The Best Comics of 2025, Part 2: Absolute Green Lantern, Fraction & Jimenez on Batman
Another day, another newsletter, as we careen to the hard deadline for "best of year" posts, December 31st. This time, it's 2 DC books, and next time (tomorrow?) will be something Marvel... I hope!
I’m a big fan of Al Ewing, and I’ve spoken at length, and often, about his contributions to the Krakoa-era X-Men line. Sword and X-Men Red are two of my all-time favourite X-books, and if I was doing this list back then, those titles would be near, if not at, the top of the year. Absolute Green Lantern follows in the footsteps of those 2 books, though the first issue didn’t hook me as much as the subsequent issues did. That didn’t keep me from devouring every subsequent issue. And by gosh, did I devour.
Ewing, with artistic collaborator Jahnoy Lindsay have taken the Green Lantern mythos and given it a suitably horrific turn for DC’s Absolute line. Taking elements of manga, in both style and storytelling, philosophical elements, distinct cosmic horror and a dose of nihilism by way of Thomas Ligotti.
No more Green Lanterns. No more Guardians of the Universe. No more Corps. Instead, the “Oans” are defined by their belief in the four levels of the spectrum of light. They view these levels as a path toward enlightenment. To “be an Oan” is to subscribe to the philosophy that “Aur” (Gold = Understanding) is the highest state, and Qard (Black = Chaos) is the lowest. They’re the bad guys, obviously. Between those are Sur (Green = Order), our de facto Green Lanterns, represented by the series star Jo Mullein, and before Qard we have Rao (Red = Restraint).
Recognise some of those? Ewing has dived into Green Lantern lore and remixed it to suit this new, alternative continuity. The Sur are named for Abin Sur, the predecessor to Hal Jordan in the original line. Sur represents correct action, Abin is a title, like Captain, therefore the character of Abin Sur is a great champion of order.
Elsewhere, Rao was the Red Sun of Krypton, before its destruction. Qard is taken from Qward-- the anti-matter opposite of the Green Lantern’s homeworld / base, Oa-- now the worst possible state of existence... apparently.
There’s more. Ain, Tomar... Ewing has created a brand new cosmology in nine issues, the likes of which we haven’t seen in decades. I love it. It’s shiny and new and dark and horrid and different. Can you tell how much this stuff excites me? Lore! So much lore! Al Ewing! Lore! Green Lanterns!
Having a story that front and centres Jo Mullein after her stellar debut in Far Sector (202X) and less than prominent handling in subsequent mainline Green Lantern / Green Lantern Corps books is massive. Mainline DC should take note when considering her position in the current ongoing.
The art is brilliant. A bit looser than I would expect in a Big 2 title, but it’s horrible (in the good way), and expressive, and clearly influenced by manga books that I’m too ignorant to recognise.
The design for Black Hand is very Resident Evil influenced, which was initially distracting— hey, isn’t that William Birkin?— but the more I saw it, the more the character evolved through the story, the more it clicked with me. Jahnoy Lindsay improves with every issue. I’m hooked. You might be too!
Did you know Matt Fraction is one of my favourite writers? The Invincible Iron Man (2008–2012) and The Immortal Iron Fist (2006–2008) (co-written with Ed Brubaker) are standouts for me; his run on Uncanny X-Men (2008–2011)-- again co-written, but then later solo-- is fantastic comics. Don’t get me started on Casanova (2006-) and Sex Criminals (2013–2020). I mean, you can, just ask. I love them.
He’s had an interesting career, working his way up through the indies to the mainstream, being a big name at Marvel-- he show-ran the 2011 event Fear Itself, for example-- and heading the Marvel NOW! relaunch of the Fantastic Four / FF in 2012.
Did you know he co-created the Godzilla x Kong spin-off show Monarch: Legacy of Monsters? The man is busy. So, when it was announced he was returning to ongoing comics with his takeover (and relaunch) of Batman, I was already invested.
Joining Fraction on the book is modern Batman icon Jorge Jimenez, who has drawn over 30 issues of the book, in an age where creative teams shift and swap with regularity. He’s probably the defining Bat-artist of this generation. I can’t think of anyone else, even if I may prefer other artists interpretations within the same era.
Fraction’s breakout series Casanova was released by Image Comics at around the same time as Fell, a series by Warren Ellis and Ben Templesmith. These books had a simple premise and a straightforward format: 16-18 pages of story, no ads, with 6-8 pages of “backmatter”-- i.e. letters, ideas, essays-- and priced at $1.99. Affordable comic books. Back then, comics were creeping up in price (have they ever stopped creeping since?) with around twenty-two pages of story.
This was Image’s “Slimline” range, and it was brilliant. Done-in-one stories, connective tissue between each one, but no requirement on the reader to read each individual issue. You’d get one story for $1.99.
Fraction seems to have brought that storytelling ethos to Batman (sadly, issues are still $4.99). Each issue is a single story (so far), with themes and elements carrying over from one to the next, but it’s not necessary for you to read #1 to understand #2 to understand #3, etc. It’s an interesting gambit, because serialisation was an attempt by the comics industry to hook readers, to force them to buy series for complete stories. That’s why we had a wave of “decompressed” series. Think how Ultimate Spider-Man (2001-2011) retold Peter Parker’s origin as Spider-Man over seven issues, while the classic Amazing Fantasy #15 (1962) told it in 11 pages. Stan Lee and Steve Ditko knew how to get shit done.
Ultimate Spider-Man writer Brian Michael Bendis was the king of this kind of story telling, from Powers (2000-) with Michael Avon Oeming, to New Avengers (2005-2010 and 2010–2012) with a whole cadre of artists. His bouncy, elongated style became a trademark, even when he wrote Superman and Action Comics between 2018-2020, during his tenure at DC. Tom King also does this, to a lesser extent. And I hate it.
Jimenez is ably assisted on colours by Tomeu Morey, whose palette definitely sets it apart from their previous run on Batman, with pops of colour that make it feel fresh and different from all the other grim Bat-tidings of recent years. I did notice a very Jock take on Batman in the first issue, so I wonder what decisions Jimenez is making on the book, and I’m psyched to find out as I read along.
To me, the closest equivalent artistically to this run so far is Batman #655-#658 from 2006, the start of Grant Morrison’s run with Andy Kubert. A sea change, a new approach, a Batman freed from the baggage of what came before. It’s fantastic! You can start with #1, and be free of concerns for being able to “keep up”. I highly recommend it.
In an interview with SKTCHD’s Off-Panel: A Comics Interview Podcast, Fraction said that he wanted to counter-program with this book, and offer a fresh, accessible and most importantly fun take on the character. In the same interview, he said that there would be “No rain. As far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t rain in Gotham anymore” because he’s not interested in sad superheroes standing in the rain, which is kind of Batman’s whole thing. The work so far? It has delivered on every level. Maybe pick it up!
I really need to start reading comics again. This was quite the inspiration to do so. Looking forward to reading more from you!
Phenomenal picks, I just caught up on Absolute Batman, quickly working my way through the universe with Absolute Green Lantern forsure being next.