DC’s Absolute Power crossover event has kicked off and with Origins, this three-issue miniseries goes over the backstory of the event’s linchpin and main antagonist: Amanda Waller. Waller is on a warpath against heroes and vigilantes, and this series is suppose to explain her motivations. Does the first issue give a clear picture on why she’s doing what she’s doing? Or does it leave readers scratching their heads? Here’s the recap with minor spoilers of the issue and my thoughts.

The issue starts off with a side-by-side comparison of when Bruce Wayne’s parents were shot in Crime Alley by Joe Chill and when a drug dealer named “Candyman” gives an unknown substance to Amanda Waller’s oldest daughter, which leads to to her eventual death. Waller’s husband, Joe, then proceeds taking justice in his own hands by confronting Candyman and shooting him. Joe also dies in the process. This coincides with Batman avenging his parents’ deaths when he apprehends Joe Chill.

In the aftermath of Joe’s death, Waller is arguing with the police because they are underplaying the shooting and putting the blame on Joe. The cop’s reasoning is because Candyman’s alleged crimes, especially with what happened with Amanda’s daughter, are only speculation and Joe died while committing a murder of a person in a public space. Mirroring this interaction, there is a press conference going on in the television with James Gordon stating how Joe Chill was apprehended and his stance on vigilantes was cordial if they cooperated accordingly with the police. This leads to Waller realizing that heroes/masked vigilantes get a special privilege when taking justice into their own hands in the eyes of the police, compared to when people like her husband aren’t treated the same. This begins her quest, and she eventually blackmails a councilman running for congress. The councilman concedes because of the dirt Waller has on him, and she tells him that he’s going to follow her rules from now on. This will establish her eventual connections to the government and now Amanda Waller is on her way to absolute power.

I didn’t have any expectations coming into this miniseries. I’m not familiar with the creative team behind it, so I went into reading this issue with an unbiased perspective. I enjoyed the precursor series, Suicide Squad: Dream Team, and that gave a little insight into Amanda Waller’s history. So I was a little intrigued going into this series, and so far I just thought it was okay. Let’s start with the positives. The cover art by Irvin Rodriguez is the best part about this issue. Its photorealistic style evokes Alex Ross’s work, and it would look great as a painting. By the end of the issue, I am interested in the next issue by how the story ends in this issue. Writer John Ridley does a good job in concluding the story and it shows how Waller is playing the long game in her quest in ending heroes/vigilantes/metahumans. Ridley understands the character of Amanda Waller, so I appreciated that. I also liked the homages to the eventual formation of Task Force X and the Justice League. But that’s where the positives end for me unfortunately.

I have a couple of major issues when it comes to the character’s motivation and the unnecessary ties to Batman’s origin. I just don’t understand why would Waller be upset with vigilantes and heroes and not upset with the corrupted police who looked the other way when her husband and two of her children were killed. The story framed the police as the actual villains in my opinion, so the leap in her wanting to essentially outlaw heroes just didn’t make sense to me. Also, this is suppose to be an Amanda Waller origin. The inclusion of showing Batman’s parents getting killed was not needed. Ridley and the artists could have used that space in the story and illustrations to dive deeper into Waller’s backstory and show us why these horrific losses in her life are motivating her to pursue the path she’s on. I kind of understand that maybe Ridley wanted to show the parallels of Batman and Amanda Waller and how certain tragedies can alter different life paths for people, but I’m just tired of seeing that particular death scene of the Waynes over and over again. I know it’s ironic since I’m writing on a site that dedicated to all things Batman. But I feel that the character of Amanda Waller can stand on her own and if they wanted to allude to Batman, they could’ve just used a couple lines of dialogue to show the parallels.

Recommended if…

• You’re a fan of Amanda Waller.
• You want to read anything relating to the “Absolute Power” event.
• You recognize that the cover art is the star of the issue.

OVERALL

Absolute Power: Origins #1 was underwhelming to be honest. There are a couple of highlights, but Waller’s motivations don’t work for me. Although, I am interested in what happens next based on how the issue ended. On to the next one. 

Score: 5.5