I walked out of DC’s Absolute Universe panel at New York Comic Con on Friday so excited I was already thinking about what I want to do next on this channel. That doesn’t happen to me often. And the reason is simple: these people are approaching comic books cinematically. Every book they talked about is built like storyboards for a feature that hasn’t been made yet, and that’s exactly how I want to cover them.
The video at the top of this page is me walking up to the room. Here’s what happened once I got inside.
“You are absolutely the Absolute Universe”
Room 405, Friday at 11:00 AM, standing room only. DC’s Chris Conroy and Katie Kubert ran it, and the stage was stacked: Scott Snyder, Jason Aaron, Al Ewing, Nick Dragotta, Hayden Sherman, Juan Ferreyra, Rafael Albuquerque, Nick Robles, Che Grayson and colorist Frank Martin.
Scott Snyder set the tone, and it’s worth hearing. His point was that all of us, young people especially, get fed so much algorithmic noise all day that everyone is desperate for sincerity and authenticity. Real things. Midnight releases at a comic shop. Something you can hold. Watching that surge happen around the Absolute line, he said, has been the greatest honor and thrill of his career, because it proves comic fans will show up for a real risk instead of something that’s worked a hundred times before. “You are absolutely the Absolute Universe.” He also admitted he’s in the Reddit group. They’re listening.
Then he told the best story of the day. When he and Rafael Albuquerque started American Vampire, Rafa flew up from Brazil for this same con, and neither of them could afford a hotel. Scott sent him to stay with a friend while Scott stayed with his parents. The addresses got flipped. Rafa ended up at Scott’s parents’ house, and according to Scott, they love Rafa more than him. There’s still a page of original American Vampire art hanging in their kitchen.
Green Arrow, Black Canary and Wildcat
Albuquerque opened on Absolute Green Arrow. The latest issue dropped a huge reveal, and they’re not done revealing things. The first arc was built from the ground up as a horror story. The next one keeps the horror but leans harder into mystery, from Ollie’s point of view.
The Absolute Black Canary one-shot got its first real look, and with it a big character reveal: the Absolute Wildcat.
Al Ewing explained why so many of the old guard are missing. Darkseid shaped this universe, so a lot of the legacy heroes, the Justice Society among them, were killed, corrupted or otherwise destroyed before our story even starts. That’s a dark foundation, and it’s a smart one.
Flash, and a Green Lantern chart you won’t see here
Nick Robles talked Absolute Flash and that organic, corrupted cyborg look, and he said a lot of it comes from anime. He spent a week making sure Cyborg was perfect. He also said seeing people cosplay his designs at the show blows his mind, and you could tell he meant it.
Al Ewing then put up the color system that runs Absolute Green Lantern, a full chart of how this universe’s version of the spectrum works. He asked the room not to photograph it, so you won’t find it on this page. Ewing said Green Lantern is secretly a huge book for the whole Absolute Universe, because it’s where the lore gets explained. Absolute Green Lantern #19 brings a big psychic revelation, and Kyle Rayner is on the way.
Absolute Batman #25: Batman finds the Joker
Every core book is getting an oversized #25, and Batman went first. Scarecrow tore Bruce all the way down. He didn’t know who he was anymore. He built himself back up by remembering who he is and talking to his mom, and now he’s done with the middlemen. He’s going straight at the person behind all of it, into Grim Manor, this universe’s version of Wayne Manor.
And he finds the Joker. Snyder called it the first big confrontation between their Batman and their Joker, and he said something happens in this issue that changes the course of the book. You also learn things about the Joker that go deeper than the version you know.
Nick Dragotta called the issue three big scenes with room to breathe, rhythmic storytelling that lets the emotional beats land. And he gave his colorist the credit he’s due. “Colors are the new finishers,” he said. In the old days an inker finished a penciler’s job. Frank Martin finishes his.
Ark M, and Barbara Gordon steps up
The Joker’s Ark M gets its own one-shot, Absolute Batman Beyond Ark M #1, co-written by Snyder and Frank Tieri. Ark M is the thirteenth Ark. M is the thirteenth letter. It’s the Joker’s masterpiece, and the one-shot tours the other Arks around the world, including one devoted to magic, with a lot of character reveals along the way. Snyder says what’s in there reaches past Batman into the whole Absolute Universe.
Then Absolute Batman #26. Because of what happens in #25, Barbara Gordon steps up. The issue tells her history in Gotham, from when she was a kid, and why she’s doing this: she wants the truth about what happened to her father. She doesn’t believe the story she’s been told, and she wants to know who’s really behind it. Cliff Chiang draws it, and Dragotta is back after that.
Snyder also killed a rumor going around online that the book is taking six months off. It’s one issue. That’s it.
Absolute Superman #25 and Absolute Wonder Woman #25
Absolute Superman #25 has all three of the series’ artists working on it. It brings the Brainiac story to its end, with a final conversation, and Juan Ferreyra was happy to admit he loves drawing gross stuff, which is why this Brainiac is so disturbing. After #25 the book jumps around in time, and Superman goes into space. What they showed is months down the road in his life.
Hayden Sherman brought Absolute Wonder Woman #25 and the Absolute Cheetah. Barbara Minerva was left behind by Diana, she has a score to settle, and this issue is the turning point in their relationship. Steve Trevor and the people around Diana start making themselves known to the world in a way they haven’t before.
Sherman also showed the first Silver Swan design. This Absolute universe runs on magic and science together, and her look isn’t a costume she puts on. It’s part of who she is now. They wanted her to have a ballet quality, a theatrical quality, and it shows.
Absolute Justice
They saved it for the end. “If there’s one question we always get,” the team said, it’s whether these characters are ever getting together.
They are.
Absolute Justice is a five-issue event from Jason Aaron and Juan Ferreyra, and it begins in April 2027. It’s the first time the heroes of the Absolute Universe come together, and Martian Manhunter is the one who brings them in. The twist is the world they’re doing it in. Darkseid built this universe, so the Justice League here is a force for evil. The heroes are assembling against the name they’d normally wear. And it won’t hijack the ongoing books: there are no crossover issues to chase.
And Catwoman
Che Grayson was there for Absolute Catwoman, where Selina Kyle is driven by survival. She isn’t playing hero or villain, and the book is pulling her apart from Cassandra Cain to show it.
Why this one got me
Most panels sell you the next issue. This one sold me a way of thinking. Every creator up there talked like a filmmaker: rhythm, scenes, letting a moment breathe, a color system that works like a lighting plan. That’s the lens I bring to everything on this channel, and it’s how I want to cover these books.
Images: panel photos by Mr. Know-It-All. Absolute Green Arrow and Absolute Catwoman covers courtesy of DC.
Which Absolute book are you reading, and who do you want on that team? Tell me in the comments on the video above.
