We’ve seen Batman’s awkward first attempt at crime fighting before. We’ve even seen a take from this comic’s own Scott Snyder all the way back in Zero Year. We’ve seen him doubt himself and struggle to find the best way to carry out his mission, both on screen and on several pages. But we’ve never seen him quite like this.
With a prototype suit that’s more vampire than vigilante, this is an angry Batman who might just love Nosferatu more than Zorro. Even then, Bruce decides to think bigger, forgo the fangs, and become more than just a horror. He decides to be an agent against corruption. All this is conveyed brilliantly through three interweaving events in Bruce’s life: standing on the stand facing his father’s killer, brainstorming with his father for his science competition, and his first year as Batman.
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The typography and caption style of Batman’s inner monologues echo Todd Klein’s lettering in Batman Year One, with its cursive writing and paper-like boxes. We’re finally inside Batman’s headspace, a change of mood away from Alfred. The change of artist complements this, with Gabriel Hernández Walta holding the pen, fitting with the grimy and grittier past while Frank Martin’s colors help give it continuity.
Like the previous issues, there are a lot of memorable moments, especially one with a Batmobile and truck that got a laugh out of me. In a lot of ways, it can feel like a greatest hits for longtime readers, but also the perfect introduction for people who’ve never read comics before, with everything epic about the dark knight here in these pages.
My favorite part is Bruce’s conversation with his father. They boil down the core of bats and what’s so special about them, and in a meta sort of way, it also points out Batman’s whole place in the world. The juxtaposition of their dialogue in the background with the panels that show Batman in action really sells what makes comics so special. We get to see why he’s so big and uses an axe, it’s all a conscious decision by Bruce, and by this book’s creative team. There’s a psychological reason for everything and I admire that.
What’s great about this issue is that it can be read separately from any previous context, as a character study and exploration of what people in the world need right now. Maybe beyond Gotham City, more than the comic book industry, people need something big, an extreme to jolt us up into action. And here, between the covers, it takes the shape of Batman.
Absolute Batman #4 honors the caped crusader’s storied history by giving us a perfect reinterpreted origin. A novel take on Year One right at the turn of New Year’s, one that also works great as a standalone single issue. It’s a personal story with a healthy dose of social commentary, ambitious in its scope, with a balance of homages and new ideas. The series has a freedom that previous Batman comics did not, and I’m especially excited as to how it explores Bruce’s relationship with his parent’s killer.
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