DC’s Absolute Batman Is a “Primal” Beast: “This Is Not the Batman You Know”

DC Comics is going all in on Absolute Batman. The company on Wednesday officially announced DC All In, an all-new publishing initiative which will birth the Absolute Universe and reinvented versions of the trinity: Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. Launching in October with the oversized DC All In Special #1 — a 64-page one-shot from co-writers Scott Snyder (Batman) and Joshua Williamson (Superman) and artists Daniel Sampere (Dark Crisis) and Wes Craig (Deadly Class) — the new line of comics will redefine the heroes of the prime DCU, starting with the manga-inspired Dark Knight.

“When you guys see Nick Dragotta’s art on Absolute Batman, it is going to blow your mind,” Williamson teased during DC’s All In announcement video. “It is primal. This is not the Batman you know. He’s a beast.”

While the black-and-gray costumed crime-fighter is no slouch in any universe, the broad-shouldered, brawny Batman of the Absolute Universe is even “more badass,” according to Snyder. He has to be: this untamed universe is founded on “chaotic” and “dangerous” Darkseid energy.

“That’s the spirit of this universe. In this universe, the heroes come up in ways that make them underdogs,” Snyder said. “They have a lot less of the comforts and things that they have in the main universe. Without spoiling things in each of the books, they have to be tougher, they have to be more resourceful, they have to shine brighter. And it makes them more badass.”

The Absolute Universe exists “in one shared space and as part of a bigger story that we’ll be telling over the course of the next few years,” Snyder explained, describing DC All In as a “driving force for the company.” The initiative spans both the DCU and the DCAU and spins out of Absolute Power, the Dawn of DC-branded blockbuster event by Mark Waid and Dan Mora. “That actually ends with some really big moments for the DCU, and that’s where we start picking things up with All In #1 in October,” Williamson said.

“All In is about inviting everybody in — the existingcreators, somenew creators, everything — to tell their best stories,and to beginthem all at one point,” Snyder continued. “The idea is to createthegreatest jumping-on point for you guys in many, many years.” DC willlaunch new books — besides Absolute Batman, there’s the long-hairedAbsolute Superman and the tattooed warrior Absolute Wonder Woman — butwill not be rebooting or retconning the ongoing DC continuity.

How the Absolute Universe is created won’t be revealed until October’s Absolute Power finale and the All In one-shot, but a battle between Darkseid and Superman’s Justice League will “reshape the DC cosmology in a brand new way, in a radical way, in a way that we’re really excited about,” Snyder said. “In the midst of that, one thing it creates is a dangerous, wild new planet: a new DC universe.”

Dragotta’s works include Superman: American Alien, DC’s T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, and Image’s sci-fi western East of West, which he co-created with Marvel’s rebooted Ultimate Universe architect Jonathan Hickman. Snyder previously wrote the bestselling series American Vampire and Swamp Thing, and relaunched Batman as part of DC’s New 52 in 2011.