Part of the DC All In initiative, this new parallel universe couldn’t start any stronger than with Absolute Batman #1. Previously rebooting Batman in the New 52, this time around Scott Snyder teams up with Nick Dragotta to take another shot at the Dark Knight. If you think Snyder had run out of things to say about the Bat, you should get this issue and test your theory, because this Batman is a different beast entirely. From appearance alone, his aggressive design made quite the noise online, maybe only equal to him losing his trunks way back when.
Stripped off his wealth, his big bat symbol is just one of the things that make him stand out from previous iterations. It’s Batman without his elaborate history and retcons, him as his primal essence, a fresh take that’s more relevant than ever. With years of canon behind him, this series is a chance for something never before seen, one that still carries a familiar heart under its beating wings. Snyder does a great job of letting the reader know the essentials of this world in a short time, subverting the familiar, and setting things up for future surprises. After all, this isn’t your granddaddy’s Bruce Wayne or Alfred – this is the Batman of our time, a decades-old myth adapted for the present.
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It’s not 1939 anymore and our modern fear isn’t getting mugged in a back alley, it’s what this version of young Bruce went through. What makes this issue so compelling are these elseworld alterations. Bruce isn’t a billionaire, and so we see how he becomes Batman without his privilege. He fully functions and builds his crusade through ingenuity alone. Without the safety net of his wealth, he has to be bolder than usual, especially without Alfred as his caretaker. In this version, Alfred is the point-of-view character, one who never knew Bruce Wayne. Through Snyder’s intricate caption boxes, we explore the thoughts of this man returning to an unfamiliar city, sharing the reader’s experience, who might be well versed with the Gothams of before, but now find it changed. As Alfred finds out more about Batman, so does the reader.
Nick Dragotta’s art is perfect for this type of story. He never pulls his punches, packing a lot of things in a single page, giving the action plenty of detail with dynamic perspectives, reminiscent of Frank Miller’s smaller panel placements. His Gotham is one that’s given life, becoming more than a set dressing. We see its streets and suburbs, the homeless and the blue collars, a place that’s believably inhabited. And his Batman is already iconic, with his face always in harsh shadow, humongous body, and animated Spawn-like cape. Frank Martin complements Dragotta perfectly with his colors; the orange and blue sky in sunset, the red of blood, and flashbacks that are desaturated for dramatic purposes.
Other things worth noting are the new villains and gadgets. The antagonists are a group of people not with white owl masks, but black skull ones. This gang is more than happy to do a shootout in broad daylight, which is the impetus for Alfred’s arrival, Batman’s appearance, and Jim Gordon’s introduction. Snyder makes every piece coming into place appear effortless. Last but not least, Batman’s gadgets are extremely creative, and I can already imagine Batman in the main continuity borrowing some from his larger counterpart.
In Absolute Batman #1, Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta went all in to make an absolutely worthwhile issue. Working-class by day, spiked-up suit by night, this Batman is an underdog fighting against an impossible system, the odds ever stacked against him. It’s a story that everybody needs right now. It also works well even if it’s your first-ever comic.
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