Notice! This post contains SPOILERS for Absolute Batman #2I am ready to admit that, surprisingly, the new Absolute Batman is officially more Batman than the original Bruce Wayne. Debuting in a new, darker universe created by Darkseid, this new Dark Knight takes everything that makes the OG Batman so cool and turns it up to 11. As such, it could also be argued that Absolute Batman is just as compelling as the main Batman. , if not more due to additional fights (and intensity).
Coming from Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta, Absolute Batman has only published two issues so far and I’m already hooked. While there’s certainly a cool factor to everything being bigger, badder, and more intense, that’s sufficiently counterbalanced by the fact that there are additional struggles and a new status quo that this new Bruce Wayne also has to come to terms with. To this end, there’s more than one reason why it could be argued that Absolute Batman is effectively “outdoing the Batman” of OG Batman.
Absolute Batman is next level
Taking the mission and methods of the original Batman much further
In both questions Absolute Batmanthis new Dark Knight has much more brutal origins. This Bruce Wayne doesn’t come from money, instead growing up in Crime Alley with his dead father protecting Bruce and his friends from a mass shooter, friends who would have been Batman’s enemies in the main DC Universe. Likewise, Bruce grows up to work in construction and engineering, working throughout Gotham by day while brutally facing off against the horrific gang known as the Party Animals by night. It’s a very refreshing origin that puts Bruce Wayne at a much greater disadvantage, one that I find quite compelling.
“While his no-killing rule appears to remain intact (so far), Absolute Batman’s war certainly appears to be much more intense and rage-fueled in comparison…”
This Batman has no qualms about maiming and permanently damaging his enemies, seen severing limbs and breaking bones in the most painful and long-lasting ways possible. He even creates improvised hydrochloric acid on the spot to burn and melt the Party Animals’ feet. Absolute Batman #2taking the original Batman’s signature intelligence and ingenuity to the next (and much darker) level. While his no-killing rule appears to remain intact (so far), Absolute Batman’s war certainly appears to be much more intense and rage-fueled in comparison.
Absolute Batman also doesn’t have a butler. Instead, Alfred Pennyworth is an elite intelligence agent who has been hired to observe the Party Animals and Batman, and the Dark Knight’s methods gradually earn Alfred’s respect. Eventually, Pennyworth becomes quite impressed as he tracks Batman’s movements and his ongoing fight against the Party Animals. The Absolute Batman never compromises or backs down, always using everything around him to gain his best, most brutal tactical advantage.
“Batman AF” is an understatement
Everything is bigger and badder (even the Batmobile)
In particular, Absolute Batman #2 features two iconic moments, and both show how much bigger and badder this new Bruce Wayne is alongside the original Batman. When the Party Animals discover one of Absolute Batman’s many caves hidden around the city, Batman revealed that he had the hideout rigged to explode, confirming that he knew they were coming and prompting Alfred’s conclusion that this Batman will never back down: “Maybe that’s what he is… all he is… a long way forward… Batman AF.” It’s an important moment that shows that the Absolute Batman is bigger and somehow even worse than the typical Batman of the main DC Universe.
As if those first two issues weren’t enough, the end of the second issue adds a definitive exclamation point with the debut of Absolute Batman’s new Batmobile, a huge, modified black rigid truck connected to his construction and engineering work. Shown passing police cars like they were nothing, seeing this new wheeled monstrosity punctuating the entire point of Absolute Batman in my mind: There’s more than one way to become Batman, and some ways will be much darker and more intense than one might imagine.
Classic Batman Will Always Be Iconic…
BUT I’m seriously loving Absolute Batman
It’s important to note that my newfound love for Absolute Batman certainly doesn’t rule out classic Batman. After all, the OG Caped Crusader will always be a compelling icon in his own right, with 85 years of storytelling to back up his status as one of the greatest superheroes of all time. That being said, Credit must be given to DC Comics and the stellar team of Snyder and Dragotta, who somehow found a way to debut an exciting new version of Batman that is in many ways more Batman than Batman himself.
Absolute Batman #2 It’s on sale now at DC Comics.