Review: ‘Absolute Batman’ #25 Sets The Stage For Phase 2

There’s no denying that Absolute Batman has been, pardon the pun, an absolute phenomenon for DC Comics. As the line wraps up its second year and kicks off year three, it’s clearly time for something new as the next phase of DC’s Absolute universe begins.

Scott Snyder, Nick Dragotta, Frank Martin, and Tom Napolitano bring the Batman and the Joker face-to-face.

Bruce has lost the trust of his friends. He’s lost the support network that he built. All he has left is a gamble. He needs to confront Jack Grimm but that might cost him even more than he’s already lost…

I like this issue, but it’s not without its faults. The confrontation between Bruce and his friends — who we’ve known are actually his most fiendish rogues on Earth-1 — was a long time coming. Snyder wisely sets it up completely differently though. Now, Bruce is the outlaw and the criminal, while they’re legitimate, trying to bring him back. Adding Grimm to the mix — supposedly completely clean from the evidence they’ve seen and not the Joker — is a great touch.

But then Batman and Joker meet face-to-face for the first time. Not Bruce the engineer and Grimm the billionaire. This is the massive force of nature that Absolute Batman has become facing an unstoppable horror, the grotesque monstrosity that is the Absolute Joker — all teeth, horns, claws and impossible joints and angles.

The problem is the connective tissue between each. Bruce just was faced with overwhelming evidence from four men who are basically his brothers that his crusade is built of conspiracy and delusion. Then moments later, he sees that he’s right but there’s nothing really connecting or transitioning the two. Bruce just runs from Grimm Manor after being confronted by his friends, falls in a hole, and suddenly he’s standing in what should be his Batcave, facing the root of all his problems, with not much at all outside of what’s standing in front of him to prove it.

I will add though, the set-up for the near future with both Barbara Gordon and Selina Kyle are exciting as hell. Can’t wait to see where both of those go.

The art here is just fantastic. Dragotta has been a beast on this series. He’s able to draw real pathos out of Bruce and his conversation with Harvey, Oswald, Eddie and Way. You can see the bond between these men in just their body language. But his action is just as good, if not better. The fight between Bruce and the Joker is visceral and brutal. The way the Joker continually changes throughout is such a good touch too.

Martin’s colors continue to set a whole mood in the story. His heavy use of red in particular creates a sense of dread and foreboding. Napolitano does one of the best things a letterer can do — does his job on the page while we barely notice.

Absolute Batman #25 is available now from DC Comics.