DC’s Absolute Books, Ranked

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Absolute Batman, Absolute Superman, and Absolute Wonder Woman were soon joined by three more Absolute books — Absolute Martian Manhunter, Absolute Flash, and Absolute Green Lantern — and things have gotten even better. The Absolute line is putting out some of the greatest comics being published right now, and every fan and critic has a different favorite. The six Absolute books are the best of the best, and I’m going to rank them for you, making an argument for which ones are the best and which ones aren’t.

6) Absolute Green Lantern

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Absolute Green Lantern, by Al Ewing and Jahnoy Lindsay, is the “worst” Absolute book, but being the worst Absolute book is like being the smallest slice of an amazing pizza. Absolute Green Lantern takes the Green Lantern mythos and inject some cosmic horror into the mix. Absolute Green Lantern stars Jo Mullein and Hal Jordan, with appearance by Green Lantern legends like John Stewart and Guy Gardner, and showcases the two of them — Jordan as the Black Hand and Mullein as Green Lantern — in a battle with each other. This book does the flashback thing, going back forth between the events of the present day and the past, when Abin Sur came to Earth. Sur seems to be an uncaring alien monster, destroying everyone who tries to interact with him and putting an impregnable shield around the town of Evergreen. Absolute Green Lantern is only four issues into its run, and still hasn’t built things all the way up yet. It’s shifting between time periods is honestly kind of confusing at times, which doesn’t really help the book. It’s definitely not a bad comic at all, but it still hasn’t given up all of its secrets yet. If you’re expecting something like a more standard Green Lantern story, this definitely isn’t that, but that’s part of its charm. Ewing and Lindsay are doing a slow burn with this one, building everything perfectly and taking readers to all-new place. I love the way the book is developing, but it hasn’t gotten all the way there yet.

5) Absolute Flash

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Absolute Flash, by Jeff Lemire, regular artist Nick Robles, and A.L. Kaplan, is kind of in the same boat as Absolute Green Lantern, in that it’s still being built up. However, in my opinion, its build is going much better. This is the story of young Wally West, a teen who lives on a military base with his father, where the elder West is working with Elenore Thawne and Barry Allen to create super-soldiers. Allen and Wally are closer than father and son, and Wally visits Allen just as he is carrying out an important experiment. Allen is seemingly killed and suddenly Wally has powers beyond anything he ever imagined. The military sends Captain Cold, Trickster, and Captain Boomerang after Wally, as well as the genetically engineered monkey Grodd. Wally, with Grodd as an ally, is able to escape thanks to his new powers and finds himself in the Iron Heights neighborhood of Central City, meeting Ralph Dibney and Linda Park. So far, Absolute Flash has worked faster in establishing its background lore than Absolute Green Lantern has, which is why its better. Its established multiple Flash characters, and still hasn’t answered the question fully of what Wally’s powers are, giving the book a tantalizing mystery at its center. Lemire is doing what he does best with this book — family drama and strong character-based storytelling, and the art from Robles and Kaplan is gorgeous, kinetic and detailed. Absolute Flash is a great thrill ride of a comic, and is building itself into a better comic than anyone would have imagined.

4) Absolute Superman

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Absolute Superman, by Jason Aaron and Rafa Sandoval, with fill-in artists Carmine Di Giandomenico and Fico Ossio, takes all of the basics of Superman and expands upon them in an amazing way. This version of Superman is back to the man of the people type that he was in the Golden Age, and to a lesser extent Grant Morrison’s Action Comics run during the New 52, battling against the machinations of the Lazarus Corporation and protecting the poor and weak from the wealthy. This version of Superman is quite different from the mainline version, as he actually grew up on Krypton with his parents, who were rebels against the Science Council as they tried to figure out a way to save their planet. Readers don’t have all of the answers about Superman’s life on Earth yet, and that’s one of the book’s strengths and weaknesses. This is a darker, more brooding Superman than the mainline, and it definitely fits this version of the character. Honestly, if you’re a fan of Zack Snyder’s Superman, this is basically the perfect Superman book for you. It’s introduced the most brutal version of Brainiac ever, and is nicely building the relationship between Superman, Lois Lane, and Jimmy Olsen. I also think it has the best updated costume of all the Absolute characters, with the cape — made up of the ashes of Krypton — being an awesome little touch. Absolute Superman is a great ride for readers, but it can’t stand with the better Absolute books. Again, this doesn’t mean that it’s bad, it’s just not as amazing as the next three books on this list.

3) Absolute Batman

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Absolute Batman is the best current Batman title, but honestly that was expected. Absolute Batman is written by Batman legend Scott Snyder, with art from regular artist Nick Dragotta and fill-in artists like the legendary Gabriel Hernandez Walta and Marcos Martin. Absolute Batman takes away one of the defining characteristics of Batman — his wealth — and showcases a very different Bruce Wayne. His mother Martha is still alive and working with Jim Gordon in a mayoral run. Alfred isn’t a butler, but an intelligence officer. Bruce grew up with Selina Kyle, Eddie Nygma, Waylon Jennings, Harvey Dent, and Ozzie Cobblepot. Mister Freeze is a ghastly revenant, Bane is more of a musclebound monster than ever before, and we’ve been introduced to the most monstrous version of the Joker ever. The book kicked off with “The Zoo”, which pit Batman against Black Mask and the Party Animals, giving readers an idea of the brutal new Gotham and its status quo. This Batman is much more violent than the mainline version and isn’t the same kind of tactician, but he makes up for it with sheer ferocity. Absolute Batman is the perfect reimagining of the Batman mythos, using the central idea of the Absolute Universe — a world built on despair — to its utmost extent. This is pitch perfect Batman, and every issue so far has had some kind of amazing, mind-blowing setpiece. Recent issues have been teasing a Batman with superpower (!), and that’s just the beginnings of what makes this book such a breath of fresh air for fans of the Caped Crusader.

2) Absolute Wonder Woman

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Right off the bat, most fans and critics agreed that Absolute Wonder Woman was the best of the three original Absolute books. Writer Kelly Thompson had done a tremendous job at Marvel with Captain Marvel, so seeing her get a chance to write the best female superhero ever (search your feelings, you know its true), and she pulls out all the stops with this bold reimagining of Diana. The art by regular artist Hayden Sherman and fill-in artist Mattia De Iullis is sensational, taking everything that Thompson puts into the script and making it breathtaking. Thompson takes the basics of Wonder Woman and remixes them; instead of being raised by the Amazons and her mother Hippolyta, she was raised by Circe in Hell. Wonder Woman finds herself protecting the world from the gods and monsters that Circe taught her to hate, giving readers some wild action scenes, all while learning the truth about the world. While Absolute Wonder Woman changes everything about the basics of Wonder Woman, it still captures the indomitable warrior spirit that has defined Wonder Woman for her entire existence. Absolute Wonder Woman would have topped this list, as it is easily one of the best comics being published right now, and it remains an amazing read every time it comes out.

1) Absolute Martian Manhunter

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Absolute Martian Manhunter is high art, and there’s really no other way to describe it. Written by Deniz Camp with art by Javier Rodriguez, it’s safe to say that no one expected Absolute Martian Manhunter to jump over Absolute Wonder Woman as the best Absolute book, but the first issue was an amazing experience from the first page, a book that showed why comics are such a perfect artistic medium. The synthesis of writing and art in this book is phenomenal, telling the story of John Jones. After being injured in a bombing by the Human Flame (a villain from the mainline universe who has battled Martian Manhunter for decades), FBI agent Jones is bonded to the Martian, a powerful entity with tremendous telepathic powers, and the two of them take it upon themselves to protect the people of Middleton when the White Martian begins its attack on the Earth. Absolute Martian Manhunter is one of those books that you really have to check out. The art is fantastic, with Rodriguez using pencils and color to create entirely new ways to tell a story. Camp’s writing is emotional to the extreme, using the failing marriage of John and his wife Bridget, hurt by the work he and the Martian have been constantly doing, to humanize the book. This is a perfect comic book — everything about it is amazing. You will marvel at every page of this comic and re-read it constantly, always finding something new between its comics. Absolute Martian Manhunter is everything a comic book can and should be.

What’s your favorite Absolute book? Sound off in the comments below.