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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I think that I followed most of "Beast World". It was the rarest of, eh, beasts in that it turned out to be a Titans-centric event - and it had significant follow-up in the current Titans book, up to the current day. I fully expect further interaction between Absolute Power and the Titans. Not to be too spoilerish, but Waller has dealings with one of their villains as well. The ending absolutely fed into this "Absolute War" setup. Also, she and Peacemaker commited some very, very abominable actions during the event. I would even say that Nightwing has her in his aims now.
As this "Ground Zero" issue makes clear, Waller has been keeping a lot of irons on the fire at once. That is not particularly typical of hers. I half expect that we will find out that she is suffering from some sort of fatal condition. I have read somewhere that we will be learning more about the origin of her distrust of superheroes, I wish I could recall where.
The Council of Light apparently is no more, and was a front for multiversal versions of Brainiac. Waller found out that they are aliens and turned against them as well, far as I can tell.
Issue #1 was released.
You know, I am surprised that Waller has not been arrested for High Treason or whatever before the issue was halfway through.
And that may be among the lesser of her crimes in these pages.
She is fabulously insufferable, criminal, self-justified and hypocritical here. I may be salivating when she meets her due.
I considered buying #1 today but three Alley Oops and two MMWs also shipped, all pre-orders.
Wednesdays are generally eather feast or famine; today it was "feast."
(Or "it never rains but it pours," whichever cliché you'd care to use.)
I've read what I could find up to Ground Zero, which I'll read soon. Meanwhile, let me respond where I may:
I half expect that we will find out that Waller is suffering from some sort of fatal condition.
Interesting speculation. I'll watch for that, too.
I have read somewhere that we will be learning more about the origin of her distrust of superheroes, I wish I could recall where.
I mentioned that in, I think, the the DC Comics August solicitations thread. Maybe September.
She and Peacemaker commited some very, very abominable actions during ("Beast World"). ... She is fabulously insufferable, criminal, self-justified and hypocritical (in Absolute Power #1).
I haven't read either of these, but I did read Suicide Squad: Dream Team #3-4 (my LCS didn't have #1-2). And she is absolutely loathsome here, Luis, in exactly the ways you describe.
I understand your rage at Waller, and I share it. But my understanding of the awfulness of people has been buttressed astronomically as I've grown older, helped along by such things as a convicted felon running for president on lies, violent venality and promises to destroy NATO, arrest his political opponents for treason and burn the Constitution. It isn't just Trump that appalls me; it's all those people who gleefully support him -- not despite his overt fascism, but because of it.
Those are the conditions in which someone like Waller thrives. Obviously I do not support or condone it. But because of the above and other things like it -- sorry for the politics, and feel free to send me your thoughts if you disagree -- I accept that it's not just possible in the real world, but very likely probable, as we head into a very dangerous era.
So, Waller clears my plausibility bar. And I loathe her, as I think we're supposed to. The part that kinda grinds my gears is that Waller frequently spouts off that she's the good guy here.
I get that from a writer's perspective: The best villains are the ones who don't see themselves as villains. And that's certainly true of Waller. But, like Thanos, I don't think she really thinks of herself as a good guy so much as a someone who has to do bad things for the greater good. You don't see Thanos spouting off about what a good guy he is, and there was occasionally a note of regret in his dialogue. That was convincing. Waller's maniacal "I'm the good guy here!" rants, as she's murdering countless people, just doesn't ring true and I wish they'd stop hammering us over the head with it.
Meanwhile, the end of this miniseries puts Dreamer under Waller's thumb, as she has Dreamer's parents under the gun. Despite Dreamer really, really hating Waller for the events in Dream Team. So there's that plot thread.
Last note: I almost felt sick after reading these issues, as everyone was just awful except Dreamer, who was basically punished. Meanwhile, all the other characters are just cowards, working for Waller because whine this, whinge that. Including Harley Quinn, whose characterization here cannot be reconciled with her solo title behavior. These are two completely different characters.
And Peacemaker is just a murderous thug. He's not a well-meaning (but extremely violent) dunderhead like on the TV show. He's just a bloodthirsty ogre who happens to work for the U.S. government.
Green Arrow #12-13
Green Arrow #12 wraps up whatever storylines occurred in the first 11 issues of this title, and spends much of its time allowing Oliver, Dinah, Roy and the rest of the extended Arrow family (man, there's a lot of them now!) enjoying a vacation on the island where Ollie was shipwrecked back in his origin. In this issue, it's established how much Oliver hates Waller, but he'll worry about that after this vacation.
The next issue begins with Olivers sneaking off to join Waller. Later in the issue he tells Roy he's not Green Arrow any more, that Roy can have all his stuff, and then kicks Roy out a window (where he's conveniently saved). So it's obvious to me, reading this issue, that Ollie is going deep undercover and doing things that make it look like he's become a Waller-supporting fanatic for the benefit of Peacemaker, who holds his leash for Waller. So much for all the hand-wringing. He'll turn on Waller when the time is right.
One other thing leading into Absolue Power: SInce Ollie seems to have convinced his extended family that he's not Green Arrow any more, Connor Hawke picks up the mantle (as he's done before).
Flash #10
Oliver pilots a reverse-engineered Bat-armor against Barry Allen. He goes so far as to put a harpoon through Barry's shoulder.
But it's all for show. One assumes Oliver knows that Barry will super-speed-heal from the damage. Oliver tells Flash to surrender, while writing "Barry, please" in the sand (where Waller can't see it). He refuses to call Barry by his real name, even when Barry asks him to do so to prove it's really Batman in the suit. He even says aloud, "I can't do that. Waller's listening." Because she is. In the end, Flash's extended family (man, there's a lot of them too!) saves Barry, and Waller hits a button that ejects Oliver far from the suit where he can be rescued.
Oh, Waller has convinced everyone that speedsters using the Speed Force is destroying the multiverse (when it's her, of course, that's closing it off). But Jai West has found where Mirror Master is distorting appearances. There's another card in play for Waller's eventual comeuppance.
But the whole thing smacks of running in place, because Waller says at the end that the purpose of the excercise was to see if reverse-engineered Bat-plans from the Tower of Babylon era could defeat the Justice League, and she will go to Plan B, as a row of Amazos are shown in a row behind her. Now, come on! Wouldn't Amazos, if you have them, be Plan A? So I think the purpose of this issue was to show that Oliver Queen is still wearing a white hat. It isn't even listed in most "Abolute Power" checklists I've found.
Some non-Absolute Power observations:
Superman #16
All the Absolute Power checklists say this is part of the show, but the trade dress and the contents indicate that this is Part 6 of "House of Brainiac." And it is, involving the entire Superman Family (and there's a lot of them, too!).
Here's where it leaves us:
OK, that's all the pre-Absolute Power books I could find, and I've summed up what it should add to the crossover. Next up is Absolute Power: Ground Zero #1, Absolute Power #1 and Batman #150.
Don't worry about the politics, far as I am concerned, Captain. I could not agree more.
Okay, I read Green Arrow #13 (didn't find #12). Coming in on the tail end of whatever was going on in the book before that, it didn't make a lot of sense to me, but I did appreciate the notion of the Arrow family taking a relaxing vacation on a tropical island before jetting off to the next adventure. This is something I often wish more superheroes would do, particularly those who have especially tortured lives (**cough cough** Daredevil ** cough cough**).
I also read Flash #10, and found the scenes that didn't directly involve Oliver in the Bat-armor chasing Barry completely incomprehensible. I didn't know who those people were or what they had to do with anything. Is it too much to ask for a comic to at least identify the characters?
Captain Comics said:
Up until last week, the 8-year-old that lives in my brain was still shouting "How can Amanda Waller DO all of this stuff? She's a government bureaucrat! She can't have the authority!" But here on Earth-Prime, a James Bond villain is dismantling federal agencies, firing civil servants and has a squad of teenyboppers hacking into computer systems with personal data on everybody, with the acquiesence of the United States Congress, which doesn't seem to mind that it's being made superfluous because the members who support these actions don't have the balls to achieve them the way the Constitution requires -- passing legislation. No, they would rather watch an internal coup happend because an unelected billionaire might cause them to lose their next election.
We are truly in dangerous times.
ABSOLUTE POWER: GROUND ZERO #1
I don't have much to add to what Luis and Rob have already said. I do think Time Commander showed more grit and cunning than I expected, although Waller was 10 steps ahead of him. And he's a criminal, which means he's from a superstitious, cowardly lot, so I can believe he'd knuckle under immediately when he felt out-bullied.
Not so Dreamer. She obviously despises Waller and would hate her with the heat of a thousand, thousand suns. And being a hero, she would NOT knuckle under immediately. But her dialogue here indicates that she's fully on board. It's an act, no doubt, but it makes me miss thought balloons. Wouldn't it be nice to read "I HATE YOU WALLER HATE YOU HATE YOU HATE YOU" while she's saying "Yes, ma'am, right away, ma'am."? Well, like Ollie, I'm sure she'll have her Hero Turn later and maybe that will wash the taste of this submissiveness out of my mouth. Maybe.
I have nothing to say about the Brainiac Queen story, except that the character was "dead" for only one week. That may be a record.
ABSOLUTE POWER #1
A lot happens, but it's all plot stuff we've been told already is going to happen. So I don't mind being a bit spoiler-y.
Waller floods the Internet and broadcast media with video of supeheroes attacking viciously and randomly around the world. Of course, everybody immediately believes this. Twenty years ago I would have snorted in disbelief that people could be so gullible. In 2024, I just wonder why it took so long for a villain to think of this.
Waller springs her attack, and we see seven Amazos draining the powers of the JSA, Doom Patrol, the Flash fam, the Superman fam, Aquaman, Tempest, Martian Manhunter, Red Tornado, Elongated Man, Fire, Ice, Wonder Woman, and maybe a few more I missed. We are told the magic-users have been neturalized, and we see it happen to Constantine, Spectre and Doctor Fate. Animal Man and his daughter have been hospitalized by an angry mob. We must assume that the characters without powers to steal who were attacked by Amazos (Blue Beetle, Booster Gold, Hawkman, a few more) were captured. Cyborg is shown as overwhelmed by Waller's cyber-attack.
Then Green Arrow smugly explains the rest of the plot to Batman over comms: He's on Team Waller; Waller has walled off the multiverse, outer space, the microverse and the timestream to avoid any sort of cavalry; the Amazo power theft is permanent. He announces there's "no hope."
The issue closes with an amnesiac Jon Kent in the hands of the Amazos, hooked up to some Frankenstein equipment. (I have no idea what this means.)
Summary: I liked all of this. The story galloped along, with awful being heaped on awful, and it was thrilling. The art was occasionally confusing, probably because my eyes are old, but I was able to suss out most scenes I didn't understand on a second read.
Some observations:
So who's left?
BATMAN #150
The lead story has nothing to do with "Absolute Power," but it was a treat. Chip Zdarsky writes my kind of Batman story: Batman isn't a psycho, Bruce Wayne uses his money to steer people out of crime and we only see Batman from the criminals' point of view, where he's legitimately terrifying. Oh, and it's drawn by Denys Cowan, which is always a treat.
The backup, according to the solicitations, has Batman recruiting Catwoman to steal something from Waller. Well, is it a spoiler to say that's not going to happen until next issue? This issue has Batman trying to rescue Cyborg in Titans Tower, but they are attacked by the Wonder Woman-analog Amazo (named "Paradise Lost") who Batman notices has a Victorian speech pattern. Hmmm. A seed is planted.
Anyway, Cyborg is captured, but not before he tells Batman that Waller has a mother box. Which Batman reports to Mr. Terrific, who is treating Superman (already in the black suit) and Barry Allen, who is established as the communications courier between the remaining heroes. Interestingly, a (presumably de-powered) Wonder Woman is among them, even though we saw an Amazo beating the crap out of her in Absolute Power #1. Batman decides he needs a thief to get the mother box, and a cat is shown at his feet.
More fun, as things get worse and worse, heroes have their backs to the wall and The Resistance begins.
Captain Comics said:
Actually, I remember a storyline from Daredevil circa 1975-76 with a two-bit Joker imitator called The Jester, who decided to make Daredevil's life miserable (it seems to happen to him a lot) by planting bogus stories in the news. Things like the war in Vietnam really happened in Chile ... other soldiers were engaged in a secret war in the Middle East ... John and Bobby Kennedy were still alive, elderly, and in hiding ... and Daredevil stood on the steps of City Hall and shot a bunch of cops with a machine gun.
One of my most cherished comics is Daredevil #135 (July 1976), because its first three pages showed an issue of the Daily Bugle with articles refuting these and other stories, including two TV anchors denying they said anything that was shown in the previous day's broadcasts. The Bugle also included Jake Conover's "Conover's Corner" column, an editorial by J. Jonah Jameson demanding investigations into masked "heroes" such as Spider-Man ("who is still wanted for questioning in two unsolved murders, or Daredevil, currently being sought for the alleged murders of three honest policemen," Jameson notes, ignoring the article on the previous page that states no NYPD officers had been killed the previous night) and even a Page 3 Girl! (Photo by Peter Parker.)
Now, I can't explain why it took 50 years so long for someone else to try that trick.
Great recaps, Cap! Much more thorough than I would be (and more timely, too, as I'll be a month late on a lot of these).
One correction: From what I can tell, only Buddy Baker was hospitalized. The news report Batman was listening to didn't mention Maxine. I assume she's OK, probably hiding. This was before the powerlessness hit, so she may still have her powers.
Also, Mart Gray ID'd Freddie Martin as Data, from the old Robert Loren Fleming/Trevor Von Eeden THRILLER series. Talk about a deep cut! At some point, that must have folded into the DCU -- the only appearance in the DCU I can think of is in an old issue of Ambush Bug.
I'll have to reread that Flash issue, keeping in mind the clues you noticed about Ollie's heel turn. Sometimes I read too fast for my own good! (And yeah, there's a lot of crazy stuff going down in Flash right now; Barry just shook off being mind-controlled by Thawne, Linda's emotions were being manipulated by villains, Wally is enthralled with this strange speed force statue garden outside of time, etc. I need to give it a careful reread, because there are a lot of moving pieces and it's not a simple story in the least.)
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