Whenever people whine about their favorite Batmanthe conversation is mostly limited to the caped crusader’s live-action actors: Adam West, Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer (a low-key goat), George Clooney, Christian Bale, Ben Affleck, and Robert Pattinson. But as far as comic book iterations of DC heroes go, Scott Snyder and Nick Dragottaof Perfect Batman The run is far and away my definitive version of Batman, and my love for the six-foot-nine, 420-pound tank of a man only grows with each issue.

Perfect Batman, COMPANIONS Perfect Wonder Woman and criminally degraded Full Martian Manhunter and Perfect Supermanis the basic Darkseid fan fiction in that he remakes reality into a more brutal and harsher universe where he jettisoned the Justice League. In the Absolute universe, Bruce Wayne is stripped of his usual fix of unlimited money and a nepo baby socialite bachelor’s life. Instead, he’s a boots-on-the-ground blue-collar construction worker in a Gotham that’s on demon hour at all hours of the day. Like, we’re talking about the worst Gotham ever, with villains turned up to 11 to their level of wickedness and mass killings taking place every day in broad daylight on the streets.

While Batman will forever be one of my favorites, depending on the day (Spider-Man is up there too, obviously), what has always kept me from completely gelling with Batman is how he feels unaffected by everyman’s struggles. Sure, he fights crime, and the meme that his power is money is his whole deal forever is ridiculous. But apart from some rare moments to give back to those struggling in Gotham, he always felt perpendicular to the real issues of the city, unless they wore a punchable villain persona.

Perfect Batman responds to that feeling that Batman is my hero in a relentlessly satisfying way in every issue by having hands for costumed crimes and real-world crimes against humanity like racism and police brutality alike with extreme prejudice.

In case you missed it. pic.twitter.com/1XLJSPe4Wn

– Daniel Warren Johnson (@danielwarrenart) January 25, 2026

To solve Gotham’s intractable crime, which includes racism and xenophobia, Batman uses the “less lethal” method to save Gotham. The key to them is his fuck-off huge construction truck Batmobile and his giant steel plate bat-log ax. What we’re left with is a class-conscious Batman who shows up for the little guy in the biggest way possible.

No reason to hammer that home as powerfully as guest creators Daniel Warren Johnson and Mike Spicer’s cathartic, amazing. in time special issue of Perfect Batman– the standalone Perfect Batman Annual #1—which sees Batman wreaking havoc on a group of white supremacists.

Among the highlights of the issue is that Batman is deep in his professional wrestling bag, hitting white supremacists in Kenny Omega-style wrestling moves like A Winged Angel and the V-triggeras well as breaking a man’s arm moments before he tried to perform a Hitler salute.

When a pastor tries to talk him out of it, saying it’s not the way, he retorts forcefully, “It’s his way,” and proceeds to destroy the white supremacists who are trying to attack an immigrant camp by burning them with a flamethrower – because they’re not people, you see, they’re monkeys. Even detailing its highlights doesn’t do justice to how raw and hype-as-hell the issue reads. And that’s true for everyone Perfect Batman.

Mind you, this is just one story told in the ongoing story of Perfect Batmannot counting his cute crossover team-up with Perfect Wonder Woman.

While getting into comics is hard as hell, what with so many continuations and runs that took forever for them to reboot a few months later, Perfect Batman is a good place for people to start reading—especially if they like to see a hero who doesn’t mince words about how messed up his world is, and our world by proxy, while delivering justice the only way he can.

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