Absolute Power

Absolute Power

by Mark Waid, Dan Mora (Artist), Joshua Williamson

The heroes of the DC Universe are powerless... but their spirits are unbroken! With the Trinity of Evil in power, the resistance begins in DC's most explosive blockbuster story in years.

The superstar team of writer Mark Waid (Kingdom Come) and artist Dan Mora (Batman/Superman: World's Finest) unite for Absolute Power, an epic event that sees DC's heroes tested like never before!

Following a career of machinations, and thanks to the combined might of the unstoppable android Failsafe and the otherworldly Brainiac Queen, Amanda Waller has finally achieved her goal: stealing the metahuman abilities of every hero and villain on planet Earth. As chaos erupts in the streets and a massive misinformation campaign sways public opinion to her side, the founder of the Suicide Squad methodically targets each superhero dynasty one at a time, starting with Superman.

But even in this darkest of hours, a resistance is forming... and Batman is out for vengeance. Can these powerless heroes defeat the Trinity of Evil and their army of living weapons known as Task Force VII?

It's a shocking blitzkrieg across the globe that is decades in the making--and will shape the course of the DC Universe for years to come!

This volume collects Absolute Power #1-4 and Absolute Power: Ground Zero.

Genres: Comics, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Comic Book, Science Fiction, Superman

200 pages, Hardcover

First published February 4, 2025

About the author

Mark Waid (born March 21, 1962 in Hueytown, Alabama) is an American comic book writer. He is best known for his eight-year run as writer of the DC Comics' title The Flash, as well as his scripting of the limited series Kingdom Come and Superman: Birthright, and his work on Marvel Comics' Captain America.

Reviews

[Molly™☺ · Rating 2 out of 5]

A rushed event that looks fantastic but lacks the complete package to make it really pop. It is a jigsaw with one too many missing pieces, and the amount of gaps ruins the final product. When something relies so heavily on reading tie-ins to understand properly, it is not well executed; excessive extra reading should not be a requirement to merely understand the basics. It's a shame to see talent go to waste, and whilst I own all of the spin off content and will read it in due course, what you get with the TBP isn't enough to sell this story.

actual rating 2.5 stars

[Sean Gibson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Waid a minute...I want Mora that!

...and with that I've used up all of my funny for the week. And it's only Tuesday.

[Pruett · Rating 1 out of 5]

With all due respect to Dan Mora’s nice looking art, this reads like a parody of superhero comics, and I hated it. It sucks so bad. Absolute Power is pointless, exasperating, cliché and nonsensical. This event was an overdrawn excuse to bring a Justice League comic back onto stands. Heads up, DC Editorial? You can do that without commissioning an awful event series to go with.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.7 stars

[Jake Parker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Looks great, but I shouldn’t have to invest in ALL of the tie ins to understand your four issue event. I will die on that hill, because other people have done it so Mark Waid can too.

So yeah. Looks good, too many missing pieces between issues.

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very enjoyable read, ticked a lot of boxes for me in terms of DCU expansion. Lots of strong choices to up the stakes, and Waller (and supporting villainous cast) is used very well to tell the story.

Reason I’m not giving this a higher rating is: the edition. I feel there is a lot missing or happening off-panel in this collection. Once it is compiled in a complete, ultimate edition including the Task Force VII and Origins storylines, I think this crisis will be more impactful as a fulsome story.

3.5/5

[Paxton Holley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really well done DC event. Not surprising as it’s designed by Mark Waid and Dan Mora.

Amanda Waller enacts a plan to first discredit all the meta-humans on Earth, steal their powers using upgraded Amazo robots, then incarcerate them in a super max black site prison.

This trade is only the 4 main, core issues of the event. Really solid read. Lots of fun, crazy twists and turns. Reading a few of the tie ins really helps as well. I don’t normally do that but there was a lot of good talent here so it felt worth it.

[Khurram · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fast-paced, all-out war against the system. I enjoyed this book, but the reason I could not give it five stars is that too much is missing. I know that these are shown in the individual heroes/ heroine books. It is okay if the other books act as a companion, but more than 50% of the story is in the other books. That is not okay with me. I could even see why some would give it three and a half stars.

Amanda Waller hates the meta-humans, but now she has allies (some by choice and some have no choice), as well as the rest of humanity behind her. Who is her trinity of evil? What trump cards does she have up her sleave? Is this war already over before the heroes even know it? Betrayal, manipulation, and, of course, heroics.

On a personal note, I would have liked to see more of Batman in this book, but I know that they are trying to pass the torch over, but I still don't like it.

The artwork is awesome. The story is good as much as is shown in this book, and it does setup the next evolution of DC. The book is finishes with a huge thumbnail varient covers gallery.

[Dean · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really liked the first issue. Waid is a fantastic writer but this didn't work for me.
Too much happened in tie ins and was skipped over here. This was poorly paced, just rushed. I think it needed to be six issues with more happening in here so that readers didn't need to buy all the other books.
Civil war and house of m are good examples of what I mean. They aren't perfect stories but they have all of the information you need to understand the stories and enjoy them. The tie ins expand on what is happening within and add depth, they don't tell key parts that were missing from the event.
Second onwards, some action scenes were difficult to follow - I love MorA's art. This was the only time I had a negative thought about it.

[Roman Zarichnyi · Rating 3 out of 5]

«Абсолютна влада» — це велика подія від DC Comics, написана досвідченим Марком Вейдом. Ще до виходу перших випусків історія про те, як Аманда Воллер краде сили всіх мета-людей, обіцяла стати однією з найтемніших і найамбітніших подій видавництва за останні роки. Ідея протистояння між державним контролем і супергероями завжди викликає інтерес. Але чи дійсно все так, як подавали фанатам.

Подія починається з того, що Аманда Воллер за допомогою андроїда Запобіжника та інопланетної Королеви Брейніак викрадає здібності усіх супергероїв і суперзлодіїв. Світ у хаосі, а масова пропаганда змушує людей підтримати режим Воллер. Суспільство переконане, що це — шлях до миру. Але за лаштунками відбувається тихий терор. Вона створює Оперативну групу VII — армію, яка системно знищує всіх супергероїв. Але навіть у найтемнішу годину з'являється опір. Бетмен із друзями, позбавлені сил, розпочинають боротьбу проти свавілля Воллер.

Все рухається досить швидко, місцями — дуже ефектно. Але після прочитання залишається не надто багато для роздумів. Події масштабні, ставки високі, однак часто бракує моментів для емоційного занурення. Персонажі ніби пробігають повз: з’являються, щось роблять — і зникають. Це справляє враження такої собі хроніки подій, а не історії, де є місце драмі.

Марк Вейд майстерно малює образ Аманди Воллер — холодної, стратегічної, небезпечної. Це не карикатурна лиходійка, а жінка з баченням і методами, що викликають страх. Зазвичай Аманда з'являлася в окремих серіях, як «Загін Самогубців» чи «Миротворець». Але тут вона центр усього, вона хоче створити новий світопорядок. Це те, що мені сподобалося.

Як і в «Громадянській війні», тут порушується питання контролю над героями: хто має право вирішувати, що є добро, а що — загроза? Там — Тоні Старк і закон про реєстрацію героїв, тут — Аманда Воллер і радикальне знищення надлюдей. У обох історіях герої опиняються по різні боки конфлікту, і хоча «Абсолютна влада» менш збалансована, вона теж підіймає схожі питання.

Попри цікавий й інтригуючий концепт, «Абсолютна влада» залишає відчуття поспішності. Події розвиваються стрімко, але не завжди логічно. Що в результаті призвело до того, що сцени, які мали б бути емоційними та драматичними, такими не відчуваються.

«Абсолютна влада» — це приклад коміксу, який не виправдовує весь свій потенціал, але все ж залишається важливим для всесвіту DC. І якщо ви хочете бути в курсі, читати варто. Проте якщо ви шукаєте цілісну й глибоку історію лише в основних випусках — розчаруєтесь. Раджу ознайомитися із тай-інами, якщо хочете зрозуміти більше. І навіть тоді, це буде просто чергова подія. Не більше.

[Rory Wilding · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have been reading a number of the Dawn of DC titles, from Chip Zdarsky’s Batman run to Joshua Williamson’s Superman run, you will know that it has been building up to this one big event that will shake up the DC universe, at least all the superpowers based on Earth. And then you have Mark Waid and Dan Mora – having previously collaborated on Batman/Superman: World’s Finest and Shazam! – reunite to do the crossover event that is Absolute Power.

Along with the event itself, which is four issues long, the trade also includes two additional issues that serve as a prelude to said event. The first of which is Absolute Power 2024 FCBD Special Edition showcases Amanda Waller’s base of operations that the Hall of Order, formerly the Justice League’s Hall of Justice, where she and Failsafe try to remove the abilities of the metahumans they have imprisoned.

The next issue Absolute Power: Ground Zero have three narratives going, from Dreamer who is forced to work for Waller, to then Time Commander also being forced to rebuild Failsafe after his defeat from Zdarsky’s Bat-run. And finally, Waller manipulating the amnesiac Brainiac Queen 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. As much as these issues give some nice preparation for the event itself, so much of this book is built upon what has been going on through the Dawn of DC initiative, so you may have an easier time going into this book if you have a number of recent DC titles.

And then we move onto the main course that is Absolute Power, in which the Trinity of Evil that is Waller, Failsafe and the Brainiac Queen have successfully stolen the metahuman abilities of every hero and villain on planet Earth. If you have read some of his earlier DC storylines like JLA: Tower of Babel, Waid has always been interested in exploring what happens when superheroes lose their purpose when they are suddenly depowered. Certainly, at the start of this story, the Justice League is no more and so you are spending time with characters who are already on rocky ground, despite the years of long friendship.

Although you can never accuse Waid as being a cynical writer towards superheroes, he doesn’t hesitate to go dark. As seen in the first issue here, Waid evokes real-world politics, especially in the realm of fake news, with Batman deducing the fake videos that depict superheroes committing acts of violence and destruction across the globe, which were created by artificial intelligence. As much as Waller may have a point in how super powers can be mishandled, her methods, along with Failsafe and Brainiac Queen, are so ruthless that you do detest her, especially the treatment towards Superman’s son Jon Kent.

For as much darkness Waid throws, there is still an element of hope, even when all the heroes have lost their abilities. From A-list icons to obscure DC characters, Waid makes great use of the ensemble cast in few moments of awesome characterisation, such as Nightwing becoming the leader of a resistance, since he’s already the leader of the Titans. As always with these crossover events, you do get the massive slugfests featuring the number of superheroes clashing, but when you have artist Dan Mora and colourist Alejandro Sánchez, you have one of the spectacular books in recent DC history, relishing in brutal but spectacular action. Plus, since you have these iconic characters being depowered, they are given all new costumes which are pretty awesome.

There are tie-in issues to Absolute Power across the multiple DC titles, so in case what the other characters are doing during the event, you might want to check them out. As for the event itself, this is one of the best crossover events that showcases the continuing brilliance of Mark Waid and Dan Mora’s collaboration, which makes me excited to see what they have in store with Justice League Unlimited.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Absolute Power is a pretty clean and enjoyable event (rare for DC!), but also one that'll probably be wiped from my mind in a week. Amanda Waller has been scheming behind the scenes for a while now and finally unveils her big plan: use fake news to convince humanity that metahumans are bad, then depower and imprison all those metahumans with humanity's consent.

That tracks, I guess, since TikTok influencers would 100% get on board with Waller's vibes. The big first issue, in which the superheroes are hunted down by nigh-invincible Amazos, was pretty fun. Then we get two issues of interesting team-ups and knockdown fights, followed by a final issue finale that pretty much ties things in a bow. Rarely is there ever a sense that the heroes aren't going to make it out of this one - I think the fact that the event is just four issues leads to some serious compression. If I had to guess, I'd say everything took place over the course of maybe six hours? Yeesh.

Dan Mora is on art duty and it's predictably fantastic - except for in the battle scenes, where characters seem to get lost between the panels. There are also simply too many characters here, so there's almost no throughline (besides Nightwing assuming a leadership role). Without a specific someone (or even a few someones!) to care about, I ended up caring about no one.

[Dave Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume collects a solid miniseries. While the brief story told here clearly builds on another crossover and other events that were published earlier that same year, Waid and his editors provide enough background information and strong characterization that I didn't feel like I *had* to have read that other material (which, mostly, I had not).

What I did find more than a little problematic about the story has much to do with its aforementioned brevity. Waid and Mora are representing action on an epic scale, but it almost feels like a Reader's Digest version of the tale they wanted to tell. Why this event series basically only got 5 issues, I'm not sure. As with just about any summer event, much of the action is happening off panel, many times in tie-in issues of ongoing series. Yet I could have used more editorial notes reporting when the latter was the case.

On the plus side, Absolute Power left me wanting more, but it may have left me wanting more than it should have. It's well worth experiencing for one's self.

[Jordan Myers · Rating 3 out of 5]

This event is one of those events where the tie in issues really do matter. If you were to just read the four issues of absolute power, this would feel like a rushed event. Credit where credit is due, the authors of their respective titles contributed immensely to make the story make sense.

However, I feel that this story was rushed. It’s ironic to say something like that when the entire arc is 30+ issues. However, when you build something up to be so big to the point where the only way to end the story is to stack
Deus Ex Machinas on top of each other to defeat the villain in a way that makes sense, it’s going to feel rushed.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't as bad as I expected to be. I could happily go my whole life without ever reading about Amanda Waller again, but ugh I just love Nightwing so much, and it was nice to see some of the more obscure heroes here.

[Cristhian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buena idea, half ass execution

[David Dalton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Glad I finally got around to reading this! I enjoyed the whole thing. Now on to Task Force VII. Kudos to DC for the scope of this Absolute Power storyline. I see Jon played a key part and Nightwing as well.

[Emmett Spain · Rating 3 out of 5]

A so-so event full of conveniences and hasty resolutions. Having plenty of the story clearly taking place in tie-in issues didn’t help. A fun idea and some nice art, though.

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

why is damian white

[Keegan Schueler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great comic event that is great with some knowledge about what the heroes are doing in their own comic runs during this event.

[Frédéric · Rating 3 out of 5]

DC has produced a real crossover event in a way that Marvel hasn't been able to do for a long time. The problem is that I've never really liked this type of event. Here the tie-ins really serve a purpose instead of being pure cash grabs, but that's more than 30 titles to read for a 4-part event and frankly it pisses me off.

That said, the basic plot isn't bad and Waller, the villain you all love to hate, is well used. The plot is well done, there's tension and action, and Dan Mora's drawings are excellent.

In these dark times, when Marvel is reaching the bottom of mediocrity on just about all its licences, DC seems to have found the path to refreshing creativity. I can't wait for All-in

[Malum · Rating 2 out of 5]

Without the tie-ins this is just bits and pieces of a story. It reads like the outline of an idea rather than a fully fleshed event.

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't generally like these big crossover event things, but I figured, if anybody's going to get one right, it'll be Mark Waid.

Guess nobody's getting one right.

Yeah, there are a few good bits - Nightwing was a bigtime leader. Mora's artwork. And... umm...

Too many characters, most of which are just clickbait cameos (Oooh, look there's Ralph Dibny for a panel being captured!), never any real sense that Waller's going to succeed (maybe for a page at the end OF THE FIRST ISSUE, which basically means three straight issues of the heroes scoring win after win), too many characters disappearing for long stretches (by pure happenstance, I actually got the SUPERMAN trade that tied into this at the same time. It was 100% unintentional, I had no clue the books were connected, so at least I have some clue what happened to Superman off-page, although it DIDN'T MATTER A WHIT). Good thing Aquaman just happened to be carrying black mercies around in a bag. Or that Waller did basically no work-up on Dreamer's personality and psyche profile, so she couldn't see that betrayal coming 100 pages in advance.

My two biggest takeaways - this all happened because the Justice League disbanded, BUT THE JUSTICE LEAGUE WAS TALKING STRATEGY LESS THAN TEN PAGES INTO THE STORY. They were collaborating better than they usually do! So yeah, the big finale felt absurd. (Also, I had ZERO clue the JLA was disbanded. It isn't referenced in ABSOLUTE POWER anywhere. I don't really keep up with most DCU titles, so that's partly on me, but if it matters - No, if it's the big message, the moral of it all, it should be in the book and it should be a continuing theme. The continued chatter on the omnipresent "superhero communication channel" undermines that entirely. They operated as the Justice League for the entire book, which makes the final few pages inane.)

Second - Again, I don't keep up with the DCU in general. I'm not sure I've read an appearance of Amanda Waller since ... maybe John Ostrander's SUICIDE SQUAD (the FROM THE ASHES miniseries he did long after the regular series ended). I don't know what's going on with her lately, I admit it. But man, I HATE seeing Wall as a mustache-twirling villain. It's so fucking lazy. I had the same reaction twenty years ago when Max Lord got his Snidely Whiplash on. True story: I didn't discover JLI until ten years after it was originally published. (I wasn't reading comics when it came out.) When I read it, Max was in limbo. I assumed some lazy comics writer had taken a full heel turn with Max, so I was actually surprised when that didn't happen until 2006ish. Moral ambiguity has only one path in superhero comics - straight into full-on, looney tunes supervillainy. Cue the evil monologue! (It's true; it's what brought Waller down!) It's ironic coming from a guy who loves Superman like I do (the only DC Comics I more or less keep up with, and even then, I'm a library reader rather than a buyer), but the inability of superhero (DC?) comics to deal with moral complexity is really discouraging and frustrating. It pisses me off to see the Wall treated this way. She's a bad person, but she's not a world conquering wannabe despot. It's creatively lazy and morally unimaginative.

[Subham · Rating 4 out of 5]

As far as event goes this was a fun one I really like the build up to this and showing how Waller used AI and deepfakes and disinformation using online media to make people hate heroes and all that and its so easy to do and you see the parts from House of Brainiac and Failsafe tying into this and well how the heroes are in the backfoot and having lost their powers and being hunted by the people who they wanna save and all that and the way they have to regroup after being defeated like that is awesome!

I love how crazy it got with how the heroes are being hunted and all and regrouping and there are tie-ins where they go on their separate missions and its fun reading that but I love the way how it has two battles like in Fortress of Solitude and then on Themysciria like each time its Nightwing taking the lead and assigning people their mission and yeah #2 and #3 issues feel very similar in the way of how its written and structure of the comic. But then again its conveying the panic of the moment and how they have to fight back against the villains and their onslaught and even hiding from them and coming up with a plan.

I love that moment where Jon gets infected and there is this great emotional moment of father vs son and how they save him and it really highlights Nightwings role as a lead of the DCU after Dark crisis and Beast world and thats awesome seeing the elevation of one of DC's premier heroes and omg that part where its showing what Barry has to with the multiversal variants popping in and it shows how far Waller has planned.. its insane and just shows the lengths this woman will go to ensure her absolute power which is a great contradiction to her original motives!

I love how the battle ends and its obvious and not everybody will like it, but its cool and it will be interesting to see how the heroes handle the stuff with the multiverse and power swaps and thats the exciting part of the next chapter of DCU!

Also love Mora's artwork here and he has to draw so many superheroes and its not easy but he does it so well and its cool to see! He really levelled up here and am glad he is gonna be drawing the main JL series next and its gonna look so good paired with Waid's writing!

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm using this to cover the various tie-ins etc for this series, one that I had both hope and doubts for. The doubts arise from some of Waid's comments published over the years regarding how he think some of these characters should be handled, and frankly I disagree. The other is-

Could this title's events at least feel like they mean something? Multiple small intra-company crossovers had been leading up to the event series and often the payoff hasn't been there (ex: Snyder's Metal event and its various spin offs).

This series, while smaller in scope than many comic book company events series ( ex: Marvel's Spider-Man an X-Men events) what takes place here feel like it makes sense to me. Amanda Waller, when executed well, has always been an intelligent woman with a plan/plans, I mean you don't usually outthink her. She's been laying the plans for taking out the heroes, and sowing public mistrust in them for awhile in various titles.

And, now she succeeds by making allies with those who yearn for control as much as she does.

Spoilers













I will admits that I think the restoration of the heroes' powers was a bit of a Deus ex machina, and dropping hints some of them now have altered or new abilities doesn't work for me short term.

On the plus side is Waller's portrayal. For those not familiar with her I recommend Ostrander's portrayal in the Suicide Squad, and Ridley's in the Absolute Power Origins tie-in series.

I'm not certain how I feel about the multiverse being written out of DC Comics again. My initial reaction is that it will return in a few years.

The end of this series leads well in the DC All In/Absolute Power book where Snyder convinces me he might be able to write super heroes despite what I think about Metal (side note: I really like his series American Vampire which is why my expectations for Metal wee so high).

[Ya Boi Be Reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

An explosively fun event teeming with plot points and ideas from the overall rebellion of depowered supes to smaller ones like Jon Kent’s robotification or the Amazo robots gaining some of the heroism themself. It’s got a fair amount of moving parts and lots of fun action chockful of wonderful art from the GOAT Dan Mora. Any DC event with Dan Mora on the art you know is gonna be worth it on that alone. The story itself is a fun Rebellion story of depowered supes fighting against impossible odds. Twists and turns abound and some nice characterization goes to some characters with Dreamer being a highlight. Dreamer debuted in DC comics during Dawn of DC iirc and her introduction has been immaculate especially here with her finale with Amanda where she wipes Waller's memories just out of reach and also continues to develop the Jon Kent bisexual love triangle I'm dying to read more of in that one series coming out of DC All-In.
It does tie-in to some of the larger Dawn of DC stuff (Birds of Prey team and characters, Failsafe, Waller’s whole deal for this entire time of DC, the leadup Suicide Squad miniseries) which I enjoy since this is the real end of the Dawn of DC but nit too much which is a bit of a shame. This is THE finale and I get they only have four issues but still. Maybe the tie-ins deal with that? Speaking of, I do wish we got the Amazo robots a bit more fleshed out but that is the nature of comic events. Usually those “fleshing out” things are done on the side in tie-ins which seems to be collected in the Task Force VII trade which I hope to read next.

[Will Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

I usually love a Waid/Mora team-up, but this one faltered for me.

Great first issue- Waller turns media and the populace against our heroes as well as Amazos to strip our heroes of their powers! And she also has Failsafe and Braniac Queen on her team?! This is gonna be tasty.

But then there are about 35 tie-in issues each with just a tiny sliver of information that moves the story forward, kinda. At least to the whereabouts of certain heroes. But then some Amazos gain so much power and don't do anything with it. Or grow a conscience because they absorbed the heroes conscience with the power.

SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT
Near the beginning, Waller only wants to depower the heroes so she can capture them all and put them in prison, but...Waller is smarter than that. Any non-captured heroes will obviously try to spring their friends. And a lot of the non-powered are the Bat-family and such, who are so formidable anyway. And she isn't above putting bombs in brains and killing or at least threatening to kill family members. So...honestly she should just kill our heroes.

And then at the end, when our heroes overcome everything (duh), Waller yells a rant confessing everything she does like it's a poorly written cop procedural. C'mon. I didn't love.

[Ethan Gohl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolute Power is Amanda Waller taken to her natural conclusion, which is something that feels LONG overdue. The buildup to it was pretty good but left a little bit to be desired, though compared to other DC events of late, the lead-in was outstanding.

As for the event itself? I'm a little disappointed. It reads like DC wanted to get it over with as fast as possible. We never really get to the height of the tension. The idea is that Waller is taking over and stripping heroes of their powers, but she never REALLY takes over. Plus the idea of heroes needing to find a way to beat her without any meta abilities, magic, or signature gadgets is really compelling, but at the end of the day, they stop her with... Powers from heroes who hadn't been depowered. Who are also most of the A-tier heroes. So we aren't even seeing a ton of fringe heroes needing to use obscure powers.

Dan Mora's art is fantastic of course, and the writing is pretty solid. Just rushed. Absolute Power could've been treated like 52, and I think that would've given it the time to really take off

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This latest DC event series is written by Mark Waid and drawn by Dan Mora. I don't think I need to say much else, that should really do all the work for me, but I'll go into a little more detail.

Amanda Waller manages to gaslight the world into thinking superheroes are all evil, and unleashes a group of Amazo robots to drain the powers from every DC hero and villain they can get their hands on. Because she's a cow. The heroes go underground, resisting as best they can, until they manage to muster up enough help to stage a counterattack.

Absolute Power pulls in threads from across the DCU - there's been set-up in Green Arrow, Superman, Batman, and beyond, and it feels like an all-encompassing event that affects all your favourite characters. The aftermath reverberates back through all of those titles as well, and while we don't have any massive deaths or turnovers in status quo, this is still as solid as you'd expect from a powerhouse team like Waid and Mora.

[Shaun Stanley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Absolute Power collects Absolute Power 1-4, Absolute Power: Ground Zero, and Absolute Power 2024: FCBD written by Mark Waid, Nicole Maines, Chip Zdarsky, and Joshua Williams with art by Dan Mora, Skylar Partridge, V. Ken Marrion, Gleb Melnikov, and Mikel Janin.

Amanda Waller has teemed with Failsafe and Queen Brainiac to convince the world that super heroes are a threat to humanity’s existence. Unleashing a firestorm of fake AI footage of heroes committing unspeakable acts against those they are sworn to protect, Waller puts forth a plan to lure heroes out into the open when she then steals their powers. With most of Earth’s mightiest heroes now powerless, they will have to rely on their cunning and teamwork to save the day.

A decent setup that just ultimately didn’t have any meaningful impact. So much of the story (as per the course for DC event books these days) happened in tie-in issues and not in the main event series. I think the biggest fault is that the stakes just never feel real. I know superhero deaths are played out as well, but this was the place for a big to hit home on Walker’s threat. At the end of the day, this just felt like a long Justice League arc instead of a major event.