Is Absolute Batman Too Violent?

DC Comics’ new Absolute Universe has re-invented DC’s roster of heroes, while Absolute Batman has begun raising eyebrows for just how violent a comic book it is. DC’s Absolute Universe is a new reality created as an off-shoot of 2024’s DC All-In Special, with the new corner of DC’s multiverse permeated by the energy of Darkseid, resulting in radically different and decidedly much darker origin stories for DC’s heroes. The multiverse and Elseworlds stories have been a pillar of DC throughout its existence, and the Absolute Universe is the latest such instance of DC’s heroes and mythology being reworked and re-imagined in the comics, with Scott Snyder overseeing the unfolding Absolute Universe.

Batman was the first of DC’s heroes to get the Absolute treatment in late 2024, followed shortly thereafter by Wonder Woman and Superman, with the Absolute version of Bruce Wayne re-imagined as a blue collar engineer with the body of a power-lifter while his mother Martha Wayne is still very much alive. Those aren’t the only elements of Absolute Batman that have stood out, though, with the new version of the Dark Knight becoming increasingly noted and even somewhat controversial as a very violent comic book. However, this isn’t necessarily a major deviation from Batman’s overall comic book history.

Absolute Batman Pulls Absolutely No Punches

Let’s first be clear upfront that Absolute Batman is indeed an extremely intense and violent iteration of the Caped Crusader, something that it goes out of its way to establish right from Absolute Batman #1. Readers wondering what the story is behind the massive Bat emblem on Batman’s chest get their answer in the form of Batman unveiling it as a Bat-shaped axe that he uses to sever the hand of a gang member during an intense street brawl. Batman then offers just the bare minimum concern for the criminal’s well-being, informing him “There’s a hospital three blocks South of here. Or is it East? I can’t seem to remember all of a sudden…But I’d run.”

That moment sets the template for Absolute Batman to hold nothing back in showing the amount of punishment Batman inflicts upon the criminals of Gotham City. Fight scenes frequently show blood flying across panels as criminals recoil from Batman’s punches, and one of Absolute Batman #6’s most viscerally memorable panels sees the Dark Knight literally stab an enemy in the eyes with his cowl’s Bat ears. Clearly, the strong reactions to Absolute Batman‘s level of violence haven’t emerged in a vacuum, but it is also worth asking if it’s really that out of the ordinary for Batman comics to be so intense.

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Batman Comics Have Always Been Dark & Violent

While Absolute Batman is indeed quite harsh in its level of violent content, Batman comics have always been among the most violent in mainstream comics. Right from his origin in Detective Comics #27 all the way back in 1939, Batman was slaying criminals and gangsters without a second thought, at times even deploying firearms to do so. As Batman comics leveled off from the campiness of the ’60s era, Batman returned to the harshness of his early days, most notably in Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, which had Batman inflicting severe beatings upon his opponents including the Joker, while the survival of other villains is at best ambiguous.

All the way into the 21st century, Batman comics have never shied away from showing intense levels of brutality and carnage, with Batman himself hardly being the only character to participate in either. Lest we forget, one of the Joker’s more recent comic book makeovers involved the Clown Prince of Crime having his own face skinned off only to don it again as a mask (under the pen of Absolute DC shepherd Scott Snyder, no less.) The fact of the matter is that dealing with grotesque violence is a part of the job for Batman, and therefore part and parcel of Batman comics, and this helps contextualize how much Absolute Batman pushes the envelope.

Absolute Batman Is Honest About The Dark Knight’s Essence

Since his creation, Batman has been interpreted and re-interpreted many ways in comics, movies, television, and video games, but at his core, Batman is all about turning the anger of the loss he experienced as a child into a weapon to defend others from experiencing what he did. When all’s said and done, Batman, in short, is a very violent character, something that both the comics and most adapted media has understood keenly. Batman’s much-touted no kill rule is also, frankly, far more complex, nuanced, and grey than it is often understood, with Batman (and Absolute Batman) certainly not setting out to take lives, but the deaths of villains he battles also being far less innately avoidable than many fans are ready to admit.

It’s certainly fair to say that Absolute Batman is a good deal more overt and explicit in its level of violence compared to many Batman comics. However, Absolute Batman is also among the most honest Batman comic book runs in a long time in its portrayal of how much Batman’s nightly battle against Gotham City criminals would require him to get his hands dirty. Moreover, the aforementioned influence of Darkseid energy on the Absolute DC Universe is itself likely a factor in the level grit at work in its version of Batman. That makes Absolute Batman‘s violence and intensity even more easy to put into context, with both being byproducts one would expect to find within a Gotham City with a sprinkling of Darkseid energy.

Absolute Batman is, without question, an extremely violent comic book read, and more so than most Batman comics typically are. However, the margin isn’t all that big, and Batman comics have been some of DC’s most violent since time immemorial, which makes Absolute Batman an intense re-imagining of the Dark Knight, but one still true to who he is at his core.