this was done as a pseudo test if i could make print style art, im going to ask my graphic designer girl if she could try make it look more print like :)

since i got asked a bit on cass’ height on twt ill explain my design thoughts here! ( its also partly because my reference was like this)

also pls ask me stuff on my ask box i like getting requests

cass : black hair, she has a bad habit of cutting it herself when stressed so it can be a bit messy. likes thin layers and doesn’t wear jackets often because of the feeling and pressure. shes 5’8 and got height from her dad, ballerina lithe build. she just likes wearing clothes that remind her of her costume. :)

The whole thing with Tim kind of illustrates the main thing that really keeps me from fully connecting to the series. I don't have any attachment to Absolute Tim, so his death means nothing to me (and very little to Bruce besides being another thing in a string of traumas and bad press against him). The whole point of the thing, other than again, kickstarting some more bad press for Bruce and likely leading to Dick uncovering The Truth or whatever (because you know it's not going to be Jason with the way they're characterizing him as an aggressive idiot as per usual or Steph and Duke with them barely existing as per usual), is just a very lazy meta twist.

You THOUGHT it was going to be Jason who died because that's usually his job but SHOCKING TWIST it was TIM! Okay cool. Who cares. What does that mean thematically. Anything? At all? We don't know anything about Absolute Tim. We've gotten a few panels of characterization of him, indicating he's kind of cocky and loyal to the team. It's banking on pre existent attachment to Tim Drake 1. he doesn't seem to share much in common with mainverse Tim even with what little characterization he's gotten and 2. Absolute Batman is doubtless plenty of people's first Batman comic with how well it's selling and they won't know who the fuck Tim Drake is beyond maybe a wikipedia summary or 'wait was he in BTAS'

Jason, when he died, at least mattered. He had backstory, he had a personality, and he had enough fans that the poll was close and we got lamenting in the letter columns. Bruce was cradling the dead body of his son who he loved. In Absolute Batman I don't even know if he knows Tim's name, but he cradles his dead body the same way. How old was this Tim? (okay bad example DC can't decide on how old Jason was when he died either. but at least we had 'teenager' as an age range lmao) How did his parents die? Who was he closest to on the Robin team? Fuck if I know. Homaging that event without any of the emotion behind it or characterization behind it feels so lazy and hollow.

Any lamenting of this is based on pre-existing attachment to Tim Drake as a character. Any shock about this isn't based on what it means thematically or for the story, it was made incredibly obvious at least one Robin was going to die, but that a random different Robin died other than the one who usually does. My only thoughts about this was 'well at least Jason letting Tim share credit in his victory over Batman despite the fact he didn't do anything and taking a selfie with him is an emotion/trait besides "angry and reckless idiot" and "I'm glad it wasn't Steph or Duke".

It's happening so fast and the work isn't being put in, so I can't feel emotions about it, and I think that's something that applies to it as a whole. There's a lot of cool ideas and concepts with the villains and changing things up, but we get the barest glimpse of characterization before the next tragic event happens, we have twenty different storylines going on at all times, and it feels like we're speedrunning everything and coasting on hype and shock and pre-existing attachment to the characters. It doesn't have as much to say as I think it could if it gave this story room to breathe, you know? It leads to most of the characters being fairly one note (Jason is the ur-example of this lmao but it's always beyond parody with him). And we're getting to a part where characters we barely know are just being killed off one after another and we're supposed to care, which is one of my pet peeves in fiction. Character deaths should be emotional, it shouldn't be 'eh that's a waste'.

It is still an intriguing story that always has a lot happening, and I get why people like that kind of thing, but I think Absolute Wonder Woman has a lot more balance in the characterization and a lot more to say about the core of it's main character, in comparison.

- raised by mama with absent father (only find out later in life that dad did actually want to be a decent father/husband)

-slashed neck injury

-being called/referred to with any variation of "alley/street rat"

-searching for a long lost family member only to be lied to by said relative

More spoilers for Absolute Batman 23 under the cut