Inside ABSOLUTE BATMAN 20-Rise Of THE ROBINS! Plus Barbra Gordon: BREAKOUT!

Added: 2026-05-19

[00:00:00]Hey guys, how's it going? Michael Troy here. Today we're looking at Absolute Batman issue 20, Rise of the Robins. So cool. But let's make it a double feature. A double bat feature at that.

[00:00:11]And also look at Barbara Gordon breakout from the cool ass uh story line going on in the pages of the Matt Fraction and Jorge Jimenez Batman. So fun, so exciting. Cannot wait to share it with you. Subscribe to my channel if you haven't already. Hit that like button and let's get right into it. All right, Babs. We'll look at you next. So, this is Absolute Batman. As you know, if you've been following my channel, I've reviewed all 20 issues so far. It [clears throat] is totally amazing. One of my favorite series, probably the one I would not miss. Um, it's such a great take on Batman. The Absolute Line is pretty much DC's answer to the Ultimate Line. Finally done right. Um, I feel like they've tried different initiatives like with the New 52 and things like that that didn't quite hit as hard as this one. And boy is it good. Here's an ad for the Supergirl movie. And I've gone on record as saying I'm not a big fan of hot mess, drunk party girl, Supergirl. But hey, maybe it'll be good.

[00:01:14]I suppose I'll reserve judgment. But another true confession. I haven't even seen the latest Superman movie yet. I feel like, am I missing out? I guess I am missing out. I need to definitely hunker down and watch that. So, Nick Draata art here is so beautiful. Um, one of the codes that I cracked recently in the absolute uh universe and maybe it's more obvious to other people is that I feel like they're using a lot of the sensibilities of manga. There I said it correctly.

[00:01:45]Whoever uh called me out for my pronunciation of manga potato. Anyway, um but I feel like the storytelling, like the fast pace, the speed lines, the fight comic element, like it's so good.

[00:02:01]I love these double page spreads um for the uh title page, especially when it contains like art like this and we get a glimpse of this horrifying like absolute joker who is no joke. Uh, the straw man, Scott Snyder, writer, Nick Draata, artist Frank Martin, color is special.

[00:02:20]Shout out to Frank Martin for providing beautiful colors on this book that really shine in this issue, especially Tom Napolitano, Letterer, and the usual.

[00:02:32]I feel like I think there's like a hundred freaking variant covers to this.

[00:02:37]And I'm like I was talking to the guy at my LCS local comic shop and um saying how like what the WTF actually do we need that for? Anyway, so gripping the latest development in the absolute bat universe is that we lost Commissioner Gordon last issue crazily enough. Um that shows like the high stakes of this series that they don't have a problem with killing off such a highprofile character. So, you know that um anything can happen and I like that aspect. Um so, Batman Batman Batman got framed for it though um by Scarecrow actually kind of did it and so Batman is like freaked out. Um you know, Jim was sitting on some sort of information about Batman's mother who's alive. Well, maybe not anymore after recent developments in the story, but we learn that she's tied the to the court of vowels. And spoiler is coming, of course. Here's an little appearance from this absolute Harley Quinn who's directly tied into the Robins. I love this version so much. I was thinking I generally do love the character of Harley Quinn, but I feel like sometimes what happens with villains is when they're put too much in the spotlight, they get way too watered down. I mean, like she's almost like a caricature of herself in a way, if that makes sense. Um, you know, the Mr. J pudding blah blah blah is just like I don't know. And I'm, you know, a cheeky lesbian at the same time. Not that there's anything wrong with it, but I don't know. It just seems like she's it's taken like this complex character and almost made her two-dimensional in a way. That's my rant. Can you love the freaking aesthetic of absolute Riddler here? This is so cool. I love how they, you know, so the Batman's rogues gallery started out as his friends in this universe. And um they were all experimented on Batman included at Arkham Asylum and turned into these monstrosities.

[00:04:42]um some much the worst for wear and um you know Ed Nigma here always had like you know an inquisitive mind and stuff like that and it really screwed up his brain and he's trying to figure it out and I just love the visuals here.

[00:04:57]Perfect examples of the popping colors looking really excellent here. This is Killer Croc. I mean I wonder I you know the sustainability of this is questionable. Um it's so good. You know what I mean? But I feel like once they finally introduce everyone, how how [clears throat] how much further can they go? By the way, stick around not only for the breakout Barbara Gordon, but there's a preview of Absolute Green Arrow in the back of this. And well, I'll tell you how I feel about it once we get there. Um, I like this. This is cool. Um, so I guess this is Too Faced.

[00:05:33]I feel like the only thing they missed in the design here, it would have been cool to have his hair be half black and half white instead of all white. But hey, that's, you know, I'm think I guess I'm thinking um in lines of Kruella Deville or something. I don't know. So Batman is like put and planted in this prison >> [clears throat] >> um to sort of get intel. Oh, I had to point out something funny. Um, Harley Quinn calls uh Alfred here, who's more of like a spy operative working with Batman than his butler, but she c refers to him as Jeieves. And I kind of thought that was hilarious because on one hand, it's a little bit self-aware and maybe tongue and cheek pointing at the fact that he normally should be Batman's butler, but on the other hand, I don't know.

[00:06:30]Look at this. The storytelling is so beautiful. The bravery and just like the choice to use like such an open panel with like a great amount of negative space leaving the heavy lifting to the colorist who of course nailed it again with this brilliant like sunrise as Batman like hang glides onto the side of this wall and starts scaling it. It's so good to get inside, you know, the prison or whatever. And uh we get Joe Chill.

[00:07:00]We're getting a lot, you know, they've been peacemealing like what happened uh that led to the events of uh the loss of Batman's father in the series. Like I said, uh his mother is still questionably alive. Um I think she was taken out by the quarter owls. I'm not sure. Anyway, uh so Batman comes to confront Joe Chill in his cell about uh why he stopped talking to Bruce Wayne.

[00:07:30]Apparently Bruce Wayne went to his cell every month like trying to fish information out of him about what happened that day at the zoo. We know something happened at the zoo that you know some sort of like attack event, whatever that led to the demise of Thomas Wayne and arguably the birth of the Batman. So Jo here is like not giving any information really and then the scarecrow pops up in his cell and they have this like tetat and um that was cool. I love this panel here, him like cuz the colors are so like drab and it's like dark inside a prison cell and then when he stabs him there's this like flash of red behind him to denote the violence of it and just it just shows how like cohesive and important all the moving parts are in a comic book to bring the story together with the art and the letters and the colors. It's just like that's why comics are magic.

[00:08:32]The scarecrow is so cool, you know. Um, body horror and gory grotescery is like the name of the game for the absolute uh Batman rogues villains. And um so Batman's like Scarecrow's like not only are you is he not going to talk to Bruce Wayne anymore, he's not going to get any questions to anyone elsewhere. And he basically sets up this situation where he's unaliving himself and Batman through the bars is like there's tug a rope like trying to save him and then scarecrow cuts it and then Joe Chill is just left dangling which is so crazy, right? So Joe Chill, you know, is so important to the mythos of Batman and gosh, where, you know, we're going to find out exactly how he is involved eventually, I would assume. And um I don't know. It's just I'm in I'm so invested in this book. I love it so much. Love the series of little panels here. It's so funny too cuz you know it's like I started reading comics probably in the Bronze Age and I definitely embraced like the image era because I love art so much and like the I felt it was so, you know, beautiful and explosive and really showed the different things you can do with comic book art. And [snorts] so I appreciate this too because it's just such pure storytelling in a rapid fire succession.

[00:10:02]I just love it. I love when they uh you know I the tropes of comics are so good.

[00:10:09]It's like if you know you know or whatever. Obviously this page has sort of like a faded color quality to denote that it's not present like it was taking place in the past. And finally, it's so funny because I thought this was going to be like the big rip and robin issue.

[00:10:26]Look at how cool that big Robin robot is. The Robin thing is like the initiative to be anti-Batman. They're going to take Batman down. Uh he is the villain in this book. Um they think he killed Commissioner [clears throat] Gordon or or what Officer Gordon, whatever he is in this current storyline. It's hard to keep track of everything. You know what I'm saying?

[00:10:50]But anyway, so here come the robins. Um, it's so cool. I just the buildup is so great. And then I'm just so ready for the confrontation. It feels very like it's giving me geforce in a lot of way.

[00:11:03]Uh, got what's the I don't know the other name for it. Gotcha man or whatever. But love it. And then damn it, he's like Alfred's like, "Get out of there. Get out of there." And Batman's like, "Oh." and he just takes his axe off his chest. And then next issue, Batman versus the Robins. I cannot wait.

[00:11:23]Oh my god, it's going to be so good, y'all. Anyway, so here comes the preview for Absolute Green Arrow. And this is I am so not excited about this. I I don't feel there was given enough here to really leave me with a definitive sort of qualified opinion on whether it's going to be good or not. Porn shack perish.

[00:11:46]Never heard of that writer before. Porn sack. My bad.

[00:11:51]Pish.

[00:11:53]I don't know. Raphael Albuquerque. I mean, even this like whatever. It's so funny, too. Oh, no. I thought that was an anarchy symbol. Is it an anarchy or an arrow? But I don't know. I'm just like, okay, whatever. He looks dark and kind of grim, almost grotesque. and like art by Raphael Albuquerque looks pretty good, but I don't know. They They're not giving us anything here. Like I don't really see Oliver Queen. I guess this is him. I don't know. And then it's just like what? What happened? I don't know.

[00:12:24]I have no idea. Anyway, it's time to move on to Barbara Gordon Breakout. This is so good. As I knew it would be. I saw the little preview and the art like drew me in right away. The cover is by Carl Kershel. um who did Titan Shear one, one of my the most gorgeously drawn miniseries ever.

[00:12:45]Um so we in Batman in the pages of Batman, you know, Vandal Savage is the mayor, Poison I No, Vandal Savage is the police commissioner and or or something and um and Poison Ivy is the mayor. I'm like so realistic, right? like like watching Batman fight these people for years and suddenly they're running the city. It's so crazy when literal criminals take over government. I just hate when that happens. Anyway, only in comic books. So Barbara is being taken to the prison here. And I mean, who doesn't love a good pro prison drama? Have you never seen us? Speaking of which, holy bat basket. I the new like Batman is supposed to be kind of sexy. So I kind of love that he just like went for it.

[00:13:37]Writer Maro Maro Tamaki um artist. This could be a new favorite artist alert.

[00:13:43]And I'm so going to try to pronounce it correctly because it looks like such a cool name. A man Nahulan. Um I don't know. I probably slaughtered that but I think I got close. colors Tamaro Bon villain letters Ariana Maher and a bunch of variant covers and Carl Kershaw on the cover. So the Bad family is like oh my god Bats is in jail but we can't break her out so let's just let her rot there. But it's she kind of did it on her own. Vandal Savage I was like is he giving slight Bad Bunny vibes? I don't know.

[00:14:17]So, the Bat family is like trying to figure out what to do while Babs is in prison and just standing there, I guess, is what they should do. So, this is the big like prison that Vandal Savage constructed. And I love its design. It's so crazy. It looks like it's almost upside down. And that is probably intentional by design. I'm not sure.

[00:14:39]Supermax. Like H. So basically he erected the supermax after and now like they're arresting and prosecuting like DAs and police and just like the good people in town. It's basically like sort of Vandal Savage's revenge tour perhaps.

[00:14:59]I don't know. So anyway, Babs is in on the inside because um these people like the uh the old DA and like I don't know cops and whatever good people are in there getting framed and then they're getting wiped out and then it's being made look like it was self-inflicted. So Babs is here basically to put an end to it. Love this art. It is so beautiful.

[00:15:27]The colors are amazing too. Um, it's just fun. I mean, what a great concept.

[00:15:33]Barbara Gordon prison break. I mean, who doesn't want that? So, of course, she's got to meet the gals. So, part of her thing is she has to figure out how to get to the men's side to like figure out who's doing this and da da whatever. And the men's and the women's side is separated by an electric fence, which is kind of funny because like why? Like, how is it that close? It's like you would think that this is men's and this is women's.

[00:16:00]I don't know. Whatever. I'm just here for the for the show.

[00:16:05]So, you know, immediately she makes a great first impression. Uh people think she looks familiar. Um and uh you know, the chicks are going to throw down. Barbara's going to defend herself. She's not going to be anyone's [ __ ] And thank God for that, right? I love this panel. so much for some reason. I don't know why. Anyway, the art is good. It's He's giving me slight like some uh maybe Jamie Huid, a little bit of Ed Bennis. It's just fun and I really like it. And uh what else? Oh, just talking about the history of Barbara Gordon. You know, she was Batgirl, she was Oracle. At one point she was both. She had the Birds of Prey on her side and now she's on her own. Oh well. Do we have any doubt that Babs is like so for formidable that she is just going to own this in the best way possible? Of course she is.

[00:17:03]Meanwhile, I cannot believe for this whole entire issue like the Bat family is just literally standing around doing nothing, talking about it, trying to figure out a plan. I feel like they usually like way more proactive than that. And so I mean and of course you know the prison drama it's like they didn't get to the showers yet but they definitely got to the messaul. I mean there are a few like you know boxes we have to tick if we're going to do all the tropes of a prison drama. Right. So she rubs mashed potatoes or goo or whatever the hell it is on her nose. And it's like is is Jim Gordon your dad? You are he's your father isn't he? He's your daddy.

[00:17:45]And she's like well it's not a word I would use. And then of course violence breaks out cuz these are angry people with a lot of daddy issues and they're pissed and they're just not having it. [snorts] I do love how like this is after several fights the guards are finally like are you causing trouble? You're coming with this as everyone's whose ass she's kicked is just lying there on the ground and then so they throw her. This has a very unsatisfying, no spoilers here at the end because it has a very unsatisfying conclusion. I was a little miffed by that, but so she's thrown in solitary confinement. She's like, "Hey, uh, you look familiar." Uh, [clears throat] or you know my father. And he's like, "Yeah, he put me in bars a couple years ago, so now it's your turn. I thought that was so evil and just like kind of deliciously satisfying at the same time." Um, so she's in her sale washing her hands and she hears like these noises and stuff and we don't know exactly what's happening and she turns around to see we don't know. Oh, they're saying sh. So, I feel like this is an ally for sure. This is not someone who's out to get her. It's someone who's going to help her out. I wonder who it could be. Okay, now I'm intrigued. I want to come back. There's a horrible green arrow preview again. Um, I don't know what else is going on. Well, you know, I have to say that was an amazing first issue. I am totally in on that. And of course, Absolute Batman was a banger.

[00:19:19]And I will be back for both of these continuing stories. So, please make sure to subscribe to my channel, hit that like button, hype the video so I can get more views and get a broader exposure of comic books to my comic bookloving audience. Um, hit like, subscribe, all that. See you real soon. Thanks, guys.