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Absolute Batman writer Scott Snyder has been open about his appreciation for Frank Miller's writing in Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. And in the most recent issue of Absolute Batman, Snyder wears Miller's influence on his sleeve. 

If you've read The Dark Knight Returns, you might remember that the first issue opens with a middle-aged Bruce Wayne driving a racecar at full speed. Miller, Klaus Janson, and Lynn Varley's page features a tight close-up of Bruce's face in profile as he drives, while the story's narration illustrates just how narrow the protagonist's perspective is on his place within the world and his city. Bruce's inner monologue says, "I've got the home stretch all to myself when the readings stop making sense. I switch to manual," mapping Batman's feelings about getting old onto his car and the race itself. Because of Bruce's failure to see the broader picture, both literally and figuratively, he crashes his car on the racetrack. 

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In Absolute Batman #19 by Scott Snyder, Nick Dragotta, Clayton Cowles,and Frank Martin, there is a sequence that feels like an homage to the beginning of The Dark Knight Returns, at least in my eyes. Absolute Batman enters the story in issue 19 by crashing through a billboard in a badass (bat-ass?) vehicle Alfred jokingly calls the Bat-Gyro. Over these panels, Alfred thinks, "In just the past couple weeks, the kid has shifted into an entirely new gear. I came back from MI6 to find him driven like never before. No friends, no distractions. Nothing but BATMAN." 

Here, Snyder applies the same metaphor of 'Batman as unstoppable motor vehicle' that Miller launched The Dark Knight Returns with to his younger version of Bruce, who has been having the average experience of being 24 years old: fighting off monstrous beings like Absolute Bane, surviving the horrors of the ARK M facility, and watching the people closest to him get maimed within an inch of their life. He's been burning the candle from both ends, and when you combine the horrific battles he's survived thus far with his characteristic laser focus and his Absolute Universe-specific lack of a fully developed prefrontal cortex, you've got a young man in serious danger of getting himself killed. 

Like everything in Absolute Batman thus far, this homage to The Dark Knight Returns is great, but what elevates it is how the book subverts our expectations. We know from TDKR that grizzled Bruce's myopic view of the world is what gets him into a fiery car crash, but the opposite happens in Absolute Batman #19. Alfred shouts out, "BATMAN, YOU'RE GOING TO-" at the moment where it would appear that he would crash. Instead, Absolute Bats slams on the brakes, sending his car careening into the air, the "gyro" cockpit of his car rotating until he's right-side up again, and he lands on the ground on all 4 wheels, like a cat landing on all 4 paws after falling out of a tree. 

It's a fitting departure from The Dark Knight Returns, because Absolute Batman isn't the old and jaded version in Miller, Janson, and Varley's story. He's burning with youthful passion that makes him indestructible, even when the city around him gets "turned all about" like his vehicle in this scene. It takes a lot to cut Absolute Batman down to size, and as we see later on in the issue, Absolute Bruce has a rough, rough road ahead of him. I hope he's remembered to do a tire rotation. 

Absolute Batman #19 is available now wherever comics are sold. 

Here's an update to date guide on the Absolute Batman release schedule.