How ‘Absolute Batman’ Redesigned Batman

Absolute Batman creative team Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta talk about the controversial choices to get rid of Batman’s cape and make him massive.

Getting Rid of the Cape

Artist Nick Dragotta talked about his thought process when redesigning Batman for the revamp series. While he wanted to harken a little back to the character’s original inspiration, he also did not want to be too beholden to nostalgia- hence making the cape into two separate bat-wings. Dragotta also revealed how the cape will allow Batman to do some fun new ways of fighting.

“The idea is to do a new Batman for today, and the challenge is when, like, I’m a fan and I’m so beholden to the nostalgia and the 80-plus years of comics behind it that I didn’t want to, I wanted it to still be Batman, in a sense. So, like, you don’t mess with the silhouette. You don’t mess with the core of who Batman is. The ears, the cowl, the symbol on the chest, and then within that, then you mess with it. So that was kind of my thinking. And then also just looking at what inspired him in the past, and I remember seeing Bob Kane’s original drawings and him being influenced by Da Vinci’s flying man that, he drew a guy with kind of like, bat wings. And then Scott and I were talking about the story and the character, and we were like let’s draw upon the inspiration of bats and let’s see what they do. And then just the more research I did on bats, I’m like, oh, that’s really cool. They walk on their hands, you know, and Scott was like yeah, what if in fight scenes he pops up? He does stilt walks and things like that and kicks, and then it just goes from there. And then it was like, well, how could that work? And so we were getting into the idea of programmable capes and things that, almost like tent poles in the seams.”

Dragotta also elaborated more on both the in-universe and meta-explanations for why the bat-wings are functional.

“And I love the idea of the tethers and his cape. You know, some people draw it with the long, kind of spiky tethers, and I was like, well, what if those tethers can separate? And so that was kind of the impetus of it and you know, just following form too. As an artist, I think all great superhero costumes follow form, and what I mean by that is the contours of the body. And so you let those lines be your guide. And then just who this character is. He’s a do-it-yourselfer. He’s a city engineer. He’s someone who rolls up his sleeves and figures out he’s still the genius that we know Bruce Wayne is. So he could, I think it’s totally believable that he could create this costume and do the things that he’s doing with it.”

Absolute Batman is a Thick Boi

Writer Scott Snyder revealed that making Batman a hulking, thick guy physique was his idea. Initially, Dragotta preferred to keep the character design his more traditional, leaner look. But Snyder kept insisting on making him bigger. 

“It took me a while to just convince Nick. Nick kept sending designs, and I kept drawing a bigger outline around him being bigger, bigger, bigger, like, his shoulders, everything. And then the emblem was similar. I was like, bigger, bigger, bigger, you know, because it was just like, this dude is about to explode.”

Revamping the Bat-Logo

Dragotta talked how the bat-logo was also massive for practical story reasons. The logo not only protects Batman’s vitals but also converts into an axe. So he can’t have a teeny symbol or else the axe would be super tiny.

“Scott called and was like, have you seen all the talk about the symbol? I’m like, no, and then I checked it out and it just made me smile because that’s why we got into this to do, is to kind of shake it up and do something different again. Our character wouldn’t wear the baroque bat symbol. It’s not who he is. It’s also, it acts as an axe. So, you know, if. If we’re using that smaller symbol, you’ve got this beast carrying almost like this little pickaxe. Design-wise, it just doesn’t make sense. And then, like, going back to function, it’s going to protect his vitals. I mean, if I had my way, I would have protected his whole front torso, you know? So it’s like, It’s fun to play with. The reaction is awesome. That’s why we’re doing this, and it shows, too, that we’re doing our job. You know, like, we’re getting a reaction. And I know, like, I think a lot of the misconception is this is a, the new Batman. No, this is Absolute Batman. You still have your core DC universe Batman. So it’s like, he’s not going anywhere. You still have that emblem if that’s what you want.” 

Nixed Ideas 

There were some ideas that did not make the cut in the end. In an early version, Snyder talked about how Batman got his tech from Edward Nygma. The two would have a more friendly relationship in the series. Ultimately, Snyder nixed the idea- stating that he wanted Batman to be as “self-made” as possible.

“And then the other thing we thought of for a while, we had this idea that his friendship with Eddie, with Edward Nygma, would help him design some stuff that would be high tech. Like the cape would wrap around his arm and then harden and have, like, spikes and that kind of thing. Like, it would be nano, and it just became too high tech where you’re like, It cuts against the character. Everything should be self-made, so now everything is mechanical. He’s got, like, the stilts that are bars in the cape that he can use with hooks that retract and spikes that come out, like, all kinds of stuff, but it’s all mechanical and DIY. So I love it.”

Absolute Batmobile

Something that was not seen in any previews was the new design for the Batmobile. But Dragotta promises that it is coming. 

“Oh, yeah. You’re gonna see it in issue #2, and when you see it, I think you’re gonna, like, everyone’s gonna go, of course. Like, it’s just. It fits. It’s just perfect, it’s awesome. I’m loving it. I mean, there’s multiple versions of it. Yeah, It’s rad. I can’t wait. I can’t wait.”

Absolute Batman #1 hits comic book shops on October 6th.

Source: Comicbook.com

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