Summary
Warning! Spoilers ahead for Absolute Power: Task Force VII #1!SorryBlack Adamfans, but even someone as mighty as he is can’t take on the DC Universe’s newestSuperman. DC Comics’summer eventAbsolute Powerhas officially started and all across the world, heroes and villains alike are having their powers stolen by the all-Amazosquad Task Force VII.
Absolute Power #1saw Amanda Waller finally kick off her grand scheme to de-power metahumans worldwide. All across the globe, her Amazos stole iconic characters' powers, the abilities belonging to the Man of Steel. Now Black Adam is seeing just how mighty Waller’s new ‘Superman’ is in a fight fans need to see to believe.
Black Adam is De-Powered by Waller’s Twisted ‘Superman’ Last Son
In a preview forAbsolute Power: Task Force VII #1by Leah Williams, Caitlin Yarsky, Alex Guimarães, and Dave Sharpe, Waller has begun her mass de-powering of Earth’s metahumans. Her opening attack was successful and she’s imprisoned heroes such as Kid Flash and Detective Chimp. But Waller notes that the Shazam Family is still on the run. Believing that they’ve run to the Rock of Eternity, Waller decides to send Last Son,the Amazo that has siphoned both Supermen and Superboy’s powers, after them.
Black Adam is de-powered by Last Son and swung around like a rag doll.
Waller hands Superman villain-turned-ally Parasite over to Last Son, hoping that Rudy Jones’ ability to seek out power can help the Amazo find where the Captain and Mary Marvel have gone. Parasite does exactly that and helps Last Son get to the Rock of Eternity, the source of all magic in the DC Universe. Unfortunately for him, the Amazo is greeted not by the de-powered Billy Batson and Mary Bromfield, butby Black Adam, who cries the word ‘Shazam’ and envelops Last Son in a field of magic lightning.
Black Adam gloats over his conquered enemy. As Last Son lies on the ground, Black Adam stands over him and blasts the android with even more lighting. But Last Son moves faster than a speeding bullet and grabs Black Adam’s leg. Before he can even realize what’s happening,Black Adam is de-powered by Last Son and swung around like a rag doll. Now it’s Last Son that’s gloating and his eyes glow red as he continues to crackle with energy.
Last Son’s Journey to Superman-Level Strength
It wasn’t that long ago that the threat known as ‘Last Son’ was just a simple, lifeless Amazo copy. Last Son and the rest of Task Force VII were originally envisioned as a support team for Zur-En-Arrh, Batman’s overzealous backup personality. Zur-En-Arrh had gathered copies of himself across the multiverse and acquired multiple Amazos to use them as host bodies so that Zur-En-Arrh and his team could continue their campaign to end crime across the world and beyond. However, this plan came to an end when Batman defeated Zur-En-Arrh anderased his personality from his robotic host, Failsafe.
However, that wasn’t the end if Batman’s greatest contingency. Before the Dark Knight could reclaim Failsafe or the Amazos Zur-En-Arrh acquired, the military took the robots, which came under Amanda Waller’s possession. Waller’s best scientists couldn’t figure out how to bring Failsafe back online, so she revived the villain Time Commander to undo the damage to Failsafe. It took several days, but Time Commander successfully revived Failsafe. His work wasn’t done asWaller ordered him to repeat the process on the six Amazos she now had.
Amanda Waller’s final preparations can be seen inAbsolute Power: Ground Zero (2024)!
Now that she had Failsafe and the six members of Task Force VII ready, Waller finally got to work. After whipping the public into a frenzy over superhumans with AI-manipulated videos, Waller sent Task Force VII out to de-power every single metahuman on the planet. Last Son’s target was the most powerful of them all, Superman. Last Son drained Clark of his powers in the middle of him stopping a robbery, causing Superman to nearly die. Clark was rescued by his son,only for the Amazo to drain Jon and Superboy of their powers as well.
There’s no doubt that Black Adam is one of the most powerful beings in the DC Universe. He’s just as powerful as Shazam, someone Superman has described as a rival to Clark in strength. Black Adam has fought Superman several times over the years, both in DC’s prime continuity and in non-canon stories. Generally, the Man of Steel always comes out ahead, but Black Adam is indeed a worthy rival to Clark. That said,as mighty as Black Adam is, he was outmatched from the beginning.
As strong as he is, Black Adam was never winning this fight.
For one, Last Son, like the rest of Task Force VII, isn’t a traditional Amazo. They’ve been modified with Brainiac’s programming and souped-up thanks to the power-stealing Brainiac Queen. Green Arrow pointed out that these iterations of Amazo go far beyond what the Justice League has fought in the past. Not to mention, theAmazos are powerful enough to drain Doctor Fate’s helmet and take out the almighty Spectre. As powerful as magic is, it’s nothing compared to Task Force VII.
Worse, Last Son has drained the powers of at least three Kryptonians: Clark, Jon, and Conner. Evenif Last Son wasn’t powerful enough to counter Black Adam’s magic, there’s no way he’d be able to take on someone with that level of strength. Black Adam fighting someone with Superman’s strength is one thing. Fighting someone who’s stolen three Kryptonian powers, plus a whole host of other metahuman’s powers? As strong as he is, Black Adam was never winning this fight.
Who Can Stop DC’s Twisted New Superman?
Task Force VII hit the DC Universe’s heroes and villains hard. It’s hard to imagine how the metahumans are going to get out of this one. If someone as powerful as Black Adam can’t take down one of these Amazos, how is anyone else? This fight shows just how dire things are right now and the immense uphill battle DC’s superhumans have if they want to survive what Waller has planned.Black Adammight have fallen, but hopefully, a hero is out there who can defeat this impostorSupermanand the rest of his team.
Absolute Power: Task Force VII #1is available on July 10th from DC Comics.
