Reviewer: Tim Byrne
Story Title: Absolute Power (Part 2)
Written by: Jeph Loeb
Penciled by: Carlos Pacheco
Inked by: Jesus Merino
Colored by: Laura Martin
Lettered by: Richard Starkings
Editor: Eddie Berganza
Publisher: DC Comics
Well, the new arc of Superman/Batman truly begins with this, Part 2 of ‘Absolute Power’. The first part set up what appeared to be, to all intents and purposes, and ‘Elseworlds’ story, with its portrayal of a fascist Earth rules by Superman and Batman.
Gradually it became apparent that villains from a thousand years in the future had altered the past, changing the origins of Superman and Batman, as well as systematically eliminating the ‘origins’ of such other heroes as Green Lantern and Aquaman. While reading, I pretend to ignore the feeling that I’m watching an old episode of Superfriends that, at least to this extent, used an identical plotline.
After the reveal at the end of the last issue, we follow Wonder Woman and Uncle Sam as they recruit ‘second-string’ heroes to their cause. As someone without a vast background in DC lore, I must freely admit that I had no real if I was meant to recognise heroes such as ‘Doll Man’ and ‘Roy Lincoln’.
Simultaneously, Superman and Batman gradually realise that cracks are appearing in their new, ‘perfect’ reality.
I won’t give away much of the last third of the issue, but suffice to say that events happen that will clearly be revised by subsequent altering of the time-line, and a huge hint is dropped that I assume will tie-in to what appeared to be an odd moment in the initial issues of Loeb’s run on this series.
Although the first issue drew me into this story, there is a real sense of disconnect from the Supergirl storyline that concluded with issue 13. While I don’t think its unreasonable to assume that there will be a substantial reversion to the status quo by the time this series is over, its certainly fun watching the significant and topsy-turvy world take shape. Loeb’s patented internal monologues take on a whole different shape in the heads of the newly-fascist heroes.
As for the art, I kept thinking that I was reading Jim Lee’s run on Batman. Huge fight scenes with a number of heroes and splash pages certainly play to the strengths of Carlos Pacheco. His revision of the costume of Wonder Woman is certainly interesting, although it would have been interesting if more dramatic tinkering had taken place with the costumes of Superman and Batman. And it was never explained why Batman needed a secret identity if he was ruling the world.
I’m looking forward to the next issue, particularly if my suspicions about the tie-in to early in the series are justified.
Quicker than I expected, the situation devolves into a knock-down punchout, with numerous and significant casualties.
