Absolute Batman writer Scott Snyder hypes up the series’ next issue and one major villain’s introduction to the Absolute Universe.
In a May 9 Twitter post from writer Scott Snyder, fans get an early look at the horror to come when Absolute Batman #8 arrives on comic book store shelves later this week. The preview, originally shared by fan page DCU Updates, includes images of the Absolute versions of one of Batman’s oldest and most feared enemies — Mister Freeze. Snyder captioned the post with, «This issue (out Wed) sets up EVERYTHING coming — don’t miss it!»
Mister Freeze (originally Mister Zero) is a timelessly iconic Batman villain, with the earliest iteration of the character first appearing back in Dave Wood and Sheldon Moldoff’s closing story from 1959’s Batman #121, «The Ice Crimes of Mr. Zero.» Throughout almost every single version of the character, Mister Freeze began life as Victor Fries, a renowned scientist and master in the field of cryogenics whose work takes a dark turn after his wife is stricken with an incurable illness. When his experiments accidentally transform Fries, leaving him dependent on subzero temperatures to survive, he turns to a life of crime as the cold-blooded Mister Freeze.
DC Comics’ Absolute Universe first began to take shape in the pages of 2024’s DC All In Special #1 by Joshua Williamson, Scott Snyder, Daniel Sampere, Wes Craig, Mike Spicer, Alejandro Sánchez, and Tamra Bonvillain. When the dreaded Darkseid attacked the Justice League Unlimited’s brand-new Watchtower, the longtime villain was seemingly obliterated altogether. Instead of being truly destroyed, however, Darkseid’s consciousness became untethered from reality and was able to cross over into the formerly enigmatic and unreachable Elseworld. In doing so, Darkseid became one with the fabric of this new reality, reshaping it into the decidedly brutalist landscape that is now known as the Absolute Universe.
DC’s Absolute Batman is just one of several grim reimaginings of iconic comic book heroes and villains, and while he certainly isn’t the strongest among them, he is already proving to be the most complex overall. This is due in large part to the numerous deviations from the norm for Batman as an archetype, the most prominent of which is the Absolute Bruce Wayne’s obvious lack of wealth. Instead of relying on near-limitless resources, this Dark Knight relies on what he can scrap together from the shadows and what help his unlikely allies, many of whom would otherwise be Batman’s worst enemies, can offer.
Absolute Batman #8 goes on sale May 14 from DC Comics.
