Absolute Batman #15 Ending Explained: Is The Joker Even Human?
Absolute Batman #15 detonates the long-teased Joker Arc, plunging the Absolute Universe into its darkest chapter yet. This issue rips into Jack’s past, unspooling a twisted family tree and chilling truths about the nightmare called Absolute Joker.
Absolute Batman #15 finally kicks open the Joker arc in DC's Absolute Universe, and it goes places. If you thought the earlier glimpse of Absolute Joker's true form was nightmare fuel, this issue turns the camera around and explains the man behind it: Jack Grimm. Spoiler alert: he is not who Gotham thinks he is, and he has been around way, way longer than anyone should be.
The Jack Grimm of it all
On paper, Grimm looks like the anti-Bruce: old money, philanthropic legacy, a polished name that supposedly goes back generations. The twist is that there is no lineage. There is no Grimm family. It has been the Joker, using the name Jack Grimm for over 150 years, staying unnervingly alive by literally feeding on children. The charity work? According to Alfred, that well-funded concern for underprivileged kids has been a perfect cover to get close to his food source.
Alfred goes further: the hulking horror Grimm is becoming — the Absolute Joker we saw in all his monstrous glory — may be the byproduct of decades of quiet investment in bioweapons and designer viruses. Those same interests fueled global chaos and built Grimm's obscene fortune. It is a grim mirror of the darker Wayne-family conspiracy theories you see in some alt-continuities, just pushed to their ugliest extreme.
Dark reflections
The issue really leans into the parallel. Late in the book, we get a neat side-by-side: Grimm has his own stately manor, his own Alfred-type confidant, and yes, his own Cave. It is Batman's silhouette turned inside out — same shape, rotten core. The story frames Grimm as this universe's Bruce Wayne gone wrong, the result of Darkseid's meddling and a century-plus of predation. It is a clean, nasty idea, and it fits.
Where Batman heads next
The final pages send Bruce to Gateway City. After hearing Alfred's full breakdown of Joker/Grimm, Batman decides to track down the mysterious "female warrior from Hell" he's been hearing about — which means he is on a collision course with Absolute Wonder Woman. Writer Kelly Thompson previously teased in her newsletter that the Absolute Universe will start rolling out crossovers in the last month of 2025, right after the 'Absolute Evil' event. This is one of them.
Absolute Wonder Woman #15 details
- Issue: Absolute Wonder Woman #15
- Release date: December 24, 2025
- Writer: Kelly Thompson
- Artist: Hayden Sherman
- Colorist: Jodie Bellaire
- Publisher: DC Comics
So yes, Bruce and Diana are about to share pages in a big way. If the Joker arc is about Bruce staring at his worst-case self, this team-up looks like the moment the Absolute Universe starts stitching its heroes together.
Absolute Batman #15 is available digitally on DC Universe Infinite.