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Absolute Superman #19 with a surprise Absolute Batman crossover? And more, much more, much more, class struggle...
Posted in: Batman, Comics, DC Comics, Justice League, Superman | Tagged: absolute, Absolute Batman, Absolute Superman, jason aaron, Rafa Sandoval
Absolute Superman #19: A Surprise Absolute Batman Crossover (Spoilers)
Absolute Superman #19 with a surprise Absolute Batman crossover? And more, much more, much more, class struggle...
Article Summary
- Absolute Superman #19 doubles down on the Absolute Universe’s class-war themes through Steel’s brutalized new origin.
- King Shazam returns as a furious ancient force, framing Absolute Superman’s fight as a battle over power and freedom.
- Ra’s Al Ghul and the Hall of Justice deepen the dark history of the Absolute Universe and its entrenched ruling elite.
- A final Gotham tease suggests Absolute Batman may be entering Absolute Superman’s orbit ahead of November’s event.
Many of the Absolute Universe titles have been about class struggle. It might come with the territory, this is a universe tainted by Darkseid, in which the greedy and the rich have all the power, there are no superheroes in high society able to make that change, just come from the bottom up. Absolute Wonder Woman grew up in Hell rather than Paradise, Bruce Wayne is a construction worker fighting an immortal billionaire, the epitome of established wealth, and Absolute Superman is a boy whose family fought the Krypton system, but was then exiled to Earth without them. And the enemies have their own Justice League, preserving all that power and wealth together. And it's even more on the nose in today's Absolute Superman #19 by Jason Aaron and Rafa Sandoval. As we learn of Jon Jenry Iron's life, similar to the DC Universe version, but rather than being used and abused by his employers to make them into weapons…
… they got the one weapon, and then just made his life hell for no reason whatsoever. This Steel has been trid into the mud and the blood. And King Shazam, freed from his prison of three thousand years, isn't happy about it all.
Even if Ra's Al Ghul is a transformed immortal man, and it seems that The Absolute Hall Of Justice, as glimpsed in Absolute Evil, has been around quite some time, to have such records… not that it does Ra's Al Ghul much good even now that he has converted away from that.
Okay, that's nasty. Old Testament justice at work, possibly literally. Say, we've just seen the DCU Jesus Christ over in Swamp Thing, I wonder what the Absolute Christ looks like? Absolute Superman looks like he's the closest so far…
But King Shazam is here to see that very little has changed. Aside from the panel layout, maybe. This was rather stellar…
And of course King Shazam has to bring politics into it, after all, he was a slave. And thinks this Superman still is.
As has been noted many times, Superman's breaking of chains is a trademarked image of Superman from DC Comics. Which means it has added resonance here….
Man, Absolute Steel just doesn't get a break. But as the Absolute Superman Vs King Shazam continues across the world, someone is watching…
Gotham at night, from the top of a telecommunications tower… Absolute Batman sees them pass in the sky… that Absolute Event is coming in November, remember, and written by Jason Aaron too. Is he preparing the way with this very issue? Absolute Superman #19 by Jason Aaron and Rafa Sandoval is published today by DC Comics.
Absolute Superman #19 by Jason Aaron, Rafa Sandoval
King Shazam has risen with a power unlike anything Superman has faced before. What connection does he have to Brainiac and the mysterious Father Box? Plus, another classic character has made their Absolute debut, though it remains to be seen if they're a friend or foe of the Man of Steel…
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