The Absolute Evil one-shot radically shook up the Absolute DC Universe, revealing that in this world, the villains have banded together to exert their influence over nearly every corner of the world. Helping them is their winged enforcer, Hawkman, who will brutally enforce their will on anyone foolish enough to stand in their way. Absolute Superman #16 builds on these revelations, showcasing what made Hawkman the way he is, and how he deals with Superman.
Hawkman is arguably one of the trickiest characters to write for in DC. Putting aside the byzantine mess that is his origins, he can be a colossal asshole at best and a poor man’s Wolverine at worst. Jason Aaron turns these disadvantages into advantages by playing on the different dynamics between Hawkman and Superman. Superman will drop whatever he’s doing to help someone in need, and doesn’t care who he has to fight as long as justice is done. Hawkman, though he calls himself “one of the good guys”, is more than willing to turn a blind eye to Lazarus Corp’s atrocities and smack Superman down. As for the origin bit, Hawkman has some surprising ties to another DC character that make a surprising amount of sense.
Juan Ferrerya once again delivers incredible artwork, particularly in depicting battles between Hawkman and Superman. Hawkman puts his massive mace to work, sending Superman bouncing off a series of cars; even when the Man of Steel uses his heat vision, all it does is transform a very heavy mace into a very heavy flaming mace. That’s nothing compared to a page when Superman literally punches Hawkman through all five stories of a garage. Ferrerya takes great care to showcase the impact this has and the damage that both combatants leave in their wake.
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Another aspect of Absolute Superman that’s gone unspoken is how Aaron’s story is slowly redefining the Superman mythos into a somewhat familiar shape, while still leaving plenty of room for twists and turns. Lois Lane ends up getting a job as a reporter, but not in the way fans might think. A longtime Superman villain makes an appearance, this time reimagined as something out of a Cronenberg film. There’s even a brief reference to the other heroes in the Absolute Universe, and given that Absolute Batman and Absolute Wonder Woman just wrapped up a crossover, the idea of Kal-El meeting other costumed champions isn’t totally off the table.
There is one other dangling thread from Absolute Evil that Absolute Superman #16 addresses, and it’s how Brainiac comes back into the fray. On the one hand, Aaron and Ferrerya never let readers forget that this version of Brainiac is less the calm, collected machine they know and more of a mad scientist. On the other, there’s a dark implication that a villain is about to become a villain due to a severely tragic event, and that feels like the wrong move to make.
Absolute Superman #16 builds on the foundation of Absolute Evil and hints at the larger world Kal-El inhabits. It’s also packed wall to wall with the kind of action and horror you wouldn’t usually expect in a Superman book, but that’s what makes this comic stand out.
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