The latest issue of Absolute Power – published today by DC – sees the heroes who haven't yet been caught and imprisoned by Amanda Waller reconvene at Superman's Fortress of Solitude to plan their next moves. It's a meeting that leads to the election of a surprising new team leader (more on that here) and gives the heroes a stronger sense of purpose amid the current chaos.
Unfortunately, that all proves to be the calm before the storm, particularly for the Man of Steel who is already grappling with his son, Jon Kent, being missing in action.
Spoilers for Absolute Power #2
After Nightwing is elected as the new leader of DC's heroes, the Fortress of Solitude comes under attack from a squad of Amazo robots, led by the Braniac Queen and the missing Jon Kent, who has been cybernetically altered to serve her. This is a horrifying shock for Superman who is forced to fight his son. While he is eventually able to get through to Jon, at least temporarily, the Braniac Queen's conditioning takes hold once more and he tries to assimilate Superman Borg-style.
With the battle reaching something of an impasse, the heroes are forced to take two pretty drastic actions. As the Braniac Queen examines the bottled city of Kandor, Aquaman intervenes and smashes the glass, releasing the thousands of miniaturized Kryptonians contained inside, who immediately set about attacking the Queen. Kandor is no more, but there is now an army with the power of a thousand Supermen on the loose. That's sure to have some consequences further down the line.
The second is that Superman, horrified by what has happened to Jon, initiates a self-destruct protocol in the Fortress of Solitude to try and destroy the Braniac Queen. Nightwing has managed to establish a transportal exit, which the heroes use to escape, but Superman's home-away-from-homes goes up in flames.
Another casualty of all this chaos is apparently Dreamer. Recently, Nia Nal has been forced into working for Waller. When she sees what's happened to Jon, however, she snaps and turns on the Braniac Queen. By the end of the issue her status is unclear, though Waller believes that she's been killed in the destruction of the Fortress of Solitude. Hmm... we'll only believe that one when we see the body.
A big issue, then, and one that turns Superman's world upside down. By the end of Absolute Power #2 he's seemingly lost his son, and his traditional HQ. All that's left is the mission that Nightwing assigned him earlier in the issue, to go and look for help. Into the multiverse it is, then...
Absolute Power #2 by writer Mark Waid, artist Dan Mora, colorist Alejandro Sánchez, and letterer Ariana Maher, is out now from DC.
Find out more about writer Mark Waid's plans for Absolute Power in our in-depth interview.
