Absolute Batman Volume 1: The Zoo by Scott Snyder (writer), Nick Dragotta and Gabriel Hernández Walta (artists). DC, 2025. 9781799505259. 176pp. Contains Issues 1 – 6.
Snyder (Undiscovered Country, American Vampire, more) and Dragotta (East of West, Once Upon A Time at the End of the World) team up to launch a new Absolute Universe version of Batman as part of DC’s All In initiative. Don’t know what that is? Me, either.
This version of Batman is young and poor, but still smart as hell and driven to fight crime after his father’s murder. His gadgets are cheap-ish but high-tech. His friends are folks who, in other DC universes, will become some of his most insane enemies. Alfred is an operative tasked with hunting him down. Oh and Batman is facing gangs of thugs armed and motivated by an unnamed villain (so I guess I won’t name him, either), though you’ll immediately know who he is (or at least who he’s supposed to be) if you’ve read many Batman well-known collections.
Snyder’s script is tight, Dragotta’s art feels futuristic while evoking nostalgia, and I love how the two of them have reinvented the way Batman moves and fights. Check it out. Buy it for your collection.
PS: The other Absolute Universe book I’ve read is the first Jason Aaron / Rafa Sandoval / Ulises Arreola Superman graphic novel, Last Dust of Krypton. It’s also pretty dark, with Superman and his parents being part of the labor caste on a Krypton ruled by science elites out only for themselves. Superman is young and is fighting for justice on Earth against the Lazarus Corporation and its Peacekeepers. Lois Lane is a mercenary out to track him down. Superman also has a new, cool cape. (I thought the Absolute Universe might be all about new capes until I started reading the Wonder Woman book, which is also worth picking up.)
