Absolute Batman #11 - DC Comics

ABSOLUTE BATMAN No. 11, October 2025

Providing the much anticipated all-new “origin of Bane” according to Scott Snyder’s alternative universe, the heavily worded storyline for Issue Eleven of “Absolute Batman” must have physically exhausted many within the comic’s audience. True, the publication delivers a somewhat compulsive account of the muscle-bound behemoth’s early life upon the tiny island of Santa Prisca. But such is the sheer amount of narration hurled at the reader throughout its twenty-one pages that anyone picking up this book would definitely have had to work to reach the tale’s end; “He’s coming for you at this very moment. Wherever you are, kid, I’m sorry.”

Similarly as exhausting is arguably the pacing of this periodical, which repeatedly relies upon tiny, micro-panels to help tell its plot. These layouts seemingly slow down even the most pulse-pounding of military coups to a soporific speed which disconcertingly induces much of the weariness felt by the rebel fighters whenever they are forced to race across their homeland’s sandy beaches battling the enemy. Indeed, many a bibliophile was probably absolutely elated whenever Clay Mann pencilled a splash page or two, as it momentarily provides an all-too brief respite from the American author’s avalanche of syllables, sentences, and paragraphs.

Such a situation is genuinely disheartening, as this instalment contains several memorable moments – not least of which is Bane brutally breaking the back of his aged father as part of his deal with the Joker. Furthermore, the New York City born writer must have caught the vast majority of onlookers completely off-guard when the cold-hearted Caribbean killer quite literally chops off both of the Dark Knight’s arms with the vigilante’s own axe-blade, and then proceeds to brutally brain the pleading torso which remains.

Possibly just as disappointing as this comic’s penmanship is Mann’s aforementioned scribblings, which for much of the book simply aren’t given any chance to breathe. In fact, it’s not until the artist is able to muscle his sketches into some sensibly-sized frames that he is able to show how truly talented he is - even if  the illustrator’s design for a bare-chested, Venom-enhanced Caped Crusader may well look a little too over-the-top for some Bat-fans.

The regular cover art of "ABSOLUTE BATMAN" #11 by Nick Dragotta & Frank Martin