Hello there, and welcome back to Thing of the Week! First off, sorry for missing last week - I had been revising for exams [or, more accurately, playing Helldivers] and hadn't done anything worthy of a TOTW. Also, just letting you all know now, there won't be a TOTW next week as I'm away.
With the housekeeping aside, though - today we're talking about DC's Absolute Universe! You may or may not remember when I talked about Marvel's Ultimate Universe back in TOTW#45 - a 'reboot' of the Marvel universe with new interpretations of some of the best characters. DC's Absolute Universe is pretty much the same deal, but with a hint of 2000s edginess that defined the original Ultimate Universe.
The gist of this one is that the villain Darkseid found a way to create a new universe teeming with his own 'Darkseid energy' [I'm not joking, this is actually what they call it] - meaning that the universe is a lot darker, so to speak, and the main characters, whilst having the same basic traits, are almost complete reimaginings under completely different, and much more dire, circumstances. The Absolute line currently encapsulates Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, Martian Manhunter, The Flash and Green Lantern, and I've been keeping up to date with every single issue that gets released.
Starting with Absolute Batman, this is definitely one of the major highlights of the new universe. This time, Batman isn't rich - he's just a really [really] buff civil worker with martial arts training who knows his way around Gotham. Growing up on the streets, he's actually close friends with a lot of Prime Batman's rogues gallery - the Riddler, the Penguin and Killer Croc, to name a few - and uses them as his team. It's been a wild ride so far, but my favourite arc has definitely been Absolute Zero, which features the COOLest [I'm sorry] version of Mr. Freeze I have ever seen.
Next, there's Absolute Wonder Woman - now, I've never really been able to get into the Wonder Woman comics, which is why it was so surprising to me just how awesome her Absolute counterpart's comics are. This time, Diana grows up in literal hell, eventually finding her way to Gateway City, whcih she defends from a variety of mythological threats. The art in this run is absolutely gorgeous, clearly taking inspiration from Ancient Greek art. I love it.
Then, there's Absolute Superman, which answers the age-old question: ''What if Superman was a communist?'' This time, Superman grew up on Krypton as a member of the working class before the planet exploded, and coming to Earth, he becomes engaged in trying to destroy the corrupt Lazarus Corporation. It's been such an interesting run so far, and some of the art - especially when Braniac's on the page - is nothing short of incredible. I'm really looking forward to seeing more of this one.
Absolute Martian Manhunter, though, has to be my favourite so far. It completely reimagines John Jones as an FBI agent whose mind is suddenly invaded by an alien alter-ego known as the Martian, which is such a cool concept in and of itself. That paired with the amazing writing and utterly incredible art easily makes for one of the best comics I've read this year! It's just a shame that it's such a limited run, but I hope we see more of this at some point in the future.
Absolute Flash is a lot of fun, too, and centres around Wally West rather than Bart Allen [who is dead, poor guy]. It seems a lot more grounded than many of the other Absolute comics, using the superhero setting as more of a background to explore the characters. I'm really enjoying it so far, but it's just a shame that all of the issues have been really short.
Finally, there's Absolute Green Lantern - this, I'd say, is probably the weakest one I've read, but not by much at all - and that's probably just because the story hasn't really gotten as juicy as the others just yet. It almost completely reimagines every main character in the prime Green Lantern comics, and, whilst the story feels a bit scattered right now, it's definitely looking like they're starting to bring everything together.
Overall, DC's Absolute Universe is absolutely [I'm sorry again] brilliant, and a great starting point if you're a fan of superheroes and looking for a good entry point, considering this is a new continuity and all. So far, it's not nearly as interconnected as Marvel's Ultimate Universe, but I'm really excited to see where this goes. If you only plan on reading one comic run from the Absolute Universe, though, I really encourage that you give Absolute Martian Manhunter a shot. With that said, though, thanks for reading, and I'll see you in a couple of weeks for another TOTW!
Extra Info:
Yeah this is a comic universe so I got nothin' - instead, you can have this: a call to go to your local comic shop and check it out!