DC’s newAbsolute Batmanhas been a huge success, as the publisher unleashes a new version of its comic lore - one in which Bruce Wayne is a hardcore engineer operating without his billions of dollars or highly trained Bat-Family of allies. Sold out multiple times over, with five reprintings,Absolute Batmanis a verified phenomenon- and it just proved it by hitting a parodic milestone.
On Bluesky,BeanowriterNed Hartleyrevealed that the next issue of the UK kids comic will feature ‘Absolute Bananaman’ - an ‘extreme’ parody of DC’sAbsolute Batman.
Running since 1938,The Beanois a comedic anthology comic starring characters like Dennis the Menace, the Bash Street Kids and Rodger the Dodger. The comic is the third to publishthe adventures of Bananaman(formerly inThe DandyandNutty) -an affectionate parody of superhero stories, where consuming bananas gives the hero"the muscles of 20 big men and the brains of 20 mussels."
The Beano takes its name from an old saying for a work party, and is a shortened version of ‘beanfeast.’
Bane’s Creator Doesn’t Like the Villain’s New Look, And He’s Issuing a Challenge to Anyone Who Does
Bane’s co-creator Graham Nolan had words regarding the villain’s new design in Absolute Batman, now he’s offering fans the chance to prove him wrong.
Bananaman’s Absolute Batman Parody Shows the Impact of DC’s Initiative
Kids Already Recognize DC’s New Dark Knight
The fact that Bananaman is parodyingAbsolute Batmanshows just how successful the new comic has been.Absolute Batmanonly launched in October 2024, and yet superhero fans the world over are already familiar with this new version of the Dark Knight, created by Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta. It’s rare that a new superhero comic series creates a big enough splash that parodists can rely on their audiences recognizing the reference, butAbsolute Batmanhas achieved that milestone incredibly quickly.
That’s partly thanks to the decision to draw thenew Batman as an incredibly muscular hero. While the decision has internal logic - this version of Bruce has trained even harder to fight crime in Gotham, without his usual gadgets and allies -the visual difference between the mainstream Batman and the Absolute version is immediately striking. While derided by some fans, the choice immediately gaveAbsolute Batmana unique visual identity. This also makes the series easy to reference and parody, with ‘Absolute Bananaman’ being swollen with extra muscles and an arsenal of bananas.
Absolute Batman lives in a separate reality created by uber-villain Darkseid - one in which evil is the natural order, with the forces of good being at a constant disadvantage.
WhileThe Beanomay not be a household name over in the US, the popular children’s comic shows how impactful the launch ofAbsolute Batmanhas been. Everyone with even a passing interest in superheroes has seen the new design and understands the pitch of an extreme, stripped-down new take on the Dark Knight. As innocuous as a Bananaman parody may seem, it proves that DC is onto something huge withAbsolute Batman.
