Empowered
Encyclopedia
Empowered is an original English-language manga
written and illustrated by Adam Warren
. Described by Warren as a “sexy superhero
comedy", Empowered began to take shape in 2004 with a series of commissioned sketches of a damsel in distress
; these illustrations became the basis for short comic stories that helped develop the characters for the Empowered series.
Warren says that Empowered is "nominally a superhero title, yet it’s drawn by a clearly manga
-influenced artist". The pages are greyscale reproductions of pencil "layouts", and they are neither inked nor toned (as in the screentone
s common in manga
).
).
Empowered is a young blonde woman who is highly self-conscious about her figure, and has other self-esteem issues. She was inspired to become a superhero and help others after witnessing the death of her father at a very early age, going so far as to get a degree on "Metahuman Studies" while attending an unnamed college. She obtains a unique "hypermembrane" supersuit through unknown means but the suit is both very revealing and unreliable. Her concern over her appearance frequently serves as a dominant aspect of her career as a superheroine, as her "hypermembrane" supersuit is composed of an extremely fragile material; a material so thin and clingy that it outlines every curve of her body. Additionally, while her suit can provide her with several fantastic powers, such as super strength and directed energy blasts, these enhancements will usually fail if her suit becomes too damaged. Due to the fragility of her suit, this has happened frequently, and thus, she has earned herself a reputation for being ineffective and easily defeated...and subsequently tied up. Despite these many limitations, Empowered still manages to achieve triumphs in both her personal and professional lives using her intellect and determination, even if she rarely gains accolades for said heroic acts from the public at large.
She is also an associate-level member of the Superhomeys superhero group, who are the primary defenders of the city in which they reside. Within the group, Empowered is an active participant in many of the battles against the multitude of villains that threaten the metropolis. However, because of the unreliability of her suit, she is commonly defeated and captured. And, because of the villains' unwillingness to violate the unspoken rules
of superhero/supervillian interaction, she is frequently hogtied and left for the Superhomeys to eventually rescue. Due to the frequency of this, she has a reputation within the Superhomeys as being "bondage
-prone" and is something of a laughingstock. Empowered continually fights alongside them despite their lack of respect toward her and her own suit's unreliable nature, due to her unwavering determination to help people as best as she is able. While her teammates often soundly dismiss her contributions, she has managed to save the lives of the Superhomeys singlehandedly on at least two occasions. Empowered is also portrayed as being more morally upstanding, idealistic and noble than the majority of her more powerful, cynical teammates and members of the superhuman community at large.
Although Empowered is continually subjected to humiliation in her career as a superheroine, she does have close companionship and emotional support from her boyfriend, who is only known as Thugboy. Thugboy, who is so-called because of his previous career as a thug and henchman
to various supervillians, reforms to stand by Empowered's side after meeting her "on the job" and moves in with her in short order. He continually provides her with uplifting emotional support and encouragement despite her misadventures and nigh-on continual failure to live up to her own expectations. This love and support frequently manifests in the form of sex
, which may be beneficial to Empowered’s hypermembrane as well as her emotional state since the former seems to mirror the latter.
Emp is also a close friend to a young woman named Kozue Kaburagi, who prefers to be called by the pseudonym "Ninjette". Ninjette (or simply "'Jette", as she is colloquially known) is a highly-trained ninja
and runaway princess of the Kubaragi ninja clan, which is based out of New Jersey
. She, too, met Empowered on the opposite side of the law but has since reformed, thanks to forming a close friendship with the idealistic Empowered. She has been shown to have both a drinking problem and an unresolved attraction to Thugboy but neither of these problems have ruined their close friendship yet.
Her rival in most respects is respected fellow SuperHomey Sistah Spooky, a powerful, goth-styled black sorceress. She is very resentful of Emp and hugely successful. The reason for this is that as a kid, she went to a private school full of "shallow, preppy bitches" with perfect bodies, icy glares, and flowing blonde tresses. She was so scarred by this, she attempted to contact eldritch magickal entities in order to murder them, but was told that they were already their clients, as part of a package to sell your soul for the power to be perfectly hot for the rest of your life. She eventually went through with it, but was told that a decimal point was misplaced, giving her "waaaaay too much mystical power," and she used it to become a superhero and achieve international fame. Emp, who shares characteristics with the preppy bitches (all seemingly without selling her soul), as she already had the blonde hair, but she mentions continually that she has to work out constantly and diet to within an inch of her life without looking like a fat slob in what basically amounts to a coat of body paint, is shown to be a constant target of her attention. She has a pathological hatred of blondes, leading to a breakup of her lesbian relationship with blonde telepath Mindfuck.
The final member of Empowered's primary supporting cast is an immortal
, cosmically powerful being called The Caged Demonwolf, whom Empowered prevented from destroying the Earth. She did so by imprisoning its essence within a "bondage belt" gained from another of her previous misadventures but when the Superhomeys refused to take the now talking, enraged belt into storage, Empowered was forced to hold on to it, much to her chagrin. While The Caged Demonwolf was initially hostile, it has since become both an advisor and friend
to Empowered, Thugboy and Ninjette. The Caged Demonwolf also has a humorously unfortunate tendency to speak only in turgid, long-winded and unnecessarily alliterative speeches, which often obscure the points it is attempting to make. It also breaks the fourth wall
to address the audience directly on occasion. To keep it entertained, Emp has placed The Caged Demonwolf on her living room coffee table
so it can watch TV, listen to sports talk radio, and generally interact with the comings and goings of Emp's household.
A running gag in the strip is the promise to show people things that never get delivered along with some of the things that do, such as why Emp's suit doesn't show cameltoe
and the appearance of "Were-giraffe by Night."
. Similar in respects to fictional cities such as DC Comic’s Metropolis
or Gotham City
, the City is nearly constantly beset by a plethora of super-powered and non-powered villains that largely are never shown to have any goals beyond causing chaos.
Alternate locations within the Empowered universe include the "Homey Crib": the central headquarters for the Superhomeys superhero group, the Joint Superteam Space Station 3; commonly referred to as "the D10", and various underground locations only accessible through a matter transportation system known as the Lotus Network. Also mentioned is the "world famous suprahuman treatment wing of the Purple Paladin Memorial Hospital."
Voluntary abilities of Empowered’s super suit
The voluntary abilities of Emp’s suit are usually lost when too much of the suit’s fragile material is ripped away. Despite this often-exploited drawback, Empowered’s suit also has many abilities that are not directly controlled, and usually remain functional.
Automatic functions
In addition to voluntary and involuntary abilities, the suit also has some abilities that are active regardless of the person interacting with the material of the hyper memberane:
:
A comic book titled Empowered Special: The Wench With a Million Sighs was released on December 2, 2009 and is the first Empowered book in a traditional comic book format. A second comic titled Empowered Special #2: Ten Questions for the Maidman was released on June 8, 2011. It included both black & white and color sections, with the latter being drawn by artist Emily Warren, making it the first time an artist other than Adam Warren has illustrated an Empowered comic.
Original English-language manga
Original English-language manga or OEL manga is the term commonly used to describe comic books or graphic novels in the "international manga" genre of comics whose language of original publication is English...
written and illustrated by Adam Warren
Adam Warren
Adam Warren is an American comic book writer and artist who is most famous for his adaptation of the characters known as Dirty Pair into an American comic book, and for being one of the first American commercial illustrators to be influenced by the general manga style...
. Described by Warren as a “sexy superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
comedy", Empowered began to take shape in 2004 with a series of commissioned sketches of a damsel in distress
Damsel in distress
The subject of the damsel in distress, or persecuted maiden, is a classic theme in world literature, art, and film. She is usually a beautiful young woman placed in a dire predicament by a villain or monster and who requires a hero to achieve her rescue. She has become a stock character of fiction,...
; these illustrations became the basis for short comic stories that helped develop the characters for the Empowered series.
Warren says that Empowered is "nominally a superhero title, yet it’s drawn by a clearly manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
-influenced artist". The pages are greyscale reproductions of pencil "layouts", and they are neither inked nor toned (as in the screentone
Screentone
Screentone is a technique for applying textures and shades to drawings, used as an alternative to hatching. In the conventional process, patterns are transferred to paper from preprinted sheets, but the technique is also simulated in computer graphics...
s common in manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
).
Plot
Empowered chronicles the story of the titular character, a superheroine whose civilian name is Elissa Megan Powers, but is more commonly referred to as "Emp" (originally after her initials, E.M.P.).
Empowered is a young blonde woman who is highly self-conscious about her figure, and has other self-esteem issues. She was inspired to become a superhero and help others after witnessing the death of her father at a very early age, going so far as to get a degree on "Metahuman Studies" while attending an unnamed college. She obtains a unique "hypermembrane" supersuit through unknown means but the suit is both very revealing and unreliable. Her concern over her appearance frequently serves as a dominant aspect of her career as a superheroine, as her "hypermembrane" supersuit is composed of an extremely fragile material; a material so thin and clingy that it outlines every curve of her body. Additionally, while her suit can provide her with several fantastic powers, such as super strength and directed energy blasts, these enhancements will usually fail if her suit becomes too damaged. Due to the fragility of her suit, this has happened frequently, and thus, she has earned herself a reputation for being ineffective and easily defeated...and subsequently tied up. Despite these many limitations, Empowered still manages to achieve triumphs in both her personal and professional lives using her intellect and determination, even if she rarely gains accolades for said heroic acts from the public at large.
She is also an associate-level member of the Superhomeys superhero group, who are the primary defenders of the city in which they reside. Within the group, Empowered is an active participant in many of the battles against the multitude of villains that threaten the metropolis. However, because of the unreliability of her suit, she is commonly defeated and captured. And, because of the villains' unwillingness to violate the unspoken rules
Unspoken rules
Unspoken rules are behavioral constraints imposed in organizations or societies that are not voiced or written down. They usually exist in unspoken and unwritten format because they form a part of the logical argument or course of action implied by tacit assumptions...
of superhero/supervillian interaction, she is frequently hogtied and left for the Superhomeys to eventually rescue. Due to the frequency of this, she has a reputation within the Superhomeys as being "bondage
Bondage (sexual)
Bondage is the use of restraints for the sexual pleasure of the parties involved. It may be used in its own right, as in the case of rope bondage and breast bondage, or as part of sexual activity or BDSM activity.- Private bondage :...
-prone" and is something of a laughingstock. Empowered continually fights alongside them despite their lack of respect toward her and her own suit's unreliable nature, due to her unwavering determination to help people as best as she is able. While her teammates often soundly dismiss her contributions, she has managed to save the lives of the Superhomeys singlehandedly on at least two occasions. Empowered is also portrayed as being more morally upstanding, idealistic and noble than the majority of her more powerful, cynical teammates and members of the superhuman community at large.
Although Empowered is continually subjected to humiliation in her career as a superheroine, she does have close companionship and emotional support from her boyfriend, who is only known as Thugboy. Thugboy, who is so-called because of his previous career as a thug and henchman
Henchman
Henchman referred originally to one who attended on a horse for his employer, that is, a horse groom. Hence, like constable and marshal, also originally stable staff, henchman became the title of a subordinate official in a royal court or noble household...
to various supervillians, reforms to stand by Empowered's side after meeting her "on the job" and moves in with her in short order. He continually provides her with uplifting emotional support and encouragement despite her misadventures and nigh-on continual failure to live up to her own expectations. This love and support frequently manifests in the form of sex
Sexual intercourse
Sexual intercourse, also known as copulation or coitus, commonly refers to the act in which a male's penis enters a female's vagina for the purposes of sexual pleasure or reproduction. The entities may be of opposite sexes, or they may be hermaphroditic, as is the case with snails...
, which may be beneficial to Empowered’s hypermembrane as well as her emotional state since the former seems to mirror the latter.
Emp is also a close friend to a young woman named Kozue Kaburagi, who prefers to be called by the pseudonym "Ninjette". Ninjette (or simply "'Jette", as she is colloquially known) is a highly-trained ninja
Ninja
A or was a covert agent or mercenary of feudal Japan specializing in unorthodox arts of war. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, as well as open combat in certain situations...
and runaway princess of the Kubaragi ninja clan, which is based out of New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. She, too, met Empowered on the opposite side of the law but has since reformed, thanks to forming a close friendship with the idealistic Empowered. She has been shown to have both a drinking problem and an unresolved attraction to Thugboy but neither of these problems have ruined their close friendship yet.
Her rival in most respects is respected fellow SuperHomey Sistah Spooky, a powerful, goth-styled black sorceress. She is very resentful of Emp and hugely successful. The reason for this is that as a kid, she went to a private school full of "shallow, preppy bitches" with perfect bodies, icy glares, and flowing blonde tresses. She was so scarred by this, she attempted to contact eldritch magickal entities in order to murder them, but was told that they were already their clients, as part of a package to sell your soul for the power to be perfectly hot for the rest of your life. She eventually went through with it, but was told that a decimal point was misplaced, giving her "waaaaay too much mystical power," and she used it to become a superhero and achieve international fame. Emp, who shares characteristics with the preppy bitches (all seemingly without selling her soul), as she already had the blonde hair, but she mentions continually that she has to work out constantly and diet to within an inch of her life without looking like a fat slob in what basically amounts to a coat of body paint, is shown to be a constant target of her attention. She has a pathological hatred of blondes, leading to a breakup of her lesbian relationship with blonde telepath Mindfuck.
The final member of Empowered's primary supporting cast is an immortal
Immortality
Immortality is the ability to live forever. It is unknown whether human physical immortality is an achievable condition. Biological forms have inherent limitations which may or may not be able to be overcome through medical interventions or engineering...
, cosmically powerful being called The Caged Demonwolf, whom Empowered prevented from destroying the Earth. She did so by imprisoning its essence within a "bondage belt" gained from another of her previous misadventures but when the Superhomeys refused to take the now talking, enraged belt into storage, Empowered was forced to hold on to it, much to her chagrin. While The Caged Demonwolf was initially hostile, it has since become both an advisor and friend
Stockholm syndrome
In psychology, Stockholm Syndrome is an apparently paradoxical psychological phenomenon wherein hostages express empathy and have positive feelings towards their captors, sometimes to the point of defending them...
to Empowered, Thugboy and Ninjette. The Caged Demonwolf also has a humorously unfortunate tendency to speak only in turgid, long-winded and unnecessarily alliterative speeches, which often obscure the points it is attempting to make. It also breaks the fourth wall
Fourth wall
The fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...
to address the audience directly on occasion. To keep it entertained, Emp has placed The Caged Demonwolf on her living room coffee table
Coffee table
A coffee table, also called a cocktail table, is a style of long, low table which is designed to be placed in front of a sofa, to support beverages , magazines, books , and other small items to be used while sitting, such as beverage coasters. Coffee tables are usually found in the living room or...
so it can watch TV, listen to sports talk radio, and generally interact with the comings and goings of Emp's household.
A running gag in the strip is the promise to show people things that never get delivered along with some of the things that do, such as why Emp's suit doesn't show cameltoe
Cameltoe
Camel toe is a slang term that refers to the outline of a human female's labia majora, as seen through tightly fitting clothes.-Common circumstances:...
and the appearance of "Were-giraffe by Night."
Setting
Empowered is based in an as of yet unnamed city on the West CoastWest Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
. Similar in respects to fictional cities such as DC Comic’s Metropolis
Metropolis
A metropolis is a very large city or urban area which is a significant economic, political and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections and communications...
or Gotham City
Gotham City
Gotham City is a fictional U.S. city appearing in DC Comics, best known as the home of Batman. Batman's place of residence was first identified as Gotham City in Batman #4 . Gotham City is strongly inspired by Trenton, Ontario's history, location, atmosphere, and various architectural styles...
, the City is nearly constantly beset by a plethora of super-powered and non-powered villains that largely are never shown to have any goals beyond causing chaos.
Alternate locations within the Empowered universe include the "Homey Crib": the central headquarters for the Superhomeys superhero group, the Joint Superteam Space Station 3; commonly referred to as "the D10", and various underground locations only accessible through a matter transportation system known as the Lotus Network. Also mentioned is the "world famous suprahuman treatment wing of the Purple Paladin Memorial Hospital."
Powers and abilities
Emp’s super suit imparts both voluntary powers, controlled intentionally by the wearer, and involuntary powers; passive abilities that become active without conscious intent of the wearer, and physical attributes that do not necessarily enhance the function of the suit but are active nonetheless. Most of the suit's powers function only for Emp, but it is unclear as to whether this is by the suit's decision, or its nature. Most of the suit's powers degrade or vanish as it takes damage. The suit does not function if covered with any material, so Emp cannot protect it with additional armor.Voluntary abilities of Empowered’s super suit
- Superhuman strength. Emp herself describes her physical strength, while the suit is undamaged, as approximating that of ten fit men.
- Invisibility. This ability is purely voluntary, but the invisibility effect does not extend to the wearer, essentially making Emp appear nude whenever she tries to use it. It is also possible for Emp to make sections of the suit turn invisible while other sections remain visible. This ability was advantageous for her to trick dWarf/Fleshmaster into allowing her into the back-stage control room from which he was orchestrating the sabotage of the Caped Justice Awards ceremony.
- Various visual enhancements including magnification and x-ray vision. These visual enhancements remain usable, even if the suit has been damaged to the point that all other voluntary powers have ceased functioning.
- The ability to cling to all surfaces. Emp discovered this power accidentally when she was flung to the underside of the outstretched hand of a large statue.
- High-intensity directed energy discharges. Emp has marginal control of these energy blasts, and varying ability to direct them. She has improved in this area as the series has progressed, but this has not deterred the foes that she faces, not does it seem to discourage the frequency by which Emp is captured. For example, the ability to use this power becomes markedly more accurate when Thugboy was in danger of death.
- The suit can be used to make phone calls, although whether the suit is acting as a mobile phoneMobile phoneA mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
or as an extension of an already existing landlineLandlineA landline was originally an overland telegraph wire, as opposed to an undersea cable. Currently, landline refers to a telephone line which travels through a solid medium, either metal wire or optical fibre, as distinguished from a mobile cellular line, where transmission is via radio waves...
is not clarified.
The voluntary abilities of Emp’s suit are usually lost when too much of the suit’s fragile material is ripped away. Despite this often-exploited drawback, Empowered’s suit also has many abilities that are not directly controlled, and usually remain functional.
Automatic functions
- The suit is able to absorb or deflect all damage that may be directed at it while leaving Empowered unharmed. This has been demonstrated with gunfire, various bladed weapons, blunt impacts, and even a shark bite. Although this usually leaves the suit itself greatly damaged, Emp has never been subject to bodily harm.
- The suit is capable of self-repair - very slowly, however. This appears to somehow be tied to either Emp’s sexual activity or her self-confidence. and it has been implied that Emp has become something of a sex maniac since she began using the suit.
- The suit can protect Empowered while exposed to outer space, seemingly keeping her body pressurized, protected from extreme temperatures, shielded from ambient radiation, and allowing her to breathe as if in normal atmosphere. This can happen despite the suit being damaged in several places, exposing Emp’s bare skin.
- The suit can manifest structures somewhat resembling the skeleton of a bat's wing, enabling Emp to hover. Emp is unaware of this ability.
In addition to voluntary and involuntary abilities, the suit also has some abilities that are active regardless of the person interacting with the material of the hyper memberane:
- The suit can “knit” itself around the hair follicleHair follicleA hair follicle is a skin organ that produces hair. Hair production occurs in phases, including a growth phase , and cessation phase , and a rest phase . Stem cells are principally responsible for the production of hair....
s on Empowered’s scalp, giving the appearance that the cowl of the suit is really an accessory mask. This may be one of the only “abilities” of the suit that is not reliant on Emp being the user as this function occurred with a male wearer of the suit that stole it from Emp in an attempt to gain the suit’s abilities. - The suit can greatly accentuate the sensations from sexual stimulation. It is not clear if this effect can be experienced by anyone, as long as Emp is involved, or if this is another example of the suit having a passive effect on anybody.
- The suit sometimes acts autonomously, taking on the physical dimensions of Emp without her actually wearing it. The only character shown to interact with the suit while it does this is the extraterrestrial/supernatural energy being/symbiote that is trapped within alien bondage gear, commonly referred to as “The Caged Demonwolf”.
Publications
The following collections were released as Trade Paperbacks by Dark HorseDark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
:
| Title | Release date | ISBN |
|---|---|---|
| Empowered Vol. 1 | Mar 21, 2007 | ISBN 978-1-59307-672-6 |
| Empowered Vol. 2 | Oct 3, 2007 | ISBN 978-1-59307-816-4 |
| Empowered Vol. 3 | Mar 5, 2008 | ISBN 978-1-59307-870-6 |
| Empowered Vol. 4 | Oct 29, 2008 | ISBN 978-1-59307-994-9 |
| Empowered Vol. 5 | Jun 24, 2009 | ISBN 978-1-59582-212-3 |
| Empowered Vol. 6 | Sep 8, 2010 | ISBN 978-1-59582-391-5 |
A comic book titled Empowered Special: The Wench With a Million Sighs was released on December 2, 2009 and is the first Empowered book in a traditional comic book format. A second comic titled Empowered Special #2: Ten Questions for the Maidman was released on June 8, 2011. It included both black & white and color sections, with the latter being drawn by artist Emily Warren, making it the first time an artist other than Adam Warren has illustrated an Empowered comic.
External links
- Empowered Profile, Dark Horse Comics website
- Press Release for volume 1, volume 2, Dark Horse Comics website
- Empowered Vol 1 Preview, Dark Horse Comics website
- Free online short story, official Dark Horse Comics MySpaceMySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
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