Posted in: Batman, Comics, Comics Publishers, Conventions, Current News, DC Comics, Events, Pop Culture, san diego comic con | Tagged: absolute, Absolute Batman, absolute universe, DC All-In, nick dragotta, san diego comic con, scott snyder, sdcc

SCOOP: DC Comics Launch Absolute Batman At San Diego Comic-Con

I now have a cover shot of what I believe to be the Absolute Batman Exclusive Ashcan being given away at San Diego Comic-Con in two weeks.

For the last year, I have been reporting about the Absolute line at DC Comics, part of what has been called the DC All-In refresh and relaunch of the entire DC line. The Absolute line will be its own continuity, akin to the Ultimate Universe, offering radical and modern takes on the classic DC Comics mainstay characters, from A-List talent. I believed we would learn more at San Diego Comic-Con and here is the first evidence of that.

I now have a cover shot of what I believe to be the Absolute Batman Exclusive Ashcan being given away at San Diego Comic-Con in two weeks, but also appearing in comic book stores. Has your store got a copy yet? At this stage, I have no more details. But I do believe it to be part of the Absolute line being shown by Scott Snyder, with Snyder writing Absolute Batman as well. And with a cover by Nick Dragotta.

The cover shows what appears to be a Batman with a more muscular frame and a more hand-stitched Batman costume look. Rather than a cape, he appears to have a flying/gliding suit, shoulder armour and more of an accidental Bat shape for his chest, made out of the stitches holding a chest plate in place.

Nick Dragotta is the artist and co-creator of East Of West as X-Statix, Captain America, Spider-Man, the X-Men and others. Adding Absolute Batman to the list?

The discussion for what is coming for DC Comics' Absolute, Absolute Comics or Absolute Universe, is meant to be a new separate-continuity line show run by Scott Snyder, as part of his wider revamp of the DC Comics line as DC All-In has been quite the topic of late. Compared to the Ultimate line, but sharing its own internal continuity between the books, unlike Elseworlds, All-Star, or Black Label books, but, there is intended from the get-go to be some "bleed through" so that the Absolute Comics line will be in the same multiverse as the standard DC continuity. It's all part of the plan. Probably with Al Ewing.

Other involved creators we previously heard include Scott Snyder on Absolute Batman, Jason Aaron on Absolute Superman and Kelly Thompson on Absolute Wonder Woman. Do we have to add Nick Dragotta to that list now?

Last year Bleeding Cool began running gossip about an upcoming publishing project at DC Comics being spearheaded by Scott Snyder. One that has been compared to Marvel Comics' Ultimate line, which reimagined a number of main characters in a new continuity, recreating them from the ground up. Marvel has also revisited the concept this year with a new Ultimate Comics line that has topped the sales charts in comic book stores and gone to multiple printings. But what Scott Snyder has been working on, with a number of major comic book creators, has been in the works for longer. And we had a name for it, Absolute Comics. Or just Absolute. Or now, I guess, Absolute Universe.

In his newsletter, Scott Snyder said "I've been gearing up, like I said on Twitter, for some big announcements next month. So I'm trying to kind of lay low a little bit this month, just enjoy the quiet, hang out with family, friends."

Absolute Universe is intended to be more of a hands-off affair on Snyder's part, with the creators being given more of a carte blanche to achieve results closer to the All-Star line, with major A-list creators on board, though with its own shared continuity.

But Absolute Universe is only one prong of the changes that Scott Snyder is involved with at DC, which is referred to as DC All-In, a larger initiative that aims to spotlight DC's entire lineup. As Tini Howard notes, a lot of creators are finishing their runs in September or October, look for something big in October/November. There will not be a reboot or even a relaunch of the main line; that will remain intact, and continuity (along with some creative teams) will continue.

Marvel has had Ultimate Comics, Image has had the Energon Universe of Transformers and GI Joe, IDW has the new TMNT line, Dynamite has the Warner and Disney lines, and now DC Comics has Absolute Universe, for DC All-In. Feel free to contact me if you have heard any more… my DMs are always wide open all over the place. Yes, including TikTok and YouTube.

Update: Use our Absolute tag and DC All-In tag to catch up on all our previous and future reporting on this story.

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