Waid & Mora’s ABSOLUTE POWER changes the hierarchy of power in the DC Universe

The superpowered heroes and villains of the DC Universe are about to find themselves powerless – literally. As part of their ComicsPro presentation today DC Comics announced Absolute Power, a new four-issue summer event series from writer Mark Waid and artist Dan Mora. The series finds all metahumans in the DCU stripped of their powers by the Dawn of DC’s overarching antagonist, Amanda Waller.

Here’s how DC describes Absolute Power:

Helmed by the critically-acclaimed duo of writer Mark Waid and artist Dan Mora, this four-issue series launches July 2 and shows how Waller will use the strategic and military might of Failsafe and the otherworldly technology of the Brainiac Queen to steal all metahuman abilities from every super hero and super-villain around the globe, a threat so dire it will take the combined efforts of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and the Super Heroes of the DC Universe to defeat it.

Ahead of the July launch of the four-issue miniseries, one of DC’s Free Comic Book Day offerings in May will feature a 12-page prelude story to the event, written by Waid and illustrated by Mikel Janín. In June DC will also release Absolute Power: Ground Zero, a one-shot written by Waid that, according to DC, “will bridge the shocking conclusion of the Superman story ‘House of Brainiac’ with Amanda Waller’s machinations in Absolute Power.”

Absolute Power is the latest DC event series to be written by Waid, who also spearheaded 2022’s Batman vs. Robin and its larger spinoff event, 2023’s Lazarus Planet. That story featured a number of tie-in one-shots, and it’s a safe bet Absolute Power will follow suit. It’s the first event series to feature Mora on art, and it’s the latest collaboration between the artist and Waid, along with their work on Batman/Superman: World’s Finest and Shazam!. 

While the Titans were at the center of the most recent DC event, Beast World, the description of this story sounds like the focus will be more on Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and that generation of heroes. The Justice League has been absent from the DCU since the team’s apparent death in 2022’s Justice League #75 – could this new event herald their return? Waid and Mora would make a pretty amazing creative team for the world’s greatest heroes.

Check out a few in-progress pages from the upcoming event below. The Absolute Power Free Comic Book Day Special Edition is due out on Saturday, May 4th. The Ground Zero one-shot will follow in June, and the first issue of the series proper lands in stores and digitally on Tuesday, July 2nd.