And now, time for the first of a series of commentary excerpts from the decade-old, defunct prose experiment I Am Empowered, which was a Year-One-ish exploration of Emp's earliest days as as a superhero, told in Twitter-formatted first-person narrative for reasons that will eventually be explained:

I AM EMPOWERED

Chapter 1: MY STUPID NAME, AND MY EVEN STUPIDER SUPERSUIT (pt.1)

Hi, there! My name is Elissa Megan Powers, and I'm semi-happy to admit that I'm a struggling—often, LITERALLY struggling—young superheroine.

My superhero name—or "supranym", to use the jargon I first learned in my Suprahuman Studies classes—is, well, "Empowered". Kinda goofy, huh?

Here's my backstory and flimsy rationale for the "Empowered" supranym: My parents mostly called me "EMP" for short, after my initials, okay?

I've never been much of a "morning person"—I'm "ughh"-ing reflexively at the very phrase, right now—even back when I was a little girl.

Well, when my father would have to shake me out of bed in the morning—every schoolday, pretty much—he'd always say, "Time to get EMPowered!"

Yeah, my daddy did like his lousy puns, it's true. Out of sheer goofiness, though, I grew fond of his "Time to get EMPowered!" exhortation. 

After a while, as a fairly shameless daddy's girl, I wouldn't deign to get out of bed unless he gave me my daily "Time to get EMPowered!"

And then, when I was ten years old, he died.

Clearest memory from the wretched blur of my daddy's funeral: Bawling uncontrollably, snuffling "Time to get EMPowered" over and over again. 

The rest of my life, whenever bad luck or outright disaster befalls me—which is often—I automatically think, "Time to get EMPowered!"

Whatever the situation, from galling failure to mean-girl ostracism to student-loan anxiety, that stupid phrase still buoyed me up a little.

Even now, when I find myself stripped of my powers, tied up, and tossed in the trunk of a BadGuyMobile, it's still "Time to get EMPowered!"

My parents did sometimes address me by the full "Elissa Megan Powers", but only when exasperated by my latest idiot wannabe-cape stunt.

All my life, I've wanted to be a superhero. My first memory, in fact, is of leaping down a staircase with a blanket for a cape, circa age 4.

Close-up on Age 4 Me, in Awesome Girl Underoos® and blanket cape, shrieking "Daddy, Daddy, look at me!" while sprinting off the top stair.

Close-up on my poor father whirling around with comically bugging eyes, yelling "NOOOOOO" in slomo as I gleefully plunge down the staircase.

I recall perfectly the sensation of hurtling through the air: Terrifying, yes, but also exhilarating. PLEASE DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME, KIDS.

The sounds: BONK, THUNK, then Highly Durable Age 4 Me giggling euphorically at the bottom of the stairs, freshly bruised but wildly elated.

My parents finally got my Blanket-Cape Jackassery under control by withholding my intensely if not insanely beloved Awesome Girl Underoos®.

I vividly remember howling, "No! You'll take away my superpowers!" when, incensed by my impudence, they yanked the magical Underoos® off me.

Coincidence? Twenty years later, exactly the same thing would happen with enraged supervillains tearing my (truly) magical supersuit off me.

More on my amazing yet also amazingly crappy supersuit later. Best to wrap up this meandering explanation of the "Empowered" supranym, first.

<End of Excerpt>

So far, so familiar to webcomic readers, but later on in the chapter, we learn a few things that haven't yet made it into the series proper, including a semi-revelatory riff about Emp's problematic college years.

Today’s Patreon update: Originally done as a means of scratching out more worktime to complete the long-gestating Empowered vol. 12, I've switched over to a Monday/ Wednesday/ Friday Patreon posting schedule that won't feature the fixed content format I previously used. So, who knows what today's post might feature? Could be Life Drawing or Distressed Damsels content (both of which are featured at least three times per month), or something in the Work Stages, Vintage Con Sketches or Design departments, or possibly something entirely new. Golly!

-Adam Warren