DC’s Absolute First Crossover Features an Original Take on Batman’s Classic Bat-Signal

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Spoilers for “Absolute Wonder Woman” #15 coming soon.

When we last left Diana from the Wild Isle in “Absolute Wonder Woman” #14, she was heading to Gotham City to investigate a murder scene bearing the mark of her patron goddess, Hecate. She is not the only visitor; as revealed in “Absolute Batman” #15, the immortal billionaire Joseph “Joker” Grimm is back in town too. NOW that Batman defeated his champion Banethe Joker decided that the Bat demanded his personal attention.

These two threads are picked up in “Absolute Wonder Woman” #15, “The Mark of Hecate” by writer Kelly Thompson and artist Hayden Sherman. This is the first cross-title crossover in the DC “Absolute” universe. “Absolute Batman” and “Absolute Wonder Woman” were the first two “Absolute” titles to launch (and are certainly the best going), so they must lead the first team. The issue opens, however, with the bad guys: US National Security Advisor Veronica Cale, who is in communication with an invisible Joker. Cale wants to kill Wonder Woman, Joker wants to kill Batman, and the two have brought the heroes together in hopes of eliminating them.

“Absolute” Bruce Wayne gives the character a new blue-collar background; he doesn’t have the power to move the Earth, he fights it. “Absolute” Batman is not an institutionalized hero at the call of the Gotham Police Department’s Bat-Signal. If the book remains convinced that this Batman represents necessary chaos, it never will. However, this crossover gives a new wonderful origin of the Bat-Signal.

To get Batman’s immediate attention, Wonder Woman (who, unlike the classic version, is a witch) casts a spell to generate a glowing, ethereal green bat signal in the sky. This catches Bruce’s attention, and soon he and Diana get along well.

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The last allusion to the Bat-Signal was in “Absolute Batman” #5, when Batman arranged a meeting with gang leader Black Mask. Batman reportedly took a $200 million bribe to fire Black Mask’s gang, the Party Animals. Once Bruce had the money, he arranged the batteries in the shape of his emblem and burned them, lighting a signal in the sky as a message. This Bat-Signal showed what Batman is, but Diana’s serves a more traditional purpose: a distress call. Bruce’s reaction when he first notices it in the sky and it scares away some of the punks he was fighting? “What is that?”

Once Bruce meets Diana, they get along well. But even though they work well together, this teamwork highlights their differences. Note how she introduces herself as Diana, while he introduces himself as Batman. Diana is extremely polite, as always, while Batman is brusque and terse while appreciative of Diana’s help; he says his father would like to have his ideas for changing the world with love. When they investigate one of Hecate’s scarred murders, Diana understands why the ritual isn’t happening from a magical perspective, while a paranoid Batman sees it as bait to lure Diana.

“Absolute DC,” which has been waiting for more than a year for a team-up featuring two major superheroes, has borne fruit; Batman and Wonder Woman meeting here feels like an event. This slow-burn intersection reminds me of the beginnings of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The stories first make you love the characters on their own terms, which makes seeing them interact with each other a rare treat.

That said, this first crossover suggests there’s more to come.

Diana gives Bruce a silver talisman in the shape of the Mark of Hecate, which he can use to summon her at any time. As she summoned him with the Bat-Signal, he can signal an audience with her. (Diana calls the talisman her Hiketeia, SEO both an ancient Greek custom of supplication And one of the most famous stories of Wonder Woman and Batman.)

The upcoming “Absolute Batman” #16 will feature Wonder Woman as Bruce and Diana travel to Hell; the “Wonder Woman” issue places Diana on Bruce’s turf in Gotham, while the “Batman” issue will take Bruce to Diana’s kingdom. This will not be a direct continuation of this problem, however. Batman and Wonder Woman’s “absolute” first meeting isn’t a two-parter per se, but two standalone stories spread across the two books. Thompson and Sherman were able to write/draw the story for “Absolute Wonder Woman,” just as the “Absolute Batman” team of writer Scott Snyder and artist Nick Dragotta handled the next one.

Beyond that, it’s unclear when the next “Absolute” crossover will take place. “Absolute Wonder Woman” #15 confirms that Bruce and Diana both know that Superman exists, and Diana suggests finding him: “I think we’re going to need a lot of friends if we’re going to save this world.” You would have think this would be the establishment an “absolute” Justice League, but Joker, Cale and co. I have already claimed this name. The law East on the side of evil in this world, after all. So what will the united heroes be called? Perhaps, as some readers have suggested, the Legion of Doom – the fate of the powerful and evil, of course.

“Absolute Wonder Woman” #15 is out now; “Absolute Batman” #16 is scheduled for release on January 21, 2026.