Batman’s Greatest Era is Already Nearing Its End (& It Feels Wrong)

Absolute Batman, along with most other books in DC’s Absolute universe, has had a consistently terrific run so far. It began with a slow-burning Black Mask arc that took its time establishing the context of the universe, including how unique this Bruce Wayne is and his relationships with others, before taking a brief detour to introduce Victor Fries Jr., and debuting Bane, who has unquestionably been the pinnacle of the run in its infancy of only 15 issues.

Unfortunately, by Absolute Batman writer Scott Snyder’s own admission, the series might only be around for a little more than double the current issue count. Even that would give Absolute Batman a shelf life of at least another year and a half, which certainly isn’t that soon, relatively, and yet it feels too soon to conclude what has been one of DC’s best comic book runs in a while.

Absolute Batman Already Has a Definitive End

It might’ve been folly to believe that Absolute Batman would go on to reach an issue count in the 900s or 1000s like Batman and Detective Comics’ legacy numberings have. Still, since Absolute Batman isn’t a miniseries, maxiseries, or filed away in some other truncated category, there was hope that it could spread its legs.

Maybe Absolute Batman has all the legroom it ever wanted, though. Responding to Twitter/X user whatif’s question as to “how many issues are currently planned,” Scott Snyder’s answer was transparent:

“Nick [Dragotta] was just over at my place & we were looking at it again & we have at least 35–40 planned now.

We have an ending we’re headed towards, but we keep coming up with new Story that pushes it back haha

Same happened on American vampire. I thought it’d be 30 issues ended up w 50+”

Now, all is fair in Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta not wanting Absolute Batman to overstay its welcome. If Absolute Batman’s creative team has a throughline conceived with a proper ending that will tie everything together with a delicate bow, it could be fantastic as a finite series, regardless of it lasting only 40 or 50 issues. It’s not as if 50 issues would be terribly abrupt, anyway, but the book’s popularity and success could easily see it last as long as Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta support it.

Ark M’s Absolute Villains Deserve Big Arcs of Their Own

Absolute Batman #16, the second half of Absolute Wonder Woman and Absolute Batman’s two-part crossover, releases at the end of January. Then, Absolute Batman issues #17 and #18 are slated to be a mini-Poison Ivy arc, with Scarecrow by Absolute Batman #19.

The grand scheme of the run seems clear as of Absolute Batman #15, however, which was devoted to an Absolute Joker origin story. Absolute Batman’s Ark M also obviously still has a huge role to play, and any number of other iconic villains—reimagined for the Absolute universe—could feasibly pour out of the clandestine compound to egg the book on for years.

It would be fascinating to see how Bane could come back from being a pair of eyes, a brain, and a spine. Likewise, there are a handful of characters in Batman’s rogues’ gallery that would be thrilling to see depicted and drawn in Absolute Batman’s harrowing style. The choice to clobber, deform, and disfigure Bruce’s childhood friends was surely done in an effort to have them inch closer to their traditionally villainous counterparts, and it will be interesting to see if any or all of them do become antagonists, as well as how Bruce would reconcile with that.

Does Batman’s End Mean an End for Absolute Overall?

The most horrific yet predictable outcome of Absolute Batman knowing it will end in the near future is that so, too, will every other book in DC’s Absolute universe. Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman’s Absolute Wonder Woman run, for instance, is a phenomenal series that explores Diana of the Wild Isle as a witch raised in the Underworld, and it has also only had 15 issues published thus far.

Ironically, Marvel’s latest Ultimate Spider-Man run illustrates one glaring pitfall in a finite series approach. Ultimate Spider-Man is ending at 24 issues, to be fair, and therefore its pacing was impacted far more severely as a result. That said, it is as short as it is so that it and other Ultimate runs could quickly culminate in Ultimate Endgame.

This is all well and good, and short runs or events aren’t inherently bad, but it’s tough not to imagine what Ultimate Spider-Man could’ve amounted to if every issue hadn’t leaped ahead by a whole month, let alone if it was able to explore an adult Peter Parker who’s married and has kids for countless more issues. This would’ve been especially favorable, as well, with the mainline Earth-616 universe’s Amazing Spider-Man run actively refusing to let Peter and Mary Jane Watson be with each other.

Either way, one can merely pray that Absolute Batman will be as long as it is fulfilling. Scott Snyder has the book and its readers’ best interests in mind; it’s only sad that it seems so early on, and its ending is already on the horizon.