The big two publishers, Marvel and DC, have been over the moon for title-wide events recently. Over the past few years, events have taken over comics. As soon as one ends, another will ultimately begin. Thankfully, DC has paused on this, but Marvel has not. They went from Blood Hunt almost directly into One World Under Doom. This deluge of mediocre fiction has turned off many readers, including myself.
A particular event I wanted to speak about is Mark Waid’s Absolute Power, which many comic fans have heralded as one of the best. I am not one of those fans, however. After reading the initial issue, I jumped off the title and all of the many subsequent tie-ins.
To me, the idea was silly and made little sense, even in the superhero world in which it encompasses. Amanda Waller enacts a plan to take down all of the superheroes that she distrusts. To this, she does a press junket where she shows doctored videos of the heroes doing notorious things. I’m not a lawyer, but I believe that’s illegal. Everyone around the country believes the falsehood, forcing the heroes into seclusion where Waller sends her Amazo robots to steal their powers.
This is not how Amazos work, of course. They replicate powers, they don’t steal them. Upon even cursory investigation, it would be quite obvious to your six-year-old neighbor that a robot cannot steal the powers of a person casting spells, the DNA of Kryptonians, the technology inside of armor, the cosmic energy from an alien ring, or the speed force from a speedster. Much less all at the same time. It was silly from the start, but the repercussions have continued into 2025.
After the event ended, the powers were returned to the heroes, but there were some Freaky Friday events to come in the aftermath. For one, Lois inherited Kryptonian powers from Zod, making her Superwoman. How, you might ask? It’s a magical mystery. The answer is only for the writers to know. The existence of Superwoman was fun for three issues, but now, over half a year later, it has been drawn out too long. The more Lois interacts with members of the DC universe, the more obvious it becomes that she is interfering with and overlapping with Supergirl. There is no need for both characters, and the sooner Joshua Williamson wraps up the Superwoman storyline, the better. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any end in sight. Zod has been teased, though not for some time.
Then there is the newly relaunched Aquaman, who has been my favorite character since childhood, much to the chagrin of other fans. I believe that Arthur and Mera are comics’ penultimate power couple. Much like Lois and Clark, they complement each other. Unlike them, however, they are both super-powered (at least until recently). Even their powers complemented each other (at least until recently). Unfortunately, Aquaman hasn’t had a good run since Dan Abnett’s run over ten years ago.
Now, the Atlantean King has fallen prey to the Absolute Power virus. He has inherited Mera’s powers, making her obsolete in the pages of Aquaman. By removing Mera, Jeremy Adams has essentially removed one of Aquaman’s appendages. It is analogous to removing Lois from Superman stories, which is fine for a few issues, but her absence is eventually felt.
Like the previous example, I am hoping that the Absolute Power virus is cured over the next few issues and things return to normal. Mera should get her powers back, and Lois should lose hers. In one instance, a battle with Zod is coming, in the other, Aquaman should lose the power of aquakenesis, possibly when he needs it the most. If he somehow retains the power, I believe this would be a mistake. There is a reason why these characters have existed the way they have for decades. It stems from the adage, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” It’s fine to play in someone else’s sandbox, but in the end, you have to return everything as you found it.
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