by Alex Deuben
“Expect generous servings of death to be doled out”-
– Adam Warren
Adam Warren has spent a large part of his career known as a “manga-influenced” comics artist. Nowadays that’s a meaningless term as comics, illustration and fine art have absorbed influences from Japan and elsewhere, but when Warren began his career in the late 1980s, it was very different. “The Dirty Pair” was based on a book series that Warren turned into comics series published by Eclipse Comics and later Dark Horse. Besides the many “Dirty Pair” books, Warren has done a lot of work for Marvel, DC and Wildstorm over the years, writing and drawing books like “Gen13,” “Livewires,” “Iron Man: Hypervelocity” and “Titans: Scissors, Paper, Stone.”
His current project is “Empowered,” an ongoing series of graphic novels being published by Dark Horse Comics. The books are printed directly from Warren’s pencils which means they have a very different look and feel from other comics on the stands. The series is about a young heroine, the titular Empowered, who gets her powers from her skin-tight suit, though as the material becomes frayed and torn, she loses her strength. It’s blatantly sexual, featuring a protagonist who when she’s not being gagged and bound by villains, has a vigorous sex life with her boyfriend. It’s funny and profane, but it’s also one of the smartest superhero comics around. It’s dark and violent, but it also features characters like Maidman and Mindf**k, so it has a good sense of humor. Some of the concepts and ideas in the book are novel and his universe is simultaneously stranger and more logical than other superhero universes. The sixth volume of “Empowered” was released at the end of 2010. We spoke with him over e-mail about the books.
