DC's Nick Dragotta and Scott Snyder Reveal What Absolute Batman's New Costume Can Really Do (Exclusive)
DC's Nick Dragotta and Scott Snyder talk about Absolute Batman's new costume, bat symbol, batmobile, and more!
Few books are as anticpated as DC's Absolute Batman, which has got people buzzing thanks to its unique character design and shake-up of the typical Batman status quo. Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta have crafted a Batman that is a force of nature, both in terms of his physical stature and in his approach to crimefighting, and DC gets all of the fun started in the DC All In Special, which then leads into Absolute Batman #1. ComicBook had the chance to speak with Snyder and Dragotta all about what inspired their new take on Batman, as well as all the details on the new costume, the new Bat Symbol (which is also a freaking axe), what elements of his suit didn't make the cut, and even a tease of the new batmobile!
A New Batman for Today
It can be difficult to redesign a character that is so iconic without losing what makes them so iconic in the first place, and Dragotta strived to shake things up in a big way while keeping those core elements intact. "The idea is to do a new Batman for today, and the challenge is when, like, I'm a fan and I'm so beholden to the nostalgia and the 80-plus years of comics behind it that I didn't want to, I wanted it to still be Batman, in a sense. So, like, you don't mess with the silhouette. You don't mess with the core of who Batman is. The ears, the cowl, the symbol on the chest, and then within that, then you mess with it," Dragotta said. "So that was kind of my thinking. And then also just looking at what inspired him in the past, and I remember seeing Bob Kane's original drawings and him being influenced by Da Vinci's flying man that, he drew a guy with kind of like, bat wings."
"And then Scott and I were talking about the story and the character, and we were like let's draw upon the inspiration of bats and let's see what they do. And then just the more research I did on bats, I'm like, oh, that's really cool. They walk on their hands, you know, and Scott was like yeah, what if in fight scenes he pops up? He does stilt walks and things like that and kicks, and then it just goes from there," Dragotta said. "And then it was like, well, how could that work? And so we were getting into the idea of programmable capes and things that, almost like tent poles in the seams."
"And I love the idea of the tethers and his cape. You know, some people draw it with the long, kind of spiky tethers, and I was like, well, what if those tethers can separate? And so that was kind of the impetus of it and you know, just following form too. As an artist, I think all great superhero costumes follow form, and what I mean by that is the contours of the body. And so you let those lines be your guide," Dragotta said. "And then just who this character is. He's a do-it-yourselfer. He's a city engineer. He's someone who rolls up his sleeves and figures out he's still the genius that we know Bruce Wayne is. So he could, I think it's totally believable that he could create this costume and do the things that he's doing with it."
Bigger and Better...With an Axe
This Batman makes previous versions look scrawny by comparison, and Snyder recalls all the times he drew bigger outlines around the character until they arrived at the powerhouse final form. "It took me a while to just convince Nick. Nick kept sending designs, and I kept drawing a bigger outline around him being bigger, bigger, bigger, like, his shoulders, everything. And then the emblem was similar. I was like, bigger, bigger, bigger, you know, because it was just like, this dude is about to explode," Snyder said.
Regarding the symbol, I asked Dragotta about the big reaction to the new design. Whether you love it or hate it, Dragotta is just happy that people are having a reaction and that they are successfully shaking things up. "Scott called and was like, have you seen all the talk about the symbol? I'm like, no, and then I checked it out and it just made me smile because that's why we got into this to do, is to kind of shake it up and do something different again," Dragotta said. "Our character wouldn't wear the baroque bat symbol. It's not who he is. It's also, it acts as an axe. So, you know, if. If we're using that smaller symbol, you've got this beast carrying almost like this little pickaxe. Design-wise, it just doesn't make sense."
"And then, like, going back to function, it's going to protect his vitals. I mean, if I had my way, I would have protected his whole front torso, you know? So it's like, It's fun to play with. The reaction is awesome. That's why we're doing this, and it shows, too, that we're doing our job. You know, like, we're getting a reaction. And I know, like, I think a lot of the misconception is this is a, the new Batman. No, this is Absolute Batman. You still have your core DC universe Batman. So it's like, he's not going anywhere. You still have that emblem if that's what you want," Dragotta said.
Self Made...Even the Ride
Snyder and Dragotta had a few ideas that didn't make it into the final cut, and that was mostly due to wanting to keep this Batman self-made in as many ways as possible. "And then the other thing we thought of for a while, we had this idea that his friendship with Eddie, with Edward Nygma, would help him design some stuff that would be high tech. Like the cape would wrap around his arm and then harden and have, like, spikes and that kind of thing. Like, it would be nano, and it just became too high tech where you're like, It cuts against the character," Snyder said.
"Everything should be self-made, so now everything is mechanical. He's got, like, the stilts that are bars in the cape that he can use with hooks that retract and spikes that come out, like, all kinds of stuff, but it's all mechanical and DIY. So I love it. It did take a while, but it was a really fun process. Nick lives just across the Long Island sound from me. He lives in Connecticut, and I live in, like, a port town right on the water, and so he takes the ferry over to my house, and we just go out to my studio, and we put all the pages up on the wall and the designs on the wall and just tape them up," Snyder said. "I've never worked like that with anyone, so it's just been so fun. Like, it's just such a bullpen mentality where it's, like, no egos, nothing precious. Best idea, best story. Best story element wins. That's it."
By the way, you can't have a Batman without a Batmobile, and Dragotta couldn't be more excited for fans to see what they've got cooked up. "Oh, yeah. You're gonna see it in issue #2, and when you see it, I think you're gonna, like, everyone's gonna go, of course. Like, it's just. It fits. It's just perfect, it's awesome. I'm loving it. I mean, there's multiple versions of it. Yeah, It's rad. I can't wait. I can't wait," Dragotta said.
Fans can check out Absolute Batman when it hits comic stores on October 9th.
Are you excited for Absolute Batman? You can talk all things comics and DC with me on Threads and Twitter @mattaguilarcb!
