Absolute Batman creative team Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta reveal the alternate take on the Bat-mythos.
DC has a new opportunity to revamp and rethink their classic characters from the ground-up with their Absolute line-up. For Snyder and Dragotta, it has given then the opportunity to blow up the traditional Batman conventions and start the character in a much more underdog place.
‘Absolute Batman’ is Not a Billionaire
Their new version features Bruce Wayne who is scrappy, bulky engineer- not an ultra-wealthy billionaire. Alfred is also hardcore, former M16 operative who will be much more hands-on and action-driven.
Snyder talked about his new version of Bruce Wayne is an engineer. Now, Bruce has a different look at Gotham City and how is it built both metaphorically and structurally.
You see his whole history in issue #1. Alfred is trying to figure him out. After the traumatic stuff that happens early on, which is also different in our universe, Bruce starts this path to building Batman. When he’s a kid, he wins these architectural and engineering competitions. And in one of them that he wins, he makes a mobile bridge that you can take to places that have natural disasters and it’s based on a bat’s anatomy. So, he’s always a builder from the beginning. Alfred has this refrain of, “What are you building? What are you building?” He’s building Batman.
A major controversial choice is casting Bruce as a more blue-collar working man beret his vast pit of money. Snyder intentionally thought about it so Batman can’t be misinterpreted as a wealthy man beating on criminals.
I think the thing that worries me sometimes with Bruce is there are stories when it kind of feels like he’s punching down in the main universe. And it’s hard not to punch down when you’re a generational billionaire. The goal here was to always have him punching up and have him face things that seem unbeatable. Crime, for some reason in Gotham, when you open the book, is up 500%. And there’s this new gang which is ruining everything, and no one knows why. And so, the secret behind them and what’s happening is a big part of where we start.
Redesigning Alfred
Alfred Sketch Design by Nick Dragotta
When talking about the drastic change to Alfred, gone is the sweet old English butler. In his place is a bearded, grizzled warrior who is athletic and physically imposing. Artist Dragotta reveals that he wants Alfred to visually represent this old-school version of a strong man, while Bruce is the new version of it.
Just trying to represent the core of the character. I mean, this is a grizzled MI6 Alfred. He’s a badass. He could have his own title, in my opinion. He narrates the book. He’s kind of the storyteller that we’re connected to most and he’s witnessing all these events. And like we said, he is order. He might be the old ways and Bruce is the new. Can that inspire Alfred too?
For more on the interview with Snyder and Dragotta, check out the link here.
Absolute Batman #1 hits comic shops October 9th.
Source: DC.com
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