Absolute Batman Annual is the most insightful superhero comic about violence and anger in recent memory.
One of the many amazing things about the Absolute Batman main title has been how nothing is sacred in the Batman mythos. Martha Wayne is alive. Bruce Wayne is middle class. Batman is willing to kick a child off a boat. Alfred is a mercenary. The Joker is a billionaire who may also be a secret dragon demon. You can say a lot of things about the title, but playing safe is not one of them.
Absolute Batman 2025 Annual #11 Main Cover by Daniel Warren Johnson
This “not playing it safe” principle also applies to the Annual that came out last month. When DC first solicited theAnnual, it touted how Batman battles a white supremacy gang and the secret origin of the Batmobile. On the surface, those plot points elicits a tepid reaction from me as a reader. When superhero comics deal with too many real-world problems like systemic racism or real wars, it breaks the illusion of the superhero power fantasy.
But the Annual barrels head-first into the problem of racism. But what makes this story elevated above its contemporary superhero comics is how nuanced it treats the subject matter.
Why Taking Down White Supremacists The Batman Way Feels Good
SPOILERS FOR ABSOLUTE BATMAN ANNUAL
Bruce runs into a white supremacy group who plans on destroying an encampment of minorities. He comes in and handles the problem in the most expected way: with gratuitous violence and extreme prejudice. And too be fair, writer and artist Daniel Warren Johnson crafts a dynamic and explosive fight scene. And it feels so cathartic.
I hate racists. But I can’t do much about it in my real life. But Batman can.
So when Batman interrupts a white supremacist’s “White Power” salute by snapping his arm, it feels so satisfying as a reader. Or when Batman blasts through the groups’ headquarters and starts lighting them up with his flamethrower, it makes me pump my fist with a giant “Hell yeah!”
“I only know how to not make it worse.”
However, there are two other counterpoints to Batman’s aggressive response to battling racists as represented by Thomas Wayne and a priest character named Father Peters. If Batman’s approach to dealing with racists is straight-up violence, Father Peter’s is the other side of the spectrum: treat them with compassion and love. Thomas Wayne comes at it with a third perspective: prevent ignorance and prejudice in the first place by teaching and education.
Where this issue really shines is showing the effectiveness and failings of all three different viewpoints.
What can handle systemic problems better? Peace, compassion, and teaching? Or a strong hand of violence? All of the above? None of them?
Both Thomas Wayne and Father Peters admit not knowing what the best solution is. In a flashback, Thomas admits his struggles navigating the world’s ills to young Bruce. For Father Peters, he tells Batman to stop his rampage and violence is not the answer. But when met with a silent, but incredulous stare from Batman, Peters sheepishly admits that that he knows his peaceful way is not the most effective way to stop the emerging race riot. But he definitely knows that violence only begets more violence.
“I don’t know how to make it better. I only know how to not make it worse.”
That line resonates the most with me. Like what Thomas said, I can only do so much as one human being. I don’t know what to do with societal problems. How can I make the world better? All I could do is what is refrain from addressing the world’s problems the wrong way.
Contemplating Strength, Compassion, and Teaching
This comic is not championing might makes right. Despite Batman’s victory, it all ultimately rings hollow. Batman defeats the immediate threat of the white supremacist gang. However, in the privacy of his own thoughts and feelings, Bruce is emotionally drained.
He knows that despite obliterating this particular gang’s hideout, Bruce failed to fix the overall societal problems that spawned the gang. He can’t take a flamethrower to racism or prejudice. No amount of punching can stop disaffected young men from gravitating towards a dark, charismatic leader. What’s worst, he may have broken his father’s words that Bruce will remain a compassionate man.
“I know who you are, deep down. You have a strong and compassionate heart. All you have to do is be yourself. No matter what you do I’ll always be proud of you.”
Thomas used the words “compassionate” and “strong” to describe Bruce. On the surface, the concepts seem to be polar opposites. But Thomas’ words signal that there needs to be some sort of middle ground for both. Compassion without any will or power are just empty rhetoric. Strength without empathy is cruelty. There needs to be room in a person for both ideals to make effective change.
This is something that Batman struggles with as he impotently stands by while Father Peters dresses the wounds of the white supremacists that Batman burned with his flamethrower.
Furthermore, both strength and compassion are bolstered with teaching and education, like what Thomas advocates for. A person needs education to know how to use their strength and compassion effectively. They also need education to help open other’s minds and hearts to the idea of change.
When reading Thomas Wayne’s opening monologue to the issue, it is not hard to imagine writer and artist Daniel Warren Johnson is venting his frustrations on his seeming-inability to address social problems.
“I’m… just one person. I don’t know how to fix the world. But I know what I’m good at. Teaching. Every student I meet, I know I have a chance to make a difference in their life. So maybe someday one of my students won’t make the same mistake these people made.”
Absolute Batman Annual does not offer any easy answers to complex and complicated problem. However, it does invite readers to reflect on their reactions to ugly societal issues like racism or extremism. And hopefully, this story’s meditation on strength and compassion can also be used as a lesson on how to make positive difference in their own lives.
All images are courtesy of DC Entertainment.