Absolute Power #3 review

Posted on by martingray1

The DC summer event continues with the heroes who haven’t been captured by mad Amanda Waller having fled the Fortress of Solitude in the midst of an attack by a corrupted Jon Kent. So where have the de-powered freedom fighters shown up courtesy of a jury-rigged teleporter?

It’s Paradise Island, magically protected from the android eyes of Amanda’s Amazos, where the fugitive good guys can catch their collective breath and plan. There is a chance Jon Kent will eventually find them, something that sparks disagreement among the harried heroes.

The argument is set aside as Nightwing outlines the heroes’ next moves.

Meanwhile another of Waller’s partners, megalomaniac robot Batman Failsafe, is visiting China.

As Failsafe leaves the scene, he hears from Waller, who isn’t happy.

‘You’re telling me goodness is a %$*& super-power’ is my favourite line of the issue, closely followed by a moment in which Oliver Queen speaks Truth to Waller.

Other things I like about this issue include C-lister Air Wave being slowly pushed into a position of prominence, Aquaman getting poetic, Red Tornado finding a piece of JLA kit that slightly makes up for his missing powers and the introduction of a mystery figure.

Hmm, is that smoke? Mr Bones, maybe? Or Waller’s old Suicide Squad lackey, the supposedly dead Deadshot? He was never keen on The Wall’s crap, so it’d be great if he played a part in her downfall.

Absolute Power #3 is excellent, a fast-moving, hugely entertaining chapter of a nicely plotted story. Writer Mark Waid mixes and matches characters big and small, digging into DC’s Box of Obscurities for the likes of the aforementioned Air Wave, the villainous Time Commander and, joining the event this month, Glacier, the former Icemaiden. After years in which it seemed you had to be a Bat, a Super or a Wonder to get any attention it’s lovely to see the casting net cast wider.

And I do appreciate that the heroes are no longer constantly on the back foot, they’re fighting back and do have some little victories.

Waid’s World’s Finest partner Dan Mora delivers another 30 pages of delicious artwork, giving us all the angles on events, filling the book with characters without making individual frames overcrowded. The women are strong without being objectified, the men show their emotions, the robots… they’re well creepy, actually.

She’s a Brainiac Queeeeeen!

And how great is the colouring and lettering? The rich tones of Alejandro Sánchez and attractive fonts of Ariana Maher add to the success of the instalment.

Mora’s cover confuses me a little, does that main face belong to Batman? He’s a little intense.

A few months ago I was declaring I wouldn’t bother with a Waller-centric event, and here I am loving it. It just goes to show what a great creative team can do.

26 thoughts on “Absolute Power #3 review”

  1. My favourite moment? The page is which Waid says that *Wonder Girl* convinced Nubia to allow the heroes to hide out on Paradise Island. I can only assume that he means Donna, and if this mini-series does nothing else but return Donna’s code name to her, I’ll be one happy reader.

    yeah yeah… later on in the book he uses the Donna Troy name when he’s talking about the squad that is going to be staying back to protect Paradise Island… but I’m choosing to ignore that part. If we can have eight hundred Robins, five million Green Lanterns and a handful of Flashes in the DCU, surely we can have a couple of Wonder Girls as well.

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      4. hey there, anonymous!

        I’m looking at the page in question. Panel 2 of page 6.

        Donna is shown shaking Nubia’s hand and the narration says “Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl managed to but us a few hours of goodwill…”

        I’m taking it! Donna is now a Wonder Girl again (at least for this issue).

        Liked by 1 person

      6. @Martin, @anonymous… I think the scene is open to interpretation. So… we’re both right! Yay!

        Throughout the issue, Waid calls Yara both by her given name and by her code name so I think the “Wonder Girl” codename is up for grabs. I interpret Donna shaking Nubia’s hand as indication that they’re sealing the deal on the Amazons letting the heroes crash on the island. But I totally see how your interpretation works, too.

        So I’m gonna go with Donna being Wonder Girl again – at least until I see something definitive that contradicts it, but also in my head canon permanently. 🙂

        #giveDonnaacodename

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    2. Oh, this comment made me so happy! I actually wrote half a paragraph on this, because I’d made a note while reading the comics. But I stopped to have another look at the page because by then I knew Yara Flor was in there, remembered the Donna Troy reference, and bottled out! I wonder if Dan Mora got confused by the script and was meant to draw Yara Flor rather than Donna shaking hands with Nubia, but the editor and Waid let it stand.

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    3. Hello Murray

      I like your passion for Donna but in…
      Absolute power # 2. Yara Flor is called Wonder Girl, and she participated with Nubia in (Amazons Attack) who fought against the USA where the Amazons were sought after and persecuted by the US government, it was definitely Yara.

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      1. hahahaha I would have stopped creating Wonder Girls just before Cassie. Never enjoyed her, but if she had to stick around she could have been given another code name. Amazon Girl? Wonder Kid? Cassie the teen wonder?

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  3. Anj here!

    Not reading this but following along here. Surprising!

    Really like that Barda convo. All sides make sense there. Love Damian standing up to everyone in defense of Jon.

    Maybe I’ll eventually read this on the app. You have me intrigued.

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  4. So following decent reviews like yours and the announcement the creative team would be launching “Justice League Unlimited” afterward I put my reservations aside and bought these first 3 issues.

    1. If you just go with it, it’s a fun, exciting read. I’m very interested to see how it wraps up.
    2. I still have significant issues with making Waller the villain. But it’s been around 30 years since Ostrander’s “Suicide Squad” wrapped up, so it is plausible that over that period in “DC time” she has gotten more extreme in her views/approach. We see it happen in the real world. I’m still holding out hope Waid has something up his sleeve and she will receive some redemption in issue 4. My based-on-nothing but future solicits theory?………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. We know Darkseid is lurking around and will die, launching the “Absolute DC” era. We know that the heroes get their powers back. We know that somehow some of their powers create the new Absolute DCU. Is is juuuuuuust possible this is all some massive ruse by Waller to create the ultimate weapon to take out Darkseid? Earth’s heroes won’t ever do it. And she sees Apokolips as this MAJOR threat hanging over existence. So she captures the heroes and steals their powers/abilities and launches them all at an invading Darkseid to take him out once and for all? It just seems like there has to be some massive twist coming in issue 4 to make this all worth it AND to pave the way for the relaunch…
    3. After reading issue 3 I felt Waid needed at least another issue, in part because there was clearly a lot of reliance on readers picking up the ties-ins, which I’m not. Waid is pro enough that you understand the basic story. But there are these one panel pop-ups – Here’s Hal Jordan with special weapons! Here’s Superman and Zatanna back from some quest! Here’s Batman with a motherbox! Some of the Amazos are developing personalities! – which could have at least been fleshed out a little more in the actual series for those of us only reading that. Even dedicating a couple panels of recap to each would have been better than what we got. – Brian

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    1. As a fan of the original Waller – I may have mentioned that – I like your idea that the whole thing is a big ruse to take out Darkseid. Unfortunately we’ve seen her do too many terrible things without a hint of regret for me to have much hope that this is honourable Amanda hiding away, ready to turn into the Cavalry… she’s at least as much of a threat to Earth as Darkseid ever is.

      I’m chuffed to bits you don’t seem to regret having been gently nudged towards buying the Absolute Power comics!

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      1. Not yet, at least;)… I always have faith in Waid. And like I wrote, if this is the lead in to his “Justice League Unlimited” book I figured I might as well get it since I’m def on board for that series.

        I’ve been thinking a lot about the characterization of Amanda Waller lately. Here’s what I’ve concluded. I haven’t read Ostrander’s “Suicide Squad” in years. From what I remember, she wasn’t necessarily a character to emulate/look up to. Some of the good-hearted Belle Reve prison staffers and the more noble squad members certainly butted heads with her over her decisions. But Ostrander did a good job of giving readers glimpses into her heart/soul to make her a more well-rounded individual, not a caricature. And for all her failings he put her up against worse people – corrupt bizpersons/corrupt politicians/terrorists/supervillains – so it was still easy to root for Waller. And she had successes and failures during Ostrander’s tenure on the title.

        I think in the years afterward when she had no book of her own, other writers made her more of a caricature when she made guest appearances. She became a stereotypical out-of-control/power hungry spy-type who didn’t play nice and didn’t trust anyone. I don’t remember Greg Rucka, for example, despite his talents and clear love of the Ostrander era writing her very favorably in “Checkmate.”

        Subsequent “Suicide Squad” revivals seemed to double-down on the heartless/power-hungry Amanda Waller. I tried the Rebirth relaunch of the book and gave up on it because EVERY decision she made seemed reckless/stupid (trying to add General Zod to the team, for example.) Did the squad have any successful missions during the Rebirth era?

        And the 2 “Suicide Squad” films, despite being clearly inspired by Ostrander’s work, also portrayed a pretty simplistic, unsympathetic Waller. Viola Davis is well cast, but really hasn’t been given an opportunity to do more than look fierce/angry, threaten and yell.

        So given three decades or so have passed since Ostrander’s “Suicide Squad” ended, the subsequent presentations of Waller have stuck and just been repeated to varying degrees by different writers.

        As I said above, I CAN see how Waller as a character could have evolved into the “Absolute Power” version and become more embittered and more controlling and more anti-superpowers. But I do miss Ostrander’s Waller. And while enjoying this mini-series, I do have a fear that the chances aren’t good that the final issue will in some way redeem her/bring the old Waller back. I hold out hope, but am skeptical.

        -Brian

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  5. Oh, man, another wonderful issues. (And Wonderful for Donna Troy, too!)

    So many great moments: The defeat of Bizarro! The trap for Jon… and eventually the Brainiac Queen! Amanda’s genuinely maternal reaction to what happens to BQ! The secret benefactor (I was thinking Ollie, but Flash would have recognized his voice; Deadshot is a great guess!)! Aquaman’s pep talk to Air Wave! A couple new heroes emerge, whom I know nothing about!

    Oh, I love it all.

    Brian’s thought on how Darkseid fits in is really intriguing! I honestly love it — it’s completely in character from the Amanda I grew up with, and yet it keeps her being a total bastard. If this is what’s going on, I will 100% stand behind it.

    I disagree, a little, on the need for recap of the tie-ins. I think these crossovers were handled about as well as any I’ve ever seen: In issue 2, the heroes get their missions; in issue 3, we know the heroes are doing their missions; and by the end of issue 3, we find out those missions were successful! I don’t feel like I’m missing anything, and will read about those missions a month behind, on DCUI, without anything but the success of those missions being spoiled. All in all, that’s pretty deft storytelling!

    The one point I was fuzzy on was how Black Alice was defeated. If she mimics magic powers, shouldn’t she have been intangible? I can’t make sense of that scene.

    Other than that, this baby was Pure Gold.

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    1. I don’t think there was anything clever or subtle about the defeat of Black Alice that you’re missing – Yara Flor belted her from behind while she was concentrating on how she’d beat the other heroes. Does that not work?

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      1. I guess it does. I was thinking they were using her power-absorption against her, and I didn’t see how that worked. But if they just distracted her so Yara could conk her, that works too.

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Published by martingray1

Journalist, comic reviewer, theatre critic, film lover, biscuit fan, cat indulger