Absolute Batman reaches the penultimate chapter of its first story arc today, with part 5 of 'The Zoo.' In the new issue Batman meets with Black Mask, nominally with the intention of accepting his offer of $200m in order to leave the Party Animals free to terrorize Gotham. That's not quite how things go down, of course…
A couple of issues back Alfred described Bruce's entire personality as being "Batman AF." This is a Caped Crusader who is even more committed to the theatrical bit than his regular DC universe counterpart, one who is willing to make ever-more-extreme gestures in the cause of terrifying and wrong-footing his foes. In this month's issue he does so by putting a twist on a famous scene from The Dark Knight – then taking a quite improbable amount of punishment. Let's get into it…
Spoilers for Absolute Batman #5
One of the most interesting aspects of this comic has been its timely reinvention of Bruce Wayne as a blue collar man of the people, rather than a playboy billionaire. This version of Bruce has known deprivation and is friends with shady people operating on the edges of the law in order to survive. It's not for nothing that our one fleeting glimpse of the Absolute Universe Joker so far has been as a sinister billionaire industrialist (now who might that be modelled on, I wonder?). It's a conscious flip of the script when it comes to Batman's traditional hero and villain dynamic – albeit an imperfect one given that the Joker's attitude to wealth has typically been as ambiguous and fluid as the character himself. Money is traditionally a means to an end for him, with probably the most famous example of this being the scene in The Dark Knight where the Joker sets fire to a fortune simply to make a point.
Absolute Batman #5 appears to consciously call back to that moment. Bruce has accepted Black Mask's offer of selling out for the princely sum of $200m, but rather than use the money to shore up his fledgling crime-fighting operation, he straps the wads of bank notes to the memorial spotlight on top of Gotham Zoo, causing the money to go up in flames as he ignites the Absolute Universe's first Bat-Signal.
It's not the first time that this book has made explicit that this version of Batman is an anarchistic force of nature, in some ways not too far off the Joker in the regular DC universe, but it's certainly the most explicit. The difference here, of course, is that Batman's chaos is a needed corrective to the cruel status quo that has taken control of Gotham, whereas the Joker's actions exist purely to satisfy his own insatiable malice.
As you might imagine Black Mask does not take any of this well. A fight ensues and the Party Animals dole out all the punishment they can on Bruce which... well, it's quite a lot. While Batman certainly puts up a fight – those spikes on his suit are really nasty, in one hilarious moment literally attaching a henchman to his burly back – it's not long before he's captured. Black Mask and his gang then proceed to stab him, set him on fire with a flamethrower, hit him with Batman's own axe, shoot him, send him tumbling off a building, and then run him over. That he survives this at all stretches credulity beyond breaking point, but this is Absolute Batman, where maximalism is kind of the point.
Another excellent issue this, full of the dynamism and high drama we've come to expect from the title, and it's great to have Nick Dragotta back on the art duties after missing last month's #4. By the end of the issue Bruce is injured, alone – even Alfred seems to have abandoned him – and Black Mask is appealing to the people of Gotham's worst instincts by offering them the chance to join the Party Animals and cause carnage for cash. Earlier in the issue Martha Wayne said, "Most times in Gotham people surprise you in awful ways. But sometimes, once in a blue moon, they surprise you in good ones too." Which will it be this time? You'll have to tune in next month to find out...
Absolute Batman #5 by writer Scott Snyder, artist Nick Dragotta, and colorist Frank Martin is out now from DC.
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