WARNING: Contains Potential Spoilers for ABSOLUTE POWER #4!
The iconic storyline JLA: Tower of Babel (2000) by Mark Waid demonstrated that Batman could outmaneuver and defeat the entire Justice League, and now Green Arrow has officially joined the Dark Knight in this elite club by taking down DC’s most overpowered Justice League to date. However, as fans of Tower of Babel know, Batman’s ‘victory’ isn’t as straightforward as it seems. Similarly, Oliver Queen’s incredible feat is far from simple and carries its own layers of complexity.
Absolute Power #4, by Mark Waid and Dan Mora, marked the final battle of the Absolute Power crisis event, where the Justice League faces off against Amanda Waller’s personal army, including her overpowered Task Force VII.
Fans following the crisis event know that the task force consisted of six power-stealing Amazo robots, led by the Zur-En-Arrh-piloted Failsafe, forming the most overpowered and evil version of the Justice League yet. Time and again, DC’s greatest heroes have faced the Amazos and failed. However, Absolute Power #4 marks a turning point as Task Force VII is finally defeated, with Green Arrow landing the ultimate blow.
Green Arrow Defeats the Evil Justice League, Putting Him on Batman’s Level
JLA: Tower of Babel Proved The Dark Knight Could Defeat the League Single-Handedly
Oliver Queen’s accomplishment of personally taking out the entire Task Force VII—except for Jadestone, who wasn’t involved in the battle—is an incredible feat, putting him on par with Batman, who has similarly defeated the Justice League. However, both of these history-making moments are more complex than they initially appear. Batman’s victory over the Justice League in Tower of Babel, for instance, wasn’t a direct defeat. This situation followed events from The Silver Age storyline, where the villain Agamemnon successfully swapped the minds of the Justice League and the Injustice League, revealing that the League had no way to defeat each other.
To prevent such a situation from happening again, Batman created contingency plans to neutralize every member of the League. However, rather than Batman directly enacting these plans, it was Ra’s al Ghul and Talia al Ghul who stole and carried out Bruce’s contingencies, proving that Batman had successfully devised strategies to take down the Justice League. While it was the al Ghuls who temporarily defeated the League, it was ultimately Batman’s foresight and plans that led to his fellow heroes’ defeat. Thus, Batman can claim credit for having proven by proxy that he can defeat the Justice League.
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Batman Has A Plan To Take Out Each Justice League Member
Batman’s preparedness is arguably more powerful than any superpower, and a group of villains once used it to defeat the Justice League in DC Comics.
Can Green Arrow Really Calim He Defeated the Evil Justice League If It Wasn’t His Plan?
Bruce Wayne May Deserve More Credit for the Defeat of Task Force VII Than Oliver Queen
Oliver Queen similarly finds himself in a nuanced situation when it comes to claiming he defeated Task Force VII–the equivalent of an evil Justice League–singlehandedly. However, his situation differs from Batman’s in that Oliver directly delivers the final blow to Task Force VII, but he wasn’t the one to devise the plan. That honor goes to Batman. In Absolute Power #4, Bruce discovers that John Starr’s technology is what makes the Amazos nearly undefeatable. Starr, under Waller’s coercion, has outfitted each Amazo with one of his “hourglasses,” allowing the robots to revert to a previous moment in time and self-repair after being attacked.
With this revelation, Batman convinces Starr to create an override that would reverse the Amazos back to the moment before they stole the powers of the DC heroes, while restoring the heroes’ powers. This override is designed only to need to hit one Amazo, triggering a chain reaction in all of them. Although Batman initially plans to deliver the override himself, he is hit by one of the Amazos, causing him to drop it. Luckily, Green Arrow is quick to pick it up, attaching it to one of his arrows and shooting it at an Amazo. This sets off the chain reaction, allowing the heroes to destroy the robots.
Oliver Queen Is Going to Take Credit Whether Fans Agree or Not
“Sorry to Take It From You, Bats–But Heroes Gotta Hero…” – Green Arrow in Absolute Power #4
Considering that Green Arrow’s defeat of the Amazos was made possible by Starr’s creation and Batman’s plan, one might question whether Oliver truly deserves to claim he defeated the evil Justice League singlehandedly. While Oliver delivered the final blow, the strategy behind the victory wasn’t his own. However, the Emerald Archer seems to believe he deserves the credit, as he says, “Sorry to take it from you, Bats—but heroes gotta hero,” before launching the shot. Whether or not you agree that Green Arrow should be credited with this victory, he is certainly claiming it as his own and will no doubt brag about it at future Justice League meetings.
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I Knew Justice League Would Redeem This Iconic Hero, But It’s Still One of the Coolest Moments of the Year
Green Arrow’s betrayal of the Justice League is anything but as the Emerald Archer is subtly planning something big to save his allies.
Absolute Power #4 is available now from DC Comics!
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