December 2025 saw the first team-up between Batman and Wonder Woman in the Absolute Universe. This month’s Absolute Batman #16 (by Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta) acts as a sequel to that story. This time, however, there is a romantic undercurrent suggesting Steve Trevor may have some competition for the heart of the Last Amazon.
Absolute Batman #16 opens with Bruce Wayne trying to make amends with his friends. All of them were left beaten and deformed after his recent battles with Bane. After a tense encounter at the hospital with Oz Cobblepot and Harvey Dent, Bruce decides to call in the favor owed to him by Wonder Woman after their first team-up. Specifically, he seeks a way to cure his friend Waylon, who was transformed into a crocodile-like creature by the scientists at Ark M.
Diana is willing to offer her aid, but warns Bruce that they must journey into the Underworld to find what he wants. Naturally, the road is long and dangerous, and there are many risks just getting to their destination. For Absolute Batman, however, no cost is too great to save his friend.
Absolute Batman #16 teases Bruce/Diana romance
Scott Snyder spins an action story like few others. He also has a solid handle on Diana and the unique mythology of the Absolute Wonder Woman series. What makes this issue stand out, however, is the undercurrent of something growing between the Dark Knight and the Last Amazon.
Bruce and Diana have been teased romantically before, perhaps most famously in the DCAU. Snyder’s tone here is similarly subtle, with lingering looks and words that aren’t said, as the two heroes bond further. This time, however, they are in Diana’s wheelhouse rather than Bruce’s.
The fact that there is some connection is apparent even to the monster they seek. He comments that it will please him to slay Wonder Woman and her mate. This prompts both heroes to declare (perhaps a bit too quickly) that they are not together, even as they attack.
Nick Dragotta delivers his usual stellar job on the artwork. The series to date has shown how well he handles weird horror and Gothic splendor. The same aesthetic adapts well to the desolate wasteland of Diana’s Underworld, capturing just how small and out of his element Bruce feels about confronting forces he thought were only legends. He does not show fear, of course, but his discomfort is quietly displayed through Dragotta’s pencils.
Absolute Batman #16 suffers only in that one has to have read the earlier Absolute Wonder Woman team-up to fully appreciate it. I also suspect the nuance of the growing fondness of Amazon and Knight may fly over some readers’ heads. Despite that, this is still a great issue of one of the best comics on the stands.
Grade: 8/10
Absolute Batman #16 is now available at comic shops everywhere.
