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Batman and the Joker have always had a complicated relationship. The two characters have been reflections of one another for decades, but it seems in the Absolute Universe, writer Scott Snyder is taking the Joker in a new direction. Instead of a reflection of Batman, this new Joker is a twisted Bruce Wayne.
While Absolute Batman by Snyder and Nick Dragotta establishes fascinating changes for Batman, he isn’t the only character to be changed. The Joker has been equally transformed, and as Snyder stated in an interview with the Comics Beat, this Joker is very different from the ones fans know.
Instead of being the colorful serial killer with an eternal smile, he’s a brutal billionaire, traveling the world to make sure he has everything he needs to control everyone. It’s a new take on the character, and it’s a perfect direction. When Bruce is more the focus than Batman, the Joker is updated accordingly.
Bruce Wayne and the Joker Have Officially Swapped Places in the Absolute Universe
Absolute Batman #1 Cover by Nick Dragotta and Frank Martin
The Absolute Universe has been a major shake-up of everything fans thought they knew about the DC Universe. Instead of Bruce Wayne growing up as a wealthy billionaire with access to the infinite resources to become Batman, fans see Bruce growing up in relative poverty. While he doesn’t have the advanced resources or a large Bat-Family, he does have immediate friends and family who support him and have known him since childhood, which the Prime DC Universe version of Batman doesn’t have much of.
It’s often the norm for superhero characters to be absurdly wealthy. It’s usually just a plot device that explains how Bruce Wayne can afford to have the Batmobile, or how Tony Stark can afford all of this high-tech gadgetry. These characters essentially have infinite money. Wealth is simply a way to hand-wave away the how and why of superhero comic book characters. Likewise, the villains are almost always assumed to have infinite wealth as well; they just don’t often talk about it. While characters like the Penguin are undoubtedly wealthy, other characters like the Joker have also been assumed to have riches.

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While it’s quietly assumed that the villains are wealthy, unless that’s the point of the villain, it’s rarely focused on as much. There’s no denying that the Joker has money in the Prime Universe, as he continually has absurd hideouts, travels across the world, and has a never-ending supply of goons and gadgets. But that’s never been a defining aspect of his character; it was just something he was given to match Batman. Snyder is now twisting this character trait to make him a dark mirror of Bruce Wayne, and it’s honestly an amazing concept that should have been explored sooner.
The Joker’s Wealth Is a Brilliant New Direction for the Character
The Joker Is Now Everything Bruce Wayne Isn’t
The Joker character has always been at his strongest when creators have used him as a parallel to Batman. The entire reason why the Joker’s one bad day speech works is because it’s reflected in Batman’s own life. But turning the Joker into a billionaire with no humor to pit him against a young and much more cocky Batman is a perfect juxtaposition. Now Bruce Wayne will have the disadvantage, having to use everything he can to try and keep up with the Joker’s new infinite resources.
Considering that Absolute Batman is much more a working-class character, his ultimate adversary being everything he’s not makes for a perfect match-up.
Instead of representing the madness of Gotham City and the uncaring nature of cruelty, the Joker now represents the elite of Gotham, the people who will happily burn the city down for just a few extra dollars. Considering that Absolute Batman is much more a working-class character, his ultimate adversary being everything he’s not makes for a perfect match-up. It’s only made even more perfect by the fact that Absolute Joker is just a twisted version of Prime Universe Bruce.
This Joker Is Unlike Anything Fans Have Seen Before
A New Villain for a New Era
The Joker has been tons of different things over the decades. He’s been a brutal serial killer, a goofy prankster, a cold and calculating nihilist, and the Joker has even tried being Batman at several different points in his history. But the one thing that no writer has attempted to make him before is his very own version of Bruce Wayne. It will be fascinating to see exactly how Snyder and Dragotta use this new version of the Joker to mirror everything that Bruce Wayne could have been: a twisted billionaire who only cares about profit over life.
Looking for more Absolute Universe stories? Check out Absolute Wonder Woman by Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman and Absolute Superman by Jason Aaron and Rafa Sandoval, both available now from DC Comics.
Batman and the Joker have always been linked. It seems that it doesn’t matter what universe the two are in. In some universes, they’re even the exact same person. In the Prime Universe, Batman is dark and gloomy and does his best to protect life. The Joker is colorful and garish and doesn’t value life at all. In the Absolute Universe, Bruce is a poor kid who grew up with the hope of saving the city, be that through his construction work or as Batman, and the Joker will use his billions to burn the world down.
Absolute Batman is available now from DC Comics!
Source: The Comics Beat
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