Absolute Batman #20 – Scott Snyder, Writer; Nick Dragotta, Artist; Frank Martin, Colorist
Ray – 10/10
Ray: The best thing about a line like the Absolute Line is that there are no guarantees. No one is safe, and an entire status quo can shift in a single issue. That was definitely the case with the last issue, as Commissioner Gordon died under mysterious circumstances while trying to give Bruce some important news about his life, Martha Wayne disappeared in the custody of the Court of Owls, and the Robins debuted – as a paramilitary organization of orphaned kids in mechs, funded by Jack Grimm and trained by Slade Wilson. It’s like the Voltron kids if they were fascists. So naturally, Bruce is a little unnerved by all of this, and is at his lowest point in a while. Not even Alfred and Harley can get through to him, and his other friends are occupied with their…transformations. Waylon is mostly recovered, but Eddie is stuck in his own world and Ozzie and Harvey seem to have fully given in to their darkest instincts.
But it’s the other villains Bruce is most concerned with. He heads to Blackgate (where a flashback shows he spent some time as a young man) to confront Joe Chill again about the files Gordon gave him, showing that his entire origin story may have been engineered. But Chill isn’t alone in his cell. This take on Scarecrow continues to be one of the most terrifying DC villains I’ve ever seen (well, besides Grimm, who makes the absolute most of his very limited screentime in this issue). This character takes Jonathan Crane’s sadism and jacks it up to eleven, making him seem like a supernatural figure of fear, more Pennywise than Scarecrow. As Batman continues to unravel more and more, he’s pulled into a showdown with the Robins – something that gives him very few choices, none of them good. It’s incredible how this series keeps on raising the stakes for twenty issues in a row.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
