We continue serialization of Empowered vol. 12, which proved to be the final volume of the series in this specific graphic-novel format, though I was unaware of that unfortunate reality when I started work on the book.

As mentioned last week, this particular reboot was, in fact, based on an actual pitch I made to Dark Horse Comics for an alternate-universe "all-ages" version of Empowered that I dubbed Empowered Girl. The idea was that the series would star a version of Emp who acquired her supersuit circa age 10, back when she was still a confident young girl and as yet untraumatized by her father's death. Of course, the premise stripped out all the sexual overtones and toned down (almost) all of the main series' harshness and unpleasant aspects; nonetheless, that decorousness mattered little in the end, as Dark Horse wouldn't even consider an all-ages title connected to a mature-content series like Empowered.

In retrospect, it occurs to me that DH might well have approved such a project if Empowered were a more important, critically acclaimed, and higher-selling series—or if I were a well-regarded creator with "pull," if you will—but, hey, such is the outcome of being a lower-tier creative in the American comics field, folks. As a friend of mine once asked me sarcastically, "Have you considered being much more popular?"