DC’s Absolute Batman Needs More Original Characters (Not Beefed Up Revamps of Familiar Faces)

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DC’s Absolute Universe is currently one of the most exciting developments in comics. It offers a darker take on the familiar DC heroes, putting them in genuinely difficult situations in a world that seems determined to defeat them. What makes it unique is that each hero’s personal history has been significantly altered, adding extra challenges to their fight for good – and making their successes all the more impressive. These changes are consistently interesting, and the five main series – Absolute Batman, Absolute Wonder Woman, Absolute Superman, Absolute Flash, and Absolute Green Lantern – have all reimagined their characters in creative and engaging ways, making for a really enjoyable reading experience.

While the Absolute Universe is doing some interesting things, the Batman series is starting to feel repetitive. Instead of introducing truly new characters to expand Batman’s world, the story keeps falling back on exaggerated versions of existing ones, focusing on shock value over originality. This reliance on being overly edgy is a missed opportunity, preventing the creation of impactful, new characters that could really enrich the universe.

Every Absolute Batman Villain Introduced Seems to Be More Cartoonishly Weird Than The One Before Them

The redesigned classic villains in Absolute Batman were initially quite compelling. Absolute Bane was particularly disturbing – they took an already unhinged character and amplified his madness. Waylon’s transformation into Croc was drastic, but effective because of its emotional impact. And Absolute Joker? He became a truly horrifying figure, feeling less like a different version of the Joker and more like the ultimate expression of his wickedness.

Lately, the character designs have been getting increasingly outlandish. While some changes, like Penguin’s, feel connected to his backstory and the injuries he’s sustained, others, such as the anime-inspired Two-Face, seem excessive. Penguin’s new look is particularly strange – he’s incredibly muscular but visibly damaged, and he uses crutches made from gun barrels. It’s a pattern we’re seeing with other characters like Poison Ivy, where the transformations are becoming more and more bizarre and disturbing.

Let me state this clearly: the stories themselves are good, and I genuinely enjoy books like Absolute Batman. However, I’m starting to feel like too many new and twisted characters are being made edgy simply for the sake of being shocking. Penguin doesn’t need extreme physical changes to show he’s been transformed into a villain, and villains like Ivy and Joker don’t need to be terrifyingly supernatural to be scary. I’m worried we’ll soon see characters with increasingly bizarre features – like someone with three heads and flamethrower hands – just to grab attention. Eventually, this constant need to make everything more extreme will become repetitive, and the shock value will wear off.

Original Characters That Are Dark and Terrifying Would Be Vastly More Interesting (And Give Fans a Chance to Fully Invest Instead of Merely Wanting More Extremes)

The current trend of drastically altering established characters in Absolute Batman feels more like a showcase of bizarre redesigns than compelling storytelling. It would be much more engaging to introduce fresh villains and heroes that readers can discover and become invested in. While visually interesting twists can be fun, relying solely on warped versions of familiar faces feels unsustainable. I’d love to see the Absolute Universe, especially Batman’s world, grow through original characters, giving the creative team new material and preventing them from eventually running out of ideas. Introducing new additions is the key to a thriving and expanding universe.

It would be great to see some more grounded, everyday threats in addition to the epic storylines. Absolute Batman feels very over-the-top and intense compared to other books in the series. A more scaled-back approach for Absolute Gotham, while still hinting at Darkseid’s influence, could be a fresh and surprising direction.

The dramatically reimagined versions of these characters are visually striking and have worked well so far because the stories themselves are strong and well-crafted. However, with each new, over-the-top design, it feels like the focus is shifting too much towards appearance. Hopefully, we’ll see some original characters and more subtle redesigns soon, before style completely overwhelms the quality of the storytelling.

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2026-03-26 18:11