This Underrated DC Character Has Become the Absolute Universe’s Next Huge Problem

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John Dodge is an MTV Writer for CBR who specializes in movies, television, comics, and pop culture. He has a deep knowledge of franchises like Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Marvel, and DC Comics, along with a passion for indie and horror titles. An expert on obscure productions from the ’80s and ’90s, John is known for his encyclopedic recall of cult classics like Beetleborgs.

One of the most underrated villains in the history of DC Comics is officially gunning for the Absolute Green Lantern.

In a preview of Absolute Green Lantern #9 (by Al Ewing, Sid Kotian, Pressy, and Lucas Gattoni) from DC Comics, readers find one Doctor Steve Dayton toiling away at his latest breakthrough invention, the Mento Device. With this incredible piece of tech, Dayton is able to communicate with a consciousness unlike any he has ever seen. Unfortunately, his assistant Terry is anything but what he appears. Instead, Terry is in fact just another mask being worn by Nemesis, the one assassin no one ever sees coming, even when he is right in front of them.

Absolute Green Lantern #9

Written by AL EWING
Art by SID KOTIAN
Colors by PRESSY
Letters by LUCAS GATTONI
Main cover art by JAHNOY LINDSAY
Variant covers by BENGAL; GUILLEM MARCH; and YASMINE PUTRI

First seen in the pages of 1980's The Brave and the Bold #166 in Cary Burkett and Dan Spiegle's closing story, "Nemesis," Tom Tresser was once a government agent tasked with clearing his brother's name and uncovering a dangerous conspiracy. While Tom was believed to have perished, he instead slipped into the shadows and emerged as Nemesis, an agent capable of taking on the appearance of almost anyone thanks to his mastery of the art of disguise and his specialized dissolving masks.

Over the years, Nemesis has been a key part of numerous teams, including the Shadow Fighters and the Suicide Squad, and even enjoyed a short-lived romance with Wonder Woman. While Tresser has fallen largely into the realm of obscurity as a character, the Absolute version of the character has the opportunity to become the most infamous Nemesis of all time, not to mention the deadliest.

DC Comics' Absolute Green Lantern series has reimagined some of the most iconic interstellar heroes of all time, and to great effect. While Sojourner Mullein has found herself in possession of a Green Lantern ring, other classic heroes have found themselves wielding entirely different kinds of cosmic power. In the case of Hal Jordan, that power has come in the form of the destructive, near-uncontrollable Black Hand.

Sojourner and Hal are far from the only classic Green Lantern characters to receive a new kind of power in the Absolute Universe. In the case of John Stewart, that power has come in the form of the Gold Flame, or Aur. With this new power, Stewart has been able to reach heights he never imagined possible. In a similarly shocking turn, the Guy Gardner of the Absolute Universe went from a simple small-town sheriff who was seemingly obliterated to the wielder of the Red Flame, or Rao, one of the four levels of light that comprise the Emotional Electromagnetic Spectrum as it exists in the Absolute Universe.

Absolute Green Lantern #9 goes on sale December 3 from DC Comics.