It begins.
Next month, DC Comics will split in two. When "Absolute Power" comes to an end -- and we have a thread on that HERE -- something happens that creates, for lack of a better term, a new Earth-2. This new parallel universe will be published in DC's new "Absolute" line (not to be confused with their upscale reprints of the same name). Meanwhile, the "regular" universe is being described as having a, cough, rebirth of sorts, titled "All In." DC describes this as "a line-wide initiative combining an exciting, reimagined universe of DC's Super Heroes and an ongoing line of core titles, featuring bold new directions for DC's mainstay Super Heroes."
I am getting lots of info. Too much to just hang onto until October! It seems a shame not to share it. And then: Discussion! We bring to bear the Legion of Superfluous Heroes joint super-power of talking something to death! It will be awesome!
First, here's the information I have so far on the Absolute titles:
DC ALL IN SPECIAL #1
Written by SCOTT SNYDER and JOSHUA WILLIAMSON
Art by DANIEL SAMPERE and WES CRAIG
Cover by DANIEL SAMPERE
Variant covers by WES CRAIG and RAFA SANDOVAL
1:25 variant cover by JOHN GIANG
Foil variant cover by DANIEL SAMPERE
$4.99 US | 64 pages | Variants $5.99 US (card stock) | Foil variant $7.99
ON SALE 10/2/24
As Absolute Power ends (issue #4 on sale Oct. 2), DC’s All In initiative begins with a single-issue mega-event, presented as a startling, symmetrical flipbook!
Following the events of DC’s blockbuster storyline Absolute Power, the heroes of the core DC Universe have fought against the deep divisions in the world around them to usher in a new era of unity. And it’s just in time, too—because Darkseid has returned. Superman must gather every hero on Earth to hold the line against a very different version of the Lord of Apokolips, as they raise our cosmic defenses and prepare for war…and when the first blows land, the shock waves will ripple into every series in the DCU and shake the nature of their reality to its core!
But little do they know…the greater threat is still to come. For there is another Earth: the Absolute Universe. Here, DC’s biggest icons are coming of age with fewer advantages and facing greater opposition than ever before…while miraculously retaining the immutable heroism that has inspired fans for decades. But can they really protect the light that shines inside them when the world in which they live is hurtling toward a terrible destiny?
Co-written by Scott Snyder (Absolute Batman) and Joshua Williamson (Superman), the flipbook DC All In Special #1 features art by Wonder Woman artist Daniel Sampere when read in one direction and Deadly Class co-creator and series artist Wes Craig when read in the other direction. The 64-page one-shot features a main cover by Sampere, with variant covers by Rafa Sandoval, Wes Craig, and John Giang.
“The creation of the Absolute Universe is how I always imagined coming back to DC, and DC All In will be a great jumping-on point for new readers as well as lapsed fans to discover new stories to love and the chance to explore the new directions in store for DC’s core series lineup,” says Snyder.
ABSOLUTE BATMAN #1
Written by SCOTT SNYDER
Art and cover by NICK DRAGOTTA
Variant covers by WES CRAIG, JIM LEE, and MITCH GERADS
1:25 variant cover by IAN BERTRAM
1:50 variant cover by MITCH GERADS
1:100 black and white variant cover by JIM LEE
Foil design variant
$4.99 US | 48 pages
Variants $5.99 US (card stock) | Foil variant $7.99 US (card stock)
ON SALE 10/9/24
Without the mansion…without the money…without the butler…what’s left is the Absolute Dark Knight!
Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta introduce fans to a new Batman with the release of Absolute Batman #1. In this iteration, fans will be introduced to a version of the Dark Knight that doesn’t have the money, mansion, or butler of his core-line counterpart. Readers will quickly find out what makes this the “Absolute” version of Batman when the debut issue, with colors by Frank Martin and letters by Clayton Cowles, arrives at participating comic book shops and digital retailers Wednesday, October 9. Absolute Batman #1 will publish with a main cover by Nick Dragotta and Frank Martin, plus variant covers by Wes Craig and Mike Spicer, Jim Lee, Scott Williams and Alex Sinclair, Mitch Gerads, and Ian Bertram (1:25).
Snyder launches this new universe with the release of Absolute Batman #1, featuring art by Nick Dragotta. In this iteration, fans will be introduced to a version of the Dark Knight that doesn’t have the money, mansion, or butler of his core-line counterpart. Readers will quickly find out what makes this the “Absolute” version of Batman when the debut issue arrives at participating comic book shops and digital retailers Wednesday, October 9.
ABSOLUTE WONDER WOMAN #1
by Dan Panosian
Written by KELLY THOMPSON
Art and cover by HAYDEN SHERMAN
Variant covers by WES CRAIG, JIM LEE, and JEFF DEKAL
1:25 variant cover by DAN PANOSIAN
1:50 variant cover by JEFF DEKAL
1:100 black and white cover by JIM LEE
Foil design variant
$4.99 US | 48 pages
Variants $5.99 US (card stock) | Foil variant $7.99 US (card stock)
ON SALE 10/23/24
Without the island paradise…without the sisterhood that shaped her…without a mission of peace…what’s left is the Absolute Amazon!
For Diana, there is no island paradise, no sisterhood to shape her, nor a mission of peace—so what is the purpose of an Amazon warrior in this new universe? Eisner Award-winning writer Kelly Thompson and breakout artist Hayden Sherman reinvent her from the ground up in Absolute Wonder Woman #1, with colors by Jordie Bellaire and letters by Becca Carey, on sale Wednesday, October 23. Absolute Wonder Woman #1 will publish with a main cover by Hayden Sherman and Jordie Bellaire, plus variant covers by Wes Craig and Mike Spicer, Jim Lee, Scott Williams and Alex Sinclair, Jeff Dekal, and Dan Panosian (1:25).
For Diana, there is no island paradise, no sisterhood to shape her, nor a mission of peace—so what is the purpose of an Amazon warrior in this new universe? Eisner Award-winning writer Kelly Thompson and breakout artist Hayden Sherman reinvent her from the ground up in Absolute Wonder Woman #1, on sale October 23.
ABSOLUTE SUPERMAN #1
by Wes Craig and Mike Spicer
Written By JASON AARON
Art and cover by RAFA SANDOVAL
Variant covers by WES CRAIG, JIM LEE, and CLAYTON CRAIN
1:25 cover by MATTEO SCALERA
1:50 cover by CLAYTON CRAIN
1:100 black and white cover by JIM LEE
Foil design variant
$4.99 US | 48 pages
Variants $5.99 US (card stock) | Foil variant $7.99 US (card stock)
ON SALE 11/6/24
Without the fortress…without the family…without a home…what’s left is the Absolute Man of Steel!
Writer Jason Aaron and artist Rafa Sandoval join forces to present a new Man of Steel with the launch of Absolute Superman #1. This Superman has no family, no Fortress of Solitude, and no home. Will he still stand for truth and justice in this new universe? Readers can find out when Absolute Superman #1, with colors by Ulises Arreola and letters by Becca Carey, hits participating comic book shops on Wednesday, November 6. Absolute Superman #1 will publish with a main cover by Rafa Sandoval and Ulises Arreola, plus variant covers by Wes Craig and Mike Spicer, Jim Lee, Scott Williams and Alex Sinclair, Clayton Crain, and Matteo Scalera (1:25).
Writer Jason Aaron and artist Rafa Sandoval join forces to present a new Man of Steel with the launch of Absolute Superman #1. This Superman has no family, no Fortress of Solitude, and no home. Will he still stand for truth, justice, and a better tomorrow in this new universe? Readers can find out when Absolute Superman #1 hits participating comic book shops November 6.
All three launch issues will also have a “foil design variant” featuring the new crests for each of DC's new Absolute Trinity. Look for these at your local comic book store when Absolute Batman #1 publishes on October 9, when Absolute Wonder Woman #1 publishes on October 23, and when Absolute Superman #1 publishes on November 6.
Replies
I have heard DC's "Absolute Universe" described as "DC characters 'without' something." For example, Absolute Batman is without the Wayne family fortune, and Absolute Wonder Woman is without Paradise Island. I don't recall specifically what Absolute Superman is "without," but I read only the first issue or two before waiting to read the first storyline in one "satisfying chunk." Somewhere I got the idea that the initial stories of the "Big Three" were to be five issues each, but the #5s of Absolute Batman and Absolute Wonder Woman are both "to be continued." But Absolute Superman #5 brings the initial story to an end, so even though the series started after the other two, the first story concluded before. Maybe what I had read about "five issues" pertained only to Absolute Superman and I simply assumed that that limit applies to the other two as well (despite six issues being more-or-less "standard"). No matter.
ABSOLUTE SUPERMAN:
In 1987, Superman's 50th anniversary year, it was established that the Pplanet Krypton was 50 light years away from the planet Earth. More recently (late '90s or earlu 2Ks, IIRC), Krypton was reassigned to a then-newly-discovered star that had gone supernova I forget exactly how long ago/far away. In any case, I always thought of Superman as hailing from another solar system. But Absolute Superman places Krypton nine million light years from Earth, clearly in some other galaxy entirely. The story flashes back and forth between present-day Earth and the planet Krypton of six years ago (making Kal-El approximately 12 in the flashbacks and 18 in the present day).
Many common things on the planet Krypton begin with the letter "K." For example, government officials are "klerics," the currency is "krims," distance is measured in "kleks" and a common fruit is the "krawberry." Krypton is a corrupt, class-based society, with the Science League at the top of the heirarchy, the Laborers at the bottom. Other classes include the Law Guild and (my favorite) the League of Middle-Management. Kal-El's parents are laborers (represented by the red "S" emblem) and live in the Redlands. Jor-El discovers that centuries of climate abuse have led to Kyrpton's immiment destruction, but in this case, not only is the Science League aware of it, but they are making preparations to evacuate the planet... the upper classes only.
But Jor-El and Lara have created not only an escape rocket for their son, but an ark big enough for 30 or so of their friends, family and neighbors. When word gets out of Jor-El's "discovery," riots ensue in the population centers, and Jor-El's ark is the only one that launches. But then the planet explodes, and Kal-El's escape craft is separated from all the others. (No explantion is given how his escape pod covered nine million light years in six years.) At one point, before the ark explodes, Kal-El is shown comforting a little girl... whom I suspect will eventually turn out to be his cousin Kara, who will also, at some point, be revealed to have survived and made her way to Earth. This set-up will allow DC to pull a Kryptonian out of, er... space, whenever writer's fiat dictates.
On Earth, Lois Lane works for the dystopic Larzarus Corporation (whose stormtroopers as "Peacemakers" and which is run by "Braniac"), and Jimmy Olsen is a member of a terroritst organizarion called the "Omega Men." The parallels to America in the third decade of the 21st century are unmistakable... like a sledgehammer. Lazarus's Braniac (as well as Krypton's ""Luminarion") are obviously AI... both of whuich are rejected by Lois and Kal-El, respectively. Both General Ross's Lane's legs have been amputated by a "band saw" (I think writer Jason Aaron means "chainsaw" or "circular saw" or any kind of noisy hand-held saw other than a band saw). More than any other "Elseworlds" style Superman story, Absolute Superman reminds me of none more than Stan Lee's "Just Imagine..." version, in which he took common tropes of Superman lore and redefined them...
...except in one respect. Absolute Superman is very dark, without a glimmer of hope, without a hint of optimism. The last issue has Kal-El (not yet called "Superman") landing on the outskirts of Smallville and walking to town. Which reminds me... I think Absolute Superman is supposed to be "Superman without Ma & Pa Kent" (although I still think "without hope or optimism" applies as well). I am only assuming that issue #5 is the end of the first story because it is titled "Finale," but it doesn't really have a proper ending at all; nothing is resolved. Appropriatley, the town's motto is "Ad Astra Per Aspera" but I would have preferred something more along the lines of "Ex Astris Scientia."
All the Absolute characters are "without" something, to be sure, but singling out one thing is reductivist of what DC says their intent is. Which is to strip their characters of ALL advantages.
Sure, Absolute Batman is without the money, but he's also without all the privileges that wealth brought him growing up. Instead of traveling the world, he's self-taught. Instead of a butler, he has an MI6 agent that doesn't much like him. Instead of living among the rich, he despises them, and fights against their corruption. Instead of Penguin, Killer Croc and the rest being supervillains, they are his childhood friends and allies. They're poor, too, and they all live in a slum instead of Stately Wayne Manor or the Iceberg Lounge.
Whereas our Batman has always blithely elided the obvious class problem of a rich guy beating up poor people, Absolute Batman addresses class struggle head on -- with Batman punching UP. It's a different story, and one I actually may prefer.
Absolute Superman also addresses class struggle, with the Els as laborers, instead of where we've always seen them, at the top of the pyramid. Again, this character -- and his family -- are punching up against an oppressive, corrupt government led by the wealthy. And we see Kal-El older on Krypton than we've ever seen him before, which radically changes the character. Not only is there no Ma & Pa Kent, or Smallville upbringing, or Daily Planet, or "American way" in the character, but he has lengthy memories of a home that's been destroyed. That was always a difference in Superman and Supergirl that was never really addressed. She should have been really traumatized, instead of being the bubbly blonde we saw in the SIlver Age. Now that trauma belongs to her older cousin, and they are definitely going to make use of it.
Meanwhile, none of the other Daily Planet characters have enjoyed brilliant journalism careers, either. They are also entirely different characters. Except, as we're beginning to see, for their core values. They will somehow retain those values without the environment we've always assumed gave rise to them. Instead, the implication is that This Is Who These People Are, regardless of environment. Which is a hopeful thought.
As to Absolute Wonder Woman, she is the most different of all. She's not just without Paradise Island ... she was literally raised in Hell. By Circe, instead of Hippolyta, who was not even allowed (by the gods) to say the word "Amazon." So, Diana isn't just without things (including her right arm), she has an entirely different background. Her patron goddess isn't Hera ... it's Hecate. And the Greco-Roman gods have plans, probably bad ones, for this woman.
Incidentally, Diana isn't even a beauty in her book. (I imagine this will change -- can't have an unattractive lead character.) She looks more like a linebacker than a swimsuit model, and has, ahem, an aquiline nose. Meanwhile, Steve Trevor has such a slight build (Diana almost dwarfs him) that at first I thought it might be gay-coding. At any rate, he's not the he-man, man of action he is on Earth-Prime. But he, also, is heroic in his way, again underlining the subtext that these people will be heroes no matter how harsh their environments.
What they're all "without," if we want to go that way, is the entire bright, hopeful universe our characters grew up in. These characters grew up in a universe infused with the spirit of Darkseid, and it is, in fact, a place that goes out of its way to smother hope. They live in a universe-wide Apokolips. And they're all pretty much Scott Free.
These characters grew up in a universe infused with the spirit of Darkseid, and it is, in fact, a place that goes out of its way to smother hope. They live in a universe-wide Apokolips. And they're all pretty much Scott Free.
I wonder why comics of this nature would be popular right now.
All the Absolute characters are "without" something, to be sure, but singling out one thing is reductivist of what DC says their intent is.
Just to clarify, I don't say that; I really did overhear someone saying that in my LCS.
I wonder why comics of this nature would be popular right now.
Some people (again, not me) say they read comic books to "escape" from the real world. Me, I read them for entertainment. But Absolute Superman is so evokative of today's reality that I find it neither escapist nor entertaining. I will try to keep in mind "the subtext that these people will be heroes no matter how harsh their environments" as I move forward with Absolute Batman and Absolute Wonder Woman.
ABSOLUTE BATMAN:
I am ambivalent about this one. I like the "punching up" aspect, however I'm not wild about that fact that Batman's future (?) rogues gallery were all his childhood chums. I thought I hated his chunky chest emblem (which detaches from his chest and can be affixed to a handle to become an axe), but that was until I saw those spikey things that just out of his back (and I'm not even going to tell you what he does with his "ears"). I liked the "bat" lore in #4 (but hated the cover). Someone who has never read a single Batman story before would be able to follow the "absolute" version, I suppose, but it seems to me as if it's intended to appeal primarily to those who can "appreciate" how different it is from the DCU version. For example, Bruce Wayne's mother is the deputy mayor of Gotham City and the mayor is Jim Gordon. That's only interesting if you know he's "really" police commissioner and she's "really" dead. The first storyline ends on a bright, optimistic note, but is overshadowed (pun intended) by the darkness of the narrative and the art.
I was suposed to have read the initial Absolute Wonder Woman storyline last week, but obviously that didn't happen. Instead...
ABSOLUTE GREEN LANTERN #1: Let's see... Hal Jordan? Check. John Stewart? Check. Guy Gardner? Check. Jo Mullein? Check. (Guy doesn't actually appear in this issue, but he and Jo used too be married to each other in this reality.) Oh, and the issue begins with Hal Jordan killing a state trooper. So there's that. "No ring... No corps..." I've been told that describing the "Absolute" line as "DC Comics 'without' something" is reductive, but DC has certainly gone out of their way to market this one that way. "No corps" is easy... that's Alan Scott. But no ring? I have compared the "Absolute" line to Marvel's "Ultimate" universe, but who here remembers Marvel's "New Universe"? Remember Starbrand? Remember how Starbrand was nothing more than a rip-off of Green Lantern? Well, Absolute Green Lantern is nothing more than a rip-off of Starbrand. what goes around truly does come around.
ABSOLUTE FLASH #1: Barry Allen? Check. Wally West? Check. "Captain Cold"? Check. "Captain Boomerang"? Check. Jesse Quick? Possibly. (Plus some woman named "Lisa.") In this universe, Wally West is 15 years old and looks exactly like Archie Andrews as he appears in Mr. Justice. His father is a Colonel and Barry Allen's boss. There's no "Speed force" in this version, but that's just Jay Garrick (or any pre-Crisis Flash).
ABSOLUTE MARTIAN MANHUNTER: I didn't buy this one but I did read the preview. (Eh.) Unlike the other "Absolute" titles, this one is a mini-series, and I for some reason decided to tradewait based on word-of-mouth here. I don't know what difference a mini-series makes in comparison to a five- or six-issue storyline of an ongoing series, but that's what I decided to do.
Next Up: Absolute Wonder Woman
"Lisa" is likely Lisa Snart, the Golden Glider.
Ah.
-
6
-
7
-
8
-
9
-
10
of 10 Next