Earth’s metahumans have lost their powers. Amanda Waller’s Global Guardian android has taken control. Await further instructions from your new protectors. Your Major Spoilers review of Absolute Power: Task Force VII #7 from DC Comics awaits!
ABSOLUTE POWER: TASK FORCE VII #7
Writer: Dan Watters
Artist: Fran Galan
Colorist: Fran Galan
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Editor: Matthew Levine
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 25, 2024
Previously in Absolute Power: Task Force VII: The Trinity of Evil achieved total domination over Earth’s super-powered protectors! But what of the heroes NOT of this Earth? Just as Kal-El of Krypton before him, J’onn J’onzz of Mars has felt the devastating effects of Waller’s Task Force VII fighters as they continue their mission of siphoning metahuman power across the globe. But hope glimmers even in the face of the ghastly Global Guardian, and a new generation of fighters from every corner of the world have joined forces to rise up!
IN-FIGHTING AND BACKBITING
As Amanda Waller’s Task Force VII (a series of Amazo-based robots, each of which has the powers of the founding members of the Justice League of America) sweeps across the United States, the metahumans who protect the rest of the world are in disarray. The Global Guardians team has shattered into three different factions. Eurocorps focuses entirely on Europe, Intercorps has a name that you can’t say without snickering, and the new Global Guardians have hidden themselves in a mirror dimension. Whatever forces caused the team to splinter (this is the first time we’ve seen anything about them in this configuration, even if all the heroes involved already existed) keep them squabbling as the Amazo with the full powers of Martian Manhunter sweeps through their ranks. Red Star, who seems to lead Intercorps, can’t seem to heal those rifts, and doesn’t pay attention to Tuatara’s warnings about the sheer power level of the android, which leads the entire team to be wiped out. Having succeeded in defeating the world’s superhumans, Amanda Waller sets her next target: The entire Multiverse!
THE DEVALUING OF ALL METAHUMANS
It’s a long-standing comic book trope that alternate realities are never treated with the same gravitas as whatever is considered the prime continuity. Post Flashpoint Earth-2, Ultimate Marvel, and even edge cases like Gwen Stacy’s world will eventually get nerfed. This issue reminds me of a similar rule, in that heroes from other countries are almost always treated with less respect, as one robot takes out Belphegor, Chrysalis, Fleur-de-Lis, Freedom Beast, Ghost-Maker, Jack O’Lantern, Jet, Little Mermaid, Nightrunner, Owlwoman, Red Star, Rising Sun, Seraph, Tasmanian Devil, Thunderlord, Tuatara, and Wild Huntsman with seemingly no effort. There are hints of interesting backstory in these pages, but it all feels like little twists that will go nowhere, as these Global Guardians will probably never be in focus again. I actually enjoy some of the art in this issue, as Galan reminds me quite a bit of Daniel Brereton, with angular designs and vivid colors. Unfortunately, that ends up feeling completely at odds with the story being told. The disconnect is most vividly seen in the final page, where a smirking Amanda Waller explains that she’s now ready to take over OTHER worlds, with the goal of taking over the Multiverse. It’s a pretty great visual moment, but Amanda looks bizarre, inhuman, and evil.
BOTTOM LINE: NOT GOOD
Whether or not the premise of Absolute Power works for you as a reader (and I have my own doubts there), the events of Absolute Power: Task Force VII #7 feel at first like a misstep, completely devaluing a swath of lesser-known heroes, but ends with a fillip that makes it all feel pointless and silly, earning 1.5 out of 5 stars overall. The art has promise, the colors are quite good, but I can’t think of a good reason to pay four dollars for a comic that spirals into nonsense this hard.
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ABSOLUTE POWER: TASK FORCE VII #7
A very strange art choice, combined with some of the most cynical writing I've seen in comics in *decades* and a truly stupid final plot point make this one not just avoidable, but forgettable.
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Writing1
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Art3
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Coloring5
Once upon a time, there was a young nerd from the Midwest, who loved Matter-Eater Lad and the McKenzie Brothers... If pop culture were a maze, Matthew would be the Minotaur at its center. Were it a mall, he'd be the Food Court. Were it a parking lot, he’d be the distant Cart Corral where the weird kids gather to smoke, but that’s not important right now... Matthew enjoys body surfing (so long as the bodies are fresh), writing in the third person, and dark-eyed women. Amongst his weaponry are such diverse elements as: Fear! Surprise! Ruthless efficiency! An almost fanatical devotion to pop culture! And a nice red uniform.