This Ain’t Your Daddy’s Batman, literally. Absolute Batman #1 review time, and yeah, I hear you.
No pearls. No alley. No billions. No problem?
We’ve seen Bruce’s origin more times than we’ve seen Joker rebooted. But somehow … somehow, this one hits different. Scott Snyder tosses out the Bat-bible and rebuilds the myth from the concrete up. With Nick Dragotta unleashing full chaos in panel form, what we get isn’t just a new Batman.
It’s a war cry.
New Myth, Same Monster, Snyder & Dragotta Rebuild the Bat
Snyder trades his usual epic sprawl (Death of the Family, Metal, you name it) for something nastier. Tighter. Focused like a broken bottle in a back alley. This is Gotham ground-level, no satellites, no League, no Batcave tech support.
And Dragotta? He draws like someone lit his pencils on fire. Characters jerk and flinch across the page. Shadows slash like knives. You feel the blood in the teeth of every scene.
Frank Martin’s colors push it even further. The reds are angry. The purples feel sick. The blue hues during emotional pauses? Beautiful, but haunted. This isn’t a clean reboot, it’s jagged and deliberate. This is the angriest Batman origin you’ve ever read, and it works.
Introduced by a Gun. Framed by Alfred.
The first surprise? This story opens with Alfred Pennyworth. Not the faithful butler. He’s a recon man here, tactical, confused, and not entirely sure what the hell Gotham’s become.
He’s tracking a new gang: the Party Animals. Chaotic, themed, and already more terrifying than your usual thug gallery. They’ve wiped out Maroni and Falcone. Black Mask runs the show.
And then Batman drops in. Not quietly. Not mercifully. Alfred’s seen war. But Gotham’s new problem wears a cape and carries an axe. Literally.
Absolute Batman #1 Origin Reset: From Zoo Tragedy to Street-Born Vigilante
Forget the opera. In this continuity, Bruce Wayne grows up in Crime Alley. No inherited wealth. No mansion. His parents were a social worker and a teacher. And when tragedy strikes, it’s not a mugger in a dark alley. It’s a mass shooting at the Gotham Zoo, where Bruce’s father dies shielding kids on a school trip.
The trauma isn’t cinematic. It’s televised. Real. Brutal. And it replays through doors, doors slammed shut, locked in fear, repeated over and over like PTSD flashpoints.
Bruce doesn’t just train. He builds himself. Studies infrastructure. Works waste management. Takes jobs in every level of Gotham’s system. Not to rise through it, but to understand how it breaks. He’s not shaped by grief alone, he’s forged by the entire city’s failure.
Batman the Absolute Unit: Brutal, Built, and Brilliant
This Bruce? He’s a tank. Broad as a wall, fists like hammers. The suit is thick, rugged, and makeshift. And that bat-symbol across his chest? It’s not just for show, it transforms into a damn axe.
He’s not a ninja in the shadows. He’s a street-level juggernaut who hits first and speaks never.
You’ll spot the seeds of future rogues, Selina, Harvey, Oswald, all scattered in the margins, but this story is Bruce’s alone. His crusade. His trauma. This isn’t the World’s Greatest Detective.
It’s Gotham’s angriest engineer with unfinished business.
Dragotta & Martin: Panels that Bleed and Burn
The layout work here deserves its own award. Pages feel tight, claustrophobic, then they explode into full-page chaos when fists fly or tragedy hits.
Just look at the zoo shooting sequence. The use of soft colors over horrific violence? It stings. Every BLAM hits harder when it’s wrapped in childhood confusion and crying kids.
Or flip to the rooftop conversation with Alfred, night air, open sky, but tension thick like smoke. The way Dragotta draws Batman looming over Gotham… it’s not comforting. It’s ominous.
Frank Martin’s color work ties it all together. It’s visceral. From bloody reds to sickly yellows to soft, eerie greens, every palette decision reflects the emotion underneath. This comic doesn’t just tell you what Batman feels. It makes you feel it too.
Absolute Batman #1: Worth a Pull, or Just Hype?
So… Absolute Batman #1. Is it slab-worthy? Maybe not yet. But firsts like this? They matter.
- New Batman origin
- First appearance of the Party Animals
- Black Mask reborn as a major villain
- Alfred reimagined as a deadly, guilt-haunted field op
This isn’t filler. It’s a foundation. Feels like one to read raw first, then bag with care.
Pull List Verdict: Yes. Add It. Watch It.
For newcomers? No Bat-lore required. For long-timers? This isn’t another spin on Year One. It’s a spiritual sibling. Grittier. Meaner. More desperate.
It reads fast. Hits hard. And leaves scars. This feels like a statement, not just a restart. It must be in your pull list.
Final Thoughts on Absolute Batman #1: The Bat Reborn from the Barrel of a Gun
In this Gotham, trauma isn’t some distant myth. It’s a headline. A hospital visit. A locked door echoes in your memory. And Batman isn’t the answer.
He’s what’s left when the city stops pretending it deserves one.
Absolute Batman #1 is grim, sharp, and devastating. Like the city that made him. And me? I’m in for now.
A joker who never laughs in the last panel grabbed my attention so bad for Absolute Batman #2. You have to find out for yourself.
If you’re new to the DC Absolute Universe, here’s the full breakdown, and if you are new to collecting comics? This Comic Collecting For Beginners guide covers everything you need to start.
