Comics Review: "ABSOLUTE BATMAN #1" is the Dark Knight Begins

ABSOLUTE BATMAN #1

DC COMICS

STORY: Scott Snyder

ART: Nick Dragotta

COLORS: Frank Martin

LETTERS: Clayton Cowles

EDITOR: Katie Kubert

COVER: Nick Dragotta with Frank Martin

VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Wes Craig; Jim Lee and Scott Williams with Alex Sinclair; Mitch Gerads; Ian Bertram; Jim Lee and Scott Williams

36pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (December 2024)

Batman created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger

“The Zoo” Part One of Five

Batman is a DC Comics superhero that was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and that debuted in the Detective Comics #27 (apparently first published on March 30, 1939).  Batman is the alias of Bruce Wayne, a wealthy American playboy, philanthropist, and industrialist who resides in Gotham City. Batman's origin story begins when he is a child and his parents are murdered in front of him, leading young Bruce to swear vengeance on the city's criminal element.

The story of Bruce Wayne and of how he became Batman has been its own “Goldberg variations.”  [2012's Batman: Earth One Volume One is an example.]  Now, comes a new line of DC Comics, “Absolute Comics,” which is similar to Marvel's “Ultimate Comics” line, in that Absolute Comics presents alternate versions and the changed narratives of familiar DC Comics characters and their back stories.  Welcome to “Earth-Alpha” and the “Absolute Universe.”

The first entry in the Absolute Comics line is the recently launched comic book series, Absolute Batman.  It is written by Scott Snyder; drawn by Nick Dragotta; colored by Frank Martin; and lettered by Clayton Cowles.  In the new series, Batman/Bruce Wayne isn't a billionaire with seemingly unlimited resources, but he is still a vigilante by night and now, a thug in the streets.

Absolute Batman #1 opens with a glimpse into the past.  There, we see the incident that spurred young Bruce Wayne onto the mission of 24-year-old Bruce Wayne.  Wayne is a talented, multi-skilled, much-employed, blue-collar civil engineer who fights crime at night as a mysterious vigilante.

In the present day, Alfred Pennyworth is some kind of operative, a secret agent working for a mysterious agency.  His tasks including spying, monitoring, and killing for his bosses.  He is currently in Gotham City investigating the “Party Animals,” apparently a criminal organization with worldwide reach.  These “Party Animals” are in Gotham, killing and terrorizing in the most brutal fashion, and Pennyworth has an eye on them and on a new player in town.

However, this new player in town is like no other Gotham “player,” and he's going to show the Party Animals that he can be every bit as ruthless and as violent as they can be... and more.  Who is “the Batman?”  Without the mansion...without the money...without the butler...what's left is the Absolute Dark Knight!

THE LOWDOWN:  I do not received review PDFs from DC Comics.  I bought a copy of the fifth printing of Absolute Batman #1 from “Stronghold Collectibles” at their booth at the recent Louisiana Comic Con 2025 (March 8-9) in Lafayette, Louisiana.  So I'm free to say what I want, although, as I remember it, DC does not require people who receive access to their review PDFs to give positive reviews.

Honestly, I enjoyed reading Absolute Batman #1, not as much as I enjoyed series writer Scott Snyder's 2011 Batman #1 (or Tony S. Daniel's 2011 Detective Comics #1).  But I enjoyed it nonetheless.  My reading of this first issue suggests that Absolute Batman #1 seems like a kind of prequel or perhaps actual reboot of sorts of Frank Miller's seminal graphic novel, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (DKR).  I could see the Batman/Bruce Wayne of Absolute Batman becoming the 50-year-old Batman/Bruce Wayne of DKR more than I can see the various iterations of Batman in Detective Comics or in the Batman ongoing comic book becoming DKR's vigilante.

Absolute Batman artist, Nick Dragotta, seems to be doing a riff on the art and compositions of Snyder's 2011 Batman collaborator, artist Greg Capullo.  I'm impressed with Dragotta's take on Batman's costume, but his graphical style is still The New 52 era Capullo.  That said, Dragotta's colorist, Frank Martin, an accomplished comic book colorist, seems to be going vintage in his coloring for this first issue, which I think recalls Richmond Lewis' coloring of David Mazuchelli art on the famous story arc, Batman: Year One (1987).

I can say that letterer Clayton Cowles is just being his good old self, and that is very good enough.  His shifting fonts give Absolute Batman #1 style and flair, and the lettering actually encouraged me to really invest my imagination in the story.

I enjoyed this first issue enough that I may seek out more individual issues of Absolute Batman.  Or I might just wait for the trade paperback collection.  I can say that I'm interested in reading a Batman comic book on a regular basis more than I have been for at least half a decade.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Batman comic books will want to read Absolute Batman.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

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