Absolute Batman 2025 Annual is a very strong and emotional set of stories from many different creatives.
Writer/artist Daniel Warren Johnson, colorist Mike Spicer, and letterer Clayton Cowles focus on the first story, which also happens to be the longest one. The story features Bruce driving through an area named Slaughter Swamp in order to get some new weapons to round out his artillery. He’s quickly met with local supremacists, and decides to handle them himself.
Writer/artist James Harren and colorist Dave Stewart are joined by Cowles for a story featuring the Party Animals and Bruce finding a small group of them after having taken down Black Mask.
Creator Meredith McClaren takes on this last story herself. It’s a short two-page story featuring some facts about bats that ends up being wildly heartwarming and hopeful.
All of these stories come together very naturally to give us a new look at this Batman and his psyche as well as how Gotham operates around him, because of him.
WRITING
Starting with Johnson’s story, we’re in for an action-packed ride right off the rip. Johnson’s specialty is giving us these awesome, larger than life characters while showing us that the problems they face and internal struggles they carry are just as large as them. The majority of the story features Bruce fighting white supremacists, protecting locals in the area. He goes all out on them, being incredibly violent the entire way through. There are voices of reason through asking him to show mercy, but he ignores them. The entire time though, the words of his father spoken at the beginning of the story really resonate in both us and Bruce. He has to help make change, because not a lot of people have the power to. With that being said, is it possible to go too far? Johnson asks this and handles the climax wonderfully.
The next story from Harren is less action focused, letting us sit more with Bruce as a sort of terrifying creature of the night. It’s a slower story that primarily features Bruce sneaking around, only going in for attacks when all else fails. Harren really balances two ideas with this story. He acknowledges that Batman is a force to be reckoned with, but also shows how there is still good in people for those less fortunate from the relative of one of the Party Animals who maybe was just on a bad path. It’s a really interesting look not only at the character, but at the people of Gotham as well.
McClaren’s story comes at the tail end of the book. It’s short, yet impactful. She shows the city’s relationship with Batman, and how they trust and support him. He’s mostly seen as this fierce, horrifying animal. McClaren shows you that while he is that, he also does something as small as getting a meal for a homeless person. He inspires the community, and that’s the essence of Batman.
ART
All three of our aforementioned artists drew their own respective stories as well. Starting with Johnson, it’s honestly easy to be at a loss for words when describing his work here. He has such an incredible range to draw a heartfelt conversation between father and son in one panel with a massive Batman walking through flames in the next, both feeling incredibly relevant to the story. Johnson has always had such a good eye for character design. The people in the story living in tents look so sad and hurt, trying to make the most of what they have. The supremacists on the other hand look exactly how you’d expect them to, but with an evil glint in their eyes. Johnson succeeds in making his villains look incredibly unsettling, even when they’re just people.
Harren’s art is really out of this world. There’s this specific page where Batman enters the building from a rooftop, but his sectioned cape is flowing in the wind. Each end curls in a way that really adds a gothic feel to the story, giving more personality to both Bruce and Gotham. The story isn’t told from Bruce’s perspective, so when he is seen by the Party Animals he looks like this monstrous deity slowly roaming the halls, looking for a kill. It’s a really great look at how fear plays into this Batman’s ability to help those in need.
McClaren’s art in the final story is simple, but sweet. It may seem small, but there’s a lot going on in every little paneling. The sectioning of each panel really works. While we hear these bat-facts and news of Bruce’s exploits through the city, in the background he’s drawn doing small things to help the people of the city. It’s a good contrast from the other two stories that gives the character a little more heart.
COLORS
Spicer handles the Johnson story, and he really excels here. When Bruce is talking with his father in flashback, or talking to another character in the story—helping people a non-Batman way—the colors of the background are these flat pinks and oranges with little to no detail. When he’s on his manhunt though, everything colored on each page is incredibly detailed with intense oranges that change with the flames surrounding Bruce. It’s really intense and provides a welcome contrast from the book’s usual hectic nature. Sometimes the calm and peace is necessary.
Stewart handles the Harren story. The story for the most part is primarily blue with the sky and lighting in the rooms the Animals are in illuminating most of what we see. There’s a special moment near the end of the story where a civilian chooses kindness to help someone, his face covered red. It shows that blue is a calm color, and the average person is safe in Batman’s Gotham. But it also shows that if you help who you shouldn’t, then you’re stained with that. It’s interesting though as that moment can also be seen as a character breaking the mold, Batman obviously noticing but allowing it to happen because of his inherently hopeful nature. Stewart gives you a lot to think about.
Onto McClaren again: her coloring is special. There’s nothing too crazy or elaborate, but it’s nicer that way. It shows that Gotham is still a city and a people. The only color changes in the issue are for the text boxes, which are black and white rather than lively like the rest of Gotham. Bruce will think about these cold hard facts and how they will take him where he wants to go, but largely won’t see the good he does for the city and how that brightens it.
LETTERS
Cowles covers both the Harren and the Johnson stories in this issue, with McClaren covering her own portion. Cowles gracefully matches the style of both stories with his textplaces. He primarily uses small boxes and bubbles in the Harren story, adding to the sense of dread the Party Animals feel when they know Batman’s somewhere around them. In the Johnson story, Cowles does a really good job working around the art. He places the boxes and bubbles perfectly and really lets Johnson’s action and story soar. There’s a few pages specifically where it seems like those bubbles are almost operating around a kick or flying knee from Bruce. It’s really satisfying.
McClaren’s portion is sure to be a favorite. The only text in the story are the bat facts, and they have a really fun look to them. There’s a small bat on top of the initial box making it look almost like a sign at a zoo, most likely referencing the first issue. Each box after that ditches the bat, but keeps the same style. McClaren is especially consistent with it and it really works in favor of her story.
CONCLUSION
The Absolute Batman Annual is a welcome look at this character and this Gotham from multiple perspectives. While Snyder and co. work hard on the main book, it’s really refreshing to see this character written, drawn, lettered, and colored by others. It results in three short stories that have every right to be as good as they are. Three important and impactful stories telling us more not only about Bruce’s character, but about this Gotham as well.
