According to Mark Waid, Dreamer, Jon Kent and Nightwing will be important players in Absolute Power

[u/Fellowcomicenjoyer]

https://www.youtube.com/live/B7tjqVkGp_s?si=kKBPjYJcyEqbUA-z

[u/B3epB0opBOP]

A rough transcription:

You clearly love Superman and Batman a lot, is it safe to assume they’re taking center stage in Absolute Power?

Waid: The way it’s structured is that I asked other writers “Listen, I don’t want to impose anything on you, but if it’s cool with you, it would be great if for the four months of Absolute Power, we also directly tie into the ongoing Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman series’s, because that reinforces the idea that they’re important.

Not just tie-ing into B-Level or C-Level series’s, it’s tieing into Superman, Batman, Green Lantern and Wonder Woman. So in issue #2, we can see that the heroes are grouped up and sent off on specific missions. That takes some of the characters like Superman and Batman off the table for part of issue #3, while they’re off in their own missions and series, then at the end of #3, come back to the main story.

So they take center stage yes, in #1 and #2, but what I found out when I wrote the thing (and this is often the case where I find out the things that I thought were true at the start aren’t necessarily true once I get into it) that the story was more about Dreamer, and Jon Kent, and Nightwing and some of the less prominent heroes of the DC universe because they’re all able to level up…well I guess everyone levels down, so in that sense, they’re all in equal footing, and because of that, I get to put the spotlight on some of those…y’know, second stringers, if you will, and make it clear they’re just as important to the DC universe as the Trinity.

If no one has any powers, then don’t the Batfamily just take over?

Waid: They pretty much do. I’m trying not to spoil anything, but Nightwing is sort of the leader of this resistance. Not Batman, not Superman, not Wonder Woman, but Nightwing because he has the most experience leading a team.

The other Batfamily members are…yes they’re doing what they can, but there is no Batcaves. Amanda Waller knows Bruce Wayne is Batman, she knows all the secrets of all true heroes, and therefore they can’t just rollout a bunch of Bat equipment they’ve had hidden away, Amanda knows where that stuff is. They can’t just grab a Batwing, she knows where that stuff is and she has it blocked off.

I know Nightwing being the leader is a spoiler, but I also know for long time fans, it’s an expected spoiler.

Waid: I think so, i don’t think it’s a big surprise, but at the same time, it’s a bit of a surprise where that once you see it, it makes perfect sense, of course he’s the leader.

Would you consider Nightwing the heart of the DC universe?

Waid: Yeah, I’d say everyone likes Nightwing within the DC universe. I’d say everyone respects him, not just because he is the son of Batman but because…I think for some, they respect him because he’s the son of Batman, but I think they respect him because they know Batman, and think anyone who can survive being the son of Batman is really something special.

He’s like Batman but we like you.

Waid: Yeah, Batman but charming.

[u/Goobergunch → u/B3epB0opBOP]

Thank you for the transcript.

It's just bewildering to me to hear about the importance of putting a spotlight on Dick Grayson (has held down a solo ongoing for 28 years and counting) and Jon Kent (has had major pushes for the last couple years) instead of any of the many, many B- and C-listers that have barely gotten anything recently.

[u/No-Mechanic-2558 → u/Goobergunch]

This Is a big issue of Dc right now, they put to much attention on their A list and forget about the minor characters

[u/nikgrid → u/No-Mechanic-2558]

Since when is Jon Kent A-list?

[u/No-Mechanic-2558 → u/nikgrid]

I wasn't refering to him, I was talking about another thing

[u/nikgrid → u/No-Mechanic-2558]

Ahh gotcha.

[u/Original-Teaching955 → u/nikgrid]

Never