09-19-2025, 05:32 AM
Read a bunch of the Absolute Universe stuff.
First of all, Absolute Power is just awful.
Absolute Batman feels like Snyder just writing shock crap. I did like the origin story aspect of Batman's rogues but the rest including why they were Batman's friends is very dumb. There's also a great big hole in the world: where does he get all those toys? He has no money but he's spending as if he has the Wayne empire!
Absolute Superman is better but a lot of it seems entirely unnecessary. Braniac is the most interesting part of it probably and even that is overwritten yet doesn't make sense. The metacommentary is too much, I don't usually complain about this in comics because comics are dumb but dear god, we fucking get it. Can we have something happen? Lois makes no sense but she has the best line in the run when she says journalists are stupid. (She's not one in the Absolute Universe.) The whole plot is obvious but I don't mind it if it was setup and also if every other issue didn't involve SUPERMAN IS CAPTURED HE CAN'T BE CAPTURED LET HIM GO SUPERMAN ESCAPES repeat again and again. Ra's "plan" doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
Absolute Wonder Woman is better but it's also the most like its regular universe version. It's really not that different, the Amazons are missing but whatever that seems entirely irrelevant, everything else is exactly the same. Even the Gods are all the same as they've always been.
Absolute Martian Manhunter is the best one (not read Flash or Green Lantern yet) but even it is a bit up its own ass for too many pages sometimes. Also his wife is the only one who noticed he's being weird so far. This was supposed to only be six issues but got extended before the run ended so I'll withhold total judgement until then.
The thing I can't understand though is this is supposed to be one universe and has Darkseid's influence and both of these are the biggest issues. It's not really "darker" except all the heroes are loners, which is hilarious because Bruce in this universe has tons of friends and family but is still Bruce. At least Kal-El and Diana are strange visitors. I get it's "darker" because look at how horrible a lot of these evil things are and like, have you seen the normal DC stuff? Did Snyder see his own run and the Dark Multiverse? Darkseid's really making this universe underwhelmingly evil no matter how many times an issue Alfred has a long monologue about how DARK AND EVIL things are in the world.
The other problem is that Absolute Superman seems like it's happening in a completely different universe. Stuff is name dropped in each series from other series and it's pretty obvious already how all those "pieces" fit entirely together when they eventually team everybody up. But, like, the entire world in Absolute Superman is ruled by Ra's and his totally evil corporation. But in the others the cities along with the federal government are operating like it's normal DC. It can't be that Ra's rules everywhere but America because in Superman he controls Kansas (or at least Smallville and the general area) like he does everywhere else. Ra's could be the "evil" power behind the other stuff, but, uh, then why in Superman is it his company and HIMSELF doing everything everywhere so everybody knows how evil and powerful he is? You sort of wonder if these are getting canon-welded together after the fact.
Also way too much, HEY HERE'S A NAME, LOOK HOW DIFFERENT FROM NORMAL DC THIS IS, ISN'T THAT NUTS. One of the reasons Ultimate Marvel worked is because it didn't do that too much, things were slightly different and updated for the new time period. You rarely questioned if regular Marvel's versions of characters wouldn't act mostly the same in this version of the universe with the changed life history. (Until everybody goes nuts during the period around Ultimatum.) Diana (and Bane) aside you don't get the sense that any of these characters are the same people in different circumstances except for the fact that Snyder and Aaron can't stop themselves from writing Bruce and Kal-El in certain ways and doing callback references.
Maybe funniest moment is Bane telling Bruce how Venom makes you more jacked and epic and shit. But Bruce in the Absolute Universe is 6-9 and 421 pounds of pure muscle already. (Plus he inexplicably knows all the martial arts he does in the normal universe.) How much more jacked is he supposed to get? Also, Bane is somehow BIGGER than this?!? Diana is also giant in this universe, not just TALL like normal Diana. So is Ra's who is also epic jacked and probably should consider getting on Venom if he isn't since in this universe it makes you know and remember everything you read. Kal-El might be more normal sized depending on the issue.
First of all, Absolute Power is just awful.
Absolute Batman feels like Snyder just writing shock crap. I did like the origin story aspect of Batman's rogues but the rest including why they were Batman's friends is very dumb. There's also a great big hole in the world: where does he get all those toys? He has no money but he's spending as if he has the Wayne empire!
Absolute Superman is better but a lot of it seems entirely unnecessary. Braniac is the most interesting part of it probably and even that is overwritten yet doesn't make sense. The metacommentary is too much, I don't usually complain about this in comics because comics are dumb but dear god, we fucking get it. Can we have something happen? Lois makes no sense but she has the best line in the run when she says journalists are stupid. (She's not one in the Absolute Universe.) The whole plot is obvious but I don't mind it if it was setup and also if every other issue didn't involve SUPERMAN IS CAPTURED HE CAN'T BE CAPTURED LET HIM GO SUPERMAN ESCAPES repeat again and again. Ra's "plan" doesn't make a whole lot of sense.
Absolute Wonder Woman is better but it's also the most like its regular universe version. It's really not that different, the Amazons are missing but whatever that seems entirely irrelevant, everything else is exactly the same. Even the Gods are all the same as they've always been.
Absolute Martian Manhunter is the best one (not read Flash or Green Lantern yet) but even it is a bit up its own ass for too many pages sometimes. Also his wife is the only one who noticed he's being weird so far. This was supposed to only be six issues but got extended before the run ended so I'll withhold total judgement until then.
The thing I can't understand though is this is supposed to be one universe and has Darkseid's influence and both of these are the biggest issues. It's not really "darker" except all the heroes are loners, which is hilarious because Bruce in this universe has tons of friends and family but is still Bruce. At least Kal-El and Diana are strange visitors. I get it's "darker" because look at how horrible a lot of these evil things are and like, have you seen the normal DC stuff? Did Snyder see his own run and the Dark Multiverse? Darkseid's really making this universe underwhelmingly evil no matter how many times an issue Alfred has a long monologue about how DARK AND EVIL things are in the world.
The other problem is that Absolute Superman seems like it's happening in a completely different universe. Stuff is name dropped in each series from other series and it's pretty obvious already how all those "pieces" fit entirely together when they eventually team everybody up. But, like, the entire world in Absolute Superman is ruled by Ra's and his totally evil corporation. But in the others the cities along with the federal government are operating like it's normal DC. It can't be that Ra's rules everywhere but America because in Superman he controls Kansas (or at least Smallville and the general area) like he does everywhere else. Ra's could be the "evil" power behind the other stuff, but, uh, then why in Superman is it his company and HIMSELF doing everything everywhere so everybody knows how evil and powerful he is? You sort of wonder if these are getting canon-welded together after the fact.
Also way too much, HEY HERE'S A NAME, LOOK HOW DIFFERENT FROM NORMAL DC THIS IS, ISN'T THAT NUTS. One of the reasons Ultimate Marvel worked is because it didn't do that too much, things were slightly different and updated for the new time period. You rarely questioned if regular Marvel's versions of characters wouldn't act mostly the same in this version of the universe with the changed life history. (Until everybody goes nuts during the period around Ultimatum.) Diana (and Bane) aside you don't get the sense that any of these characters are the same people in different circumstances except for the fact that Snyder and Aaron can't stop themselves from writing Bruce and Kal-El in certain ways and doing callback references.
Maybe funniest moment is Bane telling Bruce how Venom makes you more jacked and epic and shit. But Bruce in the Absolute Universe is 6-9 and 421 pounds of pure muscle already. (Plus he inexplicably knows all the martial arts he does in the normal universe.) How much more jacked is he supposed to get? Also, Bane is somehow BIGGER than this?!? Diana is also giant in this universe, not just TALL like normal Diana. So is Ra's who is also epic jacked and probably should consider getting on Venom if he isn't since in this universe it makes you know and remember everything you read. Kal-El might be more normal sized depending on the issue.
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