Absolute Power (comics)

"Absolute Power" is a 2024 American comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics. Serving as the conclusion to the Dawn of DC initiative, the main limited series will be written by Mark Waid, with art by Dan Mora, and debuted on July 3, 2024, and concluded on October 2, 2024. The event takes place in the aftermath of " House of Brainiac". The main event received positive reviews from critics, with critics praising Mark Waid's writing, the art, the action, and the satisfying conclusion.

Premise

To neutralize the ability of every metahuman around the world, Amanda Waller recruits Failsafe and the Brainiac Queen into the Suicide Squad, beginning a campaign of hate and fear over people. In response, the Justice League and the remaining heroes form a resistance.

Publication history

"Absolute Power" is a crossover event published by DC Comics and was released July 3, 2024. The main limited series of four issues is written by Mark Waid and drawn by Dan Mora. During the Dawn of DC initiative, a "Trinity of Evil" was teased, featuring Amanda Waller, leader of A.R.G.U.S., Checkmate and the Suicide Squad, alongside the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh, a Silver Age character who was reintroduced in 2022 during the "Failsafe" arc from ''Batman'' (vol. 3) #125–130 by Chip Zdarsky and Jorge Jiménez, and the Brainiac Queen, a female variation of Brainiac who was introduced in 2024 during the " House of Brainiac" storyline by Joshua WIlliamson and Rafa Sandoval.

Plot

Background

In response to recent events involving metahumans, Amanda Waller decides that superpowers, regardless of whether they come from superheroes or supervillains, are too dangerous to be left unchecked. She gains the approval of the Council of Light, a group of clones of Brainiac, to take drastic measures. To achieve her goal, Waller takes over the Hall of Justice, founding the Bureau of Sovereignty to discredit the Justice League and Titans. She additionally coerces Dreamer and Green Arrow to work for her in taking over Gamorra and create an exclusive prison for metahumans.

Meanwhile, in Gotham City, Batman develops the android Failsafe to counter him should he ever go rogue. He creates an army of Amazos before being defeated by Batman and recovered by Waller.

Finally in Metropolis, Brainiac creates the Brainiac Queen as a means to experience the feeling of love he lost during his previous planetary invasions. Her primary functions involve devouring the abilities from the worlds he conquers until she gains her final form. After admitting his last defeat against Superman, Brainiac sends the Queen away, rendering her amnesiac.

After the Brainiac Queen awakens, Waller and Failsafe recruit her to help them complete their agenda and create a group of Amazos dubbed "Task Force VII" to drain the powers of superheroes worldwide.

Main story

Issue #1: "Powerless"

In Metropolis, a group of robbers attempt to escape using a helicopter. Superman tries to de-escalate the situation, but one of the robbers fires his pistol at Superman, which manages to injure him and causes him to fall from the sky. In Keystone City, 28 hours earlier, Animal Man and Animal Girl land in the park and are met by scared citizens, who proceed to beat Animal Man to near-death. Batman and Robin watch news channels to report on Animal Man's attack and on videos depicting superheroes committing acts of violence and destruction across the globe. Batman deduces the videos are fake, and were created by artificial intelligence to discredit superheroes. In the Hall of Order, Waller reveals to Sargent Steel that the Brainiac Queen created the videos as part of her plan to take down every superhero on the planet due to the heroes having too much power and answering to no one. Failsafe arrives and activates Task Force VII. Back in the present, Superboy and Jon Kent arrive and see Superman injured and falling to the ground. They manage to grab him, but are depowered and captured by Amazo robots. Amanda Waller starts a world-wide broadcast, stating her intention to solve the super-powered being problem permanently. At the same time, the Amazos of Task Force VII consisting of Depth Charge, Global Guardian, Jadestone, Last Son, Paradise Lost, and Velocity attack. They depower and capture the majority of superheroes around the world that includes Wally West, Jay Garrick, Bart Allen, Aquaman, Tempest, the Justice Society of America members Green Lantern, Hawkman, Jade, Jesse Quick, Mister Terrific, Obsidian, and Courtney Whitmore, and the Doom Patrol members Beast Girl II, Elasti-Woman, Negative Man, Robotman around the world. Batman deduces that Waller would not start such an attack if she hadn't already won, and is suddenly attacked by Failsafe. Batman tries to warn the heroes from their secret communication channel, but is intercepted by Green Arrow, who is now working for Waller. He tells Batman that Waller made sure no help would arrive: she brokered a deal with the United Planets to make sure no one arrives on Earth or leaves Earth, along with locking down the Multiverse, the Timestream, and the Microverse, and mocks the heroes by claiming that their power loss is permanent. Meanwhile in an undisclosed location, the Brainiac Queen gives Jon Kent cybernetic enhancements and renders him amnesiac.

Issue #2: "Resistance"

The rest of the heroes regroup in the Fortress of Solitude to regain their strength. Waller, Brainiac Queen and Failsafe have taken over the Hall of Justice while trying to find the rest of the resistance. Superman heals from his wound and the rest of the heroes start arguing who should be the lead of the resistance. Nightwing helps calm everyone down and everyone decides Nightwing should be the leader of the resistance. Nightwing asks Batman to find if Amanda Waller has a Mother Box, Superman has to gather allies in the multiverse, Black Canary needs to find out why Green Arrow is working for Waller, and Wonder Woman alongside Robin find out more of Waller's prison. As everyone suits up and gathers weapon, a possessed Jon Kent alongside Brainiac Queen attack them. Brainiac Queen captures Yara Flor, Wonder Girl, and Red Tornado while the rest of Task Force VII arrive. Dreamer arrives, but is disturbed by how callous Amanda Waller is to the heroes. Blue Beetle and Mister Terrific use the Phantom Zone projector to escape and Superman asks the Fortress of Solitude to self-destruct. Wonder Woman and Aquaman destroy the glass dome containing Kandor, which allows the miniature Kryptonians to distract Brainiac Queen long enough for Dreamer to send the rest of the heroes to the Phantom Zone before the Fortress explodes. Brainiac Queen repossesses Jon Kent again while Green Arrow grabs Time Commander's hourglass.

Issue #3: "Last Stand"

In Gateway City, Hawkgirl is asking for backup for her and Mammoth as she is attacked by Amazon robots. The rest of the heroes land on Themyscira where Donna Troy and Wonder Woman convince Nubia to seek refuge. Barry Allen manages to get Kryptonite from the Fortress of Solitude, Black Canary and Green Arrow's team have gone out to uncover Green Arrow's motivations, Hal Jordan retrieves Waller's weapons, and Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Robin, and Damian have gone out on their separate missions. Nightwing instructs Aquaman, Blue Beetle, Red Tornado and Yara Flor to go take out John Starr in Amanda Waller's headquarters, Donna Troy and the Amazons defend Themiscyra, and the rest of the heroes will have to save the remaining heroes. Failsafe attacks the Minster of Shanghai, and Brainiac Queen starts absorbing data from the Internet servers. Amanda Waller is enraged that the Amazo robots are gaining morality and sentience and tells Failsafe to initiate a partial reboot. Aquaman's team is attacked by Bizarro, but they quickly dispatch him and find Starr. They are then attacked by Black Alice and Deadeye. During the chaos, one of Aquaman's team members is killed, and Nightwing's forces are spread too thin. Brainiac Queen and Jonathan Kent attack Themiscyra, but with the help of Nightwing, Mister Terrific and Artemis of Bana-Mighdall, Jonathan Kent is freed from Amanda Waller's control. Jonathan Kent defeats Brainiac Queen by showing her that Waller is the true enemy. Batman and Superman arrive and they teleport Brainiac Queen to Pluto by using the Mother Box, with Zatanna reporting that Superman and her unlocked the Dark Paths to enable teleportation, and Batman confronts Starr on how he can return everyone's powers. Meanwhile, Barry Allen is directed by Steve Trevor to head to the basement of Waller's base, and discovers that she is assembling a multiversal army.

Issue #4: "Showdown"

The rest of the heroes launch an attack on Amanda Waller's base on Gamorra while Waller's multiversal allies attack Barry. Hal Jordan intervenes, giving Barry time to shut down the gateway. Task Force VII overwhelm the heroes while Nightwing is forced to deal with Failsafe and Waller weakens Jonathan Kent with kryptonite. Batman and Ted Kord meet with John Starr (Time Commander) where they realize the reason why Task Force VII can regenerate is they used Starr's technology to reverse their wounds before they were attacked. Starr plans to override one of the Task Force VII robots with an override from his original hourglass, which will cause a chain reaction that will destroy Task Force VII and return the heroes' stolen powers. Starr and Batman are knocked out before they can use the device, but Green Arrow picks it up and shoots it at one of the robots, shutting down Task Force VII and restoring the heroes' powers. This also causes Failsafe to be deactivated, while Wally West and Jay Garrick combine their willpower with Hal's to hold off the multiversal army. Green Arrow explains that he knew Amanda Waller would not trust him because she had telepaths around her, which is why he had Martian Manhunter put in a telepathic input that will make him believe Amanda Waller's cause until it timed out. Dreamer returns and knocks out Amanda Waller before she can attack Nightwing, and explains how Jon dreamed of her constantly while under Brainiac Queen's control which pulled her into the Dreamscape allowing her to heal from her wounds. Barry is forced to sever their Earth's connection to the rest of the Multiverse to stop Waller's army from coming through, while Waller goes on a rant on how she won by manipulating the world to hate meta humans. Unbeknownst to her, Nightwing had Air Wave record her and broadcast her speech to the rest of the world. Two days later, the world is recovering from Waller's attack with Wally and Jay Garrick confirming that they can not access the Multiverse. It's also revealed that whatever Barry did to separate themselves from the multiverse also severed his connection with the Speed Force. Dreamer erased Amanda Waller's memory of the heroes identities and locations deep within her mind and leaves her alone in her cell in Belle Reve. Green Arrow calls a meeting with Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman at the Secret Sanctuary to explain his actions. They begrudgingly accept his apology, with Batman revealing that while most of the heroes abilities returned, other have mixed up their powers with other heroes. Green Arrow admits that his undercover plan was not the smartest, especially since the only other one who knew of this was the Martian Manhunter, though he pointed out that this whole event would never have happened if they had been more communicative and never disbanded the Justice League when Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman show him the schematics for the new Watchtower being built.

Subplots

Amanda Waller's rising

The origin story of how Amanda Waller suffered the tragedy of losing her family due to crime, which led her to found the Suicide Squad. Her experience on Earth 3 has caused her to be more radicalized and hate the metahumans.

Task Force VII's rampage

Task Force VII are tasked with depowering and capturing any heroes who escaped the initial attack. However, they also absorb some of the heroes' morality, causing them to begin rebelling against Waller. Meanwhile, Steve Trevor reports to the metahuman prison base on Gamorra so the Bureau of Sovereignty can monitor him. Sarge Steel imprisons Trevor, but he escapes and learns that Waller is working with the Crime Syndicate.

Tie-ins

Batman/Catwoman

Batman is trying to gather resistance in Bludhaven and believes the plan to stop Amanda Waller is in the Titans Tower. He sneaks in the tower, where he meets a captured Cyborg. Cyborg tells Batman that Waller is in the south of Gamorra, and she has a Mother Box. An Amazo robot tries attacking Batman, but he quickly escapes. Batman meets with Flash and Wonder Woman to tell them what happened, and plans to recruit Catwoman to steal the Mother Box. Bruce Wayne convinces Catwoman to help him with his heist, while encountering Black Alice, Bizarro infused with Brainiac's technology, and Deadeye (Amanda Waller's nephew). They escape from them, and realize that cyborg was sensing a Boom tube that is constantly opened and realize the Boom Tube is somewhere else. They find out the Mother Box is in a building that has been shrunk in a bottle on the desolate planet of Czarina. Just then, Bizarro, Deadeye, Gunsmith, and Black Alice wake up and confront Batman and Catwoman.

Green Arrow

Despite Batman instructing Team Arrow to remain on Starfish Island, as they were the only heroes who were not targeted by the Bureau, they instead decide to capture Professor Ivo, believing he may know of a secret weakness in Task Force VII. Meanwhile, Green Arrow recovers a box that contains the key to defeating the Justice League. He and his allies then battle Waller's enforcer Bright and the Tomorrow Woman. Bright kidnaps Cheshire and her daughter Lian before Green Arrow arrives and tells him to let them go.

Green Lantern/The Flash

Hal Jordan is arrested in the initial attack and taken to the Hall of Order. However, he escapes and recovers his ring. After being attacked by guards, he uses Abra Kadabra's wand to teleport himself and a vast quantity of weapons to Themyscira, the Resistance's new headquarters.

Superman (Clark Kent)/Zatanna

After escaping the Fortress, Superman and Zatanna search for the Map of Mordru which would allow them to access the Dark Roads. They were able to make their way to the Oblivion Bar where most of the world's magic users and supernatural creatures are hiding. Neron reveals that he has the map and offers to make a deal for it.

Superman (Jon Kent)/Dreamer

After being depowered, Jon Kent is captured by Task Force VII member Last Son, who delivers him to the Brainiac Queen. The Queen wipes his memories and converts him into a cyborg under her control.

Wonder Woman/Robin

Wonder Woman, Billy Batson, Detective Chimp, Spectre, Mary Marvel, and Madame Xanadu. The latter three are depowered while the former three escape. Wonder Woman and Robin interrogate Captain Boomerang to learn the location of Waller's metahuman prison, eventually learning that it is on Gamorra.

Characters

Main characters

Resistance

* Aquaman (Arthur Curry)
* Batman (Bruce Wayne)
* Flash (Wally West)
* Green Lantern (Hal Jordan)
* Martian Manhunter (J'onn J'onzz)
* Superman (Kal-El/Clark Kent)
* Wonder Woman (Diana Prince)

Trinity of Evil

* Amanda Waller
* Brainiac Queen
* Failsafe

Other characters

* Air Wave (Harold Jordan)
* Animal Girl (Maxine Baker)
* Animal Man (Bernhard Baker)
* Blue Beetle (Ted Kord)
* Big Barda (Barda Free)
* Booster Gold (Michael Carter)
* Charles Dickens
* Detective Chimp
* Elongated Man (Ralph Dibny)
* Madame Xanadu
* Mister Terrific (Michael Holt)
* Neron
* Skeets
* Steve Trevor

Bat-Family

* Nightwing (Dick Grayson)
* Oracle (Barbara Gordon)
* Robin (Damian Wayne)
* Batgirl (Cassandra Cain)

Bureau of Sovereignty

* Sarge Steel

Crime Syndicate

* Black Siren
* Emerald Knight (John Stewart)
* Etrigan the Brainiac 666
* Johnny Quick (Jonathan Chambers)
* Nocturna
* Superman (Match)
* Superwoman (Donna Troy)

Daily Planet

* Jimmy Olsen
* Lois Lane

Doom Patrol

* Beast Girl II
* Elasti-Woman (Rita Farr)
* Negative Man (Lawrence Trainor)
* Robotman (Cliff Steele)

Flash Family

* Barry Allen
* Bart Allen
* Jay Garrick

Justice League Dark

* Doctor Fate (Khalid Nassour)
* John Constantine
* Spectre (Jim Corrigan)
* Zatanna Zatara

Shazam Family

* Mary Marvel (Mary Bromfield)
* Shazam (Billy Batson)

Suicide Squad

* Bizarro
* Black Alice (Lori Zechlin)
* Bright
* Captain Boomerang (George Harkness)
* Deadeye (Archie Waller)
* Deadshot (Floyd Lawton)
* Dreamer (Nia Nal)
* Green Arrow (Oliver Queen)
* Gunsmith
* Peacemaker (Christopher Smith)
* Peacewrecker
* Konfusion

Super-Family

* Superboy (Kon-El/Connor Kent)
* Superman (Jon Kent)

Task Force VII

* Depth Charge
* Global Guardian
* Jadestone
* Last Son
* Paradise Lost
* Velocity

Team Arrow

* Arrowette (Cissie King-Jones)
* Arsenal (Roy Harper)
* Black Canary (Dinah Lance)
* Cheshire (Jade Nguyen)
* Cheshire Cat (Lian Harper)
* Green Arrow (Connor Hawke)
* Red Arrow (Emiko Queen)
* Red Canary (Sienna)
* Speedy (Mia Dearden)

Titans

* Beast Boy (Garfield Logan)
* Cyborg (Victor Stone)
* Raven (Rachel Roth)
* Starfire (Koriand'r)
* Tempest (Garth)

Titles involved

Preludes

''Countdown to Absolute Power''

Limited series

One-shots

Tie-ins

Release order

Critical reception

According to ''Comicscored.com'', the ''Absolute Power'' four-issue limited series received a "Very Good" rating, with a Comicscore Index of 84 based on 82 ratings from critics. The ''Absolute Power: Task Force VII'' seven-issue limited serie received a "Good" rating, with a Comicscore Index of 71 based on 74 ratings from critics. The ''Absolute Power: Origins'' three-issue limited serie received a "Good" rating, with a Comicscore Index of 77 based on 24 ratings from critics.

According to Comicbook Roundup, ''Absolute Power'' received an average rating of 7.8 out of 10 based on 222 reviews.

Future

In July 2024, DC announced the end of ''Absolute Power'' will conclude the Dawn of DC initiative, giving birth to the DC All In initiative, which will be overseen by Joshua Williamson and Scott Snyder, and will begin in October 2024. Snyder also clarified that All In will not consist of any reboots or relaunches to current titles.

References

{{DC events

2024 comics debuts
DC Comics storylines
Works by Mark Waid