It’s been quite some time since I took a look at a book from DC comics here. I often like to showcase lesser-known characters and stories. However, I’ve heard a lot of interesting things regarding the Absolute DC universe, the newest alternate timeline or world of DC heroes. DC is allowing writers more freedom to make significant changes to aspects of its legacy characters in order to inject new life into the familiar storylines. 

Batman has always been one of my personal favorite characters, as is the case with many folks, and so I decided to start off reading this universe with his title, Absolute Batman. This story is written by Scott Snyder and features artwork from Nick Dragotta.

When I mentioned significant changes to characters earlier, I truly meant it. In Absolute Batman, Bruce Wayne is no longer a billionaire playboy but a blue-collar worker. He grew up in relative poverty and is close friends with a variety of familiar faces from the rogue’s gallery, like Killer Croc, The Penguin, and The Riddler. Meanwhile, Alfred the butler is no longer a father figure but an unlikely ally who works as a mercenary for a mysterious backer.

Don’t mistake these changes as a complete departure from the character of Batman as a whole. This is certainly still a reimagining, and many of the other core aspects of Batman’s origin and his personality remain the same. It’s clear that Snyder has a profound understanding of the character and what makes him appealing, and he has certainly preserved that while adding interesting twists.

By far my favorite aspect of this series is the artwork and character design. I absolutely love this version of Batman. It feels like Dragotta took a heavy metal album cover and turned it into Batman; everything about his presence exudes power, and his weaponry reflects this increased emphasis on physicality. You’ll see him using Battle Axes, knives, and hooks rather than the standard batarangs, explosives, and high-tech grapplers. He is still far from being a brute, though, and Snyder takes time even in these first issues to emphasize Batman’s intelligence and resourcefulness. Action scenes are incredibly dynamic and engaging, with tons of exciting set pieces and panel layouts.

The overall storyline for this first arc revolves around Black Mask, who has utilized his immense resources to sponsor a gang of masked anarchists known as the Party Animals. Black Mask incentivizes the gang to commit heinous acts of violence and sow chaos throughout Gotham. I like seeing a lesser-known villain like Black Mask receive more attention, and here he is well utilized, providing foreshadowing to future storylines and allowing for the strong themes of corruption to shine through. I wouldn’t say this storyline delves into unexplored territory for Batman in terms of social commentary or plot hooks, but what is here is very well executed and relentlessly entertaining to read.

In terms of negatives, I would say that at times the dialogue and narration do sound like they’re trying a little too hard. It certainly gives off that early 2000s Shadow The Hedgehog energy where it’s trying to get you to take it seriously as a dark, gritty, adult narrative, but then characters can’t actually swear without being censored, for example. Sometimes characters also take actions that follow this trend rather than what would logically make the most sense.

At the end of the day, this is a comic book through and through. You have to suspend your disbelief over ridiculous or impractical things like riding motorcycles off skyscrapers or using a dump truck as a getaway vehicle, and just accept that it’s there because it’s cool. Sometimes that’s what we all need in a story, and Absolute Batman certainly delivers in that respect while also telling just a darn good Batman story that actually feels fresh and introduces new character dynamics to the age-old formula.

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Absolute Batman vol. 1

$17.99

9

Score

9.0/10

Pros

• Awesome character design
• Great action
• Entertaining fresh Batman story
• Solid writing

Cons

• Can be a little edgy and silly