DC Comics has been obsessed with “evil Superman” stories for a long time, but especially since the success of the Injustice Universe, starting with the video game Injustice: Gods Among Us and the comics that came after it. However, even before then, numerous publishers took the idea of the character and made various evil versions of him. For a lot of fans of the Man of Steel, these kinds of stories are kind of frustrating. Alternate universe versions of Superman can be awesome (I love Earth-Two Superman more than most modern superheroes), but evil Supermen are just kind of blah. However, there’s one evil Superman story you should read: “Absolute Power” from Superman/Batman #14-18.
Videos by ComicBook.com
The 2000s were a great time for DC, and Superman/Batman‘s first couple of years are the definition of peak. “Absolute Power”, by Jeph Loeb (yes, he used to be a writer with more hits than misses) and the late great Carlos Pacheco, takes place on an Earth were Superman and Batman rule everything, with history changed by some of the most evil time-travelers in comics. It’s a story that shows off what an evil Superman can be, and reminded readers of some amazing villains that had mostly been forgotten in the post-Crisis DC Universe. It’s a story that no one talks about anymore, but it’s the only evil Superman story you ever need to read.
“Absolute Power” Uses Superman’s Inherent Goodness Against Him
Superman/Batman was a great book, because Loeb wasn’t afraid of the Silver Age. We literally got a giant Composite Superman robot (some of you know who the Composite Superman is and some of you need Silver Age DC in your lives) in the first story arc, and he brought back Kara Zor-El in the second. The book’s first two story arcs combined the classic and the modern, and it was a great series while he wrote it. It was basically one of the flagships of DC in the early to mid ’00s, and “Absolute Power” is probably the finest moment of the book.
“Absolute Power” kicked off with readers seeing mysterious villains going back in time and killing the Kents when they find Superman, and then killing Joe Chill after he killed the Waynes. In both cases, the villains took the young boys, and we catch up with them in the present. The two of them are the bosses of the world, using their power, wealth, and intelligence to create a police state. We see them killing Green Arrow, a rebel, for Superman’s birthday, and the end of the issue reveals who changed time: Lightning Lord, Saturn Queen, and Cosmic King, the core of the Legion of Supervillains from the 31st century.
The story reveals that the three of them were able to convince Kal and Bruce that the world would be a better place with them in charge, and that all of the terrible things they did are necessary to create the “right” kind of society. It’s one of those cool subversions that a lot of evil Superman stories forget, using the kindness and goodness of the Man of Steel (and Batman to a lesser extent) to create a dystopian world. The story shows the resistance against them, while also showing the steps certain beings are taking to save all of existence.
“Absolute Power”‘s Superman isn’t the most evil Superman ever; he’s misguided person made into monster. He still thinks that he’s a good guy, because he was raised that way. It shows how important the Kents were to his development as a human being. The last few issues of the story go wild, taking readers across history to darker worlds created by the meddling in time caused by the Legion trio trying to stop their preferred timeline from being changed. It’s a story that uses the kind of Silver Age ideas that weren’t all that beloved and brought them back to the modern day. It’s a Silver Age story with Modern Age sensibilities, and it’s the best evil Superman story of them all.
What do you think about “Absolute Power”? Leave a comment in the comment section below and join the conversation on the ComicBook Forums!
Most Viewed
-
Image Courtesy of A-1 Pictures -
Image Courtesy of Prime Video
