And now, time for another commentary excerpt 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. (Best brace yourselves for a recounting of Emp's college-age sociopolitical views, folks.)

I AM EMPOWERED

Chapter 1: MY STUPID NAME, AND MY EVEN STUPIDER SUPERSUIT (pt.3)

Background: As a Suprahuman Studies major in college, I constantly sparred with my doofus-y male peers over superheroine costume trends.

Suprahuman Studies: Still a male-dominated academic field—much like real-life superheroing—so I clashed endlessly with sexist classmates.

I have to admit that, In Real Life, there are indeed a fair number of superheroines who elect to wear deliberately (ahem) "sexy" costumes.

And over four years in Suprahuman Studies, I had EVERY LAST ONE OF THOSE SEXILY DRESSED SUPERHEROINES shoved in my face by male classmates.

"What about Jugganaut or the Scarlet Succubus?" they'd demand. "They sure dress all sexy-like, don't they? They must think it's empowering!"

My Suprahuman Studies classes WERE, in truth, good practice for Real-Life Superheroing: Same Sisyphean struggles with idiot male peers.

"What's wrong with Leopard Lass choosing to have a 'boob window' in her costume? I thought feminism was supposed to be all about choices!"

Recurring refrain: "Hey, male superhero outfits are all, like, revealing and sexy, too! Just look at Hardkore and the Purple Pectoral!"

Four years of endless quarrels, heavy with terms like sexualization, idealization, objectification, privilege, male gaze—and "butt floss." 

Meanwhile, I fantasized about what kind of costume I'd wear, if I ever achieved my childhood-though-young-adulthood dream of superherodom.

I imagined supergarb that would be sturdy and practical, while still rocking plenty of flair and flamboyance—and, yes, a bit of the sexy.

A sports bra under body armor, maybe a half-cape, badass hiking shoes instead of high heels, bit of a "pop-punk" flava, that kind of thing.

Get the picture so far? Idealistic, righteous Suprahuman Studies major, primed to go Fight The Power, Stamp Out Sexism, Do The Right Thing. 

Clarification: I was also an idealistic, righteous Suprahuman Studies major who had developed extremely problematic body-image issues.

My mom was—and is—ridiculously and incandescently hawt, effortlessly sporting a lithe, toned, freakishly calorie-immune dancer's body.

I have a Halloween picture of Mom dressed up as Awesome Girl, and—I'm not kidding—she looks MUCH better than the real Awesome Girl ever did.

Mom, to me, modeled what a superheroine should look like: Strong, graceful, confident; a sleek, gymnast-y frame instead of a voluptuous one.

As a little girl, I'd always lived in the shadow of my mom's radiant, unintentionally intimidating luminosity. As a teenager, even more so. 

Up through age 12, I looked a fair bit like she did at my age: blonde, skinny, limber, athletic—though nowhere near as cute, admittedly. 

Then, starting at age 13, I began filling out, much to my chagrin. Goodbye, slender, agile tomboy. Hello, ungainly hips, and plenty of 'em.

By age 15, any hope of an idealized—as in, Mom-like—body was long gone. Stuff me into superhero drag and I'd be a chubby, big-bottomed joke.

I'd be stomping around, infuriated by my jiggling butt and boobs and thighs, when Mom would casually lope by, like a gazelle in yoga pants.

       <End of excerpt>

Next week on I Am Empowered excerpting, brace yourselves (once again) for the appearance of Emp's dreaded freshman-year roommate! (Hopefully I can streamline my approach to these excerpts going forward, as setting 'em up for this week's posts seems to have taken even longer than writing a week's worth of a conventional commentaries!)

Next week on the Empowered vol. 10 webcomic proper, brace yourselves (once again) for a bedroom appearance of "the other Emp!"

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