Absolute Batman #12

History

Absolute Batman launched in October 2024 as the flagship title of DC's new Absolute Universe imprint, written by Scott Snyder and illustrated by Nick Dragotta, with colors by Frank Martin. The series was conceived as a ground-up reinvention in which Bruce Wayne is a working-class civil engineer with no family fortune, and many of his classic enemies — Killer Croc, the Riddler, Penguin, and Two-Face — are childhood friends whose fates he inadvertently seals by becoming Batman. By the time issue #12 was published on September 10, 2025, Snyder and Dragotta had already adjusted elements of their original plan organically — for example, moving forward the revelation of Bruce's identity to Waylon — as the emotional core of those friendships proved more powerful than anticipated. The series had by that point drawn an Eisner Award nomination for Best New Series in 2025, and its broad cultural momentum would culminate in June 2026 when an animated adaptation was announced at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, with Snyder as showrunner and Dragotta as producer.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Published September 10, 2025 (cover date: November 2025) by DC Comics; written by Scott Snyder, art and main cover by Nick Dragotta, colors by Frank Martin.
• Contains the cameo/first in-costume present-day appearance of Absolute Catwoman (Selina Kyle), setting up her fuller debut in issue #13 — her arrival was significant enough to generate public editorial discussion and a color-correction notice from DC regarding her character design across covers.
• Absolute Killer Croc (Waylon Jones) appears on the main cover — his first cover appearance — depicted in his monstrous post-Ark-M transformed state with a jaw that extends to his belly.
• The issue reveals that Bruce has been permanently altered by Ark M: a Venom delivery system has been implanted in his brain and spine, giving him augmented strength analogous to Bane's — a lasting biological change to this version of Batman.
• Bane's off-panel assault on Bruce's inner circle is revealed in full: Oswald Cobblepot has had every bone in his body broken, Harvey Dent is severely scarred and split, and Edward Nygma suffers a mental attack — each transformation seeding their Absolute Universe villain forms.
• The issue received multiple print runs and was published with at least five cover variants: Cover A (Nick Dragotta), Cover B (Paul Pope), Cover C (Denys Cowan), Cover D (Stevan Subić glow-in-the-dark variant), and a 1:25 and 1:50 ratio variant.
• The broader Absolute Batman series — of which this issue is part — earned an Eisner Award nomination for Best New Series in 2025, and an animated adaptation was announced in June 2026 at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival with Snyder as showrunner and Dragotta as producer.
• Absolute Batman #12 is collected in Absolute Batman Vol. 2: Abomination, the trade paperback collecting the Bane arc.

Full credits

Variants (8)

Second Printing Nick Dragotta Logo Color Variant Cover

cover

Denys Cowan Cardstock Variant Cover

cover

Paul Pope Cardstock Variant Cover

cover

Paul Pope Virgin Cardstock Variant Cover

cover

Stevan Subic Cardstock Variant Cover

cover

Stevan Subic Glow-in-the-Dark Cardstock Variant Cover

printing

Fourth Printing Nick Dragotta Logo Color Variant Cover

printing

Third Printing Nick Dragotta Logo Color Variant Cover