Absolute Batman #6 - DC Comics

ABSOLUTE BATMAN No. 6, May 2025

Enthusiastically described by “DC Comics” as concluding with a “larger-than-life story”, this final instalment to Scott Snyder’s opening story arc for “Absolute Batman” must surely have left a few fans somewhat disappointed by just how easily Bruce Wayne’s alter-ego defeated the Black Mask. Indeed, considering just how rich and powerful Roman Sionis is supposed to be, the fact that the Dark Knight simply parachutes down onto yacht to face a single, disco-bopping bodyguard (and a kid) is pretty bemusing; “You think you can stop them? You think you can stop anything that’s coming?”

Furthermore, the city-wide chaos created by the criminal mastermind which now threatens to transform Gotham City into a cesspit of mass murderers, robbers and thieves, is disappointingly largely focused upon Martha Wayne and Mayor Jim Gordon’s face-off against a trio of wannabe Party Animals. Admittedly, the comic does depict one poor citizen being attacked on a tube train. But predominantly, the American author dedicates an incredible amount of this twenty-two page periodical to solely showing the courageous couple desperately trying to talk the low-life down from shooting them dead in the street.

Lastly, a lot of this book’s pace and impact is arguably lost by a string of flashbacks to a time when an adolescent Bruce was looking at pictures in his mother’s photograph album following a bedtime nightmare. This moment is undoubtedly key in the growth of the titular character’s personality and determination to see things through to the end, even an unfavourable one. However, it debatably also gets tiring quite quickly - especially as it continues to run until almost the tale’s last panel, and resultantly keeps pulling the reader straight out from all the adrenalin-fuelled action which is taking place during the present day.

By far this publication’s biggest asset is therefore the artwork of Nick Dragotta, who rather superbly manages to imbue Batman’s battle against the Black Mask with some eye-wateringly violent moments and some truly frenetic-fighting. In addition, the illustrator surprisingly manages to provide Gordon’s aforementioned dialogue-driven stand-off with plenty of palpable suspense, and actually uses the fact that this adventure takes place in a reimagined universe to cause any onlooker to constantly second guess as to whether either Jim, Martha or both will actually die whilst conversing with Sionis' latest recruits.

The regular cover art of "ABSOLUTE BATMAN" #6 by Nick Dragotta & Frank Martin

Absolute Batman #5 - DC Comics

ABSOLUTE BATMAN No. 5, April 2025

Apparently the best-selling comic book in February 2025, few Bat-fans were probably expecting Scott Snyder to pen Bruce Wayne’s alter-ego suffering such as painful-looking smackdown as the one he receives in this particular twenty-page publication. Sure, the young, costumed crime-fighter ultimately manages to survive his severe beating at the hands of Black Mask’s most notorious, heavily-armed followers. But in doing so some bibliophiles might argue that this title’s American author was seriously pushing up against any onlooker’s willing suspension of disbelief as to just how many physical injuries the human body can take; “My god. You actually think you achieved something here, don’t you.?”

Minor quibble aside though, this entire adrenalin-fuelled action sequence does make for a truly marvellous read, with Batman actually appearing to have the upper-hand for most of the fight. Indeed, the impressively armoured vigilante initially seems to anticipate every assault before it occurs – with the one-handed, meat-cleaver wielding maniac who unwittingly impales himself upon the super-hero’s shoulder-spikes whilst charging from behind probably being the best moment of the battle.

In addition, the “broken, beaten and ultimately defeated” Caped Crusader’s subsequent flight also allows this comic’s writer to show Officer Gordon is having her doubts as to whether Batman is a public menace, as well as demonstrate just how strong Roman Sionis’ grip upon the population of Gotham City may actually be. These sub-plots are neatly crowbarred into all the much more pulse-pounding proceedings, and resultantly don’t arguably appear to slow down the periodical’s quite frantic pace one iota. In fact, they just provide this comic’s audience with a necessary breather, before the book delivers its somewhat jaw-dropping conclusion concerning Mayor Jim Gordon and Martha Wayne.

Also adding an incredible amount of tension and vigour to Issue Five of “Absolute Batman” is Nick Dragotta. Of particular note has to be the way the artist holds everyone’s attention with a single, splash-page of the Dark Knight stood out against the metropolis’ skyline, before pencilling a ton of small-sized panels showing him subsequently battering every member of the Party Animals he can get his gloves on. However, such is the “highly acclaimed” illustrator’s ability to quickly establish a scene, that you can additionally almost hear the sigh in Barbara’s voice over her police car’s sirens, as she lowers her hand-gun and refrains from shooting a fleeing “avenger of the night”.

The regular cover art of "ABSOLUTE BATMAN" #5 by Nick Dragotta & Frank Martin

Absolute Batman #4 - DC Comics

ABSOLUTE BATMAN No. 4, March 2025

Fully focused upon establishing just how “Absolute Batman has established himself as an extremely large force to be reckoned with”, Scott Snyder’s storyline for this particular twenty-five page publication probably frustrated a fair few within the comic’s audience. Indeed, for any bibliophiles solely interested in just the Dark Knight’s battle against Roman Sionis’ metropolis-wide criminal organisation, this entire so-called “pivotal” issue could easily be missed out entirely – as regrettably little in the way of the ongoing title’s overarching narrative is actually progressed; “It’s unconventional, but given the extraordinary nature of this case, I’ve granted you that right.”

Instead, this book’s American author pens a hefty flashback to a time when an adolescent Bruce Wayne apparently continually overthinks his entry for the Young Engineers Competition, and later takes his first tentative steps as a pistol-packing Caped Crusader following “the tragic events of his childhood”. Of course, the crime-fighter’s first foray out into Gotham City’s night-time skyline is pretty engrossing, especially as the costumed vigilante is depicted wearing “silicon fangs loaded with paralytic” and pointing a hand-gun. Yet such adrenalin-fuelled sequences soon debatably become lost amidst the suffocating morass of this publication’s word-heavy exposition, rather than simply adding to an already engrossing read.

Sadly, just as unclear and choppily penned is young Bruce’s competition entry, which initially appears to be some sort of animal-influenced bridge that has adjustable pilings and extendable girders. The boy appears to constantly rework the actual design throughout this comic, and rather unconvincingly eventually creates some sort of flying, origami-like bridge which can supposedly “be dropped from a plane and parachute down” to where it is most needed.   

By far this book’s biggest disappointment though surely lies in the layouts of “guest artist Gabriel Walta”, who alongside colorist Frank Martin, arguably provides its proceedings with an inauspicious, almost amateurish look. This substandard ‘style’ seems especially disagreeable to the eye during Batman’s first ever mission, with the lead protagonist appearing strangely awkward and slightly misshapen. Admittedly, things do seem to increasingly improve as the adventure continues. But overall it would seem that the penciller is far better at sketching sedentary figures stood talking, than anyone involved in a little bit of action.

The regular cover art of "ABSOLUTE BATMAN" #4 by Nick Dragotta & Frank Martin

Absolute Batman #3 - DC Comics

ABSOLUTE BATMAN No. 3, April 2025

It’s probably quite easy to see why Issue Three of “Absolute Batman” was the best-selling comic of December 2024 (at least according to the news platform “ICv2.com”), considering just how utterly insane its opening is as both the Dark Knight and Alfred Pennyworth attempt to escape a horde of heavily-armed, homicidal Party Animals on board “a giant, bat-themed dump truck”. In fact, many a reader probably didn’t want the “sweet smell of kerosene” to ever fade, as the unlikely alliance pair together to blast the skull-mask wearing goons to pieces using a variety of electrically charged mini bat-projectiles.

Impressively however, Scott Snyder then manages to keep up with this sense of pace, despite the spotlight turning away from Bruce Wayne’s headlong drive down to Gotham City’s waterfront and turning to Harvey Bullock’s dialogue-driven encounter with Mister Roman Sionis instead. Ordinarily such a meeting might contain some nose-to-nose face-offs so as to suggest the hidden menace behind the Black Mask’s offer for the police officer to support Hill’s election bid to become the metropolis’ next mayor. But on this occasion the villain is perturbingly shown wrestling the former Champ Bibbo Bibowski to the death as they talk; “Don’t worry about him, Commissioner. He’ll be fine. Now, come. Let’s talk about peace.”

Likewise, the American author is able to genuinely ‘sell’ the sheer weight of the mass-murdering megalomaniac’s offer to Batman, who in simply standing down from crime-fighting for a week will receive two hundred million dollars. This almost unfathomable sum of money, as Pennyworth quickly points out, could easily be used to help the Caped Crusader establish himself as Gotham’s primary protector – as well as ensure that the young man’s mother, who has foolishly agreed to be Jim Gordon’s deputy mayor, is kept safe from harm.

Truly excelling at pencilling all this twenty-five page publication’s high octane moments is Nick Dragotta, who does an incredible job of showing just how exhilarating a ride Alfred has standing atop the Bat-dozer. In addition, you can arguably hear the desperate, sweaty smacks on the floor as Sionis and Bibowski grapple with one another, as well as the former title-holder’s desperate taps to signify he surrenders as the astonished man is quite literally choked to death.

Writer: Scott Snyder, Artist: Nick Dragotta, and Colorist: Frank Martin

Absolute Batman #2 - DC Comics

ABSOLUTE BATMAN No. 2, February 2025

Described by “DC Comics” as being something of a ‘rampage’ in its solicitation synopsis, Issue Two of “Absolute Batman” certainly appears to start off well enough with the titular character tackling a truck-load of skull mask-wearing maniacs inside Gotham City’s Aquarium. But once the Dark Knight cleverly outmanoeuvres the numerous Party Animals by dispensing Hydrochloric Acid into the waist-deep water surrounding them, this twenty-four page periodical’s plot debatably gets badly bogged down in a ton of dialogue-driven discussions and childhood flashbacks.

In fact, apart from establishing that Scott Snyder’s “brand-new take” on Bruce Wayne is disconcertingly best buddies with the likes of the Penguin, the Riddler and Two-Face – courtesy of an extraordinary poker game – a fair few Bat-fans will probably find large portions of this publication to be extremely hard-going, especially when it comes to a sedentary stay beside Mayor Jim Gordon’s Hospital room; “What is this world we’ve given them, Mar? When we were their age, we were crazy, sure, thinking we could change it all. But it still felt possible then you know?”

Happily however, this comic does contain some semblance of sense-shattering action towards its end, when Batman teams up with a certain “vigilant MI6 agent” called Alfred Pennyworth, and attempts to evade an ambush by the Black Mask Gang. Surrounded by the whole Gotham City Police Department, this escape bid quickly becomes as exhilarating as its well-penned atmosphere is intense, and only a few bibliophiles will be able to stop themselves gasping in sheer awe when the gigantic Bat-dozer makes a shock appearance.

Similarly as hit or miss as the narrative are debatably Nick Dragotta’s layouts. At times the illustrator and co-creator of “East Of West” is genuinely able to imbue a palpable, pulse-pounding pace into the storytelling by sketching a series of small, punchy panels. However, this technique doesn’t always seem to work, such as during the aforementioned game of cards, and instead can make a scene look incredibly cumbersome and intimidatingly busy – even when it's just covering Bullock unconvincingly suggesting that the Caped Crusader is actually a criminal working in league with the Party Animals.

The regular cover art of "ABSOLUTE BATMAN" #2 by Nick Dragotta & Frank Martin

Absolute Batman #1 - DC Comics

ABSOLUTE BATMAN No. 1, April 2025

It’s probably a safe bet to think that many a reader of this thirty-eight page periodical were somewhat bemused by Scott Snyder’s “version of the Dark Knight that doesn’t have the money, mansion, or butler of his core-line counterpart”. Indeed, the comic’s opening, which depicts Alfred Pennyworth as some sort of top tier, black ops reconnaissance agent conducting a surveillance mission in Gotham City, must have been incredibly disorientating for lifelong Bat-fans - and frankly matters aren’t then helped when it’s revealed that Bruce Wayne is little more than a well-built city engineer whose mother is shockingly still alive.

Fortunately though, for those bibliophiles willing to stay the course with Issue One of “Absolute Batman”, things eventually begin to click into place. Admittedly, much of this acclimatisation doesn’t really occur until halfway through the publication, when the Caped Crusader finally makes his stand against the mass-murdering members of the Party Animals on the steps of the town hall. But even before this the American author has already arguably caught more than enough of his audience’s attention to warrant them finishing the book with plenty of well-penned mystery surrounding the metropolis' latest lunatic; “This hand has killed more people than you can count. Now I’m going to give you once chance. Get the #$%& out of our way.”

By far this narrative’s greatest asset however, has to lie in the utterly engrossing relationship between Pennyworth and Wayne, as the pair trade gun-shots with one another from a mutually respectful distance. This riveting rapport is clearly unlike anything which has previously been printed within a Bat-title, and whilst it does still somewhat smack of Alfred potentially adopting the role of a surrogate father, it also strongly suggests that the pair may well be willing to physically work together in the field against the conurbation’s criminal community, as opposed to their much more familiar master/servant affair.

Similarly bringing his ‘A-game’ to this ‘bold new direction for DC Comics’ mainstay super hero’ is Nick Dragotta. The illustrator certainly seems able to imbue this book with the strong visual vibe of Frank Miller’s legendary 1986 mini-series “The Dark Knight Returns”, whilst simultaneously adding a few embellishments of his own to the mixture – such as a truly disturbing reimaging of the Black Mask. Coupled with the aforementioned pulse-pounding punch-up outside Gotham’s main municipal centre, and the Dark Knight’s occasional clashes with Pennyworth, these prodigiously pencilled layouts clearly show just why this was “undisputedly the best-selling comic of 2024.”

The regular cover art of "ABSOLUTE BATMAN" #1 by Nick Dragotta & Frank Martin