Behold, the cover art for Empowered: Ten Questions for the Maidman [link] , the newest installment in my ongoing "sexy superhero comedy"* series published by Dark Horse Comics. Only the line art [link] for superheroine Emp (at left) is by me, while everything else here is rendered by the issue's Special Guest Artist, the awesomely talented .

Slated to hit the shelves of your Local Comics Store on June 8th,Ten Questions for the Maidman is a one-shot in "floppy" conventional-comics form. I wrote the whole thing and pencil 14 B&W story pages framing (and occasionally interrupting) Emily Warren's main story, which she will be depicting in luxurious FULL COLOR (I'd insert a rainbow graphic here, if only I knew how)! Here's the solicitation copy:

Badass, broom-swinging vigilante Maidman, the “cross-dressing crusader,” is interviewed by the super-phony “celebricape” TV host of an ill-fated talk show. Alas, the confab soon degenerates from happy chatter to cape-on-cape violence! Meanwhile, costumed crimefighter Empowered exploits Maidman's fearsome reputation not only to victimize hapless supervillains, but also to get the upper hand on her recalcitrant boyfriend!**

Note also that, as a bonus, this issue will feature an Exclusive First Look/ Preview Dealie from the upcoming Empowered vol. 7, due out (sadly) in 2012. Too bad I didn't think of mentioning this in the solicitation copy... Oh, well. Won't be a huge preview, as the one-shot's barrage of 29 story pages leaves us only a few free pages to play around with, but what the heck.

Anyhoo, this one-shot is a Big Fricking Deal, as its success or failure will definitely affect the future of the franchise. If Ten Questions for the Maidman does well enough, my brilliant plan is to keep putting out Empowered one-shots with Special Guest Artists (but always featuring pages drawn by me, never fear) to fill the ever-lengthening gaps between the release of full Emp volumes. In part that's because I think it's important to keep the brand out in the public eye on a regular basis, but also because I have a bazillion*** ideas for Empverse stories that I will never, ever get a chance to address in the regular books, regardless of how fast I draw 'em.

Beyond that, "waiting for the trade" won't be much of an option here, as the Guest Artist one-shots will almost certainly not be collected in the regular Emp volumes. They won't be available in TPB form until I have enough of them for a collection all their own, which won't be happening anytime soon, considering I haven't even got the next one-shot approved yet...

So, yeah, if you're an Empowered fan, i stuh-rongly urge you to order the one-shot from your Local Comics Store. (You can even preorder it online from Dark Horse's online retail store here: [link] ) Tell your friends! Tell your enemies! Tweet it up, kiddies! (Speaking of which, I now have a Twitter page documenting the Empowered vol. 7 production experience [link] , also visible as a slightly wonky widget on my DA front page.)

In closing, I must of course paste in the requisite general-purpose Emp-related floggery... Empowered's first six volumes (and a previous one-shot in "floppy" comics format) can be found on the shelves of your Local Comics Retailer or bookstore, or online at Dark Horse's retail website [link] or on Amazon.com [link] .

<sub>*Except when it isn't.

**Left this out: "And yes, DiD fans, the issue does indeed feature Emp DiD imagery drawn by me, as that's my cross to bear, not Emily's."

***If you'll pardon the use of technical jargon like "bazillion".</sub>