Absolute Batman #14
It's Batman versus Bane in the final chapter of Abomination. There will be blood, bones, and one victor left on the field when all is said and done.
Bane is the character that most embodies the ethos of the Absolute Universe. A world made in the image of Darkseid where the heroes we know have been stripped bare of all that defined them. Superman lost his life on Earth, Wonder Woman lost paradise, and poor Batman lost the bag. What remains is the core idea of these characters.
For Bane that means a man whose strength is limited only by his indomitable will. The result is a hulking mass of muscle that original Bane creator Graham Norton called an abomination, an insult Snyder and company would embrace, hence the arc’s name. Absolute Bane’s power is at an unimaginable level, and it’s on full display in the final confrontation. At times this feels less like a Batman comic and more like a manga in the vein of Akira or One-Punch Man. The scale is larger than anything we’re used to Batman facing in his 80-year history. That’s a good thing; these characters have always changed with the times, and Absolute Batman feels like he is truly the Batman of the 21st century. He’s extreme, ruthless and able to adapt to change on a whim. He’s Batman for a constantly connected world that often feels steeped in chaos. In this world Batman forces things to make sense; he delivers justice to those who expect to escape it and salvation to the ones who were never promised it.
The fight is incredible! Nick Dragotta has continually outdone himself throughout this series, and this issue might be the best-looking one yet. The setting is simple: an abandoned football stadium, the only ring big enough for the comic book fight of the century. What unfolds is a magnificent symphony of blood, guts and sheer brutality. Bane’s mere presence is terrifying as he enters the ring, a hulking figure illuminated only by moonlight and the sickly green glow of the venom that makes him unstoppable. Dragotta and Snyder have crafted him into something almost otherworldly. I haven't been this scared of Bane since 2004’s The Batman cartoon. Dragotta's expressionist art perfectly captures the villain, rendering him more a force of nature than a man. It won’t be enough though.
Batman is done running. His friends have been broken, he's been imprisoned and turned into a lab rat against his will. So when he greets Bane with a calm “hello,” you know he’s standing on business. Batman starts the fight with a bang, one I won’t spoil here. From there things only escalate as the two men trade blows in a fight that’s full of surprises. Until now this Batman has been able to muscle through any opposition he’s faced, but here Bane forces him to get resourceful and employ every trick up his sleeve. It’s nice to see Batman display his skills as a tactician.
We also get to see Harley Quinn and Killer Croc in action in this issue. Though she doesn’t get a lot of page time, Harley leaves quite an impression as a more no-nonsense, mission-focused version of the character. Her design has grown on me as well. It's simple, but it works and will no doubt make for some great cosplays. Her position as leader of the Red Hoods is fun as well, and I hope we get to see more of Harley and her gang in the next arc. Killer Croc makes a triumphant return here, and we get more details on he and Bruce’s past together. This version of Killer Croc is a far cry from the character's origin. He’s a kaiju, and he fights like one, making for some of the most brutal scenes in the series to date.
What makes this fight so thrilling isn’t just the spectacle of it, and there's plenty of it, but the undertones. Batman isn’t just fighting Bane; he’s fighting the men that Bane represents, the ones who call the shots. The ones who sow war and destruction just because it’s profitable. The men who are so rational and self-serving that they can’t see the insanity of their actions. The ones whose humanity has been sacrificed at the altar of productivity and stock portfolios, who see their bottom line as worth any atrocity no matter how cruel. Bane, terrifying as he may be, is caught in the same trap as Batman, the one we ourselves are in: the trap that says power and profits are more important than people, the trap that drives ordinary men to extraordinary acts of cruelty, the trap that justifies brutality as necessary policy. Bane was just a soldier in the war waged by these rational men, not a person but an asset to bring their goals to fruition.
The man behind Bane is far scarier. He never jokes, he always does what he says. What’s next for Batman is Joker, but not the maniacal anarchist Heath Ledger portrayed, not the man who suffered one bad day Alan Moore brought to life, but a businessman, a rational actor with the resources to make his will into reality. In this way Absolute Joker is far more realistic than any incarnation of the character we’ve seen before. So far he hasn’t shown any malice; even at this issue’s end you can still see how his actions make sense. He’s not insane, he's merely indifferent to anyone or anything outside of his own interest, and that makes him more dangerous than any psychopath with an electric handshake.
Absolute Wonder Woman #14
The best series in the Absolute line returns — yes, better than Batman. Do I like Absolute Batman more? Yes, but that’s because I’m not immune to socialization. As a man I was raised to enjoy hyperviolence in a story more than love and emotional intelligence; I’m working on it.
Anyway, Diana is back at it, searching for her mysterious doppelganger who’s led her on a wild goose chase across the globe. What I like most about Wonder Woman is that she’s not afraid to ask for help. Batman will take multiple beatings before he realizes he may be outmatched and only then begrudgingly seek help after he suffers a life-altering injury. Wonder Woman doesn’t do this out of weakness but out of humility. It comes from the understanding that there are forces beyond even her and that if there’s a better path, a safer path to resolving a threat, she’ll seek it out. It’s not about fighting for Diana as it is about saving those she swore to protect. That’s apparent in this issue as she opts out of a classic superhero slugfest for a different approach, one that takes her to the grandmother of all the gods.
What follows is a meeting where Diana beseeches the Earth itself for help. The magic that created her doppelganger is something she doesn’t yet understand, and the one behind it even less so. Absolute Zatanna has been the only villain to truly test Wonder Woman, and I get the feeling Zatanna isn’t even trying that hard. It’ll be fun to see their meetings in the future now that Zatanna has a better idea of just how strong Wonder Woman is.
I also have to shout out Wonder Woman's supporting cast. Barbara Minerva, Etta and Gia Candy, and Steve Trevor make up the Wonder Team (I’m trademarking that). They’re a great grounding force for a mythical character like Diana, and they remind her just what she’s fighting for. I especially like how much they geek out over Greek mythology. I don’t know where Zatanna will strike next, but Wonder Woman’s next destination is none other than Gotham, home of the Absolute Batman. No doubt their meeting will be historic. Make sure to lock down your copy of Absolute Wonder Woman #15. It’s sure to be a landmark issue.
Arcadia #1
Saga meets The Last of Us with an art-pop aesthetic and its own original soundtrack, what's not to love.
Arcadia presents a familiar apocalyptic world with a few notable twists that make it just interesting enough to make it stand out in a saturated genre. Our lead characters and star-crossed lovers-to-be, Fix and Halu, were born to a world that already ended. The crisis at the core of this book is far more existential.
Light spoilers ahead
Halu and Fix, like everyone before them, are not humans — they’re Serants. Humanity is long gone, a race entombed in what little history remains in the scarred world our protagonists find themselves in. Serants aren’t alive, not in the organic sense anyway; they run off plasma pills, and when those inevitably run out one day, they’ll all be dead. This is the crisis plaguing Halu’s would-be dad, Weedy. What’s worse is that every Serant will wear out one day; the data stored in the spheres on their foreheads will eventually corrupt, turning them into a Feral. The Ferals are the most fun take I’ve seen on zombies in a long time. Their corrupted tech sprouts out of their bodies like a techno-fungus, brought to life in stunning fashion by artist Inaki Miranda.
It should be noted just how well drawn and colored this book is. The characters are expressive, detailed and full of personality. The colors bring to life a lush world full of vegetation and run-down remnants of civilization's past. In its short time as a publisher, Ignition Press has delivered some of the most exciting first issues in the industry, and Arcadia continues their hot streak. The Miranda brothers have created a world well worth exploring, and I look forward to the next issue.
Don't forget to scan the QR codes scattered through the book — the soundtrack complements the story spectacularly.
I've worked at Dr No's for just less than a year and I've been patronizing them for half my life. I like comics, video games, music and sometimes sports.
I’m a GSU graduate, veteran sandwich artist, and aspiring writer. Ask me about the X-Men or my anime car sometime.
I think all comics are good they're human expression, dreams put to a page through days, months and years of dedication. They're windows into other worlds, aspirations of all we can be, warnings of what we may become and everything in between. Above all I think comics can help us understand the things we often don't consider.
That's what I want these reviews to do, help folks understand maybe even appreciate something they haven't seen before, but yea lemme wrap this up I got books to file. Happy reading!
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