Absolute Batman #17 finally went on sale today, and it features the first clash between the Dark Knight and Poison Ivy. We've already seen some leaked images of the villain's true form, but things get somehow even more f***ed up in this latest issue.
The Absolute Poison Ivy is a full-blown horror movie monster, and arguably one of the most twisted takes on Batman's classic villains we've seen in this series to date.
An even bigger twist comes right at the end of the issue when Martha Wayne, who is still alive in the Absolute Universe, is revealed as a former member of The Court of Owls. We don't know how this iteration of the group will differ, but the expectation is that Scott Snyder will do something vastly different with them in this parallel reality.
Even visually, they no longer look like a group that rules Gotham City from the shadows; instead, the prevailing theory is that they're now activists.
Alongside artist Greg Capullo, Snyder relaunched Batman for DC Comics as part of "The New 52" era in 2011. They created The Court of Owls in the series, and last year, the writer explained how his approach to the Caped Crusader differs from his first crack at the character.
"When I wrote Batman, the first time, I put myself in Batman's shoes. Batman went up against the things that I was afraid of for myself in the world. You know, my kids were young. I only had one, I think when I started Batman, now we have three. And the oldest, who was only a little toddler when I started Batman, is now 18 and going off to college, and so it's very hard for me in this moment when I look at the world and my biggest fear is, this is what they're inheriting, is this world that feels, you know, divisive and divided and angry and broken."
"What I realized was, the first time around, I could step into Batman's cowl and say, Look, I'm really afraid of the history of this book. You know? I'm afraid that it's this legacy I'll never live up to. Well, that's the Court of Owls. The Court of Owls is the living history of the book, right? Or, you know what? I'm really afraid to be a dad again because my career is taking off, and so Death of the Family is Joker really saying to Batman, 'You don't really want a family, you just want to work and be with me.' And so it was easy, because I could just throw Batman against my fears."
"And so this concept came to me, what if I redo Batman so that he is the underdog and all these odds are stacked against him, and I am not writing from his point of view anymore. I'm almost writing from an older point of view. [Batman is this] comet of a young person who's big and tough and will not stop like a bulldozer just coming at all of the skepticism and all of the malaise and the solipsism and all of it, and just says, 'I am going to change the world for the better and just go ahead and tell me I can't because I'm just going to go right through you.'"
Check out some pages from Absolute Batman #17 below.
ABSOLUTE POISON IVY SINKS HER TEETH INTO ARK-M! Dr. Pamela Isley has been unleashed from the Ark-M facility with an unending hate and burning fire for revenge on Gotham City, and those who put her in the belly of the beast. When Batman hunts her down, he must survive a labyrinth of leveled horrors, one more gruesome after the next, as he tries to save the city from a monster it created.
ABSOLUTE BATMAN #17
Written by SCOTT SNYDER
Art by ERIC CANETE
Cover by NICK DRAGOTTA
On Sale 2/18