Absolute Batman #16 is the first issue in the series to feature another character from the wider Absolute Universe. This team takes a crack at Absolute Wonder Woman, with Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta co-writing, and the latter continuing on the art for the series. Frank Martin colors the issue with letterer Clayton Cowles returning as well. The team wonderfully adapts Diana’s world in their own fashion, cleverly integrating Bruce into it while progressing his own story. It’s a tough and unlikely crossover, but one that this team really nails.
The issue starts with Bruce returning to work in the aftermath of Bane’s attack on the city. His boss, Mr. Fox, recommends that he takes the weekend to have fun and live a little. After that, Bruce visits his transformed friends in the hospital. Oz and Harvey want nothing to do with him. He leaves and suits up, drifting away on his motorcycle. He uses the amulet Wonder Woman had given him in the last issue of her book to summon her, and asks her to help him find a way to reverse what Bane had done to his friends.
WRITING
Snyder and Dragotta are both credited as writers on this one. Seeing Dragotta get more involved is really interesting, especially regarding this issue. It’s the second part of the Absolute Universe’s first crossover, and the two writers tie it up really nicely. They play around with Bruce and Diana’s dynamic here, and it’s very fun. They don’t have the pressure of introducing the two to each other, so they really just work to further their relationship. The characters just try to understand each other and their worlds better. Snyder and Dragotta write Diana trying to understand Bruce’s more “normal” life, while they have Bruce reaching out and opening his mind, desperate, for something that might his friends. There’s this special moment where the two encounter a cyclops. Bruce immediately assumes the creature will try to kill him. Diana says he won’t, and is confused at Bruce for even thinking he would. It encapsulates the two characters and their relationship perfectly. She’s always at the ready, and his heart is open.
The two put together a really powerful chunk where Bruce has a dream of his father. He’s a child in the Batman cowl and his father is with him. They both stand on this big origami structure. His father tells him to build Gotham up carefully. This is really an issue focused on Bruce’s path forward, and that’s given to him both by Diana and his father. Snyder and Dragotta create an emotional story of understanding and rebuilding, and they really stick the landing on it.
ART
Dragotta enters a new realm here as he accompanies Bruce and Diana into the underworld. He takes a break from his usual gorgeous cityscapes to visualize a beautiful but barren hell. His backgrounds are really special here. There are giant skulls and ribcages decorating the ground with scattered Greek architecture following Batman and Wonder Woman on their journey. Dragotta really excels with his character design here. In the aforementioned page with the cyclops, Dragotta makes him look large and intimidating with a giant club in his hands. When he turns his face to face us though, he looks kind and curious. It’s some of the best stuff of the issue. We follow Bruce’s perspective of Diana’s world, and we see the Cyclops as horrifying and menacing at first. But when we really look at it, like Bruce does, we see that there’s not really a big difference.
COLORS
Martin makes the passage of time in the underworld his focus in this one. His colors on the sky and how he makes it shift from night to day and vice versa are captivating and integral to keeping up with Batman and Wonder Woman’s journey here. A gorgeous looking moment to point out is one at night where Bruce and Diana are sitting by the campfire, discussing the plan for the next day. The blue night sky is cut off by the red and orange flame of their fire, illuminating and shadowing each of their faces. It sets the tone of the scene perfectly, Martin once again impressively and captivatingly displaying his understanding of the scene given to him.
LETTERS
Later in the issue, Batman and Wonder Woman go up against a centaur named Akrolis. When he appears, rather than giving him the normal text that Bruce and Diana usually have, Cowles gives him these rigid and Greek-esque style letters to really show his position in the underworld. It’s an interesting creative choice that pays off because it instantly makes him more menacing. He’s in his own realm fighting against the children of two worlds, and it makes it all the more intimidating for them. It’s a pretty cool split in the issue, and Cowles really nails the vibe of that confrontation through that.
CONCLUSION
Absolute Batman #16 is a story of understanding coming together in the face of overwhelming odds. Bruce is lost, and Diana does what she does and tries to assist him as best she can through that. While Bruce isn’t on anyone’s good side right now, this issue shows you that there’s hope despite that. Snyder, Dragotta, Martin, and Cowles give us a look at what it takes to rebuild what you feel is broken, and how to nurture yourself and the world around you back to the best versions of each.
