Is Absolute Cassandra Cain #1 a Catwoman sidebar, or a Joker origin? I just read the one-shot. It’s Cass’s origin in this universe, and the book surprisingly answers yes (sort of) to both.
Writer: Che Grayson
Artist: Matías Bergara
Colorist: Mike Spicer
Publisher: DC
On-sale: September 16, 2026
The Setup
It’s Cass’s origin in this universe, and it sits in a specific spot: after Absolute Catwoman #3, before #4.
You get the backstory on Absolute Cassandra Cain and on what happened to the League of Assassins here — the Demon’s Head, her ties to that whole situation. Absolute Joker actually trained under them. The stories around Absolute joker keep adding pieces, and this is another (small?) one. It gives you just a little more on how this Joker was built. Will this play a role in Absolute Batman?
The Cass side is tied to the Absolute Catwoman series that’s running now. In a #3 flashback you see her younger. This one-shot also references what happens there during one of the Calicos’ heists. Then it points you at Catwoman #4.
It isn’t a new ongoing. It’s a closed origin that hands you back to Catwoman, with some extra Joker/League material sitting next to Batman.
Highlights
After the intro portion, it’s a training story. Coming-of-age is close, but what it actually feels like is a Rocky montage: the work, the bruises, the repetition, then she can do the thing. Bergara draws that stretch clearly. The blindfold-and-knives page next to the kung fu stance is the version of that idea.
Then it becomes a get-the-band-back-together comic. They go around and collect some of the remaining League of Assassins people. There’s a short list of names, some of them checked off. A few of those names you recognize. Katana is one of them, and that drop is interesting. Ebenezer Darrk is in the mix too.
At one point there is what appears to be an unrelenting hoard of the undead, some cool weaponry, and fight scenes that do look really good. Bergara also drops black-and-white panels in with the color pages. That’s the stylistic choice that stuck with me. The book looks finished. It doesn’t read like extra pages taped onto Absolute Catwoman.
Final Verdict
Sidebar and origin, both. I’m staying with Cass through Absolute Catwoman #4, which is where the one-shot tells you to go.
I don’t know yet how much of the leftover League story feeds the rest of the Absolute line. What I do know is this issue adds League training to Absolute Joker, so it isn’t only a Absolute Catwoman extra. If you want that Absolute Joker piece in context, the Absolute Batman reading guide can help point you to other pieces such as Absolute Evil, Absolute Ark M, and parts of Absolute Batman.
If you’re already reading Absolute Catwoman, this is the origin of the Cass those issues have been using. If you only wanted her backstory in this universe, this is the single issue that does that job. I enjoyed it more than the first three issues of Absolute Catwoman honestly.
Did the League training change how this Joker reads for you next to Absolute Batman? Tag me on X @NostalgicNestEg.
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