Absolute Batman: Absolute Zero Review

One of the best qualities Scott Snyder has as a writer is how he obscures exposition via dialogue. When you’re reading Court of Owls, this is so immediately apparent by how he shapes the world of Gotham, making it feel lived in right through the opening issue, even though it’s the first issue of the Batman “reboot”. 

Absolute Batman #7, the first issue of the Absolute Zero arc also kicks off like this. Bruce and the gang are all gathered for a funeral of their friend, Matches Malone, where Harvey is asked to make a speech. Harvey starts talking about the game they all played as a kid, and as a reader, I felt the combined feeling of learning something new but also the feeling of reminiscing, which sounds like an oxymoron in and out of itself, but it’s an incredible feeling.

For this little two parter, we are given the talents of Marcos Martín and Muntsa Vincente while Nick Dragotta and Frank Martin take off for Abomination. Martín and Vincente are frequent collaborators, having worked on Amazing Spider-Man and Daredevil over at Marvel. Martín And Vincente’s work on Amazing Spider-Man is some of my favourite stuff on that book, ever, so when they got announced on Absolute Batman, I was nothing short of delighted. A book with an incredible art team gets a new breath of life. And the result?

Marcos Martin and Muntsa Vincente end up establishing a new visual language for Absolute Batman that operates complimentary to Dragotta and Martin. There’s no attempt to replicate what those guys are doing, rather, they introduce their own spin which is reminiscent of the books they’ve drawn before and it works so damn well.

To speak to the visual language, gone are the maximalist 12-16 panel pages, and instead we’re introduced to more ‘standard’ panel structures. Yet, Martin’s style layered with Vincente’s colours lends itself to the beauty of the prior Absolute Batman issues – a comic where you can discern what’s going on even without a line of dialogue. Every moment is crystal clear, and every colour choice establishes mood and tone perfectly. Of course, Clayton Cowles’ letters bring it all together without ever distracting from the art.

One of the beautiful things about Martin’s panel structure is the use of parallels in the story. During the Harvey speech, the far left and far right are long panels that stretch down from the top to the bottom, where the gang is shrouded in the dark on the left, and Bruce is alone shrouded in the dark on the right, with the middle being the actual speech. Structures like this are embedded throughout this two issue arc, whether it be in a one pager or a two pager, and it’s breathtakingly gorgeous to look at.

My favourite is the two page spread from #8, where Bruce breaks free from Freeze’s hold and manages to escape. The use of B-Theory, where Bruce’s escape is shown alongside a flashback and the conversation in the alley is absolutely fucking incredible. It’s the kind of stuff that can only be in comics, because no other medium can show you that much information in one go simultaneously whilst also allowing you to parse them individually, and it’s a reminder to why Absolute Batman is one of the best in the game.

Narratively, the arc also answered some of the concerns I had during the first arc. Throughout this one, we get a deeper look into Bruce’s interior and the relationships he has with his friends. Making Matches a separate character was a really cool twist that I dug, and I love that there is friction between the group, something that is going to seemingly continue, given the ending of this one.

Freeze is also very very interesting here. Absolute Batman’s reinventions continue to be a delight here, changing his modus operandi from someone who wants to save his wife to someone who just operates on pain, on agony, on vengeance. It’s a great twist on the character, and with the names that got dropped in this arc, I can’t wait to see the takes on the other ones as well.

“I said DO YOU WANT TO DIE?”

“NO!”

“Then live.”

Bruce’s arc also takes a big shift here. Still very much the Batman we know and love, but he has a shift in character here that he normally has much later in his career, which leaves me really intrigued on what’s in store.

ABSOLUTE ZERO is an absolute banger, a reminder on why Absolute Batman is not only one of the best books visually on the shelf, but also one of the best books overall, told through a lens that is very, very unique to Scott Snyder.