COMICS PORTAL: ‘Absolute Batman’ Is Ready to Fly

With orders that have come in surpassing 200,000, Absolute Batman #1 appears to be ready to do very well in local comics shops this October 9th.

I know that many comics fans have complained loudly and longly about DC’s plethora of Batman titles. Well, this issue proves just why the Dark Knight is always a big sell!

The word from those who have access to sales numbers is that Absolute Batman #1 has received orders beyond 200,000, which is very good for a brand new take on the Dark Knight.

Add to that the fact that this is the first in the new line of what people are describing as DC’s version of Marvel’s “Ultimate” line as part of the “All-In” initiative. You know, the same characters, but a different look at them in a separate universe.  It’s also the first book that is being released earlier than the rest of that set of comics, so it will attract a lot of attention from collectors especially!

Here’s a description of what the series is going to focus on: Absolute Batman reimagines Bruce Wayne as a scrappy–and bulky–engineer without the generational wealth of his DCU counterpart. This Bruce grew up on the mean streets of Gotham City’s Park Row — a.k.a. Crime Alley, where Batman’s parents traditionally die in most versions — as the son of working-class parents, Martha and Thomas Wayne. Also, Alfred Pennyworth isn’t Batman’s butler, but a grizzled former MI-6 agent and mercenary who doesn’t always see eye-to-eye with Gotham’s new vigilante.

I have to say that I’m looking forward to a different version of the Dark Knight. When Batman was going to marry Catwoman at one point, I was one of those fans who actually looked forward to it because, aside from a few Earth-2 stories, I hadn’t read much where Batman was hitched, much like Superman has been. I think that has worked out very well for the Man of Steel, so I was intrigued how Batman would handle marriage. Alas, that was not to be despite all the big build-up!

As much as the current run with Chip Zdarsky has been selling pretty well (I just don’t think he’s telling a Batman story, but a Batman sci-fi story much like in the 1950s), the most recent golden era for the Dark Knight has been when Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo took the reigns not that long ago.

Snyder and Capullo developed several villains and groups that we “love to hate” as Bat-fans, and that includes the Court of Owls and the Batman Who Laughs, which really got to me. Bruce Wayne becomes the Joker? Yikes! That still haunts me! I wonder if that character still might show up in this new iteration.

I am curious to see a Batman who apparently solves more problems with his fists instead of his brains. Of course, this leaves plenty of room for growth over the years (should the book last that long, and I suspect it will, given the numbers for the debut issue).

“This is who Bruce would be today,” Snyder recently said during an interview. See, that intrigues me!

There is something magical about when Mr. Snyder is scripting Batman. He seems to “get” Batman in a way few others do today, so I am looking forward to Absolute Batman coming in just a few weeks! I hope local comics shops have ordered plenty because I think it could be another “New 52”-like demand which could mean lines outside the doors of many LCS’s, including the one I frequent!

You know something good is going on when some aspect of the comic draws enough attention to get fans fussing with each other online.

The thing that fans have been fuming about is the Bat-logo on the hero’s chest. Boy, has that been a bone of contention on the Internet!

Artist Nick Dragotta recently said during an interview that “you need a massive symbol for a massive Batman. In every way, we’re going bigger.” Snyder added, “it needed to be brutal.” Of course, there is no such thing as bad publicity, and all this has helped Absolute Batman #1’s numbers, I believe. My favorite line from Snyder about all this was: “Every angry tweet only makes it grow 1% bigger… 😊”

In other words, if you want it to continue to expand, keep up all talk about the logo! Funny stuff to me!

Buddy Beaudoin actually called the logo “a perfect caption box.” He even posted a few examples! See above.

And now word is circulating that the logo is actually an axe that can be removed from his chest to fight and attack with. Now, that’s different and how very Hawkman of him! See below!

My experiences talking with Mr. Snyder during interviews lets me know that he has seriously thought through the various aspects of the new Absolute Batman title. And that makes me very happy because, when he does that, good comics are the result!

Will the “All-In” event solve the comics industry’s current struggles? I wish that would be the case, but I do think that this is a very strong first step. Maybe we need to step back and take a look at what’s been done, which we can always go back and read, by the way. A fresh perspective might be what we could use.

Now, will the other “Absolute” books garner the attention that Batman has? Probably not, but as I said, this is a good first step to keep DC (and the entire industry, I hope) coming up with great ideas and actually acting on them instead of doing the “same old, same old” which we have seen for years and even decades.

The good thing is that we can have “our DC and eat it, too,” in a way. We get the “regular” universe going at the same time, making it a win/win, in my estimation.

So, you have my “absolute” support there, Mr. Snyder and DC! I’m looking forward to October 9 and a different Batman to dive into much like I have with previous incarnations! Go, Batman, go!

What do you think? Why are Absolute Batman #1’s numbers so high? Will the other “absolute” titles also garner big numbers? Or will it be another comics event that flames out after a little while? Whatever your opinion, feel free to share it in the space below!

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