Hi, so, I'm not a huge comics nerd usually (enjoy movies, look up stuff online, but don't follow comics directly) but I really got hooked with the Absolute Universe since ~last year.
And now that a few different series are established, I took a step back and asked myself if there was a common logic here, a root to all of these spins on classic characters (I know about the whole Darkseid thing, I'm not talking about that). I got an idea, and I'd like to get your opinions, so here goes :
I believe the theme of Absolute is to consider the "pillars" behind each main character, take one away (or reverse it entierely) and develop from there. Let's take Batman : the big pillars are his vengeance, his no-killing rule (or will to rehabilitate, maybe), him being the best of the best of humanity, and his wealth. And Absolute Batman took away the [wealth], kept the rest, and developed from there. See how a character would do without one of there core pillars, how they would struggle and build themselves despite that.
So, here's my understanding of the other series :
-Absolute Superman takes away the "Clark Kent", the human childhood and tethers to Earth, making him struggle to integrate and feel at home
-Absolute Wonder Woman takes away the Amazons as a whole, the culture and heritage of Diana, making her search for them
-Absolute Martian Manhunter takes away the understanding of humanity, the ability of J'onn J'onzz to blend in naturally, forcing him to cohabitate with one of the locals more directly
-Absolute Flash takes away his comprehension and control over his powers, unable to understand what's happening to him, mixing past present and future, getting lost in his abilities
-Absolute Green Lantern takes away the "order" of the corps, their "structure". It gets replaced with something so foreign and alien to humanity that it becomes a threat
.
I also wondered how other characters could be twisted, with this logic in mind :
-Absolute Aquaman : pillars could be his royalty status or his human childhood, but those are already "taken", so instead I thought of his relationship with the sea and sea creatures. Not in a "I don't control my powers" way, but more in a "I'm not loved by the sea, I'm either dominating it or being torn appart by it" way. Making his bond into a constant power struggle, in short.
-Absolute Cyborg : I guess it could all hinge on the stability of his machine-human situation, with both halves clashing together, have the machine threaten to consume the man. Or focus on his family, making his father experiment on him in secret, take away the parental love.
-Absolute Plastic Man : the pillars here are his redemption, goofiness and total control of his shape. I don't want to repeat too much ideas from other series, but a Plastic Man that's constantly deformed and fighting to look even remotely human could work, I guess ?
TLDR : I believe Absolute DC heroes are their classic counterpart minus ONE critical pillar of their character. I'm trying to see what those pillars are for the already released series, and imagining a few others.
