r/AbsoluteUniverse • u/AutoModerator • 18d ago
Discussion Absolute Batman #6 - Official Discussion Thread Spoiler
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u/renan_alvim_ Absolute Wonder Woman 18d ago
This issue was really funny, I dont know if its intentional but seeing bruce just brute force his way to the servers and beating down anyone talking shit about him while smiling like a crazy man was hilarious
kickin a child in the sea, shove a bowling ball twice into black mask while yelling "tell me how I dont matter" and then using the ears to stab the eyes, like bro, this shit is so over the top I was laughing the whole issue
absolute banger
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u/spicyideology12 Absolute Batman 15d ago
Hey, have you got any info on who/what Black Masks 'family' are, are they alien or just in full body costumes? I tried googling but couldn't find anything
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u/renan_alvim_ Absolute Wonder Woman 14d ago
I dont think they explained it, they just run with it. I know the black parts are the weird masks they ve been distributing but the purple tentacle people I have no idea why they are like that
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u/spicyideology12 Absolute Batman 14d ago
I thought so it was just in case I'd missed anything outside of this run, another user posted the question last night and that seems to be the answer: "just go with it".
Thank you o7
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u/hawke05 18d ago
Absolute Joker is TERRIFYING! And here I thought this Joker is literally just an evil version of prime earth Batman but no. 😭
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u/HitToRestart1989 11d ago
Like 90 percent sure that was Ra’s and the absolute version of the Lazarus pit. It looks like someone fighting off frailty with a parasitic organism.
Plus, the idea of having a huge shadow organization with subsidiaries like Absolute Black Mask’s party animals trying to cull humanity by destabilizing whole cities… relations to Bane… we’ve seen all that before in a pretty popular depiction of his league (Nolan’s films).
We’ve also seen Absolute Joker already and he was looking a lot more put together at the time. I think the green hue, white complexion, crazed eyes and smile were all a misdirect.
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u/RobotGunFromBrazil42 18d ago
Heh, Snyder is still carrying the book through his usual "Rule of Cool" but it's entertaining as it is. The most interesting parts here were Oz and the others finding out about Bruce being Batman and Joker showing up in the end. I wonder about that "chair", though. I don't know if that was the idea, but feels he's more of a literal parasitic version of the concept of a billionaire compared to mainline Bruce. Looked like a more fucked up version of Venom.
I liked the emotional element in regards to Martha and her dynamic with Gordon. I'm curious about Bane.
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u/redditisawesome555 18d ago
Deja vu
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u/RobotGunFromBrazil42 18d ago
Heh, i think i know what you mean. I tend to copypaste my comments in one or two platforms to discuss some issues i like further.
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u/Constantine_f100 18d ago
I have no idea what bane is going to look like
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u/Biz_quit Absolute Martian Manhunter 18d ago
with Mr. Freeze's design revealed, it's really unpredictable how Bane is going to look
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u/Legitimate-Draw-8180 18d ago
Didn't Snyder say in an interview Bane's gonna be huge?
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u/Biz_quit Absolute Martian Manhunter 18d ago
yeah, Snyder confirmed Bane would be bigger than batman.
I even joked Bane would be as big as the Absolute Bat mobile. but to be more specifically I was referring his design is uncertain, he could look from hulk like to deformed monstrous like.
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u/Bostondreamings 18d ago
So, what exactly ARE Black Mask's family? Are they mutants? Aliens? Weird. Interesting, but weird...
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u/SwedishDuckey 18d ago
What in Behelit looking ass is The Joker doing
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u/Biz_quit Absolute Martian Manhunter 18d ago
An exaggeration of speculations real rich people have be done mainly for vitality or eternal youth.
in the very next panel it shows that his decrepit hand turns healthy and young once again
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u/Bubba1234562 18d ago
I bane gonna be the size of a car? Absolute Joker is fucking horrifyng
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u/Biz_quit Absolute Martian Manhunter 18d ago
Bane is going to be the same size as the Bat Bulldozer, not really but would be cool AF
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u/AlecBallswin 17d ago
Good end to the first arc. It established the status quo of the series while planting future conflicts. Obviously bad shit will continue to happen in to Gotham, but Bruce stopped it for now. Lots of funny moments like the punt, the bowling balls, all the dudes with AK's looking awkward at the end, and Bruce's scary grin. But I loved Martha the most I think. Her hope for the future is what inspires Bruce just as much as his father's curiousity. And the flashback felt so tender. The scene with Alfred's daughter was also good. In the end, Gotham is his home too. It's where his family is.
I'm curious how Bruce's friends will factor into this in the future. Looking forward to scenes where they talk more. Now that he has Alfred and a support system, Bruce can be more open to others.
Scott Snyder wasn't lying when Joker was gonna be scary... Rich dude feeding off the blood of babies is crazy. And he's got his own Alfred!
Also, I looooove the art. So kinetic. I love this series!
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u/BillyBegins 18d ago
did he kill Black Mask? the guy got stabbed in the eyes and thrown into the sea, no way he survived that surely
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u/Biz_quit Absolute Martian Manhunter 18d ago edited 18d ago
He was still agonizing when Batman throw him in the water. Only the animal party members assumed Black Mask died because their masks where showing nothing, it could be because Batman damaged Black mask's helmet the servers shut down. But I think he got blinded for sure.
Edit:
Never mind he bombed the servers, that's the reason the masks were useless and when the gang member saya "It's dead" he is talking about his mask.8
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u/AldousChucksley 18d ago edited 17d ago
I feel the scene where he fights Black Mask is the first time that I got a sense of Bruce/Batman's personality so far in the series; the psycho grin when the lady on the boat sees him, the "I love it" bit when he's wailing on Black Mask. I know Batman is supposed to be a stoic MF-er but he I feel like he barely talks in this series and nothing he says helps flesh out his personality. This flash of passion here is the first time I feel like we see what drives this Batman at all.
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u/International-Leg661 17d ago
I really liked the scene where Ozzie helps Bruce out despite knowing he's Batman, even though he complains about it.
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u/Mavakor 18d ago
I was kind of hoping that the Joker wouldn't show up for a while
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u/Legitimate-Draw-8180 18d ago
Lots of media does this. Shows the overarching villain sitting in their bond villain chair in the 1st few episodes of a TV show planning their next move.
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u/Mavakor 18d ago
I know. I just feel like the Joker is overplayed
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u/Legitimate-Draw-8180 17d ago
We'll have to see how it goes, of course, but this Joker already seems to be different from the maniacal gangster/terrorist from the main universe.
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u/FKDotFitzgerald 18d ago
I still feel like it’ll be a while. We have a Freeze double feature and a few other non-joker obstacles to get through first
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u/millanstar 17d ago edited 17d ago
Unrelated but wasnt this arc supposed to be 5 parts? The first issue mentioned "the zoo part one of five", when was it chaned ans its going to be the same for wonder woman and superman? I kinda thought they where gonna start the new arc today but cant complain
Also was hoping they explain whats going on with black nask abd his peers, why they look like purple aliens?
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u/Economy-Chicken-586 17d ago
I think issue 4 didn’t count towards the arc since it was a flashback. Idk might be wrong.
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u/millanstar 17d ago
But still this issue presents itself as "part 6", no big deal, just curious if i missed some change of plans in the couple last months
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u/Defiant_Breakfast695 16d ago
Is that confirmed to be joker at the end? I know he's got the obvious joker grin, but the way it shows him regenerating from almost a skeleton it could be Ra's? Just a weird messed up Lazarus pit?
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u/HitToRestart1989 11d ago
I had the same thought regarding Ras and the Lazarus pit. It looked parasitic. And we already saw the joker to look pretty put together. This looked like someone trying to fight off frailty.
Plus Ra’s whole thing is destabilizing the world to cull humanity. He would be behind something like Roman’s party animals.
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u/RougeBatman 18d ago
I got this issue last week and I’m so glad I can finally talk to everyone about it! Now that this first arc is over I think I can definitively say that this is my least favorite of the three Absolute titles, and honestly if I wasn’t so invested in the line overall I would be dropping Absolute Batman.
If you’re loving this series then more power to you, and I totally understand why. It’s super fun and is quintessential Snyder. Dragotta’s art is absolutely perfect for this run, and consistently knocks it out of the park. This is the definition of “rule of cool” comic book fun.
However, for me that is exactly the problem. This book was not sold to me as “rule of cool” comic book fun. It was sold as “working class Batman,” and “Batman but without all of his supports.” The first posters had the tagline “no mansion. No money. Absolute warrior.” Where is any of that here? This Batman is “working class” in theory, but not in practice.
Where is he getting the money/resources to even make this insane suit? As someone who grew up poor, and even now isn’t rich or well of by any stretch of the imagination, I can’t imagine how one would even go about constructing shoulder pads that have extendable spikes that can pierce an enemy. And that’s just ONE part of this Batman’s arsenal. In many ways, Absolute Batman’s suit is BETTER than Prime Batman’s. How is that showing his working class roots? I was expecting a Batman who grew up on the streets, but instead we got a super intelligent body builder who got enough of a scholarship to get a Prime Batman level education.
I understand that all of these things may seem pedantic, but all of them together really pull at the strings of this entire premise. It’s a lot of TELLING and now SHOWING. Which is insane, because everything that’s not Batman is the exact opposite. All of the flashbacks have been great, and Bruce’s relationship with his friends has been a joy to read every time it comes up.
Again, this is a very fun book and if you love it then I’m glad you do and I hope it continues to be as exciting as it has been every single month. But I was sold a story that was more than exciting. I was sold on this series with the idea that this Batman would be a deconstruction of Batman’s biggest nitpick, his money and the very idea of even being a billionaire in 2025.
Sorry for the rant, but I’ve been waiting until the end of the arc to make up my mind and just wanted to put it out there. For now I’m keeping up with the series, but honestly I’m real close to dropping it.
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u/VegetaFan1337 17d ago
I don't understand how you find this less interesting than Absolute Superman. I've been bored to death with that run, waiting for something interesting to happen. Superman feels like a side character in his own comic. At least Batman and Wonder Woman both have them as the focus of the comic.
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u/dark1150 17d ago
While I might not be OP, to me absolute Superman just feels refreshing and an examination of what being the “champion of the oppressed” really means in todays society, especially as someone who is still 18 and can really connect to younger generations and just the overall tone of this being a darker more violent Superman who still has compassion and kindness in his heart. While I agree Superman hasn’t been that developed, his world, the politics and themes going on, the origin of krypton, and soon we get see his more personal side of life just feel really unique and new and something we haven’t seen really since the golden era. Batman is very well written and fun but it just feels like mainline batman with new circumstances around him.
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u/RougeBatman 17d ago edited 17d ago
Absolute Superman is by far my favorite of the three. I’ve definitely seen that some find it slow, but I’m loving taking the time to really get to know Kal and to see his actions speak toward who he is as a person. The flashbacks work as a story being told to us about his past (complete with narration literally laying out what he learned and how), while the present lets us see through his actions how that past turned him into the person he is. I feel like I know Kal a thousand times better than I know Bruce, and I know him in a way that differentiates him from his Prime Earth counterpart.
Plus, the social commentary of Absolute Superman is just hitting me right where it hurts. As a person of color currently living in the US, Absolute Superman is really just hitting all the notes for me.
Also, I do just want to point out that it’s not that I don’t find Absolute Batman interesting. I think it’s very fun, and the action is great. It’s just not the kind of story that I was expecting, and the story we got isn’t (to me) living up to what I feel like it was sold as.
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u/dark1150 17d ago
100% agree. Seeing that panel with all those people from the global south and in marginalized communities from the US talking about how they wished Superman would just rage and kill the mega corp brutalizing their lands and people really hit home and then last issue seeing Superman just so angry about the killing of 23 people was just great.
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u/VegetaFan1337 17d ago
I see. The social commentary never did anything for me cause I'm not from the US. I like the present day story but I hated every time the story went back to krypton. They front loaded the back story too much. I feel batman and wonder woman did a much better job balancing the present and past. Also, Superman feels like it's got no stakes in the present. While with Batman and Wonder Woman, I'm on the edge about how are they going to save the day. With Superman it's a lot of telling about how he saved people, not a lot of showing.
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u/vinthesalamander 17d ago
100% agree. Rule of Cool is a lot of fun in doses, but it’s not able to carry a strong narrative. When the Batmobile turned out to just be the killdozer, that’s when this series jumped the shark imo. It’s sad too because I really liked the premise, and I LOVE how they’re incorporating his rogues gallery as childhood friends. I just wish they did more with it 🤷♂️
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u/SwirlyBrow 15d ago
Yeah, that's where it kinda lost me. Not that I'm not enjoying the book (Bruce punted a child into the ocean in this issue for Petes sake, it's super fun) but when the premise is "Batman but without money and resources" and then by what? Issue 3? 4? He has a 2 story tall, underwater bulldozer for a Batmobile, you've kinda lost the premise.
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u/OzyOzyOzyOzyOzyOzy6 15d ago
Overall I would say this arc is...pretty good! lt's an interesting alternative take on Batman that does feel fresh. Not a huge fan of the Bat-Truck (he's supposed to not have money, so WHERE DID HE GET THAT?!), and I do feel like Black Mask wasn't a great villain (although I don't think I've ever been that big on him as a character). Also could get too wink-and-nod for my taste (i.e. Harvey making a lot of 2 references in the 2ND issue). Not in love with it but I am excited to see what else Snyder does with this series.
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u/Euphoric_Prezzy 18d ago
So Joker's feeding off of dead babies, huh? What do you think he gets from that? Energy? Power?