This is it. We are at the end of Absolute Power. This decisive final issue of the DC Universe latest event will have immediate ramifications for the future of all involved. That is because this isn’t just the conclusion of the Dawn of DC direction but also the prelude to the new DC All In direction. Given how Absolute Power has gone thus far there are a lot of unknowns as to how things could wrap up and where many characters will end up. With that in mind, let’s find out how the DCU’s latest big event with Absolute Power #4.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Mark Waid
Artist: Dan Mora
Colorist: Alejandro Sanchez
Letterer: Ariana Maher
ABSOLUTE POWER #4 SOLICITATION
“As the last remaining resistance fighters fight tooth and nail on the bloody island of Gamorra, Batman and Superman find themselves at bitter odds! Meanwhile, Amanda Waller has come too far to give up now, and is calling in reinforcements from across the Multiverse! The future of the DC Universe is up for grabs, and after this, things will never be the same!” – DC Comics
REVIEW
Absolute Power #4 took all the momentum from this event to deliver a home run of a final chapter for the Dawn of DC direction. There was a sense of culmination to everything that took place. That includes even the predictable elements of the story hit as intended because of how Mark Waid and Dan Mora work together as a creative team to execute all the moments.
It speaks to how well Waid and Mora paced the story of Absolute Power that where we began and ended we saw roles flipped between Amanda Waller and our heroes. When this event started Amanda Waller took advantage of the heroes not knowing her plans to launch a successful strike to rob all the heroes powers and imprison a large number of them. The surprise nature of the attack was what gave Waller the opportunity to take down even Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman.
While the heroes downfall in Absolute Power #1 could be argued because they didn’t expect the attack it was because they felt nothing like Waller’s attack could happen. This made how the heroes turned the tables by using Waller’s overconfidence against her even sweeter. The heroes knew that because of how Waller basically controlled the world she felt invincible. That same invincibility created blind spots for our heroes to counter.
This all made Nightwing leading all the heroes in the final charge against Waller’s forces to be an even more hyped moment. As we saw with the previous two issues, Waid and Mora did a great job showing how all the heroes rallied around Nightwing’s leadership. There was a clear plan in place with most of the heroes providing an opening for Nightwing, Jon Kent’s Superman, Green Lantern, and Wally West and Jay Garrick’s Flash to enter the Hall of Order and buying Batman time to complete the way to shut Failsafe and Amazo down.
It added to the battle that the heroes were all doing this without their powers. They simply believed in the plan Nightwing worked on with Mister Terrific and pushed forward to make sure they could save the day. Mora did an excellent job getting across the scale to show how serious all of the fighting was. There was a threat that we could possibly see any hero fall the longer the fight with the Failsafe Amazos went on.
Which led to one of the first unsurprising moments of Green Arrow revealing he was acting as a double agent. Green Arrow using the device Batman, Blue Beetle, and John Starr built was the ultimate payoff to his character arc since he returned to from being lost in the Multiverse. Adding in how Martian Manhunter helped Green Arrow pull of making Waller believe he betrayed the heroes was a nice touch. This was certainly what Green Arrow needed to explain how working as a double agent was needed even if it put so many heroes at risk.
This action was a great way to be the final flip for Amanda Waller to lose her complete cool. Even in the face of defeat Waller still believed her meticulous planning made it so even when losing this battle she still had the war against the heroes won. This showed that Nightwing went into this final fight fully prepared for how Waller would react. He knew that returning the heroes their powers would cause Waller to play her big card of talking up how she turned the world against the superhero community. Nightwing revealing he had Air Wave secretly follow him and Superman into the Hall of Order was a great payoff to the introduction of this character. It showed Nightwing’s confidence in his plan that he knew it would all lead to this.
All of this made the other predictable development of Dreamer being revealed to be alive and the one to give Waller her ultimate defeat hit as intended. Like Green Arrow, Dreamer was another hero who risked a lot, arguably more so, with how she was forced to work for Waller. Turning the tables and using her powers to cause Waller to lose the secret she worked her entire life to learn was the ultimate comeuppance. What Dreamer did was the worst thing that could happen to Waller and what the villain deserves. This also provides a reason to give Waller’s character a break for now and when we next see her she will be reset in a way.
While the heroes did ultimately defeat Waller it was without consequences. There are two big immediate consequences we learn about. The first is that there are certain heroes who have flipped powers due to how they defeated the Failsafe Amazo robots. We get a teaser that Black Canary and Plastic Man are among the heroes who have different powers but not much more information. How this is tackled in the various ongoing titles will be interesting to see play out.
The other big consequence is that in order to stop Waller from getting a Multiverse army of villains to help her Barry Allen was forced to cut off the main DC Universe from the rest of the Multiverse. This is a massive development as DC Comics has been heavily pushing the Multiverse concept once again since DC Rebirth. Severing those ties creates a lot of questions for what we will be seeing in the DC All In direction.
Barry Allen also losing his connection to the Speed Force is something that is likely something to watch. With Wally and Jay mentioning they can’t use the Speed Force to travel to other universes it could play into what will be Barry’s larger role in the DCU. The way it was set up is that Barry will go into a sort of retirement but when he does appear it could give hints at the way the Speed Force and Multiverse work now.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Absolute Power #4 was an amazing way to conclude the latest DC Universe. From character arcs to storylines, Mark Waid and Dan Mora did an incredible job paying off everything that was built during the Dawn of DC direction. When all was said and done it truly felt like the end of a giant story and the beginning of a brand new and exciting journey. Leaving the reader feeling that way makes Absolute Power exemplify what big comic book events should be.
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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