Absolute Batman #1-6

Absolute Batman #1-6

Originally released in 2024

Written by Scott Snyder

Art by Nick Dragotta

DC's Absolute universe really blew up in popularity in the past year or two, though I haven't looked into it during that time.  I only know the basic premise - Darkseid has made an entire universe in his image, where the heroes are missing characteristics that are normally fundamental to them.  How can they still be heroes in a world where a tyrannical dictator is the foundation of everything that exists?

Even though I knew that Absolute Batman is built like a tank, this series still managed to bait-and-switch me twice with its opening, making me think that a character was Bruce Wayne before revealing the truth.  In this series, Bruce is more of a blue collar hero; neither of his parents are wealthy, with his late father being a teacher and his mother being a social worker, and as a result, he lacks the resources that he usually has.  Rather than having stately Wayne Manor, an isolated place for him to use as a base of operations, he has various makeshift Bat Caves on the unused top floors of skyscrapers that he helped to build.

The series starts off with Alfred, who is an older mercenary with no connection to the Wayne family.  He's been called into Gotham to keep an eye on a masked gang of criminals known as the Party Animals, along with killing Batman if necessary.  He's a skilled tracker, figuring out that Batman is Bruce Wayne almost immediately, though with Martha Wayne being alive and Alfred having trouble connecting to his own daughter Julia, he refuses to take advantage of this knowledge or let his employer know.

Another significant change to the Bat-mythos is that Bruce Wayne has a close-knit group of friends - Waylon Jones, Selina Kyle, Harvey Dent, Oswald Cobblepot, and Edward Nygma.  I'm curious to see if they'll remain on Bruce's side (as these Absolute comics seem to be self-contained stories that aren't strictly connected to the original universe) or wind up opposing Batman, though I feel like keeping some of them as Bruce's friends would make for an interesting change from most continuities.

From the first issue, I could see why this series was such a big hit.  With it not requiring any prior reading, it makes for an excellent way to get into comics without being intimidated by decades of backstory, multiple universe-wide reboots, needing to get caught up on who characters are, and so on.  Plus the set-up of the paneling makes the whole thing feel cinematic in a way; I could almost hear Molossus from the Christopher Nolan Batman movies during scenes where Batman is taking on the Party Animals as they try to interrupt a town meeting that Mayor Jim Gordon is holding.

Alfred quickly grows to respect Bruce's preparedness and resourcefulness, but their first few face-to-face meetings are more antagonistic than usual.  Alfred prides himself on stealth, but whereas the mainline Batman used his family's fortune to travel the world, training with Tibetan monks, escape artists, and ninja masters, Absolute Batman is considerably less subtle, lacking gadgets and subtlety and having to make do with brute force.

The main conflict of this first story arc is solving one of those problems.  Black Mask, the leader of the Party Animals, offers Batman $200 million and vows that the Party Animals will reduce their attacks if Batman backs off for a week. Their goal is seemingly to get Hamilton Hill, the former mayor who was removed for corruption, elected over the current mayor Jim Gordon.  Will Batman follow through with this deal, and gain the resources that could allow him to make a real difference in Gotham, at the cost of doing nothing while masked thugs run rampant throughout the city and take whatever they want?

On top of all of this, Bruce discovers that a wealthy group that hired Black Mask is building various Arks, off-the-books prisons, around the world, with Ark M being located in Gotham. It's all being orchestrated by the man who hired Alfred - one of the richest men in the world who somehow remains so anonymous that nobody knows if his name is Arthur or Jack or something else entirely.

I completely understand why this series has gotten so popular, and what makes the Absolute line so appealing.  It's like the Ultimate Marvel line when that first came out, only without all of that early 2000s edge. (There's definitely some degree of edginess - Bruce is more violent than his main version, even if he still doesn't kill - but it's nowhere near as prominent and the series is generally more positive at its core) I'd love to see a series of animated movies covering this universe, and I'm interested to see where Absolute Batman goes and to read the other Absolute stories. (As of now, there are six of them to my knowledge: Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern, and Martian Manhunter, though there might be more that I'm unaware of) This was engaging from start to finish, with the changes compared to the main universe keeping me unsure about what to expect.