ABSOLUTE BATMAN #24 is a hell of an issue — the kind that strips Bruce down to the raw essentials and reminds you exactly why he’s Batman and why Batman matters. This chapter pushes him right to the edge…but does he go over it?
The confrontation between Batman and The Scarecrow is at the center of the issue. Crane hits Bruce with a tailored fear assault that forces him to relive failures, doubts, and every moment Gotham nearly broke him. And instead of powering through it, Bruce does what makes him Batman: he steadies himself, thinks, and fights his way out one deliberate step at a time. It’s a sequence that shows his greatest strength isn’t being fearless — it’s rising above fear.
While Bruce claws through Crane’s psychological ambush, the rest of his world fractures: Alfred is pulled back into the orbit of his old intelligence handlers and makes an important decision; Barbara Gordon follows the clues, pieces it all together, and finally suits up as Batgirl (not a spoiler because she’s on the damn cover!); and Bruce’s closest allies — now arguably enemies — quietly walk away after months of watching him meltdown and isolate himself.
Back to Bruce, after all he’s been through during “The Straw Man” arc, Batman is still standing in the end; an important reminder that resilience is the defining trait of The Dark Knight. Crane (and The Joker) tried to break him, fear almost completely swallows him, and Bruce rises above all of it.
That’s Batman. Always has been. – Bill “Jett” Ramey
GRADE: A
