Ray: For the first Absolute annual, Scott Snyder is doing something unusual – letting other people play in his new sandbox. Three elite cartoonists from the indie world are on board to celebrate a year of the beefiest Batman ever.
He’s rescued by a priest as the Nazis go on to their violent purposes, and learns a bit about the toxic movement that’s infested Gotham. As the Nazis attack a migrant encampment with the help of the corrupt local police, Batman roars in – because sometimes, peace isn’t an option. What follows is about 20 pages of thoroughly brutal beatdowns, but there’s a very interesting subplot involving the priest who hasn’t given up on turning the Nazis – many of whom are young orphans – away from violence. Batman is forced to ask if this is how his father would have wanted him to fight back – but the issue seems to be very much in favor overall of raining hell down on Nazis. The crown jewel of this issue is Johnson’s art, at its most kinetic and brutal, but the character work is excellent as well and feels like a natural outcropping of what Snyder has done with the book so far.
Next up, James Harren takes the helm in “Sanctuary”, which finds a group of criminals wearing creepy masks invading the house of a local man – the father of one of the men – in search of dark artifacts and refuge as Batman bears down on them. The main selling point of this story is Harren’s art, which is cartoony but draws monsters like no one’s business. The man’s work on Ultramega is not to be missed. At around 15 pages, this story has more than enough time to work in some epic battles and creepy visuals, but at its core it’s a rather simple and very effective story about a father’s love for his son, no matter how far he’s fallen.
Finally, “Let’s Learn About Bats” by Meredith McClaren is a two-page story about “Bat-facts”, each paralleled with a quick scene of how Batman has been changing the city and giving people hope. It’s a great spotlight for the citizens of Gotham, with amazing art.
Overall, fantastic stuff with three talented indie artists doing an amazing job of paying tribute to Snyder and Dragotta’’s work.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes
Source: geekdad.com