DC Comics’ summer event comes to a close this week with Absolute Power #4. With Brainiac Queen beaten by the heroes, Amanda Waller’s Trinity of Evil has weakened, especially with the imprisoned heroes now free. In a big action-packed finale, the heroes take the fight to Waller and have a few surprises up their sleeves.
Absolute Power #4 is full of wall-to-wall action, though it starts off in a quiet place. The key to this issue is Green Arrow, who has been helping Waller from the start. Writer Mark Waid catches us up with a scene between Waller and Green Arrow, making it fairly easy to pick this up and understand what’s going on. The heroes are out of prison and taking the fight to Waller’s doorstep.
It’s all out action from there, with artist Dan Mora and color artist Alejandro Sanchez packing the pages with a ton of heroes in any given panel. They’re up against soldiers with powerful weaponry, but with most of the powers of the heroes gone, it’s a bit of a suicide mission.
Green Arrow plays a big part in this finale.
Credit: DC Comics
Meanwhile, Flash is facing off against Waller’s backup plan: multiversal heroes from other dimensions! Multiple elements are in play here, including the Amazos, who enter the fight a little late. All in all, it’s fairly easy to track what’s going on, even if some of the action scenes are chaotic as all heck. Mora uses motion blur here and there to draw your eye, but I can’t say it’s easy to know how the battlefield is aligned.
All that said, if you’re wondering how the heroes will get their powers back, it’s fairly well depicted. In fact, it’s almost too easy in some respects, but this is a shorter event after all. Mora delivers in an awesome double page layout with minimal dialogue all the heroes getting their mojo back and it’s a sight to see.
This issue also does a good job of wrapping up the Waller problem because, of course, her reign needs to be tamped down and reset. This is superhero comics, after all. While the ideas in these last few pages are good, the exposition-heavy delivery leaves a bit to be desired. The visuals are cramming a lot in as characters talk across from each other, making the final few pages less exciting and more set up for the DC “All In” initiative.
Absolute Power #4 is a good finale that wraps up key elements and establishes new directions for heroes and villains. It all comes together and makes sense, not feeling ham-fisted or made up on the spot. It does, however, struggle to deliver these revelations clearly or, in some cases, in interesting visual ways. A lot of exposition makes one wonder if this series could have been five issues to let scenes breath and get more visually interesting moments, but as the final issue before DC’s “All In” initiative, it does a lot.
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