Have you ever had a book that you like, but you’re hesitant to admit to reading? Sure, you can think of a million reasons why the book is awesome, but there are always a few more that make you want to hide your interest in it. That, my friend, is the definition of a guilty pleasure, and virtually everyone has one, including me.

Perhaps one of my favorite guilty pleasures in the realm of graphic novels (or at least one I’m willing to share) is Adam Warren’s Empowered.

One look at the cover and it’s pretty easy to guess why I might be embarrassed to admit I read this, and to be honest the cover says a lot about the nature of the series. To give a short summary, Empowered is a parody of every comic book theme out there. It’s filled with scantily clad and super curvaceous women, muscle-headed superheroes, and dimwitted villains. They run around with cheesy catch phrases and goofy names, making you laugh and wonder what absurdity is going to come next.

This humorous quality is best exemplified by the main character, a super heroine named “Empowered,” whose super powers stem from a suit that’s as fragile as her ego (which, trust me, could shatter from a faint breeze). Added to that is the fact that she apparently can’t wear anything underneath, which means that she is continually walking around in various states of near nudity, her modesty spared by a few shreds of fabric and some convenient censorship. Suffice to say, Empowered will make you laugh your ass off and blush at the same time.

[Did I mention she gets caught and tied up a lot, as in every volume?]

However, beneath the superhero mockery and rampant fan service, I was surprised when I discovered a solid plot as well as ample character development. Unlike in most superhero titles where character growth is limited due to the need to maintain the status quo, the characters in Empowered actually change and round out as time goes on. There are even moments when Empowered herself becomes, dare I say it, bad ass.

So yeah, she’s not the greatest super heroine, nor is this the greatest superhero title, but it’s not supposed to be. It’s designed to be twisted, bizarre, mocking, and more than a little perverse. In many ways it’s the perfect marriage of American superhero comics and Japanese manga.

And although Adam Warren does an impressive job of giving his characters life and his story meaning, this remains a book that you don’t have to take too seriously. In a world where character death is a major selling point in comics, it’s nice to have a title you can rely on to make you chuckle instead of think.

-Brent

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