When DC Comics’ Absolute line was leaked, then announced in 2024, one arresting image sucked all the air out of the room: the widest, square-est version of Batman anyone had ever seen. The idea that when veteran Batman writer Scott Snyder had the opportunity to remake Batman from the ground up in a darker setting, his first directive to artist Nick Dragotta was to make him frick-kin’ yuge was intriguing, to say the least.

The visuals of Absolute Batman’s sibling books, Absolute Wonder Woman and Absolute Superman, weren’t quite so surprising. Wonder Woman has carried a sword and worn pants before; Superman has had shaggy hair. Batman was so wide, he made his fellow heroes’ reimagined designs look normal by comparison. It’s no wonder Absolute Batman became the book to fixate on.

But three months into the run of each book, Absolute Wonder Woman and Absolute Superman are sprinting toward all-time-great comic book status, in part because the writers and artists were able to keep their biggest, most of-the-moment twists on two very old superhero stories a complete secret until just the right moment. Maybe they were hidden behind the younger Batman’s remarkable girth?

A new year is a time for reflection. I’ve been doing some reflecting, and I’m willing to say it: DC Comics’ Absolute Universe rules much harder than I ever expected it to, in a way I thought was impossible. It’s giving me a dark timeline that actually feels good to visit.

[Ed. note: This piece contains some spoilers for the first three issues each of Absolute Wonder Woman and Absolute Superman.]

I get now why writer Kelly Thompson and artist Hayden Sherman wanted to keep the........

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