Bit More Time In The Oven — Reviewing ‘Absolute Power: Task Force VII’ #6

Amanda Waller will abide no interference with her metahuman focused worldwide power coup. As the Amazons are about to discover.

Paradise is under siege as one of Waller’s superpowered Amazos descends upon the Amazonian island in Absolute Power: Task Force VII #6. The second to last entry in this anthology series, this time guided by Stephanie Williams, Khary Randolph, Alex Guimaraes, and Dave Sharpe.

Right up front, I found this issue to be just sort of ‘there.’ Neither bad, nor boring. Also, it was neither good nor entertaining. Just something that happens and is at the end of the day just fine.

Nothing to do with the creative team as a whole because these are folks that I enjoy other work from quite a bit. In this case, for once, the given premise needed way more room.

There is a lot of the Amazo struggling and seeing memories of the person (Wonder Woman) whose power they stole. We’ve seen that numerous times in this series now. The Amazons gather and debate the oncoming threat, the threat arrives, beats them around, destroys the Well of Souls, and moves on. There isn’t a lot of room to digest what the Amazons gave up by helping the heroes in the main Absolute Power series, nor what they lose here.

Perhaps there will be a follow-up to this in some fashion somewhere, but it just felt like the team had to rush through this because the event is almost done.

Overall, I really do like how Williams has handled Queen Nubia and the Amazons the times she’s handled them over the last few years. Seeing all these characters and the depth of exploration that the new status quo has brought is very nice.

Randolph’s artistic style is always really intriguing to me. There are plenty of rough, sharp edges to things, but also a very dynamic smooth overall appearance. It brings into play some of the toughness that needs to be felt in stories like this, and many other comics, without losing any of the fun more whimsical energies. Giving plentiful weight and depth to the world and moments, especially with the precise choices in how to panel.

Being a superhero story, Guimaraes brings out the more colorful and vibrant palette choices for the story. Mixing in plenty of the darker and often more natural color tones to offset the more fantastical beats. I really dig the way that the memories/flashbacks were handled. Adding the sort of red haze to everything because we’re seeing through the tech/computerized ‘eyes’ of the Amazo as they watch Wonder Woman’s memories. It’s just a neat way to showcase this situation in a way that befits the story and world.

Plenty of emotions and dialogue are flying around here, with Sharpe giving them the extra punch they need along the way. Allowing the lettering to shift and change as needed, be it in size or font type, to really convey what volume, tone, or intention is behind any given set of words. Giving even the Amazo a bit of personal quirks with the color of their caption boxes and shape to their dialogue bubbles.

Absolute Power: Task Force VII #6 is now available from DC Comics.