Absolute Batman #23 is written by Scott Snyder and published by DC Comics. Artwork is by Nick Dragotta, colours by Frank Martin and letters by Tom Napolitano. Main cover art (left) is by Nick Dragotta and Frank Martin.
Absolute Batman #23 is available from today, in comic book stores and on digital platforms where all good comic books are sold. Grab your physical copy from Forbidden Planet or digitally from Amazon Comixology UK.
Synopsis
In a climactic showdown, Batman is forced to battle an unyielding enemy in not just the Robins but in himself. More than one dead character signals a call for help…and a symbol of hopelessness as more friends become enemies.
Review
Are you sitting down comic book fans? You’re going to need to be when you break into today’s brand new issue of Absolute Batman. Whilst the cover teases a Batman vs. “Batman” showdown, the book itself is so much more than that. Scott Snyder’s “Scarecrow” arc is pulling together plot threads from across the series for another full throttle issue.
The first half of the book is split into three tranches: Alfred meeting his daughter Julia; the Robins, and Bruce. In the second half those stories give way to a brutal showdown between Batman and Basil Karlo, aka Project K.L.A.Y. a fight which has absolutely devastating consequences for the future of the book. Once again Snyder is tasking the audience with juggling multiple facets of the story, moving all the pieces around the board with more than a couple of surprises.
This is another issue of Absolute Batman where the sheer volume of contents is mind-boggling. Between all the various characters and their current predicaments it would be easy for the book to feel overstuffed or particularly exposition-heavy, but that’s never the case. Somehow Snyder has cracked the magic formula for balancing a huge ensemble cast as if it were a movie. Certainly bodes well for the animated adaptation this book is about to receive.
Opening the issue with Alfred feels like a strong decision to place the calm before the storm. We haven’t spent too much time with him in isolation yet. So seeing him with Julia and getting a glimpse of their relationship goes along way to further establishing his role as absentee-father and dedicated soldier to his mission. There’s a satisfying shift in the power balance between Alfred and Julia as their scenes come to a close which left me wondering if Snyder is setting Alfred up for a tonal shift in the future.
Meanwhile the Robins are really cementing their place in the Absolute Universe. It’s interesting to see how each of them has shades of who they are in the main universe, particularly when Snyder plays with the over-sexualisation of Dick Grayson. Equally funny is how Jason still hates Batman in this universe despite never actually coming to have known him personally. It’s nice to see Snyder depicting them as at least a little playful as they joke about who is the most popular with the citizens of Gotham. This issue is pretty heavy on all fronts so the Robin moments are really the only chance to bring any levity to proceedings. Of course all of that is cut through pretty quickly later…
The talking point for fans this month will easily be the confrontation between Bruce and all of his inner circle. Not just for giving us perhaps our best look at each of them as they sit on the cusp of becoming the villains we know them to be. But also because of how it points to Scarecrow and Joker as masterminds of this entire universe. The moment itself is framed perfectly. Bruce is reeling from his confrontations with Scarecrow and the loss of Jim Gordon. To say he’s on edge would be a huge understatement. So its no surprise that Eddie, Ozzie and the others are struggling to believe his rantings about Joker and Scarecrow laying the groundwork for all of their destinies right back to Thomas Wayne’s murder as the Gotham Zoo.
Whether all this turns out to be true or not is consequential for now. As an audience we know enough about these characters to think it could be true. But rather than confirm anything, Snyder is instead using all of this information to frame Bruce’s emotional state and his irrational choice to blindly head out into action, searching for somewhere to vent his anger. The fact this moment also drops the bombshell return of a character MIA for month just about melted my brain. If this moment wasn’t already enough to try and take in, the return of Martha and her ties to the Owls completely sends Bruce (and I) off the rails.
All of which leads us to the Batman vs. Project K.L.A.Y. fight which is everything fans will be hoping for. It’s fast, brutal and comes right after yet another tragic loss for Gotham City. Bruce really has nobody to blame but himself for this one and it sets up Batman once again to take the fall for a death which will anger the city. Of course he’s also absolutely no match for Basil, passing through his form almost like he was a ghost. The two are even matched in combat and it quickly proves to be another loss for the Dark Knight. It also sets up Jason Todd as an even more lethal enemy now that the stakes have become even more personal.
Nick Dragotta sets apart the two Batmen at first by sheer size. K.L.A.Y. is even more hulking that Absolute Batman which neatly sets them apart. But once his shapeshifting form comes into play there’s room for a little more of that gnarly character design we’ve come to expect from Absolute Batman. Elsewhere Dragotta taps into the Dick Grayson fanbase perfectly with a tonge-in-cheek pose of him in nothing but a towel. I’m sure I also spy a little inspiration of Anya Taylor-Joy in Dragotta’s depiction of Steph in one panel. Of course Dragotta handles the overall frenzy of activity across Absolute Batman #23 masterfully with pages packing in as many as 20+ panels. There really is nothing else like this in comics today.
Verdict
Absolute Batman #23 is another frenzied, dynamic and all around shocking issue. It’s hard to believe this creative team is functioning this highly for this long without a break in the story. As Gotham reels from another huge loss it’s hard to see how Bruce can ever recover from this and I’m on the edge of my seat already waiting for the next chapter of the story.
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