My Cultural Diet

I couldn’t explain DC’s new “Absolute” universe to you if my life depended on it. All I know is that it has something to do with Darkseid, and it’s obviously a way for DC to present new versions of their most famous superheroes without worrying about pesky things like canon and continuity. Case in point: Absolute Batman features a version of Bruce Wayne who isn’t a billionaire playboy with a cool cave or unlimited resources. “Absolute” Bruce Wayne is a blue-collar worker who uses his construction and engineering knowhow to battle a vicious gang threatening Gotham City. Written by Scott Snyder, who’s written some of the best Batman stories of the last 15 years, Absolute Batman does offer some interesting twists on the Bat-mythos; Wayne’s construction background gives him some novel (and brutal) ways of fighting crime, for example, while Alfred is now an agent investigating Gotham for a covert organization. It’s also fun at times, with one panel in particular making me laugh out loud at its sheer ridiculousness. That said, it’s still a Batman comic, meaning it’s never quite as novel, earth-shattering, or original as DC’s marketing copy would have you believe.

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