Absolute Power continues its second month as we got the latest DC Comics August solicitations. The grasp Absolute Power has over DC Comics August comic book solicitations grows from the first month of the event as more heroes and villains get involved. While Absolute Power is taking over the DC Universe we see the takeover isn’t complete. There are plenty of comic books from DC Comics that will still be wrapping up their story arcs they started before Absolute Power started. Let’s take a look at the biggest takeaways from DC Comics August comic book solicitations.
BATMAN ZUR-EN-ARRH DOMINATES ABSOLUTE POWER
Unsurprisingly Batman of Zur-En-Arrh is taking the lead of the early chapters of Absolute Power. That is certainly the narrative the solicitations for most Absolute Power related comic books coming out in August. That is thanks to Batman of Zur-En-Arrh deploying the Failsafe Amazo androids of the different members of the Justice League.
These Failsafe Amazos will be what changes the landscape of the DC Universe. That is not surprising given when the original Failsafe proved to be able to defeat the Justice League and Batman Family. Now with specialized Failsafe Amazos the android force Batman of Zur-En-Arrh built appear to be unstoppable.
While Batman of Zur-En-Arrh is taking the lead in terms of muscle that does not mean Amanda Waller is going to be taking a backseat. Waller appears to be using Batman of Zur-En-Arrh public display of power to work from the shadows after defeating an depowering the DCU’s metahumans. A narrative that does play a big role into Waller working from the shadows is her continued use of Dreamer’s powers. The longer this event goes the more important Dreamer for both the heroes and villains.
SUPERHERO TEAM-UPS THEME FOR DC COMICS AUGUST
When it comes to big events superhero team-ups are obviously something that happens. Though normally for the solo titles DC Comics tends to focus on how that series lead handles the event. DC Comics is doing something a little bit different by utilizing Absolute Power as a way to create different superhero team-up combos in the tie-in comics.
The big one that stands out as new is Wonder Woman teaming up with Damian Wayne’s Robin. While they’ve had a few interactions Wonder Woman and Robin is a fresh team-up. This odd pairing speaks to how scattered and stretch thing the heroes are after what Amanda Waller did in Absolute Power #1. This also could play into how in the possible future we’ve been seeing Wonder Woman has enough trust to leave her adopted daughter Trinity in Damian Wayne’s care when needed.
The teams up in Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman titles also give greater hint at why we aren’t seeing a ton of tie-ins right out of the gate. At least the story reason appears to be that after depowering metahumans in Absolute Power #1 Amanda Waller and her crew are locking up superheroes and other rebels in a supermax prison located in Gamorra.
ZERO HOUR 30TH ANNIVERSARY
Whenever a major event or storyline celebrates an anniversary, it can be crazy to think about. DC Comics coming out with a Zero Hour 30th Anniversary is personally one of those moments. Seeing Zero Hour 30th Anniversary as part of DC Comics August solicitations reminds me of how long I’ve been reading comic books.
While I didn’t read Zero Hour when it was coming out it was around the time, I started reading comic books from DC Comics. Just seeing Dan Jurgens and Jerry Ordway’s cover for Zero Hour 30th Anniversary brings back a ton of memories of that time. Specifically, how Kyle Rayner being the Green Lantern I grew up getting into the DC Universe and my first impression of Hal Jordan was as a villain.
The Zero Hour 30th Anniversary comes at a time when DC Comics is bringing back the Elseworld branding. Though a reason for it not having the Elseworld branding could be in the last line of the Zero Hour 30th Anniversary solicitation. There is a mention that Dan Jurgens and Ron Marz could possibly be planting seeds for future storylines in the present. While this could just be a selling point, given the current state of the Green Lantern frachise we could see some United Planet elements come into play to feed into current storylines.
DC VS. VAMPIRES: WORLD WAR V BEGINS
The Batman Elseworld brand gets its latest addition with DC vs Vampires: World War V. This is a sequel to the original twelve issue maxi-series. World War V appears to have more of a post-apocalyptic war with the surviving humans led by Green Arrow and vampires led by Queen Barbara Gordon. From the solicitation it looks like, as always, Damian Wayne will be the wild card of this story.
Though this time around Matthew Rosenberg will be the sole writer of DC vs Vampires: World War V. James Tynion being a co-writer was the selling point for the original DC vs Vampires. Majority of Rosenberg has not only failed to impress but has been disappointing given the franchises he has been given the chance to work on.
For fans I do hope that DC vs Vampires: World War V is Roseberg bringing the very best of his creative talents. The mini-series will at least look great with Otto Scmidt as the artist. So there is at least that to look forward to.
REVENGE MATCH: ROBIN VS BANE
For four years, between 2016 to 2020, no villain rose up and fell down the ranks of top tier villains like Bane did. Bane was a master manipulator who broke Bruce Wayne in ways that go beyond physical. That included killing Bruce’s adopted father, Alfred Pennyworth. Making the murder of Alfred hurt even more was the fact Bane did it in front of a heavily injured Damian Wayne in Batman #77. Ultimately Bane was defeated and superseded in his own event storyline, “City of Bane,” by Flashpoint Batman and he’s never been able to recover.
Though Bane has not reach the level he was at almost five years ago it does not erase what he did in killing Alfred Pennyworth. As we’ve seeing in his appearances as Robin since then, Damian Wayne has been holding on to the pain of being forced to be an audience member to Alfred’s murder.
Now finally starting with Batman and Robin #12 Damian will get his chance to get his revenge on Bane. That revenge journey will be taking Damian all the way to Dinosaur Island to find Bane. With Damian going so far the question is if Bruce can stop his son from crossing the line. Though we don’t know how Bruce himself will react to facing off against Bane again as well. So there is a lot of questions to this new Bane story arc beyond the dinosaurs the Dynamic Duo will come across.
TRIGON DESTROYING WORLD BEFORE ABSOLUTE POWER
While Nightwing is mentioned in the Task Force tie-ins to Absolute Power we don’t know what role the Titans will play in the latest DC event. In the lead up to Absolute Power they were built to be one of the major players as the Titans series has contributed a lot to building towards that event. But like many other DC Comics titles, Titans is still busy wrapping up its own storyline in the early months of the Absolute Power event.
Based on the solicitation for Titans #14 the team will be busy dealing with Trigon. To Tom Taylor and Lucas Meyer’s credit they have made sure that this latest Trigon story is working to elevate Raven. That isn’t normally the case with creators falling down the Trigon rabbit hole. Adding in the fact that Trigon is working with Amanda Waller does also help explain why the Titans would be busy with him during or in the lead up to Absolute Power.
That said, like with other titles, given that the Titans are part of Absolute Power it does take away from what the full impact of Trigon’s latest attack will have. Teasing the world being destroyed while Absolute Power, which takes place after this story, is happening robs some of the suspense of this and other stories we see still going on in DC Comics August solicitations that take place before the big event.
MODERNIZING THE TRINITY’S FIRST MEETING
We’ve had a lot of takes on the first meeting and team-up between who we know as the Trinity in Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. The last in-continuity one we got was from the New 52 with them first working together as the Justice League. That is certainly a memory but maybe not one to be most remembered given the reception and legacy of the New 52 era for the DC Universe.
Now thanks to the gift that keeps on giving that is known as Batman/Superman: World’s Finest we are getting a new modernization of the Trinity’s first team-up. Thus far World’s Finest has done an excellent job modernizing the early years of the DC Universe. So there is no doubt that Mark Waid and Gleb Melnikov to tell a fun, cool story for the Trinity’s first adventure together.
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