Absolute Batman Vol. 2: Abomination

Absolute Batman (2024) #7-14

by Scott Snyder, Marcos Martín (Illustrator), Nick Dragotta (Illustrator)

In this chilling new saga, Batman confronts the icy menace of Mr. Freeze and the brutal force of Bane as he uncovers dark secrets within the Ark M facility that link Victor Fries, the Joker, and Gotham's deepest evils.
The story marks the debut of Mr. Freeze's Absolute Universe version, focusing on Victor Fries, his connection to the Ark M experiment, and its mysterious link to the Joker. Batman faces a deadly battle against Mr. Freeze, uncovering chilling secrets about Ark M and the Joker's involvement. Ark M is a facility meant to help society's broken, but it has also played a role in creating evil. When Bruce Wayne infiltrates Ark M, he encounters Bane--an old foe with a brutal origin story and a terrifying plan to break Batman. The narrative reveals Bane's background, motivations, and how he arrived in Gotham, all while Bruce and his friend Waylon Jones endure harrowing trials inside Ark M.
Collects Absolute Batman #7-14

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Batman, Dc Comics, Graphic Novels Comics, Comic Book, Fiction

240 pages, Hardcover

First published February 3, 2026

About the author

Scott Snyder is the Eisner and Harvey Award winning writer on DC Comics Batman, Swamp Thing, and his original series for Vertigo, American Vampire. He is also the author of the short story collection, Voodoo Heart, published by the Dial Press in 2006. The paperback version was published in the summer of 2007.

Reviews

[Daniel Hoare · Rating 5 out of 5]

boldly asking the question: What If There Was An Even Bigger Guy

[nitra · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Bane is the scariest guy i know" is unironically the best way to describe this

[Tyson]

the concept of absolute batcat

[Eli Seibert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Holy crap. The brutality of this book is unreal. The sheer cruelty as well as the disgusting body horror. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the likes in a superhero comic before. This volume really proves to me that the absolute universe was molded in Darkseid’s image.
If this had come out in the 90s, the hyper violence comic fans would have lost their minds.

[Jordi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Violència i body horror

[Sem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Scott Snyder once again proves I underestimated the fuck out of him, writing a deranged, glorious story that mainline DC would never see. The art here is just as stunning, of course, but that's to be expected from the greats.

[Bertazzo · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's fantastic how Snyder and Dragotta were able to revamp Knightfall in a more emotional and deeper way. The "break" here is more personal. It's the break of family, the break friendship.

[Cameron Alexander · Rating 5 out of 5]

Liked the first volume, but felt like it was missing something. This does a great job of expanding the tone. Nothing but sheer horror and madness in this one. Revamped Bane is so much fun to read, but he is not even close to the most deranged thing we see in the story. Feel like this version of alfred is really finding its footing now too, which was nice to see. Can't wait to see what happens next

[Kurt Lorenz · Rating 4 out of 5]

7-8, Absolute Zero, ☆☆☆
9-14, Abomination, ☆☆☆☆

[Axel · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow
I loved the Freeze arc!!! It was so chilling (haha) and unsettling but also very moving. I loved how it introduces the human experimentation thing and how important Bruce's friends are in it.
Because, really, Bruces relationships with his friends and family and allies are the core of this Batman, that's why he fights. And having the rogues be that it's just so so interesting.
His relationship/bestfriendism with Waylon is super beautiful and moving too :)

Really can't wait to see where it keeps going!

[Joey Ware · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe my favorite part of the Absolute Batman series is the new takes and designs on classic villains. Bane is my favorite Batman villain and while he starts out as pretty similar to his usual design, he becomes the very thing the title alludes to, an abomination. Absolute Mr. Freeze was also horrifying. I think my only negative takeaway is Harley Quinn. Not a fan of her design or being a leader of a gang of “punks”. But thought it was a nice touch being the red hood.

[Jack Dombroski · Rating 5 out of 5]

So freaking good

[Mik Cope · Rating 4 out of 5]

The series continues to surprise and excel. The alternate origins stories of how Bruce's buddies become supervillains is amazing and the big showdown, after months of build-up, is something to behold. Definitely my favourite Batman story in a long while.

[Viktor Logi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still Incredible! This is pure theme park reading. Not the deepest story you're ever going to read (though not devoid of emotion) but just endlessly fun!

Bane is absolutely brutal and I love that, this being an alternate universe it's allowed to take chances with it's characters and it feels way more unpredictable than other comics.

So much fun! Really helped me get out of a reading slump.

5☆

[Luke Gelfman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bane is a genuinely threatening villain in this and really keeps in you in suspense at how Batman is gonna handle this threat.

[Max Zappe · Rating 5 out of 5]

These absolute Batman comics remain consistently entertaining. I'm only saddened by the fact that I bought this volume the day it came out, so I'll likely br waiting a while before I see what happens next.

[Alex]

it’s cold out there in buff guy city

[Curtis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Batman guy gets into some crazy shit. Someone should seriously make a movie about him.

[Cristian · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOAHHHHHHHH, THAT WAS CRAZY!!! A lot of modern media has made Bane into a joke, BUT HE JUST GOT ALL HIS AURA BACK AND HASN'T BEEN THIS MENACING SINCE KNIGHTFALL. Bruce's intelligence and willpower were really on display from issues 9-12, especially in Ark M, it was great to see. Getting the transformation for Killer Croc, The Penguin, Two-Face, and The Riddler in two issues was a crazy move but it hooked me in even more to this universe. I don't think Bruce is venomed out right now, there's gotta be some way he survived that second encounter with Bane. Can't wait to see where the story goes from here, but now I'm annoyed because I have to wait a month for issue #13 to come out.

P.S. Obviously I didn't read an unpublished volume, I just didn't want to log every issue so it made more sense

[Yoghavaarman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just when i thought they were done, they cooked even more holy hell. Batman in literal hell. Absolute Depression.

[Pruett · Rating 4 out of 5]

It doesn’t ALL work, but issue #14 (the last of this collection!) is some of the most fun I’ve ever had reading a comic book. Dragotta’s art hasn’t disappointed for a SECOND.

[Sutton Patterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bane saying “Hello.” lives in my head rent free.

This arc is so good I had to go back and re-read just one month after my first read through.

This Arc, including the prologue, shows a lot of growth for this universe’s Batman. First that comes to mind is Batman fighting Fries’ monsters and being smart enough to know when to step away and not live out some sort of death fantasy. Bruce’s meeting with Matches Malone hits so much harder after reading a 2nd time because you understand why he is so horrified. A lowly street vagrant, or anyone for that matter save Batman, is not prepared to see the atrocities lining the walls of Ark M. Even then Batman is horrified and brought to the brink during his time inside Ark M. The pages of Batman flying through Gotham in issues 7 & 8 has my favorite use of color so far in this series, they look great.

Bruce’s time in Ark M was a really great issue. You got to see a lot of the monsters hiding in there and, what sort of messed up version of a Batman rogue will he run in to this time? And with the benefit of reading this while having issue 16 on the shelf and Ark M also read, you get teased of the different kinds of projects JK’s world leading scientists are working on. The Isley Ecosystem, Langstrom’s monsters, whatever tf was in the Klay biome! Batman hits new levels of preparedness and ingenuity. I still think on my 2nd read through I had to slow down to verify that YES..Batman IS hiding weapons inside of his skin. What a freak. This guy is on a whole other level. He’s hiding tear gas and explosives in his body?! I can’t help but wonder how they don’t go off or what would happen if they did. Batman making knuckle blades out of his own TEETH and rerouting a feeding tube to spray his own stomach acid is the kind of messed up, crazy ingenuity only Scott Snyder in the Absolute universe could come up with.

Bane. What a monster. I think I sped through my first time reading this and wasn’t getting the most out of Bane as a character and the absolute terrifying threat that he poses. Also, with the benefit of having read it once already the 2nd read through helped me really understand that this iteration of Bane is the personification of war. I mean his first scene he interrupts peace talks between warring leaders and his mere presence and threat pushes one of them to immediately abandon any notion of peace and continue to serve their master of war. Bane follows it up the rest of the story by being an absolute menace. Every *THOM THOM WHAM WHAM* hits so hard and any interaction a regular human has with Bane you wonder how they aren’t dead but, still all come away decimated.

Issue 11 the Bane origin story also had better presence on my 2nd read through. I thought Alfred’s voice over was a little on the nose in the beginning saying “This is how he breaks your back.” And why is Alfred talking like this? Everyone knows Bane’s claim to fame in the mainline universe so why is Alfred speaking of this prophetically like he can see the future and knows what’s going to happen to Batman all over again? In my 2nd read though, I took “back” in this sense as more metaphorical. Bane, during his origin, broke his own back in order to set his country free. Back in this sense is your support, who backs you, who has your back, who pushed you and got you to where you are now. For Bane’s case it was his father. This iteration of Bruce/Batman is very different from the main universe because he surrounds himself with many childhood friends and has a team of support from the ground floor. Bruce’s friends are his “back” in this sense. So instead of rehashing Bane’s iconic moment for the Nth time Snyder takes it in a new direction by the back being metaphorical for your support system. This also highlights Bane’s intellectual strength, which is often overshadowed by his physical strength, by way of targeting Bruce’s friends to get to him mentally. Still, Bane’s physical strength is front and center as he smashes the Crime Alley gang and pushes them in the direction of “who they were always meant to be.”


The book ends with the way a good, classic Batman story does. Batman overcoming the odds, getting the option to sink to the enemies level and use their tools against them but, instead our hero prevails by doing things his own way, playing by his own rules, and not falling to the temptations and ease the side of evil presents. This is paralleled throughout the book with flashbacks between Bruce and Croc and also highlights their relationship which makes Waylon’s current situation even more tragic and pitiful. This book opens the floodgates and gives you a peek in to the dark, atrocious world ahead and what will really be in store for our Batman.

And that last page with Joker and Bane? Everything we’ve seen Bane do and he’s still not the biggest monster and gets shown up in the last page of his debut arc.

[JD Martinez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is more of a 4.5 star review, they just haven’t implemented that for some reason.


Honestly I feel a little bad not giving it five stars because 99 percent of the book deserves that. The art, the narrative, all of it is nearly flawless except for one pretty major thing. It’s technically a spoiler (despite it happening in the first like 4 pages but) so be warned.

The art is phenomenal. It’s so smart with its use of color. Gotham is drawn with these moody shadows that set you in for the gritty noir tone, but they use that to make other areas stand out more. Bruce is in this medical environment that almost flash bangs you. It’s sterile, cold, isolated, and lonely. Bane’s venom is one of few bright spots throughout Gotham so it look even more otherworldly. It’s all beautifully done. This book also just has some of the most fucking insane, most metal as hell images I’ve ever seen in a comic like dude holy shit.

The character work with is Bane is fantastic. His first scene with Bruce is one of the best threatening villain introductions I’ve ever seen. His dialogue feels so calculated, reflecting his way of fighting style. The book does such a good job of selling you he is scary because he just deconstructs you. Like it says in the text it breaks you down physically and mentally until there’s nothing left. And all of that is used as a great parallel for Batman. Both being brutal, intelligent, and at war but for different reasons. Again, it’s just fantastic.

While I’ll say I think I personally like volume one more, saying which one is “better” is really a coin toss. I think volume two is more fun and intense. It’s high octane all the way though
When it does slow down it’s to make you sit with what’s happening, and the writing is still interesting enough to not let you get bored. If you were to ask me which one I think is better on two different days you’d probably get two different answers.

There is…one pretty big flaw in this volume. The book starts with introducing Matches Malone, a character that comes out of nowhere after not being mentioned at all in the previous story. And despite the previous story showing the strong bond of Bruce’s childhood friends, even showing showing a childhood photo of the group several times because their bond just runs that deep, volume two says “Hey he was here the whole time too! I promise!” And just as quickly as he is introduced, Matches is quickly killed. And the volume spends the first like one or two issues really making you sit with Matches’ death like it’s supposed to hit us really hard. Like dog I just met this guy I don’t know him. Its very obviously just used to get Batman in Ark M and is frankly a little lazy. This is what makes me not give it a higher score, but to be fair the story quickly forgets Matches’ death and moves on to the cool stuff. So at least you don’t spend too long being sad over a character introduced two pages ago.

All in all though the book is great! I can’t wait to see what more they do in Absolute Batman, especially with the more classic villains. If you liked the first volume, read this one! It’s a high octane, intense, stupid fun read full of “Oh FUCK that’s cool” moments.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this version of Bane, bringing him back to his classic Knightfall form being both a literal and mental giant. He breaks the bat in record time (and repeatedly!) compared to his Knightfall counterpart. I don’t know if I’ve ever looked forward to a villain’s downfall more than with Absolute Bane.

I’m going to keep reading this series to see where it goes, but be warned, it’s got WAY more body horror going on than I signed up for. Dragotta really cranks up the violence, many of his panels are downright gruesome. Like we get it, DC wants Bruce Wayne, and anybody in his immediate friend group, to suffer lol

[Chase B · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm such a Batman stan and I'm also an Absolute Batman stan.

This volume sees more being revealed as it pertains to the Ark M project which seems to be a sort of lab to create well, abominations. Some of these abominations could possibly be some of Batman's classic villains. In this, the big bad is none other than Bane. His backstory is as good as the original, but the sheer ridiculousness of size/growth of his physical body is a bit much. Look past that and it's still a great read.

Oh, almost forgot...enter Selina Kyle.

[Parker Berg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ll give the Absolute Zero arc a 3 out of 5, I didn’t find much interest and nothing was really grabbing my attention. But I’ll say that I loved Mr. Freeze is like a monster from a horror movie.

I’ll give the Abomination arc a 5 out of 5, I enjoyed this one more than the first volume. Bane even scared me a few times and I kept wondering “how big can this guy get?”

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Aaand, you lost me.

[MannyLikesPie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like how the issue from this volume was better and better with each chapter. This and black mirror are so far my favorite written work from the goat, excited for vol 3 and the Ark M special!

[Ricardo Calderón de la Barca · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.1/5

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m sorry scoot this one did not slap as hard as the first one :( I liked it but freeze and bane are kinda boring. But killer croc stays my goat and so does Selina thank you❤️