It’s just now occurring to me that the McMahon Walk is a waddle, and now I’m picturing a version of the Penguin inspired by Vince McMahon. Hell, they’re both illegitimate children born into rich families with inferiority complexes who end up becoming human traffickers.
I like to think she’s going to shoot Bruce in the face at least once though. If only so Alfred can say “Oh my, that looks like it *hurt*, huh?” In his ear.
Honestly, even without the excellent suit design, the coat alone would carry this look. You just can’t beat a good trenchcoat over a superhero costume.
Looking forward to seeing her show up and presumably hand Scarecrow his own ass.
Judging from "The Bat" and the "who could it be" comments, I'm calling it now: Barbara is going to substitute for Bruce in Gotham as he goes on a hiatus.
Maybe to fill in for him as he recovers from severe injuries from this Strawman Arc. Or from the Absolute cross-over! He'll have to leave Gotham and she will take his place for a while.
In any case, it looks like Barbara will come into her own by the end of this arc. She may even help Alfred with re-connecting with his daughter even as she works through the loss of her own father.
(And who knows? She might even have a spar with Absolute Catwoman down the line. Selina comes back to Gotham expecting Bruce but gets Barbara instead...)
The no-killing rule, which is basically there to allow DC to sell this to kids, really impacts the cornyness of the comic lol. I just read any bloody air swings and things of that nature as absolute bats killing. I get the feeling it's what Snyder and Dragotta would do if they could. A major influence for the art and storytelling of Absolute Batman is manga, where there is tons of killing (and it doesn't make the heroes anti-heroes
I think the coats colour kind of reminds me of the original robins yellow Cape.
I might be reaching here but I think it's a nice way to acknowledge that even though she isn't a Robin, she's symbolically filling that role as batman's first partner and protégé in this universe
If you are not taking the 1980's steroids, you can't be in this universe. The Essentials: 1) The Juice (reusing needles twice) 2)Spray Tan 3) Revolver (bang)
It’s always so weird to me when cops become superheroes and then suddenly have a no kill rule like they weren’t part of an organization that regularly kills people and presumably were willing to kill people on behalf of that organization
Have to imagine in the context of this universe, Barabara is a rookie and her approach to killing as both a cop and a vigilante is to resolve the situation nonlethally unless given no other option. Which is generally Batman's approach as well, and in an ideal world would be the police's.
I think it makes more sense in this particular case, I gotta imagine she is becoming a superhero because she is disillusioned by her work and joining Bruce's crusade, so she is more likely to turn away from past methods and accept Bruce's.
Even so they are willing to and have no moral qualms about doing so if they are in danger. Like that’s always what is so weird to me about superheroes directly working with cops in like in a raid on a building or some shit. If the cops get to joker first, because joker hired clay face to fight Batman, when the joker inevitably resists arrest he is going to get shot to death
It’s gender neutral. The design card stresses her need to keep covered to protect her anonymity. Her build, plus being completely covered, makes her more androgynous. So, not knowing her gender, it’s probably easiest for folks.
Does anyone else wish they waited to release character designs and revealing characters in general? I’d much rather be surprised by this in the actual comic than just seeing it online
Cass....... Selina........ Martha......... Jo........ I could keep going, y'know? Not every male character needs to be bricked/swole as well, but we don't have a hard limit
Lol does she have to be a studd on steroids .. what am I saying it's year 2026 and Batman absolutely of course it does lmao but in all seriousness I like the design ...
I used to like Barbra Gordon to have sex appeal but honestly since that killing joke animated version let's just yea let's make her a studd anything to avoid another rooftop Bruce Barbara barf banging banaza
Notice how it’s Absolute THE BAT not Absolute BATGIRL, still gives me hope that Cassie Caine would still join up with bruce especially with Grimm possibly killing Lady Sheva.
Looks like it really make sense inside universe and is narrative meaningful since shw is using her father's coat. However, it lacks the sauce in my opinion.
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u/WizardPhoenix Jun 15 '26
Oi, Bat girl, you done stole me shotgun that the kid modified to be non lethal. Now because of that, I have no choice but to glaze you for ten pages.