy catgirls, fiery sociopaths, orbital catastrophes, and even a surprising kiss or two... Not to mention trying to survive an emotionally charged, potentially lethal confrontation with her teammate-in-name-only (and implacable nemesis) Sistah Spooky!

You can preorder 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.


Finally, in the "help some DA'ers out" department: On sale as of this week is the anthology MARVEL ASSISTANT-SIZED SPECTACULAR #2, featuring the story of new character "GALACTA, daughter of Galactus!" Story by me, excellent painted artwork by DA's own .

Turns out that (hint, hint) you can vote for the saga of Galacta to continue, in an official Marvel poll at: [link] Hey, that's more than you can say for most/ all of my previous Marvel work (as in, LIVEWIRES and IRON MAN: HYPERVELOCITY), none of which had the option to be kept alive by voting...


GALACTA TWITTER UPDATE: Just felt I should mention that our heroine Galacta does, in fact, have an active, real-world Twitter account: [link]