Scott Snyder has promised that Absolute Batman #25 might be controversial. It has also proved to be a pivotal issue, leaving fans wanting more. It is a wait though as Absolute Batman #26 does not hit shelves until January 2027. That leaves plenty of time for fans to dissect the bombshell that awaited Bruce when he entered Grimm Manor.
Spoilers ahead for Absolute Batman #25!
Betrayal at Grimm Manor
Readers had been waiting for the moment that Batman would walk into Grimm Manor. It is wild to see Bruce in that environment as a stranger. The tension was really built by Snyder and Dragotta with Batman skulking around, calling Joker out. Bruce, and us readers, did not expect what was waiting for him.
Key Comics Vault wrote about what whether Batman’s friends might become villains some time ago. Excluding Selina, all the other members of the Crime Alley gang had terrible things done to them by Bane. After doing genetic experiments on Waylon in Ark M, Bane had dished out lasting deformities to Bruce’s friends. This had left Harvey and Ozzie in particular very angry and disillusioned.
Even after this, it was a surprise to find Ozzie, Harvey, Eddie, and Waylon waiting for Bruce in Grimm Manor. Grimm had visited all of them in the weeks prior, and persuaded them, with evidence, that he is innocent. Not only that, but it was Bruce who was in the wrong in his campaign against Jack Grimm. They implored him to stop trying to get to Grimm and seek medical help.
Obviously Bruce has seen this as a betrayal. So too have some fans. Many see it is out of character for Bruce’s friends, particularly Waylon. Despite the route some of them have been going down already, think Ozzie murdering in Absolute Batman #21, fans have been speculating whether Clayface has formed into is friends. This is hard to imagine as although the friends have changed, they still appear to be doing this out of a position of love for Bruce and want to help him.
One interesting theory though is whether Jervis Tetch, the Mad Hatter, is involved. Eagle-eyed readers were quick to pick up on the friends having a tea before Bruce arrived. Jervis was teased in Absolute Batman Ark M as Joker has a list of files containing Batman rogues. Man-Bat, Hugo Strange, and the Mad Hatter are the only ones yet to appear in the Absolute Universe from that list.
Absolute Joker lore drop
Like always in this series, there were multiple reveals this issue. After fleeing Grimm Manor after it was made clear the friends had called the police, Batman stumbled upon, quite literally, Joker’s cave.
What was interesting about Joker’s cave is how similar it is to mainline Batman’s version. It even had the iconic t-rex skeleton and the giant penny. The other prominent feature were the huge screens with Batman’s allies being televised to Joker. Aside from one further feature, we sadly did not see much more of the cave. Most of the rest of panels were left without a background to focus on the action.
The other key thing we did pick up on were the suits of armour on display. Notably among them was a suit of Roman armour and ancient Chinese armour. Joker tells Bruce that he’s been alive longer than he thinks and he guides someone every few centuries, hinting that the armour alongside him might belong to them. Did Joker guide Julius Caesar?
This is also important as it does confirm that Joker is older than previously thought. We learned from Absolute Batman Ark M that Joker was responsible for the Whitechapel murders in the Nineteenth Century. This issue however confirms that Joker is much, much older.
What the Joker actually is, is still up debate though. We have seen Joker transform before but Dragotta still delivers with the hulking Batman dwarfed by the giant Joker, fresh from draining consuming children.
The Bat-family grows
The fight with Joker had gone as well as everyone had expected and Batman had been slapped about. Luckily for Batman, Barbara Gordon, as The Bat, was there to save the day. Wearing her dad’s coat, she shoots Joker in the face with the modified gun Batman gave her, electrocuting him.
Barbara got Bruce to safety and it is fair to say this will not be the last we see them work together. Barbara understands that Joker is behind all the things that Bruce has been working against, before he confirms that Joker killed her dad as well. Like Bruce’s other main ally, Harley, Barbara has a personal reason to bring him down.
Harley and Bruce had been discussing what Joker could be and why he let Bruce escape. Harley posits that Grimm wants something more than Bruce, just as Selina enters. Now, this is not coincidental, Selina is clearly a part of Joker’s plans. Or at least the child she is carrying is, as it is revealed she is heavily pregnant.
Pregnant Selina is quite the note to leave the series on for two months and gives readers a long time to think of why this child might be important to Joker. Given what we know of Joker and his use of children, it cannot be good.
Another full throttle issue from Snyder and Dragotta (Frank Martin as colourist) to add to DC’s best selling series. A page of fighting between Joker and Batman could have been sacrificed to give us more panels of Bruce walking through the Manor or exploring the cave. However, it is no bad thing to leave readers wanting more. We will see you for Absolute Batman #26.
Buy Absolute Batman #25 – Ebay
Pre-order Absolute Batman Vol 4: The Strawman – Bookshop.org US
Buy Absolute Batman Vol 1: The Zoo – Bookshop.org UK
Buy Absolute Batman #25 (Lee Garbett Exclusive Forbidden Planet Virgin Foil Variant) – Forbidden Planet UK
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