Absolute Batman #11 – Scott Snyder, Writer; Clay Mann, Artist
Ray – 10/10
Ray: With Nick Dragotta taking one of his occasional one-month hiatuses, Scott Snyder brings in one of DC’s regular all-stars – Clay Mann, who drew some of Tom King’s most famous books, for an issue that turns the focus on Gotham’s largest, most brutal masked character – Bane, who makes Batman look like the before picture in a Charles Atlas ad. This issue is narrated by Alfred, who made the decision to leave Gotham at the end of the first arc and leave Bruce to his own devices – but if there’s one thing we know about Alfred, it’s that he’ll never be able to turn his back on a Wayne, in any continuity. He’s haunted by what he knows Bane is capable of – because he encountered him in the past. This issue reinvents Bane’s backstory in Santa Prisca, making him not a boy sentenced to life in prison for his father’s crimes, but a freedom fighter in his own right – and one who allows himself no sentimentality when it comes to taking out those who he believes are weakening him.
As Alfred takes us through the past of Bane, Bruce is ready for one last battle against him. He was brutalized by him in the past, repaired by the twisted doctors of Ark M, and steadfastly refused to break – even doing things to his own body in the last issue that horrified readers and raised questions about exactly how the future of this book would even work. Well, those questions aren’t going to get any less important this issue, as the rematch is even more brutal and feels almost surreal with some of the things that happened. We asked early on how someone like Batman – a true self-made vigilante without any of the advantages of his main universe counterpart – could even survive in a world crafted by Darkseid to crush him, and we sort of have our answer now. This is definitely not the direction I ever expected to see this title take, but that just makes it an even stronger title.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
