Adam Warren’s “Empowered: Nine Beers with Ninjette†is a hilariously serious collision of western and eastern heroines. It has sexy and revealing art, shocking comedy, and sporadic serious tidbits that either shock or entertain depending on the audience. With plenty of vulgarity and profanity, the comic is geared towards the young party animal inside. This story telling style may only allow for a specific audience. Majority of the jokes are dirty or surrounds profanity, both of which can be abrasive. For the Dark Horse community though, the manga style is certainly a unique twist but brings comics and manga together.
Unlike the rest of the series, where Warren is both the writer and the illustrator, Takeshi Miyazawa takes over as the drunkard ninja from New Jersey, Ninjette, tells her tale. Given the topic choice the art choice is both contrasting and fitting, since Ningette is an American Ninja.
In the epilogue, Warren is still in control as Empowered, a shy curvy blonde in a barely-there skin tight suit, introduces the characters and the back story. His style is bubblier with rounder faces, thicker lips and more curvy bodies. Once Ninjette takes over for the actual story Miyazawa does the same. With his style, the characters become slimmer and slightly more angular giving the feeling of a manga, a Japanese comic. This transition is noticeable but it demonstrates the original art as the original back story is told and introduces the new art as the new version is told.
The heroes are not glorified as unyielding and righteous. Instead between partying, drinking, boys and a lot of foul language they give off the feeling of college students on spring break. They also bring a relatable aspect to the story with the angst of young adults today as the main characters deal with their insecurities.
This issue focuses on the personal aspect of those heroes, specifically Ninjette. She brings readers her experiences from beer 1 to 9. With each beer that carries a memorable experience, Ninjette gives us a look from before she meets Empowered and afterwards. They range from serious to silly allowing the story to bring depth in a light hearted tone.
The mixer of comedy with seriousness allows the story to be funny without it being nonsensical. This keeps the story engaging forcing the reader to turn to the next page in hopes to find either a funny joke or a dramatic scene. Though the strong language can be a lot, it brings a form of comedy that is so hilariously shocking that the reader might read it again to make sure they got it right, just to laugh again.
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