Superman/Batman Vol. 3: Absolute Power [Paperback]

Jeph Loeb (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 8, 2006

In the aftermath of the devastating battle with Darkseid, the Earth wakes up to a brand-new world orderone in which Batman and Superman rule with an iron fist. Humankind has a choice: obey or die. How did things get this way? Is there anyone left who can stop them?

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 10 Up–When baby Superman's spaceship crashes into a Kansas field, three superbeings kill the Kents and take him for their own. Later, Bruce Wayne's parents, walking along Broadway, are shot right before the hood gets riddled with bullets himself. With the superbeings intervening at the so-called origin moments of both heroes, they then raise them to rule Earth. This scenario is carried to its logical limits, if its logical limits include random time-travel and the grown Bruce Wayne murdering his parents' murderers before they can perform their fated crime. Superman, given a similar chance, does not save the Kents. Obey or Die reads the inscription on the gigantic statue of Superman and Batman that replaces the Statue of Liberty, and do they ever enforce it. In the end chapters, though, they wake from their evil reverie, realize they've been raised by monsters, and repent by setting time right and canceling all other alternate worlds except the original one, in which they are beacons of good. It's a touching ending, but dystopian stories always seem more forgettable than classic morality tales.–John Leighton, Brooklyn Public Library, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: DC Comics (November 8, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401207146
• ISBN-13: 978-1401207144
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 0.3 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #134,329 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Very Loose Story/very good art, July 28, 2005

By 

This Reader (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Superman/Batman Vol. 3: Absolute Power (Hardcover)

I usually have to read Loeb's work twice to really like it myself, and I've only read this once so far, but it felt really loose the first time through, and I didn't really like some of the changes it made in the characters lives (without giving too much away, by the end both Superman and Batman have memories of having lived more than one life, and (especially for Batman's character,) I don't think that's a good thing -- nor do I expect the ramifications to ever be addressed.)

Getting back to the story, the climax especially seemed weak and not fully explained. I think Loeb often writes very loose and with large brush strokes, but this story didn't really seem to make as much sense as it should have. Why were Batman and Superman bouncing around from alternative reality to alternative reality every time one of them died instead of simply being dead? Never explained. Why, when they jumped into an alternate Gotham, were they being attacked by a bunch of DC's western hero's like Jonah Hex and Scalp Hunter (characters that existed about a hundred years earlier in the DC timeline)? Never explained. And considering how well the scheme of the stories main villains was working, why had no other villain ever tried it? Darksied makes some cryptic remark about the consequences of playing with time travel, which is why he never does it, but that throwaway remark seems more like a way of saying "I don't really have any reason why no other villain has tried this, so I'm just going to say they all realize it's not a good idea, but I won't actually explain why it isn't a good idea." Much of the book seemed to me like Loeb saying "wouldn't it be cool if I could put Superman and Batman in this or that situation, have them fight these certain people they'd never normally fight, and have them die in these dramatic ways -- I don't know how I could logically tie it all together, but it would be cool anyway, and maybe that's good enough."

I'll probably read this volume again, as I have with the first two, both of which I enjoyed quite a bit the second time through, but after one read, I think Loeb was a little lazy with the story in this one. The art is fantastic (without it, this story would only get two stars from me,) but there isn't much depth or characterization to go with it (the characterizations in this definitely seem the weakest of the three story arcs so far), there's a lot of things that don't make a lot sense, a lot of things that aren't explained really at all, an ending that seems very deus ex machina, and little emotional impact because so much of the story seems so arbitrary and throw away. Loeb says he's trying to write big summer blockbusters with these, and he manages some of that feel, but I'd prefer a deeper story with fewer holes to go along with the action.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Supes and Bats go evil, August 4, 2005

By 

N. Durham "Big Evil" (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Superman/Batman Vol. 3: Absolute Power (Hardcover)

Absolute Power, the third storyarc from Jeph Loeb's run on Superman/Batman, finds the DC icons in a different light. Through a time traveling sabotage, Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne still grow up to become their respective alter-egos, but they take a far less heroic route, and become rulers of the world. It's interesting, seeing how things could have been different if Johnathan and Martha Kent didn't raise young Kal-El to believe in truth, justice, and the American way, and if someone would have been there to tell young Bruce Wayne that his parents' death wasn't his fault. In this alternate world, we see other DC icons, including Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, and even Uncle Sam, face off against Superman and Batman, and the surprisingly grisly deaths that Loeb and artist Carlos Pacheco orchestrate are reason enough to check Public Enemies out. There's even cameos from Jonah Hex and a final battle with Ra's Al Ghul, and luckily this arc ends before it's premise wears even thinner. All in all, if you enjoyed Loeb's two previous volumes, this is worth checking out as well.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Art, Great Story, September 7, 2005

By 

B. Cato "bsc1115" (BROOKLYN, NEW YORK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Superman/Batman Vol. 3: Absolute Power (Hardcover)

This is the third hardcover edition of the "Batman/Superman" series and I must say that I am not disappointed. It's a great cautionary tale of "What If Supes and Bats ruled the world?" What would the world be like if the Justice League or any other hero were not around to oppose them?

In a word: SCARY!! Especially when they've been influenced by "parents" from the future who teach them values like "Obey or Die" and "Be brutal and swift in taking your revenge".

The story reveals that some heros are still around to form a resistance and rise up against Supes and Bats. The conflict sends them hurling through time and various realities with the goal of setting things to "The way things ought to be".

Supes and Bats finally get to the reaity where they are supposed to be; where all the heroes are alive and well; but the price they pay is that they remember everything they've done (including all of the heroes they've killed throughout time).

Great Story. Excellent Art. Looking forward to the next edition.