Powerless
Cover of Powerless TPB (2005), trade paperback collected edition, art by Alex Maleev
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
Schedule	Monthly
Format	mini-series
Publication date	August 2004 – January 2005
No. of issues	6
Main character(s)	William Watts Peter Parker Logan Matt Murdock Frank Castle Bruce Banner Norman Osborn Wilson Fisk Gwen Stacy
Creative team
Written by	Matt Cherniss Peter Johnson
Artist(s)	Alex Maleev
Penciller(s)	Michael Gaydos
Colorist(s)	Lee Loughridge

Powerless is a six-issue comic book limited series published by Marvel Comics which ran from 2004 to 2005. The series was written by Matt Cherniss and Peter Johnson and penciled by artist Michael Gaydos.

Plot summary

A psychologist named William Watts wakes up in a hospital after a three-day coma. Fresh in his mind is the world of Earth-616, which he experienced while asleep. As William returns to his mundane daily life, he encounters three familiar faces: Peter Parker, a high-school student who is pressured by Norman Osborn to conduct industrial espionage on Stark Industries; a blind lawyer, Matt Murdock, who battles an uphill case against the Kingpin to absolve Frank Castle of murder; and an amnesiac soldier named Logan, who is led to believe he murdered Charles Xavier. Inspired by Matt's conviction, William leaves his bystander position and begins to act to help the three: he helps reveal Charles' murder was done by a third party, citing Logan to investigate Eric Magnus; he convinces Frank Castle to reveal vital information to Matt's case; and he acts by calling the cops to assist Peter in arresting Osborn. After Frank's trial, the Kingpin murders Murdock. Castle assassinates Kingpin in retaliation, which places him on the road to becoming the real-life Punisher. The series ends with William contemplating how the coma has shaken him from the stupor of life, as he reflects on his coma identity as Uatu.

Creators

• Matt Cherniss and Peter Johnson – writers
• Michael Gaydos – penciller
• Lee Loughridge – colorist
• Alex Maleev – cover artist
• Axel Alonso – editor
• Joe Quesada – Editor-in-Chief

Collections

References

• "Powerless (2004) #1 | Comic Issues | Marvel". Marvel Entertainment. Retrieved 2023-10-05.