The Scarecrow confronts Batman for the first time. Waylon tries to find help for Bruce. And the Robins close in on Batman. Absolute Batman #20 is written by Scott Snyder, drawn by Nick Dragotta, colored by Frank Martin and lettered by Clayton Cowles.
Will Nevin: Gettin’ antsy for that-there Lego Batman video game, Matt?
Matt Lazorwitz: Oh, you know it! I read the Free Comic Book Day tie-in last night, and I can’t wait to bash more Lego blocks as the Dark Knight. I’ve liked all the Lego DC games, but each one has widened the cast and the scope. It’s gonna be fun to be in a game that’s Gotham-centric again.
The Batman conspiracy
Matt: The Absolute Universe is, by definition, a different world than Prime Earth, and I have accepted many changes to it, things I would never take in a Prime Batman book. This issue spells out something that was hinted at last issue, something I find hugely frustrating when it’s hinted at in the main DCU: that the death of the Waynes (or Thomas Wayne in this case) is part of a grander conspiracy. And while I would rant about it elsewhere, here, in a world that has sunken into darkness, with a city that has been run for generations by Joker? I might not have too much of an issue with it, if Snyder is able to pull it off.
Will: If Bruce’s pain and misery is simply part of a plan, it’s got way too many movin’ fuckin’ parts. But like you, I’m not immediately opposed here. What I’ve wanted most out of this book from the beginning was for it to have something to say, something other than “BATMAN SMASH.” If we take, for the sake of argument, that Snyder believes the Prime Earth Waynes died in a senseless and random tragedy, what does it mean for the Absolute Universe’s Thomas Wayne to have died in a targeted killing, all in hopes, perhaps, of turning his son into a hulking vigilante? I don’t know what that means, and I don’t know if Snyder himself knows what that means, but I’m willing to play the string out.
But let’s put all of that aside for a minute to talk about Scarecrow. This Scarecrow? This guy fuckin’ slaps. Jesus fuckin’ Christ. This is already my favorite interpretation of the character, and it’s only been *maybe* seven or eight pages of content. This guy is creepy and haunting as all hell. I love the visual reinterpretation. I love the shift away from some goofy-assed academic (I say being a goofy-assed academic). Absolute Scarecrow is as much of a home run as you can get in a different approach to a classic comic book character.
Matt: I don’t want to sound too much like a broken record, but Snyder is a writer who is constantly writing about his fears and putting them on the page. This Scarecrow is the apotheosis of that. Scarecrow literally talks about our modern fears, and not just fears but dread, this nebulous fear of everything around us rather than the day to day, and that is what he is obsessed with. It makes sense that he is driving people to suicide and rage. When all you can do is feel the fear of EVERYTHING? What else is there to do but either rage or end it all. It makes my skin crawl, which is absolutely, I think, what Snyder is going for here.
Will: Just masterful work. And not to once again beat this particular rotting horse, but how much more fun would this book be if Scarecrow — and not the Court of Owls, or Gordon’s death, or the Joker’s plot, or Joe Chill’s death — was the real focus here? I mean, yes, they are all integral parts of the story Snyder is telling, but as I tell my students, you want to highlight the stuff that’s really working for you. We’ve talked before about how Prime Scarecrow is better as a secondary villain, and maybe that’s the case here as well. But I sure wish he was given the same chance to shine as, say maybe, Bane was.
Matt: We’re only two issues in! I am expecting to see Scarecrow get to ply his trade on the Robins, and probably Batman himself, directly by the end. I am curious to see him with Grimm. The other villains we’ve seen are subservient to Grimm, and don’t even seem to want to talk about him. Scarecrow doesn’t seem to have that issue. I think he might be the wildcard in Grimm’s deck, if you’ll pardon the somewhat strained Joker metaphor.
Will: How dare you imply I should be patient, Matt. But in all seriousness, I suspect you’re right — or at least I will hold you to that prediction as this arc unfolds.
Matt: There are two other plotlines I want to spend a little time talking about: the flashbacks and Croc and Riddler. There is so much else here: the Robins, Harley and Alfred, Barbara, Martha. But I feel like those were more mentions to keep them fresh in readers’ minds, while we got some momentum with the stuff involving Bruce’s friends and those flashbacks involving Bruce working for Falcone. Do you have one you’d rather tackle first?
Will: Let’s get to the Falcone stuff first. I thought that was smart. This Bruce did not have the ability to trot across the globe and learn from the world’s foremost assassins, detectives and martial artists. So what’s the next best thing? Sitting under the learning tree of the Falcones. We haven’t gotten a lot of this Batman’s training or backstory, but this could fill in an important gap in a way that makes sense for this version of the character.
Matt: And give him a big hero moment where Falcone offers to make him a made man and he rejects it, which could parallel his crisis of faith in the present. A young Bruce who didn’t grow up in luxury would be tempted by the easy path, the darker path, especially in a world with all this darkness. And why do we fall?
Will: To pick ourselves up, Matt.
Matt: Meanwhile, we’re getting our first real ideas of what Absolute Penguin and Two-Face are going to be about. And while Waylon, now being mostly human again, is thinking about helping his friends, they seem mostly set on their own agendas. Penguin is a ball of rage, looking to get his power and authority, and if he has to commit arson to get people into his club? Well, that’s the cost of doing business. But Two-Face? The idea that Harvey is starting out flipping his poker chip to take out the criminals who were freed because his connection to Batman has been discovered? I think there’s a lot of grist for the story mill there.
Will: And how well is Waylon? Might we have a Hulk-like character on our hands, able to transform into a monster when needed? Eddie is certainly not doing great. I like each one of these guys being in a slightly different place — helps to break up the monotony of a single unit all having some grievance or issue with Bruce.
Matt: Oh, I think you’re on the nose there. My thought is that Waylon will have instances where he is going to have to remove his talisman, and every time he does, the form he reverts to is a little less human. Right now it’s just his eyes. When he takes it off to go full monster Croc to, say, help Bruce fight the Robins and puts it back on, he now has the eyes and fangs. Then the next time, he’s kinda scaly. The choice of when he has to stop, and what he has to choose to let slide to maintain his humanity, would make for an interesting drive for the character. That’s what I’d do, anyway.
Will: Mecha Robins are not my favorite idea, but I’m excited for where this story is going generally. And if Mecha Robins *are* your favorite idea? Well, be prepared to feast, friends.
Bat-miscellany
- Patreon backer John Wickham returns to the BatChat podcast to read and discuss three stories with art by Liam Sharp.
Buy Absolute Batman #20 here. (Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, ComicsXF may earn from qualifying purchases.)
Matt Lazorwitz read his first comic at the age of 5. It was Who's Who in the DC Universe #2, featuring characters whose names begin with B, which explains so much about his Batman obsession. He writes about comics he loves, and co-hosts the podcasts BatChat with Matt & Will and The ComicsXF Interview Podcast.
Will Nevin loves bourbon and AP style and gets paid to teach one of those things. He is on Twitter far too often.
