Absolute Power #3 review

I’m glad this event is only four issues long because it’s already starting to try my patience. After last month was wasted on Nightwing worship and tie-in setups we do get to see the heroes put a plan into motion and fight back. Unfortunately, the comic just isn’t very interesting. Let’s get into it.

The worst mistake this issue makes is giving the story no room to breathe. It was only last month that Jon Kent was “assimilated” by Brainiac Queen and by the end of this issue, he had already been rescued. (Whether removing his cybernetic components will leave him with scars is yet to be seen but if I had to guess… you won’t even know it happened.) We are given no time to sit with his transformation and he does essentially nothing as “The Super Son.” It’s just more proof that nothing in this comic matters. At least if he did something and it was difficult for the heroes to save him you could create the illusion that this matters but as it is it’s more like wearing an eyepatch for a day and pulling it off to reveal your eye is perfectly healthy.

This issue also spoils the endings of some of the tie-in books that won’t be published for a few weeks still. So, we get a similar feeling of this book’s inconsequentiality as we do from the Jon Kent situation (those plot points were introduced last issue as well) but also the sense that the tie-ins themselves aren’t that important if they aren’t even allowed to be published before their plotlines are resolved. Not the feeling you want from the supposed most important book of the year.

To make matters worse, part three continues to make the previous issue retroactively worse by Nightwing’s weak portrayal. I can’t buy that he’s a good leader when his leadership style in this book feels so ineffective. He flip-flops from conversational to yelling at people and projects very little confidence. Bottom line is, he’s certainly not inspiring anyone and if he was my boss, I would not be a happy employee.

Of course, this could be down to the weak scripting in general. It’s not that Waid’s scripting is incompetent, it’s simply bland. He gets the job done but there’s no style to be found. All the characters sound the same and no one has much of a personality. People say functional things in a functional manner. I’m just left bored.

Speaking of functionality, I do sometimes feel that Dan Mora’s art can be a bit generic. He’s an incredible artist from a technical standpoint, of course, and I do always enjoy his work. That fact is no different here but I’ve never been able to claim Mora is one of my favorite artists and I think that simply is because everything is too perfect; too correct. He doesn’t push his stylization far enough. I’ll never complain about reading a Mora comic and I’m quite looking forward to his upcoming arc on Superman but when the writing of the comic is bland, as it is here, it does start to feel like the art would elevate the comic a bit if it were more daring.

Recommended if…

• You were only here for the art anyway
• A dull event is better than a terrible one
• You skipped the tie-ins

Overall

This was a lackluster issue that I was barely able to summon up any interest in. It’s never terrible but often uninspired and tedious as the events of the previous issue are undermined and the inconsequentiality of the modern event is put front and center. They might as well start using the tagline “Everything will always be the same.”

Score: 5/10

On that note, it’s time for an announcement. Absolute Power #4 and a collaborative review of the DC ALL-IN Special #1 next month will be my last regular reviews for Batman News. In the meantime, look out for my final Catwoman review in two weeks. I’ll talk more about this decision next month but, for now, I’ll just say that while I won’t be reviewing anymore, I also won’t be leaving the site!