The following contains major spoilers for Absolute Superman#1, on sale now from DC Comics.
DC's Absolute Superman is going up against an entire army of Peacemakers, and they are stronger than any of their predecessors.
After traversing the stars all the way from Krypton to Earth, Absolute Superman #1 brings readers to a secluded corner of Brazil, where the downtrodden workers of a diamond mine are forced to continue digging through a literal mountain of asbestos with threats of violence. Fortunately, there is a Man of Steel just waiting to stand up for them all. Then again, doing so means going up against as many Peacemakers as the competition can throw at him, and none of them seem intent on ever backing down from a fight.
One of Batman's oldest and most important allies has just turned his back on the Dark Knight, and it could change everything for both of them
Absolute Superman #1
Written by JASON AARON
Art by RAFA SANDOVAL
Colors by ULISES ARREOLA
Letters by BECCA CAREY
Main cover art by RAFA SONDOVAL & ULISES ARREOLA
Variant covers by JIM LEE, SCOTT WILLIAMS & ALEX SINCLAIR, WES CRAIG & MIKE SPICER, CLAYTON CRAIN, and MATTEO SCALERA
Christopher Smith, better known as the Peacemaker, made his comic book debut back in the pages of 1966's Fightin' 5 #40 in Joe Gill and Pat Boyette's closing story, "Peacemaker: Introducing the Peacemaker." The son of an army officer turned politician father and a research scientist mother, Chris was always bound for greatness in one way or another. As he grew up, Smith fell in love with rocket science and weapons design despite having a deeply held disdain for all forms of violence. After becoming an envoy for the United States government, Chris found himself forced to turn to violence in order to prevent an all-out war from breaking out between two independent nations, transforming into the overly violent Peacemaker while embracing the absurdist dichotomy at the center of his mission.
In recent years, Peacemaker has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity brought about by John Cena's portrayal of the character in 2021's The Suicide Squad. This iteration of the character became a fast-fan favorite, kicking off his own minor media empire. Apart from Cena's feature film debut as Christopher Smith, the star has reprised the character for HBO's Peacemaker streaming series. Cena will be returning to the silver screen wearing his iconic helmet in Peacemaker's second season, which is set to premiere sometime in 2025.
Superman has just come face-to-face with his very own father, and it changes everything the Man of Steel thought he knew about his legacy.
Absolute Superman's Peacemakers are the latest iteration of the character, as well as the latest byproduct of DC Comics' new Absolute Universe. This reality, previously known as the enigmatic Elseworld, was given proper form for the first time in the pages of the DC All In Specialby Joshua Williamson, Scott Snyder, Daniel Sampere, Wes Craig, and Mike Spicer. Following Darkseid's forced merger with the Spectre and subsequent defeat at the hands of a supernaturally supercharged Superman, the villain was able to traverse the Multiverse and not only come into contact with the Elseworld, but bond his own consciousness to its reality as a whole. This gave rise to the Absolute Universe, one defined by its overtly violent, brutalist nature.
Absolute Superman #1 is on sale now from DC Comics.
English (US) · 