After the fiery conclusion to Empowered 5, Empowered 6 begins with a fizzle.

I'm not sure writer and artist Adam Warren knew quite what to do with his buxom, scantily clad heroine this time around, because the storyline, such as it is, is a mess. There are comic bits, flashback bits, dramatic bits, mean bits and some bits I wasn't sure what they were, really. I mean, a bunch of teammates just got killed, right, and everyone's all upset and/or angry about it, but Emp, who feels really guilty for her role in things, is filming a bondage reel so she can pay her rent, and the really nasty sorceress is going drool-crazy, and there's this heroes 'n' villains fantasy league, and a bunch of almost-dead heroes we've never met before are apparently under the thrall of this creepy death guy, and a reality show about disgusting superheroic jobs, and wasn't there some big, nasty villain who just killed a bunch of folks and got away with it? And, um....

Wait. What?

There's lots of Warren's trademark T&A, most of it centered around the title character and her ample assets, which tend to be semi-exposed ... although Warren apparently forgot that the skin-tight costume that gives Emp her powers is supposed to heal itself when she's not actively getting it torn. In this book, even when sitting around in the comfort of her own home or lounging around the superhero clubhouse, it's always shredded to something less than a bikini, something more than a postage stamp.

Kinda loses its novelty when it's always like that.

I like the title character, and I enjoy her circle of friends. Warren's art is appealing, and his writing is usually pretty good. But some of these ongoing plot points -- Ooh! Emp has been captured and tied up by the villain! Ooh! Emp is being ridiculed by her teammates! Ooh! Emp is insecure! -- are being rehashed and overused without any variety or development to keep them fresh.

But maybe Warren was tired after the events of volume five. Let's see what he has in store for seven, OK?