Take Your Time, Do It Right

Absolute Batman #14, Geiger #18, and more

Comic books have had a turbulent go of things for the last several years, and 2025 brought a brand-new kick to the lugnuts when one of the major distributors declared bankruptcy. This was in January and the effects of that rippled throughout the year.

I don’t claim to understand all the particulars—not even my LCS could really understand it all, they just knew that sometimes they’d have trouble getting books in, and the release dates were subject to change.

This can be frustrating as a reader. Sometimes an ongoing series will miss its monthly delivery with no announcement. I think I got my last Geiger book in August and the latest issue just came out last week. Ghost Machine tends not to give details when this happens, you just get it when you get it.

In their defense though, when their books arrive they are really freaking good. Geiger has been a enjoyable surprise, and the rest of their titles on my list are my favorite ongoing books. (I don’t read everything they publish, some of it just isn’t for me.)

Another surprisingly good line though is the Absolute variations of major DC characters. I started out with subscriptions to their Trinity lineup, but I dropped Wonder Woman after the second volume just got boring. Absolute Superman continues to rock harder and harder, while Absolute Batman has its speed bumps…but overall, it’s extremely cool.

The latter title just finished its second volume. The arc, called “Abomination,” deals with the Absolute variant of Bane. He shows up in Gotham and, using his potent network and his insanely elevated intellect, immediately traps Bruce and puts him through the ringer to prepare him as a successor.

Yes, we get a version of Batman with the Bane venom injected into him. The problem for him quickly becomes a question of resisting the urge to give into that venom, ultimately becoming a monster like Bane, or else finding a way to beat Bane without it.

The final issue was delayed by two weeks, and Snyder gave a reason for it: he wanted to add another five pages to the fight scene with Bane and Batman, or else this climax would be rushed, and he’d never get that time back. Fans were understanding, and patient for another two weeks. Then the book showed up.

Holy crap, this was one of the strongest issues to date. Not only was the story cool and the result satisfying, the artwork was just mind-blowing in terms of scale and impact. Batman blows up a building and drops it on Bane’s head. He survives. Alfred rams the Batmobile (a repurposed Caterpillar haul truck from a construction site) into Bane’s back. He survives. Batman uses his axe, Catwoman uses her guns, Harley Quinn and the Red Hood Gang use rifles, and Bane just shrugs it off. Even Waylon Jones (Killer Croc, mutated) gets a piece of the action, and Bane takes it. We get to see it all.

The result is that not only do you get beautiful art in the fight, you get a real sense of satisfaction when victory comes. The prize was worth the wait.

I think Geiger #18 was also worth it, that one was good, it closes the prison arc and teases the return of Ashley Arden. More important, we know Geiger is going to cross paths with The Northerner soon, which can only escalate the cross-time capers that are part of the Unknown War timeline. I’m all for it. These comics have been worth the wait.

I had a few others come last week but I’ll hold off on covering them until I can get in the shop and do a video.

Thanks for reading.