Written by: Scott Snyder
Art by: Nick Dragotta
Colors by: Frank Martin
Letters by: Clayton Cowles
Cover art by: Nick Dragotta, Frank Martin (cover A)
Cover price: $4.99
Release date: October 9, 2024
Is Absolute Batman #1 Good?
Let's not mince words. Absolute Batman #1 is an engaging, gripping, sometimes thrilling, and thoroughly entertaining comic. Scott Snyder's reimagined take on the Batman legend will likely be a crowd-pleaser and make huge sales through the first few issues. But... Well, keep reading.
Absolute Batman #1 begins with Alfred Pennyworth returning to Gotham City after a multi-year absence at the behest of his employers. This Alfred is no stodgy British butler but a world-class black ops specialist sent to assess criminal organizations and eliminate targets with extreme prejudice. Alfred grudgingly accepts reassignment away from his current mission and sets up in Gotham to gather intel on the hyper-violent Party Animals Gang.
Writer Scott Snyder takes readers through the world-building of Absolute Gotham City through the eyes and narration of Alfred Pennyworth. Designed as a cross between the film versions of Alfred from the TV show Gotham and The Batman (2022) and an alpha male version of Ra's Al Ghul, this Alfred is not anyone you'd want to mess with. He's cunning, experienced, and deadly. In short, Absolute Alfred is a badass.
Elsewhere, we meet Bruce Wayne, a hulking brute of a man training at Croc's Gym. We learn through his brief dialog with his acquaintances, including the boxing gym's owner, Waylon Jones, that the city is under siege by criminal elements, and there's a Town Hall meeting tonight to address the city's woes. Waylon encourages Bruce to get out more with his friends like he used to or at least come to the Town Hall meeting to add his voice to the throngs of citizens looking for help. Bruce abruptly declines. We also learn through the dialog and a group picture on the wall that Bruce and Waylon's friends are named Ozzie, Selina, Harvey, and Edward.
So far, so good. Absolute Bruce certainly has the right presence and stoic personality that makes him read as Bruce Wayne. Plus, Snyder quickly rattles off a stream of namedrops to imply all the familiar characters exist, albeit not in the same form you remember.
Later, we meet the big bad of this first arc - Roman Sionis, aka Black Mask. Roman meets with the heads of the local mafia families, Falcone and Maroni, to discuss the Party Animals gang problem. It's clear Roman is sponsoring the Party Animal's actions, so Falcone and Maroni deliver an ultimatum for Roman to leave town. Their requests are heard and denied.
There's not much to say about this classic meeting of head-butting mob leaders. It's standard stuff, except for one twist. Roman's mask and the masks of his family, colleagues, and Party Animal gang members are shaped from an assortment of animal skulls, and the masks have some form of circuitry embedded within for some unknown purpose. It could be that Absolute Black Mask is a hybrid of Black Mask and Mad Hatter, so we'll see.
The issue then cuts to the Town Hall meeting. Mayor Jim Gordon addresses the attendees with a message of calm and patience. Unfortunately, playing by the rules isn't proving effective against the Party Animals gang. Outside, Alfred watches the scene from a nearby rooftop with orders not to engage if anything happens unless a new player rumored to be acting as a vigilante appears.
A small army of armed Party Animals storms the building's steps and barges into the meeting with gunfire. Alfred is ordered not to interfere. Suddenly, the new player arrives to put down the attack.
I won't go much into Absolute Batman's first appearance except to say it's the kind of brutal, hard-hitting, cool action we haven't seen from DC in quite a while. For anyone who's seen the redesign, Absolute Batman is more batlike and animalistic with his bat whip/cape/thingies, and he uses his tools with great effectiveness. Also, the chest symbol does come off as an axe, which he uses to chop off the hand of an armed gang member.
Now, for the big question - Does Absolute Batman kill? The answer is "maybe." Alfred notes how Batman uses knives and throwing blades to harm his opponents with surgical precision to avoid major arteries. However, the scene ends with Batman setting off an explosion that very likely killed several people, although a death toll isn't confirmed. Snyder goes out of his way to infer Batman doesn't kill, but the art says differently.
After the chaos subsides, Alfred descends his perch and confronts Batman. Alfred believes he's sized up Batman well enough to get the drop, but Batman outmaneuvers and disarms Alfred in a flash before leaving (flying? grappling? claw-climbing?) off. What follows is a montage of scenes narrated by Alfred where he cycles through his research to deduce Batman's real identity, location, personal life, and his path to becoming Batman.
We learn the status of Bruce's parents, how and where he trained, and the lengths he went to become the Absolute Cape Crusader.
The issue ends with a Bat "Roost," trading one gadget for another, and a peek at the familiar character Alfred was tracking before reassignment to Gotham City.
What's great about Absolute Batman #1?
From start to finish, Scott Snyder captures the vibe of a hard-hitting, dramatically intense Batman comic. Despite the reworked aesthetics, the heart and voice of the characters feel authentic. Plus, the rework of Batman's costume looks much cooler in action, which should be a lesson to everyone to withhold judgment until you get the full context.
What's not great about Absolute Batman #1?
At the risk of sounding like an old man yelling at clouds, Absolute Batman and the world he occupies are technically different, but not different enough to feel like anything more than Elseworlds lite.
Giving Alfred a black ops background isn't new. Bruce Wayne becoming Batman because he's motivated by the death of a loved one is nothing new. Creating fancy, bat-themed gadgets is nothing new. And a Gotham City infested with gangsters and colorful villains is nothing new.
Yes, sure, there are amalgams and tweaks, but they're all mild variations. Compared to Red Sun or Gotham By Gaslight, this doesn't come close to an Elseworlds story. Further, this world is supposed to be formed from Darkseid energy, but all the telltale signs of Darkseid's influence, such as reddish skies and omega symbols we saw in the DC All In Special #1, are nowhere to be found, so the cohesion between the All In initiative and the Absolute titles is already missing.
Again, this is a thoroughly enjoyable comic, but you'll be left wondering if it's different enough to be considered an Elseworlds universe. If not, why not give the main Batman title back to Scott Snyder? The world may never know.
How's the Art?
Honestly, I had my doubts due to the overly bulky look of Batman on the covers and promotional materials, but the massive body with a tiny head is not as noticeable in Nick Dragotta's powerful, dynamic art. When Batman appears for the fight at the Town Hall meeting, Dragotta steals the show with a Batman who is a force to be reckoned with, and again, the weird cape stilt thingies look a lot better in context than the concept drawings would suggest
About The Reviewer: Gabriel Hernandez is the Publisher & EIC of ComicalOpinions.com, a comics review site dedicated to indie, small, and mid-sized publishers.
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Final Thoughts
Absolute Batman #1 is a banger of a first issue that introduces readers to a new-ish kind of Batman, Alfred and Gotham City. Scott Snyder's knack for hard-hitting action and drama is on full display, and Nick Dragotta's art sings during the big fight. That said, Absolute Batman is almost too similar to regular Batman, so you may wonder why creating an alternate version was necessary.9/10
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