Absolute Batman #1 Explained: Everything you need to know about the big relaunch of the Dark Knight

The time has finally come! Following DC All In Special #1, the first regular issue of DC’s new Absolute Universe is now in comic shops. Absolute Batman #1 is a brand new start for the Dark Knight, featuring an entirely new look at Bruce Wayne, his friends and enemies, Gotham City, and set in a world much harsher than DC’s core universe. Forget what you thought you knew about the Caped Crusader, because this book is about to turn everything upside down.

Absolute Batman #1 from writer Scott Snyder (author of some of the best Batman comics) and artist Nick Dragotta, colorist Frank Martin and letterer Clayton Cowles introduces us to a 24-year-old Bruce Wayne. He still lives in Gotham, but almost everything else in his life has been turned upside down.

We’ll get into it right after Dragotta and Martin’s cover and this AWESOME MAJOR SPOILER WARNING. If you don’t want to know what happens in this issue, maybe check out some of our other Batman features, like our guide to the best Joker stories…

Cover art of Absolute Batman #1. — (Image credit: DC)

Meet Alfred the murderer

Titled “The Zoo,” this issue is the first of a five-part arc. Our guide for most of the issue is, perhaps surprisingly, not Bruce Wayne but Alfred Pennyworth, reinvented here as a motorcycle-riding badass with an arsenal of weapons and a taste for branded tea. We learn that he’s back in Gotham after a stint in Singapore hunting a mysterious target and is now tasked with gathering information on the Party Animals – a gang of skull-masked killers who have increased Gotham’s murder rate by 700%. He is also warned that there is another player watching the Party Animals: the Batman.

It doesn’t take long before the two cross paths. Alfred sees Bruce in action as he takes down the Party Animals with brutal efficiency. In the aftermath of the battle, Alfred attempts to confront him twice but is defeated twice, with Batman stealing Alfred’s bicycle and riding it out a tower block window.

The Absolute Batman is brutal and BIG

The Absolute Batman takes on the Party Animals.

(Image credit: DC)

This won’t come as a surprise to anyone who’s seen the previews, but Nick Dragotta’s take on the Dark Knight is an absolute unit (Absolute Unit #1, coming soon from DC… OK, not really). “We wanted him to feel like a primal force, just this unstoppable wall coming at you to flatten anyone who gets in his way,” Snyder said in our recent interview with him and Dragotta. Well, mission accomplished. This is a more clearly intimidating Batman than we’ve seen in a while. He dispatches the Party Animals with maximum prejudice, punches, stabs (the ears of his new hood are actually hidden blades) and even chops off a man’s hand with his axe – that’s the Bat-symbol, although he has one handle to need to fix it, which feels uncomfortable.

Despite all that, Alfred notes that he makes sure he never kills. This Batman still adheres to his code of ethics; it’s just a little heavier.

Bruce’s backstory is very different

Young Bruce Wayne in Absolute Batman #1.

(Image credit: DC)

The Absolute Universe Bruce Wayne has a very different backstory than we are all used to. The most obvious change here is his wealth, or lack thereof. This Wayne is still super smart – “almost genius level” according to Alfred – but he was raised in Crime Alley by parents with average jobs. Moreover, only one of those parents is dead. Thomas Wayne was killed in a seemingly random shooting at the Gotham Zoo (during a trip that, with terrible irony, was awarded to Bruce’s class after young Wayne won a student engineering competition). We only get a brief glimpse of her in this issue, but Martha Wayne is still very much alive, well, and part of Bruce’s life. That will add a fascinating new dimension to the series.

There’s a new breed of criminal in town

The Party Animals strike, wearing their skull masks.

(Image credit: DC)

Behind the Party Animals is a mysterious and wealthy figure wearing a similar skull mask. Although he’s never formally identified in the issue, it’s pretty clear that this is Black Mask – aka Roman Sionis. We see him bring the heads of the Maroni and Falcone crime families to justice before brutally murdering them. Clearly, we’re once again at the point where the old Gotham mafia is giving way to a new generation of costumed killers, traditionally a fertile setting for Batman comics. Black Mask is a great choice as the first villain, and a clear sign that the Dark Knight’s enemies in this version of the mythos will come from the kind of rich background that Bruce Wayne enjoyed in previous incarnations.

Batman has some unexpected friends

Young Bruce Wayne and friends in Absolute Batman #1.

(Image credit: DC)

As we mentioned above, this Bruce grew up in Crime Alley, surrounded by people from all walks of life. That’s a very different upbringing than the more isolated Batman we’re all used to, with his money and his mansion. “We wanted to create a new dynamic between Bruce and the classic villains, so that the people we bring in for him to fight present this looming challenge that you haven’t seen him face before,” Snyder said in our interview. So the new Bruce trains at a gym owned by Waylon Jones – Killer Croc in the mainstream DC universe – and is part of a circle of friends that also includes numerous reimagined members of the classic rogues gallery, including Selina (Catwoman), Harvey (Two-Face), Ozzie (The Penguin) and Eddie (The Riddler). We even see a photo of the group as children. Aside from the fact that Ozzie is already clearly a bit dark, there’s no indication yet that any of these characters are villains.

So… that new Joker

Batman takes action.

(Image credit: DC)

The song’s epilogue offers two tantalizing tastes of what’s to come. We get some hints as to the identity of the target Alfred had been tracking before being assigned to Gotham, discovering that he had studied under Henri Ducard (in DC lore, one of the men who helped train Batman) before he killed him, and then did so. the same goes for the League of Assassins. The obvious money is that this is Ra’s al Ghul, but that could just be a red herring.

The second is a glimpse of this universe’s Joker, reinvented here as some sort of shady industrialist and one of the 30 richest people on Earth. No one knows his real name (Jack and Arthur are apparently two he’s encountered in the past) and he never smiles, which is why people sarcastically call him the Joker. An interesting reinvention and an ideal dark mirror for our new blue collar Batman.

Absolute Batman #1 is out now from DC.

The Absolute Universe continues later this month with Absolute Wonder Woman #1. Check out our interview with Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman.

Absolute Batman #1 Explained: Everything you need to know about the big relaunch of the Dark Knight

Meet Alfred the murderer

More From Author

Man lured Italian woman home with a trick from au pair Job and then sexually assaulted her

Baltimore spent $197 million over the past 12 years on the opioid epidemic, expert says at trial

OMCG arrests, Sunshine Coast – Queensland Police News

Will the Artibonite massacre be a turning point in Haiti?

Amid Taliban control, Takhar residents face escalating insecurity and armed crime

You May Also Like:

Man lured Italian woman home with a trick from au pair Job and then sexually assaulted her

Baltimore spent $197 million over the past 12 years on the opioid epidemic, expert says at trial

OMCG arrests, Sunshine Coast – Queensland Police News

Kossuth man Robert Nytes indicted on federal child pornography charges

Methamphetamine combines with heat to create a deadly mix

Tech Jems (MSR0219) – Electronic verse

DHS Launches ‘Take Action’ Campaign to Combat Online Child Exploitation and Abuse | Idaho

Four Mexican mayors are seeking protection after another mayor was brutally beheaded