In issue #12, Batman escapes Ark-M with a little help from Waylon, who has now been mutated into Killer Croc thanks to the scientists at Ark-M prison. Croc begs for Batman to kill him and end his insatiable hunger, but Bruce can't bring himself to do it. Bruce then passes out and is rescued by secret agent Alfred Pennyworth. When Bruce finally awakes, Alfred informs him that he's been asleep for nearly three weeks.

Despite suffering from the effects of his ordeal in Ark-M and the Venom-related experiments therein, Bruce immediately sets out to reunite with his mother, Martha. It's there that he learns his friends have been tortured and hospitalized. Bane paid them a visit, and the results aren't pretty.

Oswald was brutally beaten, with Bane delivering a series of surgical strikes that broke many of his bones but spared his internal organs. Oswald's body is now twisted and malformed, making most versions of the Penguin seem positively handsome by comparison.

As for Harvey Dent, Bane literally cracks his skull in two with one powerful blow, before holding Harvey's face into a pool of gasoline and lighting a match. As Bane explains, this is fitting punishment for a two-faced man who always seeks to straddle the line between hero and criminal. As for Two-Face's signature scarred coin, in this universe it becomes a poker chip from the friend group's weekly poker night. Harvey flips the chip to Bruce before reassuring him, "I only hate you half of the time."

Eddie Nygma is the only one of the group in good spirits after Bane's attack. Eddie reveals that Bane challenged him to a mental contest, even promising to allow Eddie to kill him if he won. Eddie didn't win, unfortunately, and in response, Bane bashed his skull hard enough to cause severe brain damage.

With his brain exposed and seemingly hooked up to a massive computer system. Eddie is now obsessed with questions and riddles. He alone seems to understand that Bane wasn't merely torturing the friends to get at Bruce. He was breaking them down to help them become the monsters they're meant to be.

Bruce finally returns to Alfred, ready to exact vengeance on Bane. Alfred is only too happy to help, but their preparations are cut short when an intruder enters their hideout. Alfred assumes Bane has tracked them down, only to be subdued by a mysterious woman wearing the helmet of the recently defeated Black Mask. Absolute Catwoman has arrived, and Bruce doesn't seem terribly happy to see her.

October's Absolute Batman #13 will serve as the proper introduction of this universe's Catwoman, where we'll no doubt learn how Bruce and Selina went from lovers to estranged costumed vigilantes. October also marks the release of Absolute Evil #1, a one-shot that focuses on Joker and other major Absolute Universe villains coming together for the first time.

For more on the Absolute Universe, find out why it's the most exciting DC launch in years and get the full scoop from the Absolute Batman creative team.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.