Absolute Batman Goes Berserk in Flawless Tribute to Guts

1 month ago 36

Published Jun 20, 2026, 11:00 PM EDT

Ami Nazru is an anime journalist with over three years of experience reporting on the anime and manga industry. She works as an editor at Animehunch and joined CBR as a contributor in 2025. Ami has a Master's degree in English language & Literature. When she’s not working, Ami is always on the lookout for a new horror movie to watch.

A new Absolute Batman artwork has paid homage to Berserk by recreating one of the most iconic panels from the manga series.

X user "pizza mert" (@/pizza990) recently shared new fan art featuring Absolute Batman in a crossover with Kentaro Miura's Berserk. The illustration depicts the masked vigilante crouching in a low stance while holding his Bat Symbol battleaxe. The creator also published an accompanying digital time-lapse video on the platform, showcasing the drawing process and detailing how the artwork was brought to life.

The Dark Knight Meets The Black Swordsman in Epic Batman x Berserk Tribute

Interestingly, the artist pointed out that the dark particles surrounding the superhero were actually regular-sized bats, not random airborne debris. Canonically, the Absolute Batman stands at 6 feet 9 inches tall and weighs 420 pounds -- as noted by Doctor Arkham, making ordinary bats appear small in comparison to his physical stature and armored frame. This massive character build is, in fact, a defining element of the Absolute Universe timeline.

The pose in pizza mert’s artwork replicates the panel featuring Guts from Chapter 315 of the Berserk manga, in which the Black Swordsman is fully consumed by the Berserker Armor. This sequence occurs during the Fantasia arc, when Guts and his companions arrive on a remote island.

They later realize that this island is the home of a nefarious Sea God. When the party comes under attack from the Sea God's appendages, Guts allows the Beast of Darkness within him to take over in order to protect Casca and his other companions, resulting in the iconic stance that has been captured flawlessly in the fan art.

Prior to this, Absolute Batman had officially referenced Berserk in one of its covers. The variant cover for Absolute Batman #20, illustrated by Martin Simmonds, likely draws visual inspiration from the volume 1 cover of Kentaro Miura's series.

Other issues in the run have also featured similar manga homages, with the Absolute Batman #19 variant cover by Clay Mann referencing Death Note, issue #18 referencing Tatsuki Fujimoto's Chainsaw Man and the debut issue of the comic series receiving a variant paying tribute to Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira.

Launched in October 2024 as part of DC Comics' Absolute Universe, the Absolute Batman series is written by Scott Snyder with art by Nick Dragotta. This comic reimagines Bruce Wayne as a 24-year-old blue-collar civil engineer who lacks generational wealth and operates in a high-crime environment alongside childhood friends who are reimagined versions of classic Batman villains like Killer Croc and the Riddler. Since its debut, the series has consistently ranked among the best-selling comic book titles in the industry.

Meanwhile, the Berserk manga continues to be one of the best-selling manga titles of all time, with over 70 million copies in circulation worldwide. Following the passing of creator Kentaro Miura in May 2021, the manga is currently being produced by Miura's former apprentices at Studio Gaga under the supervision of his lifelong friend and fellow manga author Kouji Mori. The series recently returned from a nine-month hiatus with the release of a new chapter this month.