Written by: Sina Grace, Nicole Maines
Art by: John Timms, Travis Mercer
Colors by: Hi-Fi, Adriano Lucas, Pete Pantazis, Rex Lokus
Letters by: Dave Sharpe
Cover art by: John Timms
Cover price: $5.99
Release date: September 18, 2024
Absolute Power: Super Son #1, by DC Comics on 9/18/24, takes a chaotic trip through Jon Kent's mind as he fights the last remnants of Brainiac Queen's possession.
Is Absolute Power: Super Son #1 Good?
There's nothing like an Absolute Power tie-in comic to remind you just how terrible Jay Nakamura is as a character. Absolute Power: Super Son #1 goes a long way toward getting you inside the head of Jon Kent, uncovering potentially confusing feelings toward Dreamer, but this issue is unnecessary to complete your understanding of the Absolute Power event.
In Absolute Power: Super Son #1, we find Jon Kent mostly recovered from the events of Absolute Power #3. He remains on Themyscira, undergoing several rounds of therapy to ensure the Brainiac Queen's programming is purged from his mind. Jon is eager to get back into the world to join the fight, but his allies are determined to ensure Jon doesn't leave the island prematurely.
Sina Grace and Nicole Maines begin the story on fairly solid footing. Given the extreme nature of Jon's "possession," nobody should expect him to fully recover from Brainiac Queen's influence with the snap of a figure. Interspersed through the beginning and the end of the comic is Jon's texting conversation with Jay Nakamura as the two make plans to reunite shortly.
The Amazons approach Jon to undergo one more round of treatments to confirm Brainiac Queen's programming is completely purged. Jon reluctantly agrees. Under the mind scan, Jon recalls how his consciousness was distracted by a hallucinatory version of his world to keep him from regaining control of his body. There, Jon spent considerable time with Dreamer and, secondarily, Damian Wayne as they acted as guides through an assortment of typical Super-Family adventures.
During his imagined vignettes, Jon encountered Galaxy to help with a fight against a projection of Brainiac Queen, Drummer Boy summoning a sea monster to stop the destruction of an LGBT Disease Testing Center, and eventually, with the remnant of Brainiac Queen's programming. Dreamer heavily supports Jon in his fight.
The sequence of vignettes and fights frequently waffles from clear to confusing. Dreamer is dead, so it's not obvious if the Dreamer we see is a remnant of Dreamer's consciousness remaining in Jon's mind or simply Jon's projections of Dreamer to support himself or something else. Further, the vignettes always start but frequently don't end or conclude. The scenes jump around without rhyme or reason.
The issue ends with Jon fully casting off the last remnant of Brainiac Queen's programming, Jon asking Jay to move in with him in San Francisco, and a raincheck.
What's great about Absolute Power: Super Son #1? The concept is sound. After a life filled with trauma (that DC has yet to fully address), it's refreshing to see a creative team tackle all the mental baggage Jon has recently taken on. An issue-long struggle in Jon's psyche can and does make for an interesting character piece.
As an interesting development, whether the art, the writing, or both, briefly hint at the possibility that Jon's friendship with Dreamer is more than friendly. Dreamer is dead, but the fact that Jon is recognizing feelings he didn't previously acknowledge could lead to interesting drama.
What's not great about Absolute Power: Super Son #1? As noted, a large chunk of the narrative runs through a series of vignettes that don't finish or go anywhere in particular, so the majority of the issue is a jumble of confusion.
Also, Jay Nakamura obnoxiously expresses satisfaction over Dreamer's death due to her involvement in the death of his mother, ignoring the fact that Dreamer's involvement was coerced by Waller by keeping Dreamer's family hostage. The more Jay Nakamura appears in these books, the more he comes across as a selfish, thoughtless jerk.
How's the Art? There's an odd number of artists employed to work on this issue, but I'm not complaining because this issue looks great. John Timms and Travis Mercer deliver plenty of excellent figure work, big splash pages, and visual pop. The scenes may be confusing to understand, but they're colorful and energetic looking.
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
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Final Thoughts
Absolute Power: Super Son #1 takes a deep dive into Jon Kent's mind as he subconsciously battles the vestiges of Brainiac Queen's programming. The issue starts and ends well enough, but the chaotic visions through most of the middle are tough to follow. However, the strangely large number of artists tapped to put this comic together did a great job. For Absolute Power readers, this issue is for completists only.
5.5/10
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Ever since Jay was introduced he was either Jon's perfectly bland boyfriend or giving off vibes of potentially being a traitor. We have had the former for too long complete with the character forced into prominence because he's dating Jon so we may finally be getting the other option whether it being planned all along or DC finally noticing how many people are annoyed by the character is another thing. The fact there's potentially a love triangle with a character who was forced into helping murder Jay's mother is another potential hint to the break-up/villain reveal.
ReplyDeleteEven from the solicit this one shot felt even more skippable than the Task Force mini series and unsurprisingly that is the case here after all.
Weird. I posted my comment as Igwah but it disappeared. (Not the same Anonymous as above)
ReplyDeleteAnyways, Igwah here again. I posted a long comment explaining it which disappeared but in conclusion: This issue is horrible, Jon is still being written horribly and taken in the wrong direction and skip this cause it's very inconsequential. Wonder if this stays up.
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