Created by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Avon Oeming, Powers is a superhero noir comic. More precisely, it’s a noir crime drama set in a world with superheroes. It tells the story of two homicide detectives, Christian Walker and Deena Pilgrim, assigned to investigate crimes involving “powers”, people with superhuman abilities.
Turns out that Walker used to be one of them, but he lost everything and became a cop. And now, he is working with Deena Pilgrim. She kicks ass and takes names like almost nobody else in the comic universe, just so you know. They started to work together on the famous Retro Girl case, a murder case that will define their lives, even if they don’t know it yet.
The publishing history of Powers is almost chaotic (chic?). Everything started at Image Comics in 2000, but when Bendis’s role at Marvel began to grow, Powers followed him and became one of the first series published by Icon—the created owned imprint by Marvel for Marvel authors. The problem is that Bendis started to work on so many books that the publication of Powers slow down and became erratic. Then, he joined DC Comics where he created his own imprint, JinxWorld, dedicated to his created own work. Powers was reprinted, then a new and final graphic novel was published to end the series. And now, everything is moving again to Dark Horse Comics.
Powers Reading Order:
A. Powers Reading Order, Jinxworld Edition
Jinxworld was Brian Michael Bendis’s personal imprint at DC Comics. In 2018, it offered a reprint in big paperbacks of the series. It was completed with a hardcover of the last book of the series.
- Powers: Book One
Collects Powers Vol. 1 #1–11, the complete Powers comic strips from Comic Shop News, the Powers Coloring/Activity Book. - Powers: Book Two
Collects Powers Vol. 1 #12–24; Powers Annual #1. - Powers: Book Three
Collects Powers Vol. 1 #25–37, and a story from the Oni Press Color Special 2001 #1. - Powers: Book Four
Collects Powers Vol. 2 #1–18. - Powers: Book Five
Collects Powers Vol. 2 #19–30, and Powers Annual (2008) #1.
- Powers: Book Six
Collects Powers Vol. 3 #1–11. - Powers: Book Seven
Collects Powers Bureau Vol. 1+2 #1–12. - Powers: All The New Powers
Collects Powers Vol. 4 #1-6 // I only found those collected in Digital. - Powers: The Best Ever
Collects Powers Vol. 4 #7-8. The End (?)
B. Powers Reading Order, Dark Horse Edition
Once again, Brian Michael Bendis moved his business elsewhere. After Image, Marvel, and DC Comics, Powers is now reprinted by Dark Horse Comics. The new collection started in 2022 with a paperback reprint of the last book of the series. Then, the first books were reprinted as well (also in paperbacks).
- Powers Volume 1
Collects Powers Vol. 1 #1–11, the complete Powers comic strips from Comic Shop News, the Powers Coloring/Activity Book, a treasure trove of behind-the-scenes content from the making of this superhero-noir classic, and a brand-new cover by Michael Avon Oeming! - Powers Volume 2
Collects Powers #12-24, Powers Annual #1, a treasure trove of behind-the-scenes material from the making of this superhero noir classic and a short story from Jinx: True Crime Confession. - Powers Volume 3
Collects Powers (Series 1) #25–#37 with a brand-new cover by Michael Avon Oeming! - More to come…
- Powers: The Best Ever
Collects issues 7 and 8 of Powers (2015) along with new story material published in the earlier edition of Powers: The Best Ever, plus all comic book covers and a sketchbook section.
C. Powers Reading Order, Marvel Icon Edition
Powers started at Marvel Icon. Most of those books are now hard to find but offered a better list of the different storylines. That’s why I keep the list here for those who want to know how everything was originally edited.
- Powers: Who Killed Retro Girl?
Collects Powers Vol. 1 #1-6. - Powers: Roleplay
Collects Powers Vol. 1 #8-11. - Powers: Little Deaths
Collects Powers Vol. 1 #7, #12-14, Annual #1; Powers Activity and Coloring Book; Jinx: True Crime Confessions.
- Powers: Supergroup
Collects Powers Vol. 1 #15-20. “How to Make Powers” from Draw! magazine #5. - Powers: Anarchy
Collects Powers Vol. 1 #21-24. - Powers: The Sellouts
Collects Powers Vol. 1 #25-30. - Powers: Forever
Collects Powers Vol. 1 #31-37. - Powers: Legends
Collects Powers Vol. 2 #1-6. - Powers: Psychotic
Collects Powers Vol. 2 #7-12. - Powers: Cosmic
Collects Powers Vol. 2 #13-18.
- Powers: Secret Identity
Collects Powers Vol. 2 #19-24. - Powers: The 25 Coolest Dead Superheroes of All Time
Collects Powers Vol. 2 #25-30. - Powers: Z
Collects Powers Vol. 3 #1-6. - Powers: Gods
Collects Powers Vol. 3 #7-11. - Powers Bureau: Undercover
Collects Powers Bureau #1-6. - Powers Bureau: Icons
Collects Powers Bureau #7-12.