Absolute Batman #10 is written by Scott Snyder and published by DC. Artwork is by Nick Dragotta, colours by Frank Martin and letters by Clayton Cowles. Main cover art (left) is by Dragotta and Martin.
Absolute Batman #10 is available from today, in print and on digital platforms where all good comic books are sold. Grab your digital copy from Amazon Comixology UK right here.
Synopsis
Bruce Wayne is trapped within the horrors of Ark M as his best friend Waylon Jones endures unimaginable tortures…but what awaits Batman is far more terrifying than anything either has faced…the true form of Bane is revealed. But it’s how Bane plans to break Batman that will have you, our dear readers, bending over backward.
Review
Apparently another month has passed us by as today Absolute Batman is back in comic book stores with the second part of the “Abomination” arc. With Bruce being held by the team at Ark M his loved ones are beginning to worry. Whilst Bruce has to contend with more than just the Absolute Universe’s version of Bane if he’s going to be able to make his escape.
When last we caught up with Bruce Wayne his hunt for the missing Waylon Jones had led him to infiltrate Gotham’s own Ark M facility. His ensuing battle with Bane was brutal. Not quite back-breakingly brutal but certainly Bat-breakingly so. So once again Scott Snyder is picking up exactly where he left off. Delivering an issue which has huge consequences on the character moving forwards. This latest chapter in the story continues to diverge from the main DC Universe, taking the Dark Knight down a body horror path.
Whilst Bruce is locked in Ark M it’s up to Martha to champion search efforts. Snyder neatly frames the passing of time in Absolute Batman #10 through events in the outside world as well as the doctor’s log in the facility. Given the somewhat far-fetched nature of the scientific experimentation, plus you know… Bane… in this issue Snyder could easily have had Bruce altered pretty rapidly. But to amp up the tension and the psychological impact he instead spins the tale out over several months in the space of one issue. The impact on Bruce and his loved ones is dramatically increased by essentially making him a missing person. With the added impact of what has happened to him his mission as Batman is now in grave danger when he returns.
Snyder brilliantly toes a very fine line with this issue. On the one hand Bruce behaves exactly as we would expect him to when held captive. He consistently tries to escape using increasingly impressive and ludicrous means. But this is the Absolute Universe and it’s Snyder at his most devious and delicious. Tapping in to some of what powered The Substance to Academy Award-nominated glory. He also continually knocks Bruce back in to submission via the unstoppable power of the hulking, super-charged Bane. It’s in those moments that Snyder taps in to the raw power which makes Absolute Batman such a compelling and powerful read.
As we reach ever closer to the first anniversary of Absolute Batman and this new universe it feels like Snyder is doubling down on the anarchic energy which birthed it. The rules simply don’t matter. To hell with convention and formula. That unpredictability which started us down this path doesn’t just remain in tact. It’s now fully taken control leaving me with a sense of urgency to read each issue just to find out what jaw-dropping twist is coming next.
Oh and did I mention the other abomination playing in to the title of this arc. Poor Bruce, already on his own journey to becoming one, finally finds Waylon. Of course Snyder fully understands we’re expecting him to be a Killer Croc. Particularly given the knowledge that both Bane and Bruce have been experimented on. But what Snyder does in playing with that is make sure that Nick Dragotta is completely unshackled in creating the most gnarly of character designs.
Speaking of our now legendary Absolute Batman artist, someone is having serious fun with the cavernous Ark M facility. This issue hits all the right notes in Dragotta’s visual world-building. There’s a bunch of cool Easter eggs for other characters who maybe lurking within. But it’s also but a wildly imaginative sandbox which feels limitless in potential. Plus there’s a poor naked Bruce Wayne running around desperately searching for freedom like a rat caught in a lab maze.
Absolute Batman #10 leaves us – and Batman – in a pretty precarious position. It’s hard to know where Snyder is going to go next which is as scary as it is awesome to read. The flagship Absolute book continues to carve a path for this initiative which has really only just begun to scratch the surface. Less of a storytelling gimmick. More the beginning of what could easily become decades of storytelling.
Verdict
Absolute Batman #10 is another shining example of Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta being at the top of their game. Mixing elements of body horror, science-fiction and good old vigilante drama, it exemplifies everything which has made this book one of the best in comics.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
