Absolute Power Reveals How Amanda Waller Stole the DC Heroes’ Powers

Amanda Waller has been incredibly effective in her takedown of DC’s super powered heroes, and a large part of that efficiency comes from how quickly she’s removed those powers from the equation. While we know it’s the Amazos who have removed those powers, what has been murkier is the process used to allow them to remove those powers in the first place. That brings us to Absolute Power Origins #2, which takes us back in time to Waller’s first Task Force X team, though it also shows us exactly when and how Waller figured out she could make this ultimate plan happen. Spoilers incoming for Absolute Power Origins #2, so if you haven’t read the issue yet, you’ve been warned.

Meet Clarence

Early on in the issue Waller meets Clarence, though he more often goes by Cyclotron. Waller empathizes with him about getting out of prison and figuring out how to survive, and then gives him a full pitch to be a part of a team she’s building. Waller also talks to him about the origin of his powers, which come from a self powered cyclotronic neural network that is inside of him.

While it does him abilities, it’s also unable to be removed without going off, and that’s part of why he decided to try and rob a bank. That led to his capture and now Waller wants him to help her in her war against the masks. He ultimately buys in and essentially leads her first Task Force X team, and their first machine was to extract the God Engine from a dictator. Things are going okay for the group, but then things take a turn.

The Mission Has Changed

The feed goes out and it takes Waller and her team a minute to restore the connection. Once it comes back online, they learn that Cyclotron was talking to the rest of the team and telling them they could take the God Engine for themselves and chart their own destiny. Waller wasn’t prepared for him to take so much initiative, and that’s when she calls upon Lobo to turn on his team and take him out.

Lobo does just that (for double the fee of course), slicing Clarence open and causing Cyclotron to explode, taking most of the team with him. Waller’s team recovers Clarence’s body however, and is able to repurpose the Cyclotronic Neural Net. That’s when it is revealed that the device actually absorbs and matches metas’ bioelectric pulses, which means that it negates their abilities. When it works, it shuts down powers, and this is where the seeds of Waller’s plans in Absolute Power all started. You can find the official description for Absolute Power Origins #2 below.

“THE SUICIDE SQUAD RISES! Amanda Waller has suffered immeasurable loss… and the loss of her humanity along with it. Now, after having blazed her own trail into Washington politics, the Wall launches the new phase of her career: TASK FORCE X. Witness the rise of one of the deadliest teams ever to roam the DC universe and a shocking revelation that will make history in part two of Absolute Power: Origins. Brought to you by John Ridley and Alitha Martinez!”

What did you think of the issue and how do you feel about Absolute Power so far? You can talk all things comics with me on Threads and Twitter @mattaguilarcb!