A Marvel Thing — Reviewing ‘Absolute Power: Task Force VII’ #1

Amanda Waller has won, stripping heroes and villains alike of their superhuman abilities. Those left must run, hide and survive. That’s a task that is easier said than done.

Now that Waller, alongside allies the Brainiac Queen and robotic Batman replacement Failsafe, has achieved Absolute Power, her focus has turned to those final stragglers in the pages of Absolute Power: Task Force VII #1. This anthology series will see the specific powered Amazo robots that make up Task Force VIII hunting down specific heroes still on the run.

Leah Williams, Caitlin Yarsky, Alex Guimarães, and Dave Sharpe kick things off with a Shazam Family feature.

Are these stories a must read? Judging by this one, not even close. Missing these stories will do nothing to harm reading the main series, and that’s a good thing. Tie-in stories work best when they are working around and informed by the main series, not standing in as a place to gain any major information. Basically, they should enhance the overall reading, not be part of the foundation.

Williams achieves that here, just telling a story that straddles the line of fun and disturbing equally all the way through. The Captain and Mary Marvel are usually characters tied to a bit more fun energy, and even as Waller turns full fascist upon the world, they bring some levity. Which is something to be thankful for when we see Waller and Last Son (the Super-family powered Amazo) torture and seemingly kill the ailing Parasite.

We do get a bit of insight into what Steve Trevor is up to, all eyes on him thanks to his Wonder Woman ties. I’m guessing that the final scenes in the issue will be the throughline of this series, so that each issue at least has a thread of connection.

Lighter fun energy is clear in Yarsky’s artwork, presenting a more lightweight style of visuals. Like the stories, there is a bit of a rougher edge. I’m feeling a bit of John Romita Jr. energy on the page with how the visuals are presented. Not a bad spirit to embody when tackling superheroes for sure. That slightly rougher, almost boxy, energy helps keep the eye on the darker ball in play. I use the word often in art descriptions, but many fit it so well, and I’ll use it again here: whimsical.

This fits the lighter fun feeling that we see Yarsky bring into play.

Similarly, Guimarães slides those tones right into the color palette as well.

For a superhero story, things are a lot lighter in tone. Still some splashes of vibrant color but they are all toned down. A softer touch is brought to the page, keeping the world around them very natural and almost neutral, playing into the idea that the super and supernatural is being dominated by the ‘real’ (aka Waller) at this point. Many of those splashes are saved for the most opportune time, giving them just a bit extra of a punch.

We’ve got a few normal humans, a talking Tyrannosaurus Rex accountant, and the aforementioned robotic Last Son in this story. So a whole variety of types and timbers of voices. Sharpe puts that into every single letter on the page, shifting fonts or bubbles to give the right spark. Giving them some size increases or decreases here or there for effect. Much of the visual power comes from the SFX dotted throughout, which have colorful big league superhero energy.

Absolute Power: Task Force VII #1 is now available from DC Comics.