Absolute Power has gotten off to an impressive start. The first half of the latest DC Universe event has gone all out in paying off all the story build around Amanda Waller since the conclusion of Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths. And most certainly Waller has utilized the fact she has been able to operate from the shadows to corner the superhero community. With how things have gone in the first two issues it is tough to see how the heroes will turn things around. Let’s see if that begins with Absolute Power #3.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Dan Mora
Colorist: Alejandro Sánchez
Letterer: Ariana Maher
ABSOLUTE POWER #3 SOLICITATION
“THE LAST STAND OF PARADISE ISLAND! Our heroes are on the run following the Trinity of Evil’s devastating attack on the fortress of Solitude! With Superman’s headquarters in ruin and the super-powers on Planet Earth in the clutches of Amanda Waller, Failsafe, and the Brainiac Queen… is this the end of the line? No way — the resistance lives on! Using fortress technology cobbled together by Mr. Terrific and Air Wave, Earth’s last hope have retreated to Themyscira, home to Wonder Woman and famously suspicious of outsiders. Can Superman, Batman, and the rest of the depowered heroes strike an alliance with these elite Amazonian fighters? All this, and a mad mayday from Barry Allen as DC’s war for Absolute Power rages on!” – DC Comics
REVIEW
Absolute Power #3 carries the momentum from the first half of this event forward by not letting up on the gas. Mark Waid and Dan Mora know exactly the story they are telling is one where no moment can be slow. Everything had a sense of purpose to that was to help present this story as being the biggest thing going on in the DC Universe.
The best thing about Absolute Power #3 is that even when characters are simply talking with each, they feel important to story. It speaks to Waid and Mora’s confidence in this story that they can juggle so many characters, from the icons to the minor characters. The opening of Absolute Power #3 set the stage for this as we immediately saw Dr. Midnight, Red Tornado, Air Wave, Nightwing, and Mister Terrific. It’s simple introduction to the third chapter but really sets the mood of where are heroes are compared to Amanda Waller and the villains.
Throughout the opening nine pages we really get a sense of where the heroes and villains are with the start of the second half of Absolute Power #3. On Amanda Waller’s side she is no longer hiding her aim to be the dictator of the world. She absolutely views everyone in the world beneath her. It does not matter what level of power someone has Amanda Waller has gathered all the resources she needed to control the world. And that was driven home by how Waller sent Failsafe to publicly force the China government to bend a knew or die.
This opening display of power from Waller is contrasted by our heroes who have to be crafty about their limited resources and numbers to fight back. There is a delicate balance ran with our heroes as Waid and Mora do position our protagonists against the wall. At the same time, there isn’t a sense where they are scrambling like they did in the first two issues.
Establishing this is particularly important to further establishing Nightwing as the leader for the heroes. Waid and Mora make sure that no matter what is going on Nightwing is the steady hand the heroes need to rally them. Which works into the idea that the heroes greatest strength is the hope they have. It is the one thing that Amanda Waller failed to take away from the heroes from how she attacked them. Nightwing’s made sure that spark was kept up by being a steady leader.
At all times Nightwing made sure to balance asserting his leadership while collaborating with everyone on Themyscira. That is shown well with how Nightwing handles his dynamic with Big Barda and Mister Terrific. With Big Barda he needs to be on full leader mode to make sure she respects his decision while with Mister Terrific they were planning every contingency they could. This paid off well with how Nightwing and Mister Terrific had a secret plan in place to free Jon Kent from Brainiac Queen and Waller’s control.
This was rewarding not just because of the payoff to Nightwing and Mister Terrific’s planning with leading the heroes in their own ways. It was rewarding because when the moment of saving Jon Kent from Brainiac Queen’s control happened it was because its what Waller deserved. You love seeing Waller uncharacteristically rage, losing the calm, in-control person he has been for years now. It was the moment you realize how Waller became so overconfident that she won that she became could no longer see ways characters like Nightwing and Mister Terrific could counter her moves.
That led well to how the saving of Jon Kent led into Waller losing control of Brainiac Queen. This highlighted how every move the heroes make in Absolute Power #3 was to break Waller’s sense of control. They didn’t simply rush in to save their allies from where Waller had the imprisoned. Because they didn’t have their powers characters like Aquaman had to be creative with using anything they could like the Black Mercy. These unexpected moves forced Waller’s hand.
Which highlighted how Amanda Waller’s plan wasn’t flawless going into Absolute Power. Going back to Waller’s overconfidence she looked past the things Batman previously did to take down Failsafe was to inject emotions into its programming. That the revelation that the various Amazo robots Failsafe created also suffered from this imperfection be a great use of long-term plot development. Waller and Failsafe lack of understanding of how hope works and that the Amazos would also absorb tiny bits of the morals of each hero they stole powers from worked well.
All of this built well into setting up the finale of this story. While we don’t see who contacted Barry Allen’s Flash to get him into Waller’s Supermax Subbasement it is clearly Green Arrow. Waid has been careful about how he’s used Green Arrow to set-up this being the big reveal of the heroes having their own inside man in Waller’s forces. Though what we don’t know is how the Multiverse will end up playing into the finale now that Flash discovered the Transmatter Machine.
Throughout Absolute Power #3 Dan Mora continued to remind everyone that he is the best artist in the industry. Every single page and panel have a larger than life feel to it. The importance given to scenes where characters are simply talking with each other is because of the artwork. This helps make sure you are paying attention to every little aspect from what the characters are saying to their facial and body reactions. Then there is the action that Mora does a phenomenal job making as impactful as possible.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Absolute Power #3 is an excellent penultimate chapter to the DC Universe latest big event. Whether it’s characters conversation with each other or action sequences, Mark Waid and Dan Mora keep finding ways to deliver one big moment after another. That leads to having the maximum level of hype to find out how Absolute Power will end and lead to even bigger things in the future.
Story Rating: 9 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 10 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 9.5 Night Girls out of 10
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