Absolute Batman is big.
The funny part is, I never thought that I was going to writeAbsolute Batman.
Its where theyre reborn, Snyder mused.
© Nick Dragotta and Frank Martin/DC Comics
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Scott Snyder:I never really left DC in terms of the creative conversation.
But during that time, I was always talking to the people there [at DC].
© DC Comics
An initiative is a little different than an event.
Every single book is a part of it.
Its less of a driving event or narrative than it is a sensibility.
© DC Comics
What if we did them both at the same time?
So it came from that.
Its where theyre reborn.
© DC Comics
Nick Dragotta:I received a call out of the blue from Scott.
He texted me and said, Do you mind, this is Scott Snyder?
Id like to talk to you.
© DC Comics
What also really struck me too was the getting to retell Batman for todays age.
Thats just like a dream come true as an artist.
I was like, Wow, this is going to be ballsy.
© DC Comics
Its going to be different.
Yeah, I was all in.
Weve seen a lot of reinvention of the character across different mediums.
© DC Comics
A one point in the book, a character says Hes justa guy.
Snyder:Well, it was it was even bigger than that.
What are they most afraid of?
© DC Comics
You know, Ive done that.
Everyone has done sort of Bruce without the money.
Then he winds up being the chaos and the monkey wrench and the anarchy to some degree.
© DC Comics
They would grow up in the same neighborhood, maybe theyre friends.
Well, how would his relationship with the city change?
The Joker has also been transformed into a normal person.
© DC Comics
And they have this conversation that kind of cuts to the core of who they are.
Like, everything is an invention.
Dragotta:Its like were discovering it as we go.
© Nick Dragotta and Frank Martin/DC Comics
What does he do with it?
Theres so many cool surprises coming up.
The enthusiasm is awesome.
©Nick Dragotta and Frank Martin/DC Comics
I mean, its just… its such afunbook to work on.
Even the palette feels a little warmer than we would usually expect of Gotham City.
But definitely Scott and I were like, Lets bring some of that pop back.
©Nick Dragotta and Frank Martin/DC Comics
Lets bring some of that color back into the world.
In terms of depicting the city, I want it to represent the characters.
Obviously those are all bigger, this is a superhero comic.
So everything is going big.
And I want the city to feel heavy, and dark, and scary.
Im drawing it very blocky.
And I hope that carries through through the whole book.
A lot of the center of the city is hollowed out.
Its such a public city.
Youre forced into these spaces, its very democratic, youve got to deal with each other.
And theres a spirit that comes up sometimes when the city is going through hard times.
Right now were going through a period where New York feels somewhat devoid of that.
It feels scattered and diffused, and strange.
Theres still, you know, the buildings are a little taller than real ones.
io9: Bruce himself, obviously, is figuratively and literally a really big figure in this book.
Dragotta:I mean, my first attempt, Scott said, Draw him big.
I drew him big.
Scott saw it and said, Nick,bigger.
So it was always going in that direction, Scotts initial idea was to go big.
I was beholden to the nostalgia, and I was like, Were not losing the silhouette.
That was the real design challenge in all of this.
Then to further that, then we started going, Well, what else can make him different?
We cant lose the silhouette.
He has to have the cowl, the ears, and the gadgets.
And so it was just, lets make him all utility, like every part of his costume.
Merging those two together really gave us this new Absolute Batman.
But yeah, Scott, what was the impetus to go big?
Because at one point I was like, Dude, were getting intowildproportions here.
What was that impetus?
Hes always got to be in masquerade.
Whereas here, he can actually be as big as he needs to be.
He doesnt go around the world and have the best training.
So he needs brute strength, and then it became a metaphor.
We just worked on an issue coming up where the theme is about going bigger.
He needs to think more compassionately, more broadly.
He thinks outside of the system that created the main Batman becauseheis outside of it.
Hes looking through the window.
Hes someone on the outside.
Theres kind of almost need for that force, to be that meteor that crashes into things.
And it was never not that.
I dont know why.
It just always was that from the moment he appeared in my head was like, Hesgigantic.
Dragotta:But it gets me thinking too, about just the history of comics.
Just by going big, it adds that bombastic-ness and really screams, This is a comic book.
And now as an artist, too, Im really kind of getting comfortable drawing him.
Ive got to be honest, Im just pushing it.
Im going bigger and bigger.
It just feels like it just adds to the energy, and it was just such a great call.
I think its fantastic.
Was that always something that you wanted to do, to give him an unconventional tool in his toolkit?
Snyder:It was one of the first things I pitched to Nick.
Like it was born up with him because of his size.
It just felt, againeverything about him should be a surprise.
Youre just going to make something out of nothing.
Dragotta:At first, I might have been resistant to it.
But its the character that Scott created.
He uses his hands.
But I believed it when I started drawing it.
He never whips it out.
AndScottwas like, Were at that scene already.
And Im like, Okay, I think I got it now!
And Scott went, No, youll see.
I just have to come up with the first issue!
And thats the challenge, then youve got to come up with more cool stuff for issue two.
Issue two is even better!
Absolute Batman#1 hits shelves next week on Wednesday, October 9.
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