Absolute Batman (2024-) #1

An over-the-top masterpiece!

Absolute Batman makes The Dark Knight feel like he’s making his grand (re)debut here; and this comic is like if Batman Beyond’s tech-noir influences were taken a step further and straight up borrow elements from the anime’s (and manga’s) Berserk and Akira.

This book is fun and true to Batman’s classic mythos whilst making the character into a new and very outlandish outsider: a ‘chunky’ engineer who lost his dad Thomas Wayne in a zoo-shooting this time; but Martha’s still alive and kicking.

When I first heard about the book I was thrown by Batman’s tree-trunk-like legs, and the design of the wings/bat-cape. But actually reading it goes to show that story-context is everything.

Over-the-top but true to the character, Absolute Batman is The Dark Knight unlike the countless variants of the character; and that’s NOT an easy thing to pull off these days.