I've gotta say, I really liked the Absolute Power Ground Zero Special. I decided to buy this, and the main Absolute Power series (minus the sub-series and the tie-ins) on paper, waiting for the secondary stuff to show up on DCUI. And so far, I'm a fan.
This book is broken into three stories, each co-written by Mark Waid. The first shows the Suicide Squad tracking and capturing Jon Kent's boyfriend, Jai Nakamura, the son of the recent president of the island nation of Gamorra. The next shows Amanda Waller coercing D-list time-travel villain Time Commander into helping her with her plans. The third shows Waller enlisting and securing the help of the Brainiac Queen, who first appeared in the recent crossover in the Superman books.
As I've probably written, I've moved away a bit from the anti-Waller bandwagon; I feel like her time on Earth 3 is sufficient motivation for a heel turn for someone who was already skeptical of superheroes, and while not every writer will play her on what I feel his her new moral line--I think there are some things she still won't do, as she still has protection of regular (American) humans as one of her core motivations--I can blame that on the creators, not the character. I think Waid and Dan Mora (and this series) will do right by her, in general.
And Dreamer! I honestly love what's being done with her, because it's so surprising to me. She's DC's flagship trans character, and you'd think they'd be wanting to keep her untarnished, always choosing the right thing. That's what I'd expected from DC, and also from writer Natalie Maines, who obviously has a very personal stake in the matter. But she's a much more daring writer than I'd expected (as seen in Suicide Squad: Dream Team, which this follows up on), and is taking some pretty huge risks with Nia. And having such a conflict between her and Jai is honestly the best thing ever for both characters, as well as Jon (who hasn't had a lot of great character moments since he aged up during the Bendis run on the Super-titles). I think this facet of the story will have great benefits.
The Time Commander story was fun, and made me want to go back and read his last appearance, in Batman: Urban Legend. I hope to do that soon.
As for Brainiac Queen, my only regret is that I spoiled the end of the Superman books for myself for reading this. But I like Waller's devotion to raising/indoctrinating her, and it was presented well. Ultimately, these stories give Waller very different relationships with all of her main allies: Dreamer, Failsafe, Brainiac Queen, and Green Arrow. (Who knows what his deal is? But as has been pointed out elsewhere, he's expressed distrust for superheroes for longer than Waller's been around, so there's certainly precedent...though I'm hoping for better from him eventually.)
So bring on Absolute Power! I think this will be exciting as hell.
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Some thoughts of mine on the Absolute Power wrapup (although I haven't read all the tie-ins yet). I loved this. I feel like this has been the most satisfying crossover event in years.
I LOVED Dreamer’s resurrection, and her revenge. Perfect! And I can't wait for Jon to realize he'd rather be with her than wet-blanket Jay, and Jay going full villain as a reaction.
In that vein, Waid seems to have mastered — or maybe insisted on — something that DC should pay more heed to: He’s taken people off the board WITHOUT KILLING ANYBODY. Waller’s in prison, her memories out of reach. Barry’s off the board too (so many Flashes!), but not dead — just depowered. Other heroes will have weird things happening to their powers, which may either set them aside or shine a spotlight on them. The closest we have to a death is Red Tornado, who is “perhaps irreparable,” I think is how it was phrased. That’s hardly gone for good…and may be setting the stage for an upgrade once Mr. Terrific or Ted Kord figures out what to do with him. Pieces get moved off the board…but no one needs to literally come back from the dead to re-enter the story. That’s smart.
And finally, one more word about Waller. With regard to her forward progression, I got exactly what I wanted here. She went full villain (an inevitable characterization these days, but one i wasn't a fan of), was recognized as such, and then was locked up. She’s even robbed of the secrets that make her so dangerous. Which means, as the wheel turns… sometime in the future, when the memories of Absolute Power has been eclipsed by five or six other events, the heroes, or the US government, or whoever, might need her skills again. And put her back in play on the side of the tarnished angels, perhaps as a Hannibal Lecter figure at first. Which is where she belongs: Helping the good guys by doing dirty jobs.
I hadn't thought about how Waid avoided killing people. Now that you've brought it up, he did avoid the tropes that nobody buys any more. In a similar vein, he also closed off the multiverse, without doing a Crisis on Infinite Earths. He just said "it's closed" and it will be -- until it's not. That's a much better idea than destroying it, only to resurrect it later.
As to Dreamer, I think we all knew that DC's first transgender character wasn't going to be "killed" in the middle of a crossover, however temporary. We all knew she'd be back, and I think we more or less guessed how. But it was, as you note, good to see -- after all the crap Waller put her through, she got to have the last word. That's a satisfying finish.
And I've only read one story with Jay in it, and he did not impress. Won't hurt my feelin's none if he's the one that goes away.
Oh that's a good point about the multiverse -- it's another idea spared from the chopping block, but taken off the table nonetheless!
And good Grood, is Jay a dud. But I love having exes in serial storytelling, even goobers like Jay. Their relationship, once it ends, will give Jon a little more historical density. Sort of like how Gnaark used to be in the Teen Titans. I'm glad he's not hanging around now, but if there's ever a storyline where a connection to the neanderthal past would be useful, it's nice to know he's there waiting to be used as a story element. (And then tucked away again once the story ends, ideally.)
Okay, guys, you talked me into it. I saw online someone posted the scene from Absolute Power #4 showing Dreamer telling Amanda Waller how she made it impossible for Waller to access the secrets she knows, as well is inimating that something maybe possibly is implanted in her skull. Dreamer didn't say that, but let Waller draw that conclusion.
A dig into the more-than-a-dollar bin at my friendly neighborhood comics shop* yielded me that issue, and most parts of the spinoff Absolute Power: Task Force VII, and I've been going all over town hither and yon searching for the set and the spinoffs and the crossovers (somehow, I can't find Absolute Power #3).
I am actually enjoying it. I shouldn't have let my bad memories of a failed series from decades ago pre-empt my enjoyment of a good series in the here-and-now. Mea culpa. I may be weighing in on this thread as a finish the different issues, as I did for Absolute Power: Origins, which got me started.
* He's a struggling retailer, so he sells the back issues at cover price. I'm a longtime customer, so I forgive that.
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