It had to be a Batman Day that brought together the two irresistible forces of the Batworld, and here it is. Mark your calendars–19 September is when the mainstream Batman and the Absolute Batman come together! But wait, no, not quite. 

The long-fabled meeting of the two Batmen doesn’t happen in Batman of Two Worlds #1, the special one-shot to mark the Dark Knight’s special day, and frankly, long may it continue. 

While Scott Snyder and Nick Derington’s Absolute Batman is still all-conquering at the comic book shop tills, and Matt Fraction and Javi Fernández’s lean and retooled blue-clad caped crusader evening the palette in the Batman books, there’s no rush for these Bruce Waynes from different sides of the tracks to meet for some time. And that’s almost the point that’s proven by this short collection of the two Batmen, showing their different ways of dealing with a similar problem (and also the creatives). 

First we meet a security guard lucking out after making two bad guys’ dreams come true. On a luxury flight, he’s living the dream while we see Batman chase down the two perps. It’s packed with fresh art with a dusting of Manga that makes Fraction and Fernández’s new take on Batman so fun. As Batman swings into action (he’s not afraid to stop and admire some moves from his adversaries “cute”), little boxes give us a light indication of his tech (the Batboot, Bat-hook, Batarang). Bright and buzzing, it’s frenetic and packed with lovely onomatopoeia art.

After the easy twist showing that, unlike the title of the story, there are no “Short Cuts,” it’s time to toughen up. 

Meanwhile, the Absolute Batman tale takes a typically more solid approach. Derington’s blocky artwork is a huge part of this comic’s success. While the essence of the story, which sees Absolute Batman and his giant battle axe (we see him detach his emblem for this epic weapon) take out the Red Devils, doesn’t dwell on the real difference in this blue-collar take on the character in the Batsuit, the other part of Snyder’s storytelling does. Alfred’s on the narration comms, letting us know this might be the time to hand over as Batman reveals the real bad guy from the corporate heist (with a clever bit of art to go with it). Meanwhile, the construction worker Bruce lets his boss, foreman Lucius Fox, know that they can’t “Cut Short”–the name of the story.

Both tales then have a simple idea: show each Batman dealing with a similar problem. While one story dwells on a construction site, the other on a luxury jet liner. But the corruption and need to smack down some people is just as relevant. Both do a good job of introducing their characters, and this iteration of them too. The mainstream Batman is an easy read, with the fluid art covering up some impressive pauses and action jumps in the story. This is what you’ll get if you pick up a copy of Batman these days (which we really recommend). 

The two stories easily show the huge appeal of these two Batmen (which is some effort). While Batman of Two Worlds may not be the story some fans were hoping for, it’s the perfect first pairing–divided by a page. We could do with one or two more like this before worlds collide.