Key Comics Vault asked fans of DC’s Absolute Batman who the best reworked character was. The results for first and second were incredibly close, with only the width of a batarang between them.
Fans were asked across Reddit, YouTube, and Facebook to vote, with few instructions. Readers could choose to pick a character based on their costume, origin, storyline, or whatever made them their favourite from Scott Snyder’s series. Fans could vote for Batman, Roman Sionis, Pennyworth, Bane, Waylon Jones, or Victor Fries.
Spoilers ahead for Absolute Batman!
From last to 3rd place
Poor Black Mask, aka Roman Sionis, did not register a single vote. Not one. Despite being the villain of the first storyline in The Zoo, and providing some memorable moments as he and the Party Animals terrorised Gotham, Roman did not resonate with fans in the same way as the other options.
Next up in 5th place was Victor Fries with 5% of the vote. Marcus Martin deserves a lot of the praise for his terrifying design for Mr. Freeze; perfect for his Absolute Zero plot of raising the dead. It was not enough though to score Victor a higher place on the list.
Just ahead was Alfred Pennyworth, who managed to score 8% of the vote. Although Pennyworth still helps Bruce in Absolute Batman, it is not in his more traditional role as butler. Instead, Pennyworth is a highly trained mercenary who starts off in conflict with Bruce, before learning to respect him.
With 11% of the vote was Waylon Jones, a friend of Bruce since childhood. Owner of a boxing club, Waylon was a key part of this group, but became a target for the mysterious goings on at Ark-M. Kidnapped, he was experimented on there, becoming a monstrous crocodile-like creature before escaping. Will he cross paths again with Batman and the others?
Runner-up
Outdone in his own series is Batman himself. Snyder introduced some fundamental changes to Bruce Wayne that have sometimes drastically, and other times more subtly, changed his character. Notably his mother is alive and his father died saving him and his classmates from a shooter – Joe Chill.
The other major change is revoking his billionaire status. Instead, the 6’9”(!) 24 year old Bruce Wayne bounced around jobs, purposefully learning what was needed to protect his city. There is no doubt a lot of development ahead for Bruce, which will define the series. Batman snagged 38% of the vote.
Winner
The gargantuan Bane is the winner of Best Reimagined Character in Absolute Batman (so far), but it was very close as he edged out Batman by a couple of votes, getting 39% of the total share.
Buy Absolute Batman Vol 1: The Zoo (Bookshop.org US – I earn a commission)
Buy Absolute Batman Vol 1: The Zoo (Bookshop.org UK – I earn a commission)
Bane has been terrifying since his introduction, brutally murdering a nation’s ambassador to escalate a war in the Middle East. Since then, he has only got more frightening; his colossal size and capacity for violence, matched with a keen intellect and cold manner. In the latest issue, Absolute Batman 12, Bane cruelly maims three of Bruce’s friends (Eddie, Ozzie, and Harvey), in an attempt to break Batman.
Bane deservedly holds the top spot in this list and it is hard to see how Batman might beat him in the comics. Of course, with the likes of Joker and Catwoman still to be properly introduced, what with this list look like at the end of next year?
Do you agree with the polling? Vote below and have your say!
Poll in article closed 27 Sep 2025 and had 160 responses.
Key Comics Vault 
Leave a comment