Absolute Batman has been DC’s biggest hit comic of the past year - and I’m not really sure why as it’s quite… meh.
It’s a striking redesign, I’ll give it that. The thinking behind the look seems to be “What if Batman looked like Bane at peak venom usage?” He’s more massive in this series than he’s ever been elsewhere. And he’s got… what are those things on his hands, umbrellas?!
It’s intriguing because you think, well if they’ve made drastic changes to him, what other kerazy things are happening in this book?? And it’s appropriate that Batman has all the attention in his own series anyway, and I liked the reimagining Scott Snyder has done with this alternate-universe Batman, but… Batman is really the only interesting thing in this book. The other characters and this opening story arc are all quite boring.
The storyline: Black Mask’s Party Animal gang is causing havoc in Gotham - Batman steps in to stop them. That’s it - so it’s the most generic Batman storyline ever that’s been done thousands of times before? Yup. Hmm. Kinda works against this supposed-fresh new take on the series, eh?
But the action is cool at least, and surprising too - this ain’t your grandpappy’s Batman, ABSOLUTE BATMAN stabs people and cuts off limbs whaaaat! That’s right, you thought Frank Miller’s chest bat symbol was fat, wait’ll you see Snyder’s - it’s basically a black rectangle! It also doubles as an axe that Batman hacks goons’ arms off. Because he’s ABSOLUTE! He even shoots Alfred with a shotgun! WOAH - SO ABSOLUTE!
(Why did DC choose such a stupid adjective? Absolute in the DC line used to mean the definitive, fancy-pants collected edition of a beloved title, like Absolute Watchmen or Absolute Sandman. Now it just means, basically, another Elseworlds-type thing without calling it Elseworlds. And they own the Elseworlds label - they could just use that! Even more stupidly, the cover also has the “DC All-In” logo on it - so why not call this “All-In Batman”? Whatevs, DC’s gonna DC)
Snyder continues to pay homage to Miller by giving his Batman a similar monster truck-sized Batmobile and there’s a full-page shot of Batman against a dark lightning sky too. The monster truck Batmobile just underlines how pointless the “Absolute Batman isn’t a billionaire industrialist heir like the real Batman” angle is - he can easily get everything he needs to be Batman without the money, so why even make it a point that he’s not rich when it doesn’t hinder him in the least?
Why is the Absolute Batman so brutal? I think just shock value. And novelty - make this alternate-Batman stand out from the rest in the history of this nearly 100 year old character. An axe is a bit of a weird choice though. But not as weird as his new cape that has claws on it that are kinda Doc Ock-y?! The cape is too much. It’s just… he can walk around on them like stilts or Doc Ock’s arms?? Ridiculous. Oh yeah and the do-everything cape also has spikes on it like he’s in the Legion of Doom from (what was then called) WWF.
I won’t go into the various new roles the familiar characters are re-cast in but it’s nothing that inspired (mostly just different job titles), nor does it make the story any more compelling. Throughout the book, Snyder repeatedly flashes back to this Batman’s origin story, involving tragedy at the zoo, which felt obvious and unsurprising and didn’t do anything but remind you that Batman lost his dad at a young age, which, duh. Develop it further or stop going on about it!
Perhaps knowingly, Snyder takes a scene from Nolan’s Dark Knight by having - ABSOLUTE twist! - Batman burn a giant pile of money, which just felt stupidly machismo with Batman doing it instead of Joker (donate it to charity maybe, y’know, help people?). I would’ve preferred if Joker were the big bad of this first book too because Black Mask is one of Batman’s lesser villains and, even revised here, still isn’t that good. He’s simply generic leering evil mob boss. Yawn.
Artists Nick Dragotta and Gabriel Hernandez Walta are both talented cartoonists but there wasn’t much in this comic that stood out as especially visionary, besides Batman’s character design. The serviceable art only lends to the increasing impression when reading this comic that Absolute Batman is so absolutely forgettable.
Snyder’s Absolute Batman is an intriguing character who’s written well. The most interesting familiar aspect of Batman’s world was Ark-M, as a kind of black site prison, which was a clever take on Arkham Asylum - that should’ve been (at least part of) the main story, rather than a passing feature. But little else in this alternate Bat-world was of the same level, from the supporting cast, to the villains, to the plot - it’s the same Batman vs a gang in Gotham storyline that’s been done to death over the years.
Absolute Batman might be throwing powerhouse haymakers at Black Mask’s goons but his first outing in The Zoo packs a very weak punch.
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