Absolute Batman #15
Author : Scott Snyder Artist : Jock Colourist : Frank Martin
After the stunning conclusion of the Abomination arc with the barnstorming battle between Batman and Bane—we thought: how can Scott Snyder top that? Has this run peaked? What else can this man do to keep me on the edge of my reader’s seat?
By introducing the Archangel of Absolute Anarchy—baddest man on the Absolute Planet—Joker, the arch-nemesis of our Dark Knight of Gotham. And with Bane’s Absolute incarnation, how was Snyder, and for this issue, Jock, going to inject Joker with Darkseid’s Omega energy?
From the first two words of this issue to the last two words (literally!), issue #15 delivered and may have lived up to the immense hype from the comic book world. The manner that this is written is marvelous, from the perspective of Pennyworth, who has been tracking Joker for years, and decides to share his beliefs of this monster with Bruce.
Alfred shares who he thinks Joker is: what made him, why he does the things he does, how he came to be, and where he goes to do what he does. Snyder’s take on Absolute Joker was masterful, and I assure you—you will not be disappointed one iota after you have read this depiction of the Clown Prince of Crime.
Absolute Batman #15 Review
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
All It Takes Is One Bad Page
I said in my summary, the first two words and last two words encapsulate Snyder’s writing artistry to a tee—Pennyworth opens up the whole issue with these words: “It’s TIME, kid. I’ve put it off long as I could.” Those first two words set up the excitement for this issue that duly delivers, in my opinion. Since the Absolute Universe was birthed in DC’s All In Special (go read this immediately!), and we saw our 6 ft 8”, 260 lb embodiment of vengeance, the first villain we couldn’t wait to see him go up against was his arch-nemesis, Joker. And with everything that is different in this Bruce’s universe, what would Scott Snyder mold Joker into—an absolute force of nature.
Snyder comes out firing on the first page by setting up enormous intrigue with a couple of well-worked similes—Alfred mentions that, “I’m not certain what’s real and what’s fabrication,” followed by, “Some things add up, and some things make no bloody sense at all.” Right off the bat, I’m hooked; as a reader, I want Alfred to elaborate on his thoughts, and I want to find out what’s real and what isn’t, so I can make my own mind up on what I believe of Joker.
If that hasn’t built enough anticipation, then Alfred serves up (see what I did there) another piece of mouth-watering insight: This Joker has islands—hundreds of uninhabited tiny islands all over the world. What does Joker do on these islands all by himself? Pennyworth has been told a theory—he likes to hunt.
“Then forget what’s true, Pennyworth. Tell me what you believe.” Bruce is literally ALL of us right at the end of the first page (yeah—this is just the first page!). Scott Snyder—I clap thee, what a scintillating start to this story arc. The way in which Snyder has been able to build up this much eagerness for Joker to appear is amazing to me; he is The Bat’s number one enemy, we’ve seen him in so many forms, yet, through Snyder’s virtuoso, he has created a clamor for one of DC’s most used characters.
Let’s not forget Jock’s input on this foundational first page—his illustration of Joker is really eye-catching and foreboding because it sets up a gnarly narrative that we’re going to get into now.
This Is Where The Joke Breaks
Now we dive into Pennyworth’s beliefs—over the last 3 years, he shares what he’s found out about Joker and what his theories are. Snyder sets a great tone and pace throughout this issue, with the dialogue between Alfred and Bruce versus the art from Jock. It really works by bringing this culmination of concepts to life, and it makes you, as the reader, feel like Bruce, being taken through Alfred’s thought process, piece by piece.
This first section, as I refer to it, is ‘the story’ of Joker. Snyder does the unthinkable and provides Joker with family ties (he’s done this before, you know!), introducing us to Joker’s great-grandfather—Joseph Grimm I, or ‘Jack’, from way back when in the year 1888. Note, Snyder did write about Joker having family before in his New 52 run, End Game; the Joker Family Revelation (go read Batman New 52 #37 to #40!)
Snyder incorporates themes into this first section that play out as the story goes on. Joseph Grimm I was a clown, street performer, and he was the best around, though he never laughed at himself. He invested in his own theater, ‘Just Kidding’, amassed a fortune, rubbed shoulders with tycoons like Rockefeller and Carnegie.
Then Snyder keeps us on our toes with Alfred declaring that ‘Jack’ was a major philanthropist, donating to Gotham Med, Gotham Met, Gotham University, but especially, donating to children’s causes—‘Jack’ was devoted to helping kids because he himself was an orphan.
Jack Grimm I, who died in 1938, was succeeded by his son, Jack Grimm II, who, like his father, stayed in the entertainment business and committed to helping the children. Snyder then continues to take us through the Grimm family tree: who they were, what they did, and leads us to Jack Grimm V, our Jack. He’s a trillionaire, he’s loved, he’s lauded, and he seems perfect.
Snyder is one of my favorite Batman writers because I feel like he really understands Batman and Bruce, and he always has the right dialogue. In this case, Bruce, just like all of us, has been given story time with Alfred Pennyworth, and he has one question that we’re all thinking… “Where is the #$% smoking gun, Pennyworth? What’s so scary about this guy?”
Remember those islands he has, that nobody lives on, and it’s just him. There’s a whole lot more to those islands and this story about the man who doesn’t laugh. The writing of this opening section is one of the best-written introductions to a character I have read in a long time, especially one that is so well known. Snyder really takes us on a journey. With this direct and blunt remark from Bruce, we get taken into overdrive, “I didn’t ask you for the story, Pennyworth. I asked you what you believed.” This really echoed what I was thinking, and that’s exactly what Scott Snyder was trying to create—the atmosphere is palpable, and we as readers now want to get to the meat on the bone.
Laugh Track Turned Off
Let me just pause my eulogization of Snyder and focus on Jock—his art style makes the storytelling from Alfred feel like a hazy dream and absolutely plays into the tone that Snyder wanted to set. This works perfectly with the way Snyder has Pennyworth reset us and take us back to the start, “to that boy in the alley… back to the clown.”
Snyder has been quietly been recording subtle signals that will come into fruition in the end, such as the quote above; this is brilliant writing that is shaping up the underlying contrasts that will be revealed in the end.
We’re cleverly introduced to the magic behind the joy that Joker was able to give to his audience—nitrous oxide aka laughing gas. Remember, this is what Alfred believes and puts the detective cap on Pennyworth’s head, as he is displaying his case from the clues that he’s found. He suggests how Jack Grimm I made his money—tricking his audiences into giving him all of their money; because the nitrous oxide not only makes you laugh, but makes you highly suggestible. This sounds more like the Pale Madman we all know!
Now we start to hear the dark deeds from Laughing Death Incarnate. Alfred delves into the crimes, conspiracies, and cunning undertakings, exposing that the Grimm family has been involved in both sides of wars and many grand world events. Alfred even bestows the title of ‘most powerful crime family’ in history and references their family motto: “Like life like a clown.” “A clown plays the fool while making a fool of everyone else.” Pennyworth ends this section by highlighting that these were the notes from the report he sent into MI6.
At the same time as this, Snyder has carefully been sharing what Joker has been up to on his island, where it is only meant to be him—but that’s not true. The end of the section that I call ‘the report,’ you see Joker stumble across someone that resembles a castaway—only he recognizes this hunter, and he mentions that he’s been stuck on this island for years. Jock does a wonderful one-page splash behind 5 chilling panels, which help turn the tone of this issue into absolute evil. The evil, detest, and murder Jock is able to illustrate into Joker’s eyes is disturbing—and this is the point where Alfred’s actual, crazy belief of Joker comes to light.
No Punchline—Just Pain
Snyder lets Alfred take us back to the clown in the alley, and I’ll reveal the parallel that Snyder has been creating, beautifully mind you, throughout this issue. Bruce is traditionally the boy in the alley, where his beloved parents, Thomas and Martha Wayne, met their ends at the gun of Joe Chill. Snyder has expertly switched the roles and now put the clown in the alley as the origin story for Absolute Joker.
The obscenities caused by the Grimm family are told; the audience in the alley that laughed in the 1800s all died grinning. Nearly everyone who comes into contact with this family meets mysterious bad ends. Scott Snyder has both darkened the mood considerably and quickens the pace, with the exchanges between Bruce and Alfred becoming more frequent and shorter—implying that we are coming to the apex of this hunter’s story.
The castaway man on Joker’s ‘uninhabited’ island turns out to be an ex-FBI agent and friend of Alfred’s, who opened an investigation against Joker—he was presumed dead after a boat accident—however, we see him being stalked by the Joker, the hilarious hunter after his prey. Snyder does an incredible job of creating despise of this Joker, often liked as a cool villain in the main DC Universe, Snyder makes sure that will not be the case in the Absolute Universe.
Something Is Killing The Children
How do you create the vilest human being? You have them attack the most vulnerable of us, the young, the weak, the children. In this epic fifteenth issue Snyder outdoes himself with the structure of this story. This is what he’s been building up to, after ‘the story’, then ‘the report’, this is ‘the truth’ section. Pennyworth goes for the jugular with his insinuation of Joker—there is no Grimm family… no lineage of Grimm’s; just one Jack Grimm (if that is his real name).
How has he stayed alive since the 1800s you’re asking yourself? Here’s the part where you as a reader feel the deepest distain toward Joker—he uses children to give himself ever life. Snyder plotted these points throughout this issue; the children’s charities he donates to is a front, he’s actually harvesting the kids to his own sick gain—he’s killing them to extend his own life.
Jock does an immense job with his artwork; on the same page that we see Joker covered with babies, tubes coming out of them and going into him—we as the readers are introduced to the transformation of man into monster—poetically done by Snyder on this singular page. All the while Joker eats, yes eats the castaway man on his island—the last element that shows us how much of a monster he is—he’s a cannibal.
Snyder does a fantastic job of keeping continuity of the narrative in this issue, as well as throughout Absolute Batman to date—the way Joker is creating this crazy elixir is through his funded Arks. Something Bruce knows all too well after his visit to Ark M.
I spoke of the hazy dream effect Jock was able to create with his artwork in the first half of this issue—he transforms that into a horrific nightmare with his depiction of Joker. A two-page spread allows Jock to go to terrible town with a grotesque, mangled and terrifying illustration of Joker—an image truly living up the image of someone so despicable that Snyder has painted with his words. Remember that castaway, he said he’d been on that island for years—this shows possibly, the scariest side to this Joker, unlike Joker from Earth-0, this Joker is calculated and never forgets. The Joker we’re used to is seen as Gotham’s Agent of Chaos—this Joker is Death Incarnate.
Who’s Laughing Now?
The last 5 pages of issue #15 are the first time we see Batman in this whole story; in my opinion, this is wonderfully constructed and a contrast of how the Absolute Batman story has gone so far—it’s been ALL IN on Batman, with no mention of Joker. Now the complete opposite. Snyder stays true to the personality of this version of the Gotham Knight; he’s short, sharp, and direct—he’s heard enough, and we know what that means… he’s going after Joker.
And if that wasn’t enough for us not to be able to wait for issue #16, Snyder ties in the woman from Gateway City. He uses Alfred’s narration to tease the meeting of Batman and Wonder Woman, again, keeping the layers of continuity tight and making sense with the wider Absolute World; this is really important to the intelligence of the reader.
I have alluded to Snyder creating parallels throughout this issue when speaking about the origin of Joker—the alley, the orphan, trillionaire (who does that remind you of…) Bruce Wayne. I have not had my jaw dropped from reading like this since I read Hush.
Snyder has been painting the Absolute Universes Joker as the opposite of Bruce Wayne, which makes perfect sense, because this universe was created by, and feeds off Darkseid omega energy. Everything’s coming full circle now people!
And this parallel is no more evident than in the last 3 pages of this masterpiece of storytelling. Joker turns up at a manor, is greeted by his butler (receding hair and moustache!)—and the last words Joker says are, “…I’ll be in the cave.”
Mind. Blown. I cannot wait for issue #16, Joker, Wonder Woman, it’s all about to go down.
Eat Your Art Out
The work done on this issue by Jock and Frank Martin was perfect for the story that unfolded. The hazy, dreamlike state they both created when Alfred was telling his story was a touch of brilliance, because it lulled you into enjoying the story and understanding the origin of ‘Jack Grimm.’
Then the sketches from Jock became deeper and the colors from Martin became profounder, giving the reader the feeling that we are now moving from past to present, and as Snyder was telling us this story, from human to monster.
The panel that stole the show, as it were, in this issue was the two-page spread of Joker, fully formed into the disgusting beast he is within; only now, we can see him for what he truly is. This is a fantastic piece of artwork because the meaning is there for us to see, the archaic (don’t judge a book by its cover). On the outside, Joker is wealthy, healthy, and a philanthropist; everything would make you think this is a brilliant human being.
Then Jock transforms him into all the bad deeds he’s committed throughout his life, evil incarnate, absolutely disgusting, and it makes you think that you can’t wait for this face-to-face to happen—it’s not must-see, but can’t-miss!
Conclusion & Rating
This is one of the most carefully and cleverly crafted pieces of storytelling I have ever read. Snyder was on top form and has constructed a near-perfect tale of parallels, having Alfred walk you through it to the epic eureka moment—when you realize that this universe's Joker is the exact opposite of Bruce Wayne.
The way in which the narrative is presented, certainly when I read through it, I never suspected this was the case until the last few pages, which made the realization that even more epic. This whole run has been phenomenal, and it’s been brutal and basic at its core—Bruce Wayne needs his friends to succeed, something we all need in life, but don’t always allow due to our own insecurities and pride.
And in that basic fashion, I mentioned at the top of this review that the opening and closing two lines of this epic tale were so fitting for this entire issue. Starting with, “It’s time”—like Bruce Buffer readying us for the main event bout. To the closing two words, “the cave.”—the Batcave is Bruce’s sanctum, his temple against the crime and injustices of this world, yet in this universe, Joker has his own cave—what chaos will he cause from it?
I tip my hat off to Mr. Snyder, Jock and Frank Martin, you have outdone yourselves and raised the bar once again after an epic finale to the Abomination arc, with another banger from The Bat—I simply cannot wait for the next Absolute Batman issue, and I’m sure, neither can you.