DC's top talent gathered on Friday at New York Comic-Con to discuss their plans for the future of DC's All In. They discussed new and upcoming titles such as Jeremy Adams on Aquaman and Green Lantern: Fractured Spectrum, Joshua Williamson on Superman with Dan Mora, Mark Waid on Justice League Unlimited and Action Comics, Ram V's The New Gods, Al Ewing's Metamorpho: The Element Man, and JSA by Jeff Lemire. However, what really stole the show was the Absolute Universe.
In addition to discussing Al Ewing's upcoming Absolute Green Lantern, the panel revealed Absolute Flash by Jeff Lemire with artist Nick Robles. The series will feature a teenage Wally West trying to make his way in a world with no legacy Flashes to guide him or even any Speed Force. They also revealed Absolute Martian Manhunter by Deniz Camp and artist Javier Rodríguez, where instead of a literal martian, detective John Jones' mind is such an alien entity that it slowly drives him mad (but in a fun way).
Scott Snyder got the chance to discuss what led to the Absolute Universe and his version of Absolute Batman. The people at DC saw that sales in the industry were falling after the "COVID boom" and asked fans and comic store retailers what they could do to get more people interested. The response they got was almost always "go big". That's why the driving philosophy behind Absolute Universe was to encourage writers and artists to take "big swings" with very little restrictions.
One of the biggest reveals of the evening was a first look at the Batmobile, to premiere in Absolute Batman #2 releasing November 13. Snyder was excited to talk about just how crazy this Batman comes across to Alfred, with this as just one more part of that. When Alfred suggests that they use his car to escape, Bruce responds that they're already standing in his "car". This Batman is one who is always advancing and never retreating, no matter how insane it might seem.
Snyder also talked about how they plan on writing Absolute Batman for as long as people keep buying it. It's a world he loves creating, as well as the people he gets to work with. However, in order to allow artist Nick Dragotta time to catch up on a monthly basis, there will be periodical "break" issues with different artists. The first of these will be Absolute Batman #4 with artist Gabriel Hernández Walta, releasing January 8. Snyder described the issue as "their Batman: Year One" that will explore his origins, including where and why he got such a giant emblem.
Stay tuned for more Batman News coverage of NYCC, including interviews, news, and panels.
