Posted in: Batman, Comics, DC Comics | Tagged: absolute, Absolute Batman, nick dragotta, Scotyt Snyder, wondercon

First Look Inside Absolute Batman #19 by Scott Snyder & Nick Dragotta

A look inside next month's Absolute Batman #19 by Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta, as seen from the panels of WonderCon

Absolute Batman #19 by Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta is published in two-and-a-bit weeks' time from DC Comics. There should be anywhere from 350,000 to 400,000 copies out there. And thanks to WonderCon and the DC Comics: What's Next panel at WonderCon with Tini Howard, Scott Snyder, Babs Tarr and Joshua Williamson, we got a look inside those pages… set among the Absolute cornfields…

Burn it to the ground! Absolute Batman #19 is scheduled for release on the 15th of April, delayed a week, with a new story arc and marks a significant tonal shift, described by Snyder as darker, more twisted, and one of the team's favourite issues, blending big over-the-top action, horror, violence, heart, emotion, and some humour.

• ABSOLUTE BATMAN #19
  (W) Scott Snyder (A/CA) Nick Dragotta
  ABSOLUTE SCARECROW EMERGES FROM THE SHADOWS OF ARK M AS A NEW STORY ARC BEGINS… Poison Ivy proved to be just one of the many horrors within the bowels of the ARK M facility, and as Joker sets his sights on Absolute Batman, he decides to enlist the help of one of the center's most terrifying doctors, Dr. Jonathan Crane. While Bruce Wayne tries to align himself with Barbara Gordon, there's more than one alliance formed in this issue. New debuts, new villains, new arc starts here. $5.99 4/15/2026

Scott Snyder has teased that this arc will upend expectations: the Robins view the Absolute Joker as a philanthropic "good guy" billionaire and Scarecrow is portrayed as especially brutal, with a higher kill count early on than any prior villain in the series.

Noting all this down were Brad Gullickson and Lisa Gullickson of the Comic Book Couples Counseling podcast, who launched Season Two of The Stacks, their comics answer to the Criterion Closet, last month, where comic book creators celebrate their favourite comic books, pulling books off the shelves at Third Eye Comics in Annapolis, Maryland. As well as Season Two, currently running, Season One, featuring episodes with David Brothers, Chris Condon, Sanford Greene, Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Chip Zdarsky, and more, is now streaming on the channel… For participating creators like Matthew Rosenberg, The Stacks is a chance to flaunt what comics can do that no other medium can. The Stacks grants comic book creators space to geek out about the shoulders they're standing on, and explain how their work is informed by others. "I've always felt that the best thing you can do for comics is talk about and share the ones you love," says Rosenberg. "There's a celebration of the medium in it, there is community, but there is a bit of a confessional nature to it, too. It feels so personal and intimate. That's why I love The Stacks. It's not just about discovering new books I might have missed; it's about getting to know the creators whose work I love a little better. Getting to understand who they are, what inspires them, what they love."

• DC Comics: What's Next
  Saturday March 28, 2026 1:00pm – 2:00pmPDT
  Room 207
  Top DC storytellers dive deep into DC's comics, including DC: Next Level, DC Vertigo, DC's Absolute comic books, and more. Discover what's coming next from the writers and artists shaping the future of the DC Universe, get behind-the-scenes insights into upcoming series, and learn how these creators are expanding the scope of DC storytelling. Tini Howard F-05, Scott Snyder F-01, Babs Tarr F-06,  Joshua Williamson F-03

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