Absolute Batman is, without a doubt, one of the biggest comics books of the year and perhaps even one of the biggest books in all of Batman’s history and for good reason. The series has been reshaping and reimagining the Dark Knight and his world for DC’s Absolute Universe in ways that push the envelope and stretch everything readers thought they knew about the hero. However, this week’s Absolute Batman 2025 Annual #1 does something that is not only very Batman as we’ve always known him but may just be one of the hero’s most iconic moments ever in a single image.
Back in July, DC teased that the Absolute Batman 2025 Annual #1 would see Batman take on white nationalists and with the issue finally here, we see the true scope of that. The issue contains three stories, the first being from Daniel Warren Johnson. It sees Bruce go outside of Gotham City to Slaughter Swamp in order to extra-legally acquire some weapons and ammunition, presumably for his work as Batman. However, he soon hears an immigrant woman and her son being hassled by white supremacists and it’s not something that Bruce is just going to let go. He ends up suiting up as Batman, going back and taking on the whole group of racists who have at this point targeted a homeless encampment. It’s during Batman’s confrontation of the white supremacists that we get the single, iconic image of Batman breaking a guy’s arm in perhaps the most brutal way possible – and it’s an image that people can’t stop talking about.
Batman breaking the white supremacist’s arm may be the stand out image in the story, but it is just the tip of the iceberg for what the hero actually does. As the story continues, Batman beats down several other racists and even goes on to take the whole group on at their hideout, using a piece of construction equipment to decimate their building — and that’s before he breaks out a flamethrower. It’s an intense story, one that Johnson previously explained at San Diego Comic-Con that he drew on real world events to create and that it allowed him to vent his personal anger in a constructive way. Surprising no one, it’s getting some strong reactions from readers.
A glance at social media shows that there has been a lot of positive reactions to the image of Batman breaking the white supremacist’s arm (and the larger story itself) with many readers noting that they “love to see it” and expressing that Absolute Batman is doing what many which they could do in real life in term in terms of fighting back directly and tangibly to the injustice they see in the world. Other readers looked beyond the iconic image to some of the other details of the story to see the larger message. One such image is of one of the white supremacists, upon realizing they were about to get beaten up by Batman, attempting to appeal to the idea that they’re “human beings” that don’t deserve what’s about to happen — a consideration that they themselves weren’t willing to give the homeless and immigrants just a few panels previously Batman, for his part, lets the man know he’s and his ilk are “roaches” instead, putting a fine point on the hypocrisy of the white supremacists pleas: he saw himself as human, but not others and Batman just isn’t having it.
However, the story and its imagery isn’t coming without some backlash as well. There are those who are complaining about the story generally, calling it “woke”, while others are trying to claim that the book is about “hating average Americans” and encouraging violence. Some in particular point out that Batman is attacking police officers in the story, but the officers in the story are themselves committing crimes, abusing and assaulting innocent people. The outrage belies a read that seems to miss the larger scope of the story as well as Johnson’s stated intent that the story takes on issues from real life, which include real concerns about police misconduct, racial discrimination, and more. While Johnson’s story is graphic and direct, it’s tapping into concerns of the moment – and that heroes in comics and real life have been dealing with for years.
While Absolute Batman 2025 Annual #1 is a stunning, shocking, and contemporary example of the hero taking on white supremacists, it is by no means the first time it’s happened — not for Batman and certainly not for comic book heroes more broadly. In fact, this isn’t even Batman’s first time having an iconic image connected to this fight. The Detective Comics Annual from 1989 came with a bold cover image of Batman descending upon a group of white supremacists, styled in robes and hoods evocative of the Ku Klux Klan.
Beyond Batman, over the decades we’ve also seen the heroes of DC and Marvel take on racial hate in other forms, with Captain America punching Hitler and other Nazis, heroes from both Marvel and DC fighting Nazis in World War 2, and even Black Panther taking on Klansmen on another iconic comic book cover. Even Superman has gotten in on the action of taking on hatred, first on the 1946 The Adventures of Superman radio serials’ “Clan of the Fiery Cross” story arc which was then adapted into a three-part limited series Superman Smashes the Klan by Gene Luen Yang in 2019. While Absolute Batman’s fight against discrimination and prejudice may be a bit more direct and violent, it’s really very much in line with how superheroes have dealt with these issues for generations, further serving to remind us that the real good guys are those who stand up for everyone, no matter where they come from or what they look like.
What sets Absolute Batman apart in this, however, is that Johnson’s story and images make the fight for justice a bit more personal for Bruce. While the story’s dark and bombastic images show Batman meeting violence with violence, the story itself reveals that the fight for equality and a better tomorrow for everyone is something that is much older than he is. It’s revealed in the story that his father, Thomas, was an activist fighting for peace and equality once as well and that Batman is just following in those footsteps in his own way. It’s a reminder of not just Batman’s deep roots in the fight for justice but that the fight for good never truly stops.
Absolute Batman 2025 Annual #1 is on sale now from DC Comics.
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