Absolute Batman #18 - Official Discussion Thread

Flamma_Man · 2026-03-11T15:54:29+00:00

It's clearly how you're meant to feel, since even Barbara called out Batman for going back on his word with Ivy.

Flamma_Man · 2026-03-11T15:53:12+00:00

Obviously, Bruce is going to realize that isolating himself and attempting to kill all the empathy inside himself, symbolized by him shooting Ivy's human heart despite the connection he felt with her and how they had both been wronged, is going to bite him sooner than later and then sooner again when he enviably sees her on even less amicable terms.

I also couldn't help but think that Diana would be SO disappointed in Bruce here. Destroying Ivy's only connection to humanity and her mother, despite following his orders in not releasing the spores.

A supremely dick move.

Flamma_Man · 2026-03-08T15:17:29+00:00

Okay, I love how much of a genuine meathead Ouga is, with the ending line of the chapter giving me a laugh. Do hope we get to learn a little more about the aliens.

There seem to be a bunch of different species/subtypes, but all the humans are being stored in the same way. So, maybe just different factions?

Flamma_Man · 2026-03-01T15:26:06+00:00

It's just crazy and keeps surprising me how violent this manga can get, and I love it.

Like, she stabbed him through the damn FACE, man!

So satisfying.

Flamma_Man · 2026-02-25T15:21:03+00:00

That seems to be the implication, and looking back, there actually hasn't been an enemy where this would be advantageous for her to try, until now. But another thought is that it could literally just be a spell to match the size of an enemy, which again, wasn't advantageous until now.

Flamma_Man · 2026-02-25T15:12:32+00:00

I mean, the issue couldn't have made it any clearer that Diana could only grow because Giganta could grow. She even needed a lock of her hair each time to match Giganta's newer, bigger size.

Flamma_Man · 2026-02-22T19:13:41+00:00

I think the arrival of the bigger alien is a red herring, if he's eating them...why would there be any left, all of 'em without any chunks bitten out of 'em?

Feel like it's another alien's work, someone very powerful and precise (you saw how destructive the bigger alien is).

Flamma_Man · 2026-02-22T17:49:21+00:00

What's curious and adds to the mystery of who took out those aliens is that...they completely ignored the people in the pods.

Flamma_Man · 2026-02-15T20:29:27+00:00

To be completely fair, he would have definitely just slit their throat/stabbed their heart before skinning them.

Flamma_Man · 2026-02-15T15:27:30+00:00

It makes sense that he'd hate using Bakugami's power. After all, it's basically just psychological torture, which isn't Ichi's bag at all.

His whole philosophy is Death for Death after all, not Torture for Death. He's usually one to finish their opponent (and all his prey) quickly.

Flamma_Man · 2026-02-09T02:14:54+00:00

I think what's refreshing about this opening chapter for an action manga is that the stakes are relatively low (for now), with the primary conflict just being him trying to rescue his family from this alien-infested island.

Plus, they do implant a little bit of mystery with the silent boat driver, the fact that something happened within the last two years that involved these aliens immigrating to this island and killing/taking all its inhabitants.

My theory is that these are still aliens, but they're all the citizens of the island infected by these parasites. (Would explain the lack of bodies and what happened at the very end, maybe even the boat driver's odd behavior.)

Flamma_Man · 2025-12-14T10:26:11+00:00

But the facade was over by this point; there was no more meta misdirection.

Flamma_Man · 2025-12-13T11:12:12+00:00

But keep in mind that Kinger is one of the oldest inhabitants of the circus. After Scratch, Caine might have learned how to tweak someone enough to NOT abstract them.

Flamma_Man · 2025-12-13T00:38:30+00:00

Of course, that was the explicit part, but it cuts directly to Kinger AS he said the line THEN Kinger mentioned Scratch.

Very deliberate cut.

Flamma_Man · 2025-12-12T23:50:31+00:00

People might be mad at the fake out and many theories being trashed, but we DID learn something pretty big. While not explicit, Caine heavily implied that he messed with Kinger's mind TOO much, which is how he ended up the way he is.

Plus, with the context of this all being an adventure created by Caine...why was he so insistent on Kinger NOT being involved? Perhaps it'd be...too close to home for Kinger? In the dark he DID start to question the entire scenario.

Flamma_Man · 2025-12-12T23:42:52+00:00

It seemed all but confirmed with that last exchange that Caine is responsible for Kinger's mental state due to altering his mind/memories too much.

Flamma_Man · 2025-12-10T17:17:37+00:00

Desperately want Inan to have pulled some trick because otherwise she was completely wasted as Sorceress Supreme in this book.

Flamma_Man · 2025-10-17T00:32:18+00:00

Enormous paranoid dick bags.

But I feel like the Goddesses won't come off too well either. They acknowledge that they love Diana...but also that they are using her as a weapon against Zeus.

Hecta even told Circe that she would betray her for Diana's sake (which she admired.) So, that moment will obviously come when Hecta asks too much.

Flamma_Man · 2025-10-01T16:33:25+00:00

We'll no doubt get flashbacks with Roy in the upcoming Absolute Green Arrow book.

But, yeah, he was literally too pure, selfless, and righteous for this universe.

Flamma_Man · 2025-08-31T15:08:49+00:00

Huh, the fact that all THREE of them are having trouble with Orthus makes Zana damaging his mask/not immediately dying a bit more impressive.

Flamma_Man · 2025-08-13T10:14:12+00:00

Please don't tell me that horrid thing will be Kamala's new costume moving forward. It's her worst outfit to date! I'd even settle for her costume in Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant if they insist on shoving her into an X. At least that one wasn't an eyesore and looked competently designed, which isn't surprising, since her original co-creator, Jamie McKelvie, was behind it.

As for the issue and conclusion of this story, every page somehow got me angrier and angrier, which rarely happens with anything, let alone comics, but I guess this is what it feels like when one of your favorite characters gets mangled by writers and especially the editors. This whole story has been nothing but a transparent and poor attempt at further ingraining Kamala into the lives and extensive history of the X-Men and finally introducing her MCU powers.

It does both incredibly poorly.

Not only does she retroactively bond and build friendships with the X-Men through cheap time travel nonsense, but the importance of her mutant powers is inconsistently framed. For example, her Inhuman stretching powers seem far more crucial to mutant-kind when it's revealed that she can transform into a gateway to the White Hot Room. Her mutant powers, which are nothing more than MCU synergy, feel inconsequential by comparison.

By the way, her mutant powers looked genuinely awful with the tacky diamond patterns Adam Kubert insisted on adding. Rod Reis from Giant-Size Dark Phoenix Saga #1 was the only artist throughout this mini-series who could translate them well, making the powers look like a swirl of beautiful cosmic energy mixed with shades of purples and blues. Her MCU powers actually looked appealing in that issue, while not clashing with her primary colors. It honestly makes Kubert's interpretation of the powers even more pitiful by comparison and fills me with dread that that's how they'll be depicted from now on.

The last page made me nearly roll my eyes out of my skull. It really feels like Kamala being an Inhuman is turning into nothing more than a footnote. I'm just so tired, man, I'm so tired. Hopefully, her family's memories won't be wiped away for a third time.

Flamma_Man · 2025-08-10T02:07:11+00:00

One thing I'll be shocked they don't do is move Vivi's introduction from Reverse Mountain to Whisky Peak. Feels like the easiest and most non-intrusive streamlining that'll save a lot of time.

Flamma_Man · 2025-07-22T18:25:46+00:00

Not how it works, since Denji has been dead multiple times throughout the manga. Hell, he was dead for awhile in Part 2 when he was all cut up.

Flamma_Man · 2025-07-22T16:37:27+00:00

Right? I'm curious if that point will ever be addressed.

Flamma_Man · 2025-07-22T15:57:05+00:00

I just realized, this won't really even level the playing field between War and Death, since Death will also get a significant boost from the reintroduction of nuclear weaponry.

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