Absolute Batman #1: New 52.0

A key aspect of reimagining is the timeframe it is being made. All art, whether done intentionally or not, is influenced by the world and times around it. To transplant a story into a new time, or to update it for a contemporary audience, is to perform an alchemical transmutation that alters the DNA of a work. That might take the form of a thematic updating, correcting assumptions or beliefs that have become outdated, or even grappling with the compounded interests of history. Without a direction, a reimagining falls flat, more of a cynical cash grab or hollow evocation of nostalgia.  

Absolute Batman #1 – written by Scott Synder with art by Nick Dragotta, coloring by Frank Martin, and lettering by Clayton Cowles – carries hefty expectations as it launches the first official title in DC’s new Absolute line of comics after a tease in the All-In Special. Resembling the modern iteration of Marvel’s Ultimate Universe, the premise of the Absolute line is built around the DC heroes faced with compounded evil with none of their typical supports. For Bruce Wayne, this is expressed by stripping the wealth and prestige of the Wayne lineage. Instead, Bruce is the son of a teacher and social worker, following in a similar path of civil service by becoming a city engineer. 

Still dressing as a bat, just with the added bulk of muscle that rivals Bane and a wide-reaching series of gadgets, this version of the vigilante is in his early days, functioning as a whisper in the underworld of Gotham. The city finds itself being held hostage by The Party Animals, a gang of criminals bordering on domestic terrorists under the direction of Black Mask. From killing citizens to attacking the law and order of Gotham, the group is ready to push out the old-school mobsters like the Falcones and Maronis. Not even Mayor Gordon and Commissioner Bullock can stop the group, relying on Batman to combat the masked criminals. 

Most interesting in the issue is the role of P.O.V. character Alfred Pennyworth, an agent of a clandestine organization that has carried out operations across the world. He’s been assigned back to Gotham, to watch both the Party Animals and Batman alike, even at the expense of other missions. The issue cycles through these three status quo establishments with pinpoint collisions. 

The elephant in the room of this review, and the initiative as a whole, is a comparison to Ultimate Spider-Man. Both are from top-of-the-line creators with established yet fresh artists on mainline books that have been inconsistent at best to egregious in the last few years. Ultimate Spider-Man paved a path forward for the wider universe while also breathing fresh life into the idea of Peter Parker as a modern-day character. Designed as a commentary on the sense of arrested development and stolen future persistent in millennial and later generations’ culture, the book resonated at a hyper-specific frequency with the times. 

Where Absolute Batman falters is that lack of an out-of-the-gate, gripping thematic backbone. Instead, the book is a recycled product of Batman’s New 52 debut, which sets up a version of Gotham that is familiar with a few twists. At least when Snyder and Greg Capullo kicked off that era of Batman, it brought in the Court of Owls as a compelling villain. Here, the Party Animals are just a reskinned version of the Red Hood Gang with an edgy coat of paint splashed on them. That combined with the epilogue’s villain tease, seemingly points to distinct echoes of Synder’s initial run. 

Most of the interesting elements of this new iteration are just glimmers in this issue, ranging from Bruce’s deep connection to the notable Gotham rogues to Alfred’s spy/mercenary operations. These, along with Bruce’s role as an engineer, feel like the most fertile points of digression from typical Batman lore. Taking a more humanistic approach to the rogues gallery and bonding them as contemporaries of Bruce grounds the character in a way that feels like a radical change. On the other hand, putting Alfred in an antagonist role with cloak and dagger influence on the book elevates it to a heightened genre point. Striking that right balance may be the key to the book’s long-term success.   

Dragotta’s art falls squarely on the title’s exciting side, bringing a distinct style and sense of action that evokes a new side to the Dark Knight. The towering hulk of a vigilante moves like a tank on ice skates, breaking bodies while still stalking the shadows. It’s an impressive feat to sell that sense of precision with a figure like Batman’s in this form, and Dragotta does it masterfully. 

Balance lies at the heart of much of the issue’s art, especially with the grounded, street-level approach to the vigilante mixed with the hints of more fantastical elements. Possible aliens, demons, or metahumans work for Black Mask, while high-tech motorbikes and weaponry fill those same streets. The design work for the issue makes all of these pieces fit in just right on the page. 

The pages and panels are designed to an excellent degree as well, striving for a claustrophobic sense of composition. Many of the ages are made up of dense, small panels, sometimes breaking a continuous image to create that cluttering feeling. It’s an excellent choice that feeds into the grounded approach to the world, which conveys that sense of being unable to breathe deeply and relax within Gotham. Dragotta then redeploys the blocking and composition to create an intense action sequence that takes a full sprint in pacing. The tight tiny panels allow for the focus on the little movements of a towering figure, achieving that balance of brute force and graceful finesse. 

Martin’s coloring bolsters the work on display in Dragotta’s art, building up the sense of action and figures. The book utilizes multiple silhouette panels that Martin’s coloring renders distinct, finding just the right pitches of black to illustrate Batman’s physique. In conjunction with those moments are backgrounds that create a sense of sweeping beauty through the use of vivid hues. One of the standout moments of the book is not a visceral action sequence or mob meet-up, but of Batman standing above the city as the sun rises. The Caped Crusader is bathed in rich, warm oranges and blues that offer a bit of calm before the violence, showing the horizon of Gotham, and the title writ large.