When DC Comics’ Absolute line was leaked and announced for 2024, one eye-catching image sucked all the air out of the room. It was the widest, most square version of Batman we’ve ever seen. When veteran Batman writer Scott Snyder was given the opportunity to remake Batman from the ground up in a darker setting, his first order to artist Nick Dragota was to make him Batman. monster like yuge It was interesting to say the least.
Image: Nick Dragota, Frank Martin/DC Comics
video absolute batmanbrother’s book, absolute wonder woman and absolute supermanIt wasn’t that surprising. Wonder Woman has held a sword and worn pants before. Superman had shaggy hair. Batman is so He made the reimagined designs of his fellow heroes look ordinary in comparison. of course absolute batman It became a book that I could concentrate on.
However, as three months passed after each book was published, absolute wonder woman and absolute superman It’s racing toward status as the greatest comic book of all time, in part because writers and artists were able to keep the biggest, most current twists to two very old superhero stories a complete secret until the right moment. Maybe they were hidden behind the young Batman’s incredible girth?
The new year is a time for reflection. I have been reflecting and would like to say this. DC Comics’ Absolute Universe rules far more rigorously than I expected and in ways I never thought possible. It actually gives you a dark timeline that feels good to visit.
(Ed. memo: This article contains some spoilers for the first three issues of each issue. absolute wonder woman and absolute superman.)
Now writer Kelly Thompson and artist Hayden Sherman absolute wonder woman It was at a low point during the initial project announcement. The first issue literally takes place in hell, but it’s surprisingly quiet, slow, and gentle in a way rarely seen in monthly superhero books, and in a way that would struggle to summarize. They deliver Diana, who has been separated from her Amazon heritage by divine edict, but determined to become a bulwark between humanity and terrible monsters, even if it means spitting in the face of the gods. Also, I won’t spoil it here, but in #3, Diana’s… It reveals something about physicality in a casual way that hits like a Mac truck.
Meanwhile, in the first 3 absolute supermanWriter Jason Aaron and artist Rafa Sandoval have delivered a steady series of subversions to the Superman story we think we know. Even better, we took the time to show that, barring any unexpected shocks, these differences make sense. Their Superman still grew up on a farm. Krypton’s farm is an extremely stratified society, with his family coming from a working-class background.
Image: Jason Aaron, Rafa Sandoval/DC Comics
Superman’s relationship with his doomed homeworld has traditionally been distant, but curious teenager Kal-El provides Aaron and Sandoval with a means to show the flaws of Kryptonian society up close. absolute superman In second place is when Little Kal writes the essay himself at school (distance learning only) instead of using a computer to generate an AI-generated essay based on a Kryptonian database of all approved knowledge. They set out all these details in just two panels that will give school-age children, parents, and teachers the creepy punch of an effective ghost story.
Released on January 1, 2025, the third issue brings another poignant, modern twist to Superman’s familiar origin story. In this version of the story, Krypton’s leaders do not refuse to believe warnings that their planet is dying and, therefore, destroyed. Here, they support the illusion that everything is normal and under control, while secretly constructing mass escape ships exclusively for the elite.
Image: Jason Aaron, Rafa Sandoval/DC Comics
Meanwhile, Kal-El’s parents are building their own ship for the few workers they can afford to board. What happens next? Will the elite Kryptonians survive? What about Carl’s parents? I think I’m looking forward to it because I’ve only seen it in flashbacks so far. absolute superman #4 Find out.
For comics readers, the dark timeline is one of the oldest tricks in the book. There may be a dark future for the heroes to avoid, and what if… Or maybe it’s the future and nothing is as good or easy as it used to be. Or maybe things get so bad that there are entire multiverses where the universes within them are of no use other than kindling in the cosmic forge. “Familiar surroundings, but surprisingly worse” is an easy well to return to.
When the Absolute setting was announced as a dark version of the DC Universe created by the evil god Darkseid for dark purposes that would one day be revealed, it felt like a mere repetition. “In this universe, heroes are presented in a way that makes them the underdogs,” Scott Snyder said in the announcement video. As upcoming Absolute heroes like Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman appear, their darker origins will become even more evident. He claimed it would have a repercussion. Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, and Flash decide to fight against the darkness anyway.
I never thought Snyder and the rest of the DC Absolute books would be able to execute on that idea so quickly and consistently across three creative teams and three very different revision concepts. These first three Absolute books are not only solid, but incisive, meaningful, and well-illustrated. Thompson and Sherman’s Wonder Woman is a story of love confronting self-denial and asserting one’s identity in the face of divine censorship. Aaron and Sandoval’s Superman is about action, effort, and tragedy, but it’s also about the joy of writing and the power of telling the truth.
In an age where companies censor any mention of queer or trans characters for fear of backlash, Wonder Woman’s defiance of God’s law and loudly saying the word “Amazon” has resonance. It is particularly resonant in that it gives that moment to a queer-coded character. (And these days, my God, really weird things happen a lot.) do I’d like to see Wonder Woman defy the rules imposed on her from above. I’d like to see Superman reject generative AI as a homogenizing and lie-spreading force. I’d like to see him explore a metaphor for the billionaire-backed push to avoid Earth’s climate problems by building a Mars base based on indentured labor.
absolute wonder woman and absolute superman There we go: Rather than inventing a harsh alternate future for the sake of bleak, gritty storytelling, we present it like this: our With the promise of nurturing heroes to fight against a harsh future. I get plenty of “dark timeline” vibes from life in the 2020s. The least my comic book dark timeline can do is punch the real timeline in the face every now and then.
