Synopsis:
Batman and Alfred have formed a tentative alliance, but the Black Mask has some new friends too…
Review:
In standard Batman lore, Bruce Wayne uses his extreme wealth to combat corruption. In the Absolute Universe, he chooses to corrupt himself – kind of – to achieve extreme wealth. The gray has never been grayer for The Dark Knight, and Absolute Batman #3 proves this is a comic for the moment.
Gotham becomes a battleground figuratively and literally for wealthy elites whose ambition is destabilization, from which they profit. In fact, Gotham is the intended site for a for-profit, black-site prison that factors in the Black Mask’s layered plan to undermine the city. His ambitions involve advancing a corrupt mayoral candidate to parrot his talking points and effectively pay off Batman, which Alfred Pennyworth advises the young hero to accept.
Political and corporate sleight of hand is a disturbing fact of the real world, and one rarely obvious in the moment. Vision becomes a prominent theme in this issue, as a young Selina Kyle implores Bruce Wayne to only see what’s right in front of him. Meanwhile, Alfred wants Batman to take the deal not to yield to criminals, but to play a long game. Batman can exploit their money to fight them and allow Alfred’s still secret organization to get closer to taking down The Party Animals. It’s as much stagecraft as it is undercover work, with powerful forces pulling heavy strings not just from the Black Mask’s yacht but Washington and perhaps London.
Nested deep within the story is the symbolism of the bat, and a reminder that contrary to popular belief, bats aren’t blind. Though it seems Batman may be wandering into traps far more complex than any one person can appreciate, he may be setting one of his own.
Against all of this, writer Scott Snyder offers deep character work. This issue flashes back to Bruce’s youth and his friendship with Selina Kyle. Her kinship with stray cats is firmly in place as a teenager, and so is her affection for Bruce. They have a contentious relationship, though, with Selina keeping him at arm’s length for reasons that aren’t clear yet. We’ve met Bruce’s other friends in adulthood – all villains in mainline continuity – but we’ve yet to meet the present-day Catwoman. Something tells me she’s not going to be what anyone expects.
Snyder also twists the knife on the concept of leaving Martha Wayne alive. She’s now the deputy mayor of Jim Gordon and an obvious target for Black Mask. Her commitment to serving Gotham motivates Bruce to take blood money as much as the opportunity it represents. In just a few issues, Snyder builds a complex, lived-in world that has as much to do with The Wire as it does Detective Comics.
Nick Dragotta’s art continues to separate the comic from mainline Batman books and just about everything else on the comic rack. Everything about his Batman is big, including the now infamous Bat-Tonka, a giant dump truck that gets the spotlight in this issue. Alfred gaslights the ridiculousness of the vehicle as Batman converts it first to a race car and then a submarine, but as much as Absolute Batman revels in a cruel reality, it leans heavily into the fantastic.
Superhero comics have veered far from the campy and crazy in recent years, so much so that Ozwald Cobblepott is just Oz Cobb in Matt Reeves’ highly practical The Batman universe. James Gunn’s upcoming Superman movie is embracing the more comic book-ish elements of the Man of Steel’s lore, and it’s great to see Absolute Batman steamroll right into its own unique crazy. With the real world becoming more and more unbelievable, comics should try to keep pace.
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