Absolute Batman #1

Dec 2024 · DC · 4.99 USD

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“The Zoo, Part One of Five”

About this Issue

Absolute Batman #1 marks the debut of DC's Absolute Universe imprint — the first sustained attempt since the New 52 to build an entirely new shared continuity alongside the main DCU rather than replacing it — making it a genuine publishing milestone. Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta use the issue to introduce a radical reimagining of the Dark Knight: a working-class, 24-year-old civil engineer who grew up alongside his future rogues in Crime Alley, inverting more than 85 years of Bruce Wayne mythology in one fell swoop. The issue also reverses the moral polarity of the entire Batman mythology by recasting the Joker as a secretive billionaire playboy and Alfred Pennyworth as a combat-hardened MI6 operative, turning the classic wealth-and-privilege narrative on its head. It went through at least eight printings within its first eleven months of release, demonstrating a level of reader demand that reshaped DC's editorial ambitions for the entire Absolute line.

writer Scott Snyder · artist, inker Nick Dragotta · colorist Frank Martin · letterer Clayton Cowles · cover Nick Dragotta

ComicBooks.com Value

Our Model is In Beta

Raw (NM) $81

CGC 9.8 · 9948 in census $319

CGC 9.6 · 468 in census $190

CGC 9.4 · 178 in census $161

CGC 9.2 · 70 in census $134

CGC 9.0 · 56 in census $105

CGC 8.5 · 37 in census $105*

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CGC 8.0 · 19 in census $105

CGC 7.5 · 2 in census $74*

CGC 7.0 · 5 in census $74*

CGC 6.5 · 1 in census $65*

CGC 6.0 none in existence

CGC 5.5 · 2 in census $38*

* estimate — limited direct-sales data at this grade

Our model’s value — refined as new sales data arrives · CGC census counts shown where available

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CGC 9.8 ▾ $550–$1,495 6 listings

CGC 9.8 $550 CGC 9.8 $574.99 CGC 9.8 $799.95 CGC 9.8 · Signed $950 CGC 9.8 · Signed $999 CGC 9.8 · Signed · Foil $1495

CGC 9.6 $499 1 listing

Raw — MINT ▾ $170–$399 3 listings

MINT $169.99 MINT $349.99 MINT $399

Raw — NM+ ▾ $350–$425 2 listings

NM+ $349.99 NM+ $424.99

Raw — NM/M $299 1 listing

Raw — NM ▾ $9.99–$420 8 listings

NM · Variant $9.99 NM · Variant $55 NM $284.98 NM $300 NM $319.99 NM $349.99 NM · Signed $379.99 NM $419.99

Raw / ungraded ▾ $4.99–$1,850 28 listings

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3rd print $15 7th print $32 Variant · 2nd print $58 Signed $60 Variant · 2nd print $67.99 NM · Variant · 2nd print $79.99 Foil · 10th print $124.99 NM+ · Signed · 1:25 variant · 3rd print $349.99

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History

The series was formally announced at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2024, where Snyder and Dragotta debuted character designs and established the book as the flagship title of the DC All In initiative. Snyder had originally conceived the working-class Batman concept only as a pitch device to illustrate the Absolute Universe's central ethos to other writers, and he initially planned only a consulting role on the project; fellow writer James Tynion IV persuaded him to take the book on as its author. Snyder agreed on the condition that Nick Dragotta — best known for co-creating the Image Comics sci-fi western East of West with Jonathan Hickman — be the series' artist, and one of the team's earliest creative decisions was to make the Absolute Batman physically far larger than any prior mainstream incarnation, a deliberate design choice to convey a sense of primal, street-level power.

Trivia · 8 facts

First issue of DC's Absolute Universe imprint, published October 9, 2024 (cover-dated December 2024); the Absolute Universe is an in-continuity alternate reality distinct from — but running parallel to — the main DC Universe.
Written by Scott Snyder, with art by Nick Dragotta, colors by Frank Martin, and lettering by Clayton Cowles; the 42-page debut issue was rated Teen.
Absolute Universe first appearances (in-universe): Bruce Wayne / Batman as a 24-year-old blue-collar civil engineer and self-trained vigilante; Alfred Pennyworth as an MI6 intelligence operative (not a butler) with an estranged daughter, Julia Pennyworth; Mayor James Gordon; Barbara Gordon; Harvey Bullock; Martha Wayne (alive in this continuity, as she was not present the night Joe Chill shot Thomas Wayne); and the Absolute Joker — introduced on the final page as an unnamed, globe-trotting billionaire who never laughs.
Characters appearing in cameo or via photograph only in issue #1: Selina Kyle, Edward Nygma (Eddie), Oswald Cobblepot (Ozzie), Harvey Dent, Waylon Jones (adult, in person at Croc's Gym), Joe Chill, Julia Pennyworth, and Thomas Wayne (deceased, referenced).
The Joker's role is inverted from mainstream DC continuity: in the Absolute Universe he is a secretive, globe-trotting billionaire who has trained with and then killed his instructors (including Henri Ducard and the League of Assassins), mirroring the journey traditionally taken by Bruce Wayne.
Roman Sionis (Black Mask) serves as the primary antagonist of issue #1's first arc, leading a terrorist gang called the Party Animals; Sal Maroni and a Falcone family representative are killed by Sionis in this issue, removing two classic mob figures from the board in the very first chapter.
The issue established that Bruce Wayne's rogues gallery — including Waylon Jones (Killer Croc), Eddie Nygma (the Riddler), Oswald Cobblepot (the Penguin), Harvey Dent (Two-Face), and Selina Kyle (Catwoman) — all grew up alongside Bruce as childhood friends in Crime Alley, a foundational premise the creative team described as the emotional center of the entire series.
The issue was reprinted in a special Batman Day 2025 edition (Batman Day 2025: Absolute Batman Special Edition #1), and an animated series adaptation was announced at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in June 2026, with Snyder as showrunner and Dragotta as producer.