Volume 1 Page 174
Posted March 7, 2016 at 12:01 am

And lo, yet another alien species—unnamed, as is usually the case—makes an appearance in Empowered! Then again, come to think of it, so far in vol. 1 I believe we’ve only encountered the Cosmolactic Empire of “Big Cosmic Pimpin’” and the Blazing-Eyed Devilgoat’s unidentified species in “Demonwolf of the DVDs.” (What little we see of the alien ship on this page might potentially resemble Imperial Pimpotron Alpha's flying saucer, though; come to think of it, this new character might actually be connected to the Cosmolactic Empire in some way. Intriguing!) Later on in the series, the unnamed alien races start to pile up fast, and even get in on the action at times; why, on occasion their gigantic, disembodied internal organs get in on the action!

Side note: I’ve often wondered, why do we use the arguably problematic term “alien races”? For that matter, is any form of taxonomic classification really appropriate for alien organisms completely outside the chain of Earth-based life? That is, would the phrase “alien species” really be any better? Or “alien genera,” or “alien orders,” or “alien phyla”? (Other taxonomy-based terms like “alien families,” “alien classes,” “alien kingdoms,” or “alien domains” would, I think, just confuse the issue even more.) 

Speaking of “arguably problematic,” matters certainly take a turn for the inarguably problematic in panels 2 and 3. I’d put a trigger warning up for this page, but considering that the range of male misbehavior depicted in 170-odd pages of Empowered so far has already ranged from harassment and degrading mistreatment up through lethal, fiery skull-f**king, I’m going to assume that readers might be prepared for some notably problematic content. (Then again, perhaps I am mistaken in that assumption.)

One wee mystery belatedly occurs to me: Where the hell did As Yet Unnamed Douchebag get such a small “NO FAT CHICKS” T-shirt? Was it his own shirt, as I’ve never in my life seen anyone but a dude wear such a thing? But if so, why was the T-shirt so small? Mysterious! (Also, undeniably fat-phobic! Not a good look, As Yet Unnamed Douchebag.)

-Adam Warren

Privacy Policy