For the last three years I have embarked on a Comics Odyssey, reading and writing reviews of comics towards an ambitious goal which I only attained on one of three attempts. This year, I still want to read more comics and write reviews, but I’m not setting a specific goal. I’ll just document them and number them. We’ll see how far I can go . . . . . . .
#496 ABSOLUTE POWER #1 of 4 by Mark Waid and Dan Mora (DC Comics, September 2024) “Chapter One: Powerless” . . . the publisher’s synopsis . . . . .
“THE TRINITY OF EVIL HAS WON. DC's epic summer event kicks off with a bang, as the combined might of FAILSAFE and the BRAINIAC QUEEN has at last given Amanda Waller the ability to steal the meta-human 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. It's a shocking blitzkrieg across the globe that is decades in the making . . .”
I’d already made up my mind that I was going to stay with this one and see it through; but the inclusion of the fabulous Dan Mora on art is extra incentive. Here’s why: great detail, expressive action, overlapping panels, Mora makes the superheroes look angry, disoriented, and hopeless in all the right moments. Ditto the determined and angry appearance of Waller. I’ve been a big fan of Mora ever since ONCE & FUTURE KING.
If this series stays as good as Issue #1, then it will deserve to be called “epic”. There’s bound to be some changes to many of this iconic characters - - we’ll have to see if it sticks after this wraps up and what’s going on six months to a year from now.
Among the victims and/or captives and/or wounded this issue are Superman, Animal Man & Animal Girl,Cyborg, The Flash Family, John Constantine, Wonder Woman, and others. Blink, and you might miss them as the take-downs often only appear in one panel.
Waller’s multi-media campaign is scary effective and reminds me of several disinformation efforts underway in our real lives. She says: “In a world run in a media echo chamber, no matter how many busloads of nuns Superman saves, you can make an uncomfortably large number of people doubt their own eyes and ears . . . . . All you have to do is refine your message into a memorable catchphrase - - - superheroes are coming for you . . . and repeat it fifty thousand times.” Go, Mark Waid! Thrill us! FOUR STARS.
#497 - #498 n EPITAPHS FROM THE ABYSS #1 by various creators (Oni-Lion Forge Publishing/EC Comics, July 2024) See my detailed review on this blog for July 31, 2024 FOUR STARS.
#499 ABSOLUTE POWER: TASK FORCE VII #1 of 7 “Last Son” by Leah Williams and Caitlin Yarsky (DC Comics, September 2024) The publisher’s synopsis:
“SUPER NO MORE! With the assault on Metropolis's heroes complete, Amanda Waller's latest living weapon, the Last Son, sets his sights on the other most powerful supers in the DCU...the Marvel Family! Will their combined powers be enough to survive this terrifying threat? In this biweekly series we'll see the ABSOLUTE POWER event through the eyes of evil--as told from the point of view of the TRINITY OF EVIL!”
This spin-off mini-series will showcase a different creative team each issue and a different scenario, supposedly from the perspective of Waller’s team.
Well, so far the point-of-view / narration is mostly neutral, but it does give more panel time to Waller’s Task Force - so there you have it.
In the main series, Failsafe and Brainiac Queen designed an army of Amazos for Amanda Waller, each ready to strip super-heroes of their powers. In this first issue, youngsters Billy and Mary of the Shazam family have retained only a minimum of their power and are at the Rock of Eternity searching for some magic to restore them. There is a cute bespectacled well-dressed dinosaur who serves as accountant and tries to help them, only to slow them down with required paperwork. The Amazo, this one is the Last Son with Superman’s powers, finds them and fights occur. Even Black Adam joins in the action, this time on the right side of things.
I’m not sure that this title is essential to following the main Absolute Power story, but when I read Issue #1 of Absolute Power it seemed like too much was happening off-panel. I thought maybe some of that would be covered in the Task Force series. So far, I haven’t seen it. Still, I enjoyed the story and the art was engaging. I don’t regret it. THREE AND ONE-QUARTER STARS.
#500 NEMESIS: ROGUES’ GALLERY #1 by Mark Millar and Valerio Giangiordano (Dark Horse Comics, July 2024) I read the first NEMESIS mini-series, but haven’t been back to check out NEMESIS: RELOADED and BIG GAME - - - but I know this much: If you’re looking for explosive action escapism and ultra-violence, Nemesis is where to go.
The addition of Giangiordano on art this time lends a realistic, highly detailed and exciting visual look to the book.
Nemesis is in the hospital ward of a penitentiary, heavily bandaged and paralyzed from the neck down following the events of BIG GAME and his takedown. But never count out a immobile patient, especially when it’s this guy.
Following a successful break-out by heavily armed terrorists (who decide to blow up the compound on their way out the door) Nemesis is secreted away to an underground base of the Temple of Hana, an ancient Babylonian Death Cult. There, he’ll heal and be restored thanks to the daily blood-letting of hundreds of captives. It’s his old training grounds, and they will bring him back to seek revenge in ways that I can only imagine and shudder.
He’s not the only one seeking revenge and there’s another group just as determined to get back at him. I think I’d prefer to read this all at one time, so I’ll probably wait on the eventual collection. In the meantime, I can always read those two mini-series I mentioned. THREE AND ONE-QUARTER STARS.
#501 GREEN ARROW #13 “Team Arrow Strikes Back, Part 1” by Joshua Williamson and Amancay Nahuelpan (DC Comics, August 2024) There is some neat art in this issue, very expressive, especially on the text-free pages where what happens in the panels tells a lot. This is a tie-in to Absolute Power, but it occurs before Absolute Power: Ground Zero - so this is something that was happening before all that chaos.
Green Arrow was under the thrall of Amanda Waller for some time, but is free now and contemplating his steps forward. He decides that Waller is right and he’s going to join her forces - - but he won’t take any guff from Peacemaker (who is as divisive as ever). He tells old sidekick Roy Harper/Arsenal that he’s not Green Arrow anymore, just a concerned citizen who believes that something has to change and Waller is right. He bequeaths his property, possessions and kingdom to Roy. Upon learning of all this, son Conner decides to take up the mantle as Green Arrow and assembles a team behind him.
I kind of want to see where this goes from here. THREE STARS.
#502 - #503 HELLO DARKNESS #1 by various creators (Boom! Studios, July 2024)
HELLO DARKNESS is a mixed bag of diversity of themes, twisty endings, series beginnings, and quality of writing and art. However, I absolutely love it. There is something here for every one and every taste, as long as you like horror comics anthologies and like it dark, which this certainly is.
Two anthology series debuting in the same month? Hurray, I say. Who says the format is dead? If you like this type of fare, you’ll need to be diligent and pre-order future issues of this as well as EPITAPHS FROM THE ABYSS. Why? Simply because comic shops aren’t going to order many extra shelf copies. Despite the success of CREEPSHOW and similar fare, horror anthologies in comics has been seen as a risk for comic shops, and past sales data seems to support that.
The opening story here is “Contagious” by Jude Ellison S. Doyle with simplistic art by Letizia Cadonici that helps get the shock value across as it lulls you into complacency.. But the story is far from simple, and pretty gruesome. Young kids in school begin passing on a “social contagion” to each other, a mass hysteria that sees them killing their parents.
“Stay In Your Lane” by Dave Cook and David Cousins is best described as road rage inside a bowling alley. Bloody, abrupt, and disturbing.
James Tynion and Werther Dell’Edera return to the SOMETHING IS KILLING THE CHILDREN storyline with the first episode of “A Monster Hunter Walks Into A Bar, Part One” which says it all.
Robert Hack has some creepy one-panel cartoons in the short one-pager “I Can’t Take You Anywhere”. Sarah Anderson writes and draws “The Siren”, a creepy lighthouse-keeper tale presented in storybook fashion. Don’t be fooled.
A young gay man finds employment as a surrogate for body parts, fostering limbs by allowing a hand to grow out of his stomach in “The Foster” by Steve Orlando and A.L. Kaplan. If you met this person, which hand would you shake?
Garth Ennis and Becky Cloonan slow-walk into an apocalyptic tale (a devastated London) by focusing on a group of friends who discuss politics and world issues over drinks, not realizing what they may be waking up to in “The War, Part One”.
Forty-four pages of story and art for $5.99. THREE AND THREE-QUARTER STARS.
#504 ABSOLUTE POWER: ORIGINS #1 of 3 by John Ridley and Alisha Martinez (DC Comics, September 2024) Synopsis: “Amanda Waller stands on the cusp of absolute power in the DC universe . . . but her true motivations lie in the mysteries of her origin. Mysteries at last revealed . . .”
This issue helped me realize why Waller is such a bad ass and so determined.
No, I’m not going to spoil it by sharing what I learned here. John Ridley does a bang-up job of showing the key moments in Waller’s past that helped foster her current mind-set, as well as demonstrating that she’s been manipulative, blunt and inconsiderate of the effects of her actions from the get-go. At least I know why, and can empathize - - but not too much. She’ll never be a favored character to me, if she ever was, and I can remember her depictions in those John Ostrander scripted SUICIDE SQUAD stories from the 1980’s. (The best version, in my opinion.)
The art is good, and there’s even a cool compare-and-contrast showing a flashback to Bruce Wayne’s defining moment that led to Batman with Waller’s incident that put her on a decades-long mission.
Cool stuff. THREE AND ONE-HALF STARS.
#505 TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES #1 by Jason Aaron and Joelle Jones (IDW Publishing, July 2024) Say what you will about the struggles IDW has faced recently, having the G.I. JOE and TRANSFORMERS franchises stripped away and moved over to Image - - - they have done a commendable job with the TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES keeping that licensed property upfront and popular.
The pairing of Aaron and Jones was a super-smart move. This book has a dynamic look and the story is really engrossing.
Raphael arrives as the newest inmate at San Quentin State Prison for reasons unexplained and becomes a puppet/servant to the prison warden. He breaks up an escape attempt and gets a promise of an early release if he continues to follow directions.
Problem is the three new inmates who arrive. Under that orange prison uniform they are Foot Clan ninjas who immediately make things difficult for Raphael, whose situation is no longer certain. FOUR STARS.
#506 ABSOLUTE POWER: TASK FORCE VII #2 of 7 by John Layman and Max Raynor (DC Comics, September 2024)
On a mission to Atlantis, the power-sapping Amazo called Depth Charge is interrupted by the Doom Patrol, but they are no match for him. Their super-powers are removed and absorbed, all except for Robotman who is a construct and not a meta-human.
The Doom Patrol, with the assistance of Tempest, head to Atlantis to help warn Aquaman but arrive too late. His powers have already been stripped by Depth Charge, which makes it no longer possible for Aquaman to breathe underwater.
Several battles occur. This is an action-packed issue with some nice fluid (ha!) art. Not going to tell you how it ends, but you can figure out that things won’t get positive until it gets nearer to series end. THREE AND ONE-QUARTER STARS.
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