Absolute Power: Task Force VII #4: Failsafe Goes Hunting

Absolute Power Task Force VII’s first three issues delivered strong character stories. Elements of those stories have filtered into other tie-ins, emphasizing the series’ importance. Now it tackles the great leader of DC’s first legacy generation. Absolute Power Task Force VII #4 pits Nightwing against his mentor’s twisted creation and tries to continue the series’ streak of success.

Failsafe is on the hunt in Absolute Power Task Force VII #4. It is searching the Maze of Owls for a small group of heroes led by Nightwing. Among them are the depowered Ray and M’gann (Miss Martian). Rather than wait for Failsafe to find them, Nightwing leads the charge against it in what may be a hopeless fight.

The Ray and M’gann are functionally useless in Absolute Power Task Force VII #4. They try their best, but it doesn’t matter. This issue continues the series’ trend of examining who these characters are without their powers. It’s easy for Nightwing to tell his depowered comrades that heart and empathy make them heroes. But based on the dialogue that leads him to say so, it’s not at all clear whether Ray and M’gann actually believe that.

Steve Trevor’s story arc continues. The scene is short as they have all been. But since the A stories in Absolute Power Task Force VII are unrelated issue to issue, this storyline is starting to feel like a buried lead that will prove critical by the end.

Nightwing is Absolute Power Task Force VII #4’s principal hero, but Failsafe is closer to being the main character. As was the case with Adams’ choices in the previous issue, Pichetshote dives mainly into the villain’s head. Failsafe is unquestionably malicious. But at times the character almost channels Batman in its inner monologue. Its deductions and conclusions are methodical. And its resulting tactical decisions are not always so different from Batman’s. Failsafe’s choice to brutally break M’gann’s arms is not so different from what Batman is willing to do to his enemies.

This makes Failsafe the perfect villain for an issue depicting Nightwing as the lead hero. Whereas Nightwing has pulled Batman back from the brink more than once, that’s impossible with Failsafe. Indeed, Failsafe would just as soon use its darker view of the world against Nightwing precisely because it doesn’t believe Nightwing can follow it there.

Roe’s linework is on the thicker side in most cases. When it comes to characters, these heavier lines combined with solid black shading create expressions more on the broad side. It works in most cases. Though when it comes to the sequence featuring a depowered Ray and M’gann, that broad quality adds a touch of humor that may or may not be intended. Certainly it adds to the feeling that they’re not the most useful characters at the moment.

Failsafe’s lean body and almost perfectly square shoulders gives it an unnatural strength, especially when compared to all the human characters who have rounder, softer outlines.

Loughridge’s color choices aren’t necessarily vivid, but he does use them effectively to create higher contrast. Additionally, the change from comparatively brighter areas to those that are darker shaded is abrupt instead of changing by degrees. These decisions mesh well with the broader feel of Roe’s art.

Sharpe uses a shade of blue and purple for Failsafe’s dialogue and inner monologue respectively. The blue color in the caption boxes containing the character’s inner monologue is the much darker of the two and stands out from Loughridge’s color scheme for most of the issue. The dialogue is a brighter purple. Failsafe speaks sparingly, but when he does his dialogue stands out even more so than the caption boxes. This works especially well during a brief fight sequence that takes place in the dark. The two color choices are of a piece but Sharpe smartly uses a much brighter shade for the dark sequence. He also uses white colored text for both captions and dialogue bubbles which makes the text very easy to read against the fill colors.