Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta’s “Absolute Batman” lives as much as its title with a maximalist reinvention of the Darkish Knight. This Bruce Wayne is an enormously tall block of muscle, and his whole Batsuit is loaded with hid weapons (like removable knife ears on the cowl), no utility belt wanted. “Absolute” Batman’s adversaries have additionally exchanged costumes for physique horror. They rework into literal monsters, from a ghoulish Mr. Freeze, to a terrifying, skyscraper-sized Bane, and the Joker. Based mostly on “Absolute” Joker’s nightmarish true type, he may even be a literal demon. However a preview for “Absolute Batman” #19 hints the collection’ subsequent main villain will probably be all too human. Physician Jonathan Crane, aka the Scarecrow, has arrived.
The problem’s most important cowl, drawn by Dragotta, exhibits Batman along with his aforementioned ear-knives drawn and reflecting the Scarecrow. One of many knives exhibits a full physique shot, the opposite a close-up of the villain’s masked face. (It is a related composition to Todd McFarlane’s well-known cowl for “Unimaginable Hulk” #340, which depicts Hulk’s roaring race mirrored in Wolverine’s claws.)
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It is a refreshingly low-key design, which is an effective name. The fear-obsessed Scarecrow is certainly one of Batman’s most psychological villains, and turning him right into a literal Scarebeast misses the purpose. In reality, this Scarecrow’s design resembles Crane’s (performed by Cillian Murphy) look from “The Darkish Knight” trilogy, i.e. a enterprise swimsuit with a scarecrow masks. (The “Absolute” Scarecrow’s brown swimsuit and purple tie is certainly a greater shade scheme, although.)
Removed from going absolute, Nolan wished to strip down Batman for realism. A villain wearing an all-out Scarecrow costume could be an excessive amount of. So, in “Batman Begins,” Crane wears solely a Scarecrow masks as a software to frighten his victims as soon as he doses them with Concern Toxin.
Why Scarecrow may very well be Absolute Batman’s scariest foe but
Scarecrow will probably be a serious villain of an arc working by way of “Absolute Batman” points #19-25, following a mini-arc in #17-18 of Batman combating Poison Ivy. Like different villains to this point, Scarecrow will probably be a pawn of the Joker. Problem #19’s synopsis reads:
“Poison Ivy proved to be simply one of many many horrors inside the bowels of the ARK M facility, and as Joker units his sights on Absolute Batman, he decides to enlist the assistance of one of many heart’s most terrifying medical doctors, Dr. Jonathan Crane.”
Batman has resisted Joker’s minions; even when Joker despatched in his strongest warrior, Batman in the end broke Bane, too. Batman has crushed brute pressure twice, so Joker might have determined it is time to assault his coronary heart and thoughts, not his physique. That requires a grasp of worry. Storytelling sensible, too, it would be a mistake to simply preserve throwing ever greater monsters at Batman for him to beat. With Scarecrow, Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta have enacted a self-imposed problem: How do they make Crane their scariest villain but and their most human?
In an AMA hosted by League of Comedian Geeks, Snyder previewed his reinvention of “Absolute” Scarecrow and mentioned he would certainly be human and “very totally different from the opposite villains.” (Earlier than you say misdirect, Snyder tends to be upfront about his plans; take him hyping the hell out of the Joker’s monster type on social media.) He defined:
“[Scarecrow] has the entire gases and the issues from historical past, a full type of museum of worry that he likes to preserve, however he is very trendy. He is somebody who makes use of worry to convey down authorities[s], to topple rulers. He is like a employed gun or a shadow that strikes behind the scenes.”
How Absolute Batman’s Scarecrow compares to different reinventions
Scott Snyder began as a horror author; see his DC comedian “American Vampire,” which Stephen King co-wrote. From his earliest Batman comics, like “The Black Mirror” and “Court docket of Owls,” he is introduced a contact of horror. “Absolute Batman” carries on that custom. But, someway, Snyder has by no means written a full Scarecrow story, although Scarecrow is the most horror-adjacent A-list Batman villain. That makes this arc lengthy overdue, however the expectations to ship a terrifying Scarecrow are excessive.
Some previous Batman iterations have struggled to make Scarecrow actually scary. As Bruce Timm, co-creator of “Batman: The Animated Sequence,” as soon as famous: “It doesn’t matter what you do with it, a man with a jack-o’-lantern face and scarecrow garments shouldn’t be scary.” When the collection returned as “New Batman Adventures,” Timm and co. overhauled Scarecrow (now voiced by Jeffrey Combs from “Re-Animator”). The outcome did not fairly appear to be a scarecrow, extra like an undead southern preacher, nevertheless it was undoubtedly scary. In the meantime, the “Batman: Arkham Asylum” video games took inspiration from Freddy Krueger, giving Scarecrow a syringe glove to dose victims with worry toxin.
Snyder, in his League of Comedian Geeks AMA, mentioned he as an alternative wished to dig deeper into the Scarecrow motif: “In historical occasions, [scarecrows contained] nets that may catch birds in order that they may very well be killed, not simply scare them away, however genuinely scare them to dying.” With some further scary touches like button eyes and a stringed mouth, the “Absolute” Scarecrow combines subdued and scary higher than Christopher Nolan’s Scarecrow. Dragotta’s cowl additionally exhibits this Scarecrow surrounded by Concern Toxin. What may very well be Bruce’s best nightmare; disappointing his late father, or maybe shedding his still-alive mom? The Scarecrow will know quickly.
“Absolute Batman” #19 is scheduled for publication on April 8, 2026.
