Warning: Spoilers for Absolute Power #4!For almost four decades, Amanda Waller ran the Suicide Squad With an iron fist, ruthlessly executing countless ne’er-do-blurs under her command with her signature brain bombs. like Absolute power In the end, however, Waller gets a taste of her own medicine in a deliciously ironic way – albeit with sinister implications for one of DC’s brightest heroes.
Absolute power #4 by Mark Waid, Dan Mora, Alejandro Sánchez and Ariana Maher brings DC’s Absolute Power crossover event to a dramatic conclusion with the destruction of Task Force VII and Amanda Waller’s capture. Waking up as a prisoner in her own Belle Reve facility, Waller is confronted with the unlikeliest of heroes: Dreamers.
Dreamer not only reveals that she used her powers to block Waller’s inside knowledge of the superhero community, but also Insinuates that she has left a psychic bomb in Waller’s mind Should Waller learn too much again, she’ll finally be given a taste of her own Suicide Squad medicine.
Amanda Waller has her own explosive implant, courtesy of Dreamer
A classic Suicide Squad story device
For decades, the Suicide Squad has been infamous for the team’s lethal failsafe method: An explosive device implanted in the head of each squad member that will detonate if they disobey orders. Waller’s deadly countermeasures first appeared as explosive bracelets in Legends #3, courtesy of iconic Suicide Squad writer John Ostrander. Ostander continued to write stories for Suicide Squad for the next several decades and is still on the title as of 2007. Suicide Squad: Capture the Flag #1, which updated the explosive bracelets and collars into the explosive implants that contemporary readers know today.
The beautiful irony of Waller receiving the same punishment she has inflicted on countless others is that It happens in the dreamer’s hands. Of all the heroes that Waller had manipulated in the beginning to Absolute powerWaller arguably abused Dreamer the most, forcing her into the Suicide Squad in Suicide Squad: Dream Team by Nicole Maines and Eddy Barrows by holding Nia Nal’s parents hostage and using her as a weapon against the heroes. Waller’s “recruitment” of Dreamer culminated in Nia physically dying in Absolute power #2, though Dreamer eventually regains her body thanks to her connection to Superman Jon Kent.
Dreamer’s dark turn has sinister implications for the Suicide Squad and the entire DCU
There is no telling what Nia Nal will do next
While Dreamer returns to life through Jon Kent’s dreams, Nia’s time under Waller’s thumb seems to have broken something inside her. Dreamer appears to enjoy torturing Waller by withholding Waller’s memories from her in the final issue of Absolute powerAnd she credits this cruel new use of her abilities to Waller’s influence. Since her fairly recent debut, Dreamer has been one of DC’s more optimistic new heroes, but since Absolute power #4, she shows no remorse for secretly using her powers to torture those who have wronged her.
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The conclusion of Absolute power shook the Suicide Squad’s status quo to its core. There are many avenues to explore from here: Will Waller be able to wrestle her way back into control? Will Dreamer escape the legacy of the Suicide Squad, or will her new powers be a factor in future versions of the Squad? All fans know for now is that Amanda Waller Has finally received the same mercy that she showed them Suicide Squad For the last 37 years – none.
Absolute power #4 is available now from DC Comics.