Absolute Batman is DC’s Best Batman Comic In Years (And It’s Not Even Close)

Absolute Batman kicked off DC’s Absolute Universe titles and has been going strong ever since. The Absolute Universe is an entirely new DC continuity, one created by the villainous Darkseid in DC All-In #1 for a mysterious purpose. The Absolute titles so far — Absolute Batman, Absolute Superman, and Absolute Wonder Woman — have shown off wildly different versions of DC’s Trinity, with Absolute Batman‘s first issue leading the way. Writer Scott Snyder and artist Nick Dragotta have been giving readers a very different kind of Batman book, one that has earned its place as the best Batman comic in years for multiple reasons.

Here’s why Absolute Batman is the best Batman comic to come out in the some time.

Absolute Batman Opens Up an (Alternate) World of Possibilities for Batman

DC has always been the MVP when it came to alternate universes, but rarely have they tried something as revolutionary as the Absolute Universe. In most cases, DC’s alternate Earths, like Earth-Two, have still had the Trinity in familiar places. Superman was sent from Krypton as a baby and raised on Earth. Batman was the wealthy child of the Waynes, who he lost one fateful night in Crime Alley. Wonder Woman grew up on Paradise Island/Themyscira and was sent as an envoy of peace. The Absolute Universe has upended that, and so far, it’s been a great thing.

Absolute Batman has changed the story of Bruce Wayne, taking away his billions of dollars and the power of the Waynes. Bruce was an orphan who grew up with people who would be his enemies in the mainline universe. He still fights his war to protect Gotham, but things are very different, and that’s what’s great about Absolute Batman. It’s giving readers Batman stories that are unlike what they’ve gotten before. There are mysteries at the heart of Absolute Batman, and that’s exciting. Every time readers get to see a new Batmobile or a new costume, it’s giving readers something new to marvel at. It’s something that Batman and Detective Comics isn’t giving them; in those books, everything is familiar. In Absolute Batman, everything is new.

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Fans have seen Batman’s status quo change many times over the years, but they rarely get them in ongoing series like Absolute Batman. This gives Snyder a chance to take readers on new Batman-flavored rides, which has been the book’s biggest strength so far. Snyder has proven his Batman writing chops many times over the years, and Absolute Batman is letting him flex new muscles on the Dark Knight. He’s written poetically about the history of Gotham and its architecture, but he was working from someone else’s blueprint. In Absolute Batman, it’s his vision that matters, and fans have been getting something awesome. Snyder having a young Bruce Wayne join an engineering competition to build a new bridge shows that he’s working from a familiar playbook with all-new plays.

Snyder is able to create an entirely new hierarchy of power in Gotham, and that means that readers will get the one thing that is often too hard to find in monthly superhero comics — new stories. Superhero comics are exercises in familiarity, of status quos created by decades informing entirely new tales. Readers are watching Absolute Batman create entirely new status quos, ones that are vaguely familiar but also completely different, and that goes a long way. Batman is about to get “Hush 2”; it will probably be great, but it’s just another Batman story built off the ashes of the old. Detective Comics is doing well-told Batman stories, but after the revolutionary “Gotham Overture,” they feel like more of the same. Absolute Batman never feels like more of the same, and that’s a huge plus.

Nick Dragotta’s artwork also has to be called out as spectacular. Dragotta showed his design chops on East of West (alternate history sci-fi written by Jonathan Hickman — go read it now), which are fully on display. However, he’s also a master of character acting, able to enhance any script he’s given. Every issue of Absolute Batman is an absolute feast for the eyes. Snyder always pairs well with the most skilled artists, and Dragotta is going out of his way to show why he’s one of the best. His stylized pencils work brilliantly for the Gotham City of the Absolute Universe, giving it a sinister feel that’s apparent on every page. The Batman books have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to artists — who are about to be joined by Jim Lee, the GOAT, on Batman — but Dragotta’s pages are the ones that everyone looks forward to seeing every month.

Absolute Batman Has Leaped Over Many of Its Predecessors

Batman comics reached a height in the late ’00s and the early ’10s, with runs by Grant Morrison, Paul Dini, and Scott Snyder that redefined what Batman comics could be. Batman and Detective Comics were the bestselling superhero books out there; there was an entire ecosphere of Batman comics from the best writers and artists imaginable, and they could afford to underwhelm at times because they all sold. Everyone has some Batman stories from the past decade that they like — some people like Tom King’s run, others enjoy the way Tynion and Williamson challenged Batman, some have their favorite Zdarsky stories, and there’s of course the aforementioned “Gotham Overture” — but they weren’t as revolutionary as Absolute Batman. They had to play in the sandbox, but they could only stay in the sandbox. Snyder and Dragotta are designing their sandbox, and it shows on every page.

Absolute Batman doesn’t have to follow the rules of Batman comics. It gets to make the rules, establishing new facets of the Absolute Batman mythos using the pieces of old. That’s allowed it to be more exciting than other Batman comics have been for a long time. Month after month, readers have gotten thrills and surprises that the other Batman comics aren’t giving them. Every month, more of the mysteries are answered while others are brought to light. Absolute Batman has so much potential, so much to pay-off, that it’s easily the most exciting Batman comics on the stands every month.

Absolute Batman is on sale where ever comics are sold.