Absolute Batman #1 delivers a Dark Knight that’s civically minded while also having the best extended action sequence in years

Scott Snyder, Nick Dragotta, Frank Martin, and sound effect maven Clayton Cowles teach a very old Bat some new tricks in Absolute Batman #1, the launch title of the new DC Universe that’s existing parallel to the one we’ve known and loved as part of the “All-In” initiative. Their take on Batman is a child of the school shooter generation and a working class hero who loves his mom while being a kick-ass force of nature and urban legend. Told from the POV of special agent Alfred Pennyworth who is back in town doing some recon on the murderous “Party Animal” gang, there are definite parallels to Batman Year One with Pennyworth playing the role of Jim Gordon, the “newcomer” to Gotham while learning more and more about a dark, dedicated vigilante trying to clean up the city. However, Snyder and Dragotta don’t beat around the bush and after about 22 pages unleash the new, axe-wielding literal Dark Knight

Absolute Batman #1 is an edgy comic, but it’s an earned edginess that starts with spectacular visuals. Scott Snyder gives readers almost an entire single issue of build-up before dropping the proverbial giant anvil and unleashing Nick Dragotta and Martin to tap in the rage that fuels Batman while turning the amps to 11. Like a skilled builder, Dragotta uses lots of small, yet impactful panels to get inside the psyche of Bruce Wayne and Alfred Pennyworth before delivering the poster/phone background worthy moments that will be commanding huge prices on the original art market. Although, Batman’s costume is his usual black and grey, Frank Martin doesn’t shy away from pops of color to accentuate the action like reds and blues when he confronts the Party Animals’ gunmen. However, once he gets up close and personal, Martin goes for the classic John Higgins red and blacks with Nick Dragotta using the path of the batarangs to move your eye. They and Snyder turn in the action scene of the year: one that I’d hope would never end. This is the Batman that will do everything but kill, and his dialogue has some sadistic humor like telling Black Mask that some hospitals do reattach hands.

Alfred Pennyworth hasn’t appeared in mainline DC Comic since Tom King and Tony Daniel killed him off in 2018 so it’s super compelling that his is the first voice we hear after a one page flashback and title card. Scott Snyder and Dragotta basically make Alfred the protagonist of Absolute Batman #1 stripping him of the butler veneer and just have him be the special agent that’s become a part of who he is in pop culture from the bald, blunderbuss wielding “I’m the butler” in the Beware the Batman to the protagonist of Epix’s Pennyworth and finally the working class, tough guy Brit played by Andy Serkis in The Batman. Snyder makes him a tortured agent of imperialism who buys tea from an Afghan shop owner in his neighborhood while musing about how he was part of the invasion of Afghanistan in the early 2000s. (Because he’s middle-aged, and that was 20 years ago.)

When Alfred or his narrative captions are on the page, Absolute Batman feels more focused and less chaotic like a middle-eight sequence where Bruce trains at Waylon Jones’ gym, and the Party Animals cut through the antagonists of Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s Batman collaborations and MAX’s The Penguin. It’s tension, release, and world-building in one fell swoop. Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta aren’t concerned with being polite and honoring previous incarnations of characters even if there is a lot of Frank Miller and Kelley Jones in Dragotta’s take on the Caped Crusader. Snyder also treats Gotham like a living organism like in previous Batman runs although his captions are less verbose and focus on individual characters and their conflicts and relationship to their environment instead of telling the secret history of Gotham City. It’s fun watching Alfred Pennyworth be an unflappable badass and then struggle with his relationship with his daughter Julia as well as getting used to the “changes” that have come to a city that he used to know.

Absolute Batman #1 is the Batman comic for the kids that blast She Wants Revenge while watching their Bachelor’s in Public Policy diploma accumulate dust in their mom’s basement. (So, basically Jonathan Hickman and Marco Checchetto’s Ultimate Spider-Man for Goth kids.) That’s weirdly specific, but Scott Snyder, Nick Dragotta, and Cowles craft a new take on the Dark Knight that’s civically minded while also having the best extended action sequence in years. Car chase scenes in The Batman and Batman Begins, eat your heart out! The added page count creates a flow for the fighting while still allowing time to flesh out the book’s cast and world. Purists may thumb their noses at this title, but Batman is character that thrives with rebirths and reinvention. I just can’t wait to see what cool shit Snyder and Dragotta do with him next!

Story: Scott Snyder Art: Nick Dragotta
Colors: Frank Martin Letters: Clayton Cowles
Story: 8.4 Art: 9.6 Overall: 9.0 Recommendation: Buy

DC Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: Zeus Comics – TFAW – Apotheosis Comics – Kindle

Source: Graphic Policy