Absolute Batman (2024)

BATMAN LEGEND SCOTT SNYDER AND ICONIC ARTIST NICK DRAGOTTA TRANSFORM THE DARK KNIGHT'S TALE FOR THE MODERN AGE! Without the mansion...without the money...without the butler...what's left is the Absolute Dark Knight!

SNYDER AND DRAGOTTA'S BRAND-NEW TAKE ON THE DARK KNIGHT RAMPAGES ON! Batman was born out of violence - a horrible tragedy that shaped the trajectory of his future. But when a vigilant MI6 agent starts tracking the lonely life of Bruce Wayne, he discovers the interconnectivity between a hero's shell life and the many layers of the Black Mask Gang. It's Batman versus Alfred Pennyworth!

NEW FRIENDS, NEW ENEMIES! Batman and Alfred have formed a tentative alliance, but the Black Mask has some new friends too...and they're coming to Gotham to wreak absolute havoc. Plus, discover the dark secret that will rock Bruce to his core and make him question everything...

Absolute Batman has established himself as an extremely large force to be reckoned with. But how did he get to this point? How did he push himself? And how did the tragic events of his childhood, and the advice of his father, shape the man who he became...literally? Guest artist Gabriel Walta joins for this essential origin issue of Absolute Batman to explore Bruce Wayne's past, and his inevitable future to go BIGGER. Don't miss this pivotal issue!

WILL THE PARTY END HERE FOR ABSOLUTE BATMAN? With his friends lives at stake, will a broken, beaten, and ultimately defeated Bruce Wayne finally compromise and give up both himself and his morals to Black Mask? Or does he have something even BIGGER than himself to help? And what does this have to do with Mayor James Gordon and his relationship with a young Bruce Wayne? All this and more in the penultimate issue to the first arc of ABSOLUTE BATMAN!

THIS IS IT! CATCH UP TO ARC ONE BEFORE THE START OF ARC TWO! Bruce Wayne, a young man who has built his entire life on leveling up, on becoming a bigger man than both his enemies and the obstacles that stand in his way, will have to break down the Black Mask and his gang of Party Animals. Will he be able to do this without the help of his unlikely new MI6 ally, Alfred Pennyworth? And how do his childhood friends--Edward Nygma, Waylon Jones, Harvey Dent, and Oswald Cobblepot (among others)--play a crucial role in Batman's legacy as Gotham's Vigilante? Absolute Batman's first story arc, The Zoo concludes with this larger-than-life story, while introducing a few new elements to come in arc 2. You'd have to be Absolutely MAD to miss it!

THE JOKER AND MR. FREEZE MAKE THEIR ABSOLUTE UNIVERSE DEBUT--STARTING HERE! It's about to get icy cold in Gotham City...as we reveal the connections between a young, up-and-coming scientist named Victor Fries, his history with the Ark M experiment, and what it all has to do with the mysterious Joker. A bombastic two-parter with a guest artist, the one and only super-star Marcos Martín, starts here!

GOTHAM IN THE GRASP OF MR. FREEZE! Batman is in the fight for his life against this icy new threat. But in the end, what terrifying truth will be unearthed about Ark M and...Joker?

AN ALL NEW ARK (M) STARTS HERE! The latest development in saving the derelict and despondent of our society is a facility known as Ark M--a fully operational institution that has played a rather sizeable part, on purpose or not, in the creation of evil. And it's active. So when Bruce tries infiltrate it and distill its secrets, a new villain from Gotham City arrives to deal with the problem...an old adversary of Alfred's...a man known only as Bane.

BRUCE WAYNE TRAPPED IN ARK M! Bruce Wayne is trapped within the horrors of Ark M as his best friend Waylon Jones endures unimaginable tortures...but what awaits Batman is far more terrifying than anything either has faced...the true form of Bane is revealed. But it's how Bane plans to break Batman that will have you, our dear readers, bending over backward.

Learn the origin of Bane! What drives the muscle-bound behemoth, and how did he arrive in Gotham?

BANE PRESSES THE ATTACK! Batman is at the mercy of the monstrous Bane. And though his body has seen better days, his mind and spirit are still strong. But how much longer can that withstand Bane's brutal onslaught?

ABSOLUTE CATWOMAN DEBUTS! Batman’s final showdown with the monstrous Bane! Will he be able to overcome this unstoppable behemoth, or will he be trapped in Ark-M forever?!

BATMAN AND CATWOMAN VS. BANE! Batman and Catwoman face down Bane in a final battle! But once the dust settles, what will it all mean for the future of Batman?

SCOTT SNYDER REUNITES WITH LEGENDARY ARTIST JOCK! Alfred reveals to Bruce the story of the man he’s been chasing for years. Enter: Joker! Scott Snyder and Jock reunite for an epic tale in the Absolute Universe!

ABSOLUTE BATMAN IN HELL! Part two of our Absolute Batman/Absolute Wonder Woman story-- Bruce Wayne is on a desperate hunt to help his friend Waylon, now transformed into a monstrous crocodile roaming the sewers, consumed with a deadly hunger. Batman's last option for a cure is to turn to a god for help...but will he have to descend into the depths of hell to get it?

ABSOLUTE POISON IVY SINKS HER TEETH INTO ARK-M! Dr. Pamela Isley has been unleashed from the Ark-M facility with an unending hate and burning fire for revenge on Gotham City, and those who put her in the belly of the beast. When Batman hunts her down, he must survive a labyrinth of leveled horrors, one more gruesome after the next, as he tries to save the city from a monster it created.

ABSOLUTE IVY'S TENDRILS CONTINUE TO INFECT GOTHAM CITY! After the explosive reveal ending last issue, and Batman continues to fight Poison Ivy's mutated monsters and winds up uncovering an even more gruesome horror that has embedded itself in the city's very foundations. All while the Joker's machinations start to coalesce in a partnership with a new ally.

ABSOLUTE SCARECROW EMERGES FROM THE SHADOWS OF ARK M AS A NEW STORY ARC BEGINS... Poison Ivy proved to be just one of the many horrors within the bowels of the ARK M facility, and as Joker sets his sights on Absolute Batman, he decides to enlist the help of one of the center's most terrifying doctors, Dr. Jonathan Crane. While Bruce Wayne tries to align himself with Barbara Gordon, there's more than one alliance formed in this issue. New debuts, new villains, new arc starts here.

A TRAGIC LOSS ROCKS GOTHAM CITY! As the dust settles in the city of Gotham after the loss of [redacted], Robins enter the scene ready to hunt and more than one secret will be revealed in this seminal issue.

SCARECROW'S REIGN OF TERROR CONTINUES! Friends become enemies. Enemies become friends. Final forms are revealed, and Scarecrow's reign of terror threatens to upend everything.

THE ORIGIN OF HARLEY QUINN! As the Robins nest in Gotham's backyard, and Batman faces ultimate defeat, Harley Quinn's origin is revealed. How does Harley connect with Ark M, and how did the Robins fledge from hatchlings to birds of prey? The call of more than one predator will be answered in this issue.