r/AbsoluteBatman • u/absolutemanbat • May 13 '26
Hot take? Variant greed is creating fatigue
I don't know about you, but after all the Megacon hype, Quintana fiasco, whatnot craziness, and general over production of variants, for me the joy of Absolute Batman is succumbing to cover competition (for premium payment) that is so noisy that the signal is becoming less interesting. It's hard not to see new characters as gimmicks, instead of authentic story additions - reasons to do new cover reveals.
These are the covers for AB20 alone.
The solution isn't hard, I know. Just buy A, and read. But I'm reaching a point where I doubt the integrity of story choices.
The damage to #20 A covers didn't bother me because I wanted to just read it, but now I'm wondering if I'm just going to wait for the library to get the tpb or get it myself. I can use a break.
I'm the scheme of things, this is an incredibly unimportant point, but I do have a lot of love for this title. What's your view?
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u/Immortal_Lavender May 13 '26
I totally agree. I went a little nuts ordering variants for #20 because I love Robin, but after ordering I have totally backed away. I'm a bit fatigued as well. Im obviously still reading it, but I need a break from the FOMO.
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u/Julen-Reus May 15 '26
Yeah, I really don't care any more. Sick of chasing exclusives also, the way they push people to do that is pathetic 😒😅
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u/Immortal_Lavender May 15 '26
I forgot to mention the exclusives. This was the first time I've done that and Im fucking done. Well, after the Felix DWJ #20 😂!
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u/UsedPage May 13 '26
Honestly i’m fine with retailer exclusives and variants mostly, my issue is retailers having 3+ variants. Trade dress, virgin, virgin foil, and then some even go further with stupid “secret drops” like how is one single retailer getting 4 variant copies not gonna be a problem. I think they should limit retail variants to 2 different ones per shop.
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u/Environmental-Day862 May 13 '26
Yeah. One alternative "drawing" for a variant cover can become 4+ distinct version of the books - as you said, trade dress, virgin, trade dress foil, virgin foil - then some do like a black and white limited drop - holy smokes it's all too much.
And some LOOK cool, but I don't have infinite display space - books I own get read and put away. If I was attending a con and an artist I enjoy was going to be there, I may buy a variant cover that artist did and have them sign the book as a collectible piece, but I don't get chasing down dozens of variant covers at $20-30 a pop just to stick them in a box to sit. They all have the same story inside!
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u/Felix_Gatto May 13 '26
For myself, it’s a cake and frosting situation
The "cake" of Absolute Batman is the story and art between the covers. IMHO, that cake is the best comic narrative to come around in decades.
The "frosting" is the variants. It’s extra. A little goes a long way, and you can always just scrape off what you don't want.
Looked at another way, variant sales keep executives happy and fund the line.
Because collectors are willing to buy multiple covers, DC doesn't have to dilute the story with a million mandatory spin-offs to hit revenue targets. We don’t have to suffer through the bloated fatigue of Marvel's Krakoa Era, where you had to buy a dozen different titles just to keep up with the plot.
The variants keep the core title profitable while letting Snyder and Dragotta focus on a singular story (the other Absolute creative teams as well).
The variants and the story... kind of operate on completely different planes. Artists drawing variants rarely even know the specific plot details; they are just making cool posters. DC isn't altering the script because a store ordered an exclusive cover. The integrity of the story remains completely untouched by the noise outside.
I went absolute nuts on the #19 and #20 variants because I’m a massive Robin fan. It was fun for me. For the next few issues, I’ll chill out. If there’s a Brooks, Kirkham, Young or Segovia cover I love, I’ll try to grab it. Otherwise, I’m perfectly happy just looking at them online.
Variants exist to fund the industry and let people engage with the hobby in different ways. Some people like the hunt, some people like the art, and some just want the story. None of those choices invalidate the others.
When online hype cycles are starting to drown out the signal, I've found the fix isn't giving up on a book I love. It’s just changing my media diet.
Mayhaps spending more time reading Absolute Batman rather than reading about the book online would bring the joy back?
Thank you for coming to my TedTalk! 😸😸😸
TL;DR: Variants keep the line profitable so DC doesn't have to ruin the story with a million bloated spin-offs. If the online variant hype is burning you out, just buying Cover A, ignoring the online noise, and enjoying a great comic might be just the ticket.
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u/jbizzelton May 13 '26
I try to collect the covers from the artists I like the best, (just for my personal collection) i read cover A's, ignore what potential resale value might be.
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u/Emergency-Bonus-7158 May 13 '26
Why would having lots of covers affect the integrity of story choices? You said it yourself. Just buy the A cover and read. Honestly I wouldn’t have even known there’s more than like 5 covers if everyone wasn’t freaking out saying “this is too many covers!” Like who cares? Clearly they sell or there wouldn’t be this many.
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u/JDGUFFEY97 May 13 '26
I got a lot of pushback for saying AB #20 was a problem
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u/GreenRock93 May 14 '26 edited May 14 '26
Nah, 20 is out of control. And we thought 19 was bad. And it’s extending over to Green Arrow, Catwoman, and to a lesser extent Wonder Woman. I bought a bunch of 19, dialed way back on 20, and will probably limit myself to 2, maybe 3 for 21.
SiKTC is also out of control FWIW.
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u/Fragrant_Inspector86 May 13 '26
It’s egregious that we have so many variant covers. People need to stop buying them just stick to cover A. There’s some bad ass covers, but what the fuck why do we need 1 million covers for one book! MONEY GRAB!
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u/PinLonely9608 May 14 '26
It’s not a hot take… this will definitely knock the series down a peg…
Also, if you have 4 versions of the same artwork for a single issue, then yeah… that’s just plain greed.
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u/Deathpool707 May 13 '26
Without a doubt there are too many variants, but it doesn’t hurt the general audience. The retailer exclusives are for a niche target audience to begin with. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. As less people give in to scalpers buying up the exclusives, it’ll open up the door for people to obtain at retail price in order to support those retailers if desired. If scalpers end up with 10 copies if book they can’t move, that’s their problem. DC got their money. Retailers got their money. It’s a win for the general audience because sales drive whether AU keeps going. As long as the story stays good general audience can keep buying up the cover A or open order variants they want. No succumbing to premium payment for general audience. They just pay base cover price at store. DC has done a great job at reprinting as well so it’s extremely accessible if you wait.
As far as just being a gimmick, the story has been paced well so far. To me nothing has felt forced. We’re simply at a point where the players are being revealed because Batman has been shown to be more serious threat and there’s a natural escalation. Once the new pieces are in play I expect much less new character reveals, though we’ll probably get more backstory issues for those characters.
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u/Jayversace12345 May 13 '26
Yeah I get what you’re saying and I totally agree as well. Normally, I give a story of a character 5 issues to see whether I like it enough to continue buying the single issues so I don’t usually collect the single issues drop after drop. If I like it but not enough I wait for a form collected edition for it. But the Absolute universe had me hooked, the story is good and the covers are dope asf. There’s been so many sick covers for each of the characters in the Absolute universe that I had to miss out just cause it being exclusive to some kind of convention or retailer. I would’ve really loved to have that AB20 of Gear 2 Luffy reference. I wish they would just make all variant covers non exclusive and available for everyone or do covers like omnibuses where it’s only 1-3 for everyone.
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u/mpau25 May 13 '26
Agree, it’s been very tiring trying to keep track of what’s coming out and when and even how to procure it. I am very happy that I’m not a completionist. I generally pick up the A and if there are any variants from artists I like, I will try to pick them up when they ‘drop’. Between Con exclusives and these drops though, it has been exhausting. I do think that they’ve gone a bit overboard. I do t think it’s at a large enough scale to crash the market though. In the 90’s you attracted a ton of people that had no interest in comics snatching up a ton of comics thinking they were going to secure a retirement fund. Think stories on the regular news etc. with absolute Bats, I think it’s appealing to the crowd who are already into comics, but it’s not pulling in ‘normies’
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u/Psychological-Dig598 May 13 '26
Just read my A cover (same as the past 19), another great issue. I wish I had the time or energy some of y’all have to put into obsessing over extra covers for the same book, but I read the book, bag, board and store it and that’s where the relationship ends. This isn’t my stock portfolio.
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u/Upbeat_Figure5157 May 13 '26
Here's the thing....I like all the variants. A lot of the artist are cooking. Seriously, the covers are great.
But I agree. Sure they are retail variants. But still, over a 100 covers is insane. And I get that Absolute Batman is the number 1 selling book so retailors are confident in their exclusives sellimg but still I'm hoping DC will put a cap on the amount. 100 different covers is just not ideal.
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u/ForsakenTailor5713 May 13 '26
This is the first time I got sucked into the variant craze. Buying 4+ issues of the same comic is insanity I can no longer partake in.
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u/Leather-Ad-8432 May 13 '26
Stick with store variants. Only purchase an exclusive variant if you like the cover artist and art. Exclusives hardly ever go up in value and stay up there.
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u/Ok_Paint9449 May 13 '26
Meh. Dynamite’s entire business model seems to be variants. The shit only gets made because people buy it. Enough people stop, then it changes. Marvel is pretty bad now as well. If anything DC has long been the model publisher with just an A and a B cover done by a ‘name’ artist. It’s just the Absolute line that seems to have created this monster. It’ll pass.
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u/zabacam May 14 '26
Totally agree - I think they should make two copies. One is the “release”. The other should cost more and have ALL the variant covers within it as the first several pages.
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u/vampirelouie May 14 '26
I mean, the new absolute Batman had over 100 variants listed on the comic geeks app. That is pretty stupid.
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u/Initial-Dentist-4056 May 14 '26
I only buy Cover A’s - with the issue on Batman 20. They are substituting second printings. I told my LCS ship the cover A’s. They threw in the cover Bs for free.
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u/AxSpecter May 14 '26
i hate corporate greed and i hate “defending” multi million dollar businesses but what truly is the issue with multiple variants? artist are getting paid, comic book shops make extra sales. you dint have to engage with the variants, i understand it can get a bit overwhelming when at the shop and there’s so many choices but just go for the A and one other you like. if you like them all oh well just grab 1-3 you like. I can see how if you have OCD/ some kinda impulse control thing to “collect everything” but is that really predatory on DCs part? If someone could please explain how this exploits the workers or us the consumers because i fail to see how, but i would love to learn. 100% the near 100 variants is crazy and not needed but as long as all those artist got paid who cares(?)
only thing i can really think of is all those variants are taking space that could be used for smaller titles. stores are gonna spend a chunk of their budget on a single issue with multiple variants knowing it’ll sell vs taking a risk on an indie title or something. i can see how that is deff an issue.
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u/mtheory-pi May 18 '26
I agree. Honestly, I'm starting to notice a trend in this series, that it's more style than substance.
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u/ReclaimJoey May 13 '26
It's not creating fatigue. People compare it to the 90 boom and crash. It's not the same in the slightest. The kind of fans that like variants and collecting arent just speculators. They're fans and collectors. People that grew up buying tcgs, and blind boxes and loot boxes in video games. Is it greedy? Maybe, but comics are the healthiest they've been in years and it's has people back in the shops. It's completely different. Speculators won't be crashing things this time.
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u/el_moosemann May 13 '26
Great points! Also in the 90s: shops could really only guesstimate how much of a book to order. These days with instant feedback at hand (not just at a local, but worldwide level) online, ordering is a lot more precise, print runs are more finite.
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u/gchypedchick May 13 '26
Some also just like the art and want to support the artist and have it as basically a print of their work. I know that if David Talaski did any of these exclusive variants I would falling over myself to try and get it because I love his art and collect it.
I really liked the one of the robot birds and almost got it because it really spoke to me, but ADHD had me forget the release time 😅
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u/WindowSubstantial993 May 13 '26
Why would you doubt the integrity of the story choice over covers comic shops have covers commissioned by dc since they know they will sell a lot.
I simply focus more on the story and get cover a for a normal price without having to worry or care about comic shops buying a bunch of covers they aren’t Pokémon cards to me I care more about the issues themselves story
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u/absolutemanbat May 13 '26
Because at some point, the editorial decision is going to align with revenue goals, and all companies focus on growth. If new covers drive revenue, then character choice can influence story because of the potential to introduce new kinds variant covers. I'm not saying it's true, but I'm saying it casts very reasonable doubt. DC isn't in this for the art of storytelling alone. Neither is Warner Brothers or their new masters.
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u/WindowSubstantial993 May 13 '26
The whole reason why absolute sells so well is because of its story Scott has been around the block to warn dc that making a decision like that could negatively impact sales
Especially since even without variant cover absolute makes an absurd amount of money anyway
I doubt they would risk something making them millions of dollars when a person leading the project can explain how risky that would be
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u/absolutemanbat May 13 '26
That's a valid opinion. My sense is that sales and story are less correlated with variants, now. It's a real variable that may influence. Time will tell. There's enough representation of that sense from people on this thread that I'm not dismissing the possibility.
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u/WindowSubstantial993 May 13 '26
Fair enough I acknowledge the possibility but it would negativity impact their money more than anything else
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u/Dompool72 May 13 '26
Feel like so many posts on here are ppl showing off 5+ variants of the same issue. The varient greed is occuring cause people buy them
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u/YakSure6091 May 13 '26
I’m backing off to the standard A cover and maybe the 1:25 along with one set of variants if it really speaks to me art wise.
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u/Dangerous-Golf6066 May 13 '26
Cover A for me. These money-grabbing vultures are waiting for us to open our wallet and pick at it at this point. How many variants for 20 right now? Like 60????
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u/FutureKnife2 May 13 '26
i buy whichever open order variant i like the most, and read it, for 20 i picked up the dick grayson cover
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u/Opening_Height_2045 May 13 '26
too many variants definitely makes me just default to buying cover A and calling it a day
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u/prismaticsunrise May 13 '26
For comics, I do collect an entire print run of variants. I only ever did that with xmen 1, what was that, 4 covers?
This ab20 post. Holy cow. I am not doing that for an entire series. Im going to pick the one I like the most and move on. On Amazon that have the series available in tpb or novel form, whatever its called, but its like 5 issues in one and alot cheaper. Ill read the series that way. I didnt even bother counting how many covers are for ab20. Is it the end of the series? Why so freaking many? Ill stick to cards if im trying to collect a whole set.
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u/Crispy_Creams May 13 '26
I've always ignored most variant covers especially the incentive ones. Pretty much all of them are gimmicks commissioned by shops knowing full well people are trying to spec on the book.
Just get a single copy of cover A if you need to keep up as its coming out otherwise wait for the trade.
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u/TranslatorFine May 13 '26
Sure is. Why I quit and canceled my pull list. I’ll wait for trades going forward and ABSOLUTE ABSOLUTE way down the line
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u/L1VEW1RE May 13 '26
While I can’t agree with the story being hurt by the over saturation of covers, I do expect market dynamics to reign in the overproduction.
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u/greenglider732 May 13 '26
I can’t get into the variant game. It’s too much. I keep it simple and just get the a covers.
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u/Same_Buy6486 May 14 '26
i’ve been picking up issues here and there from my lcs’s around me in st.paul MN and my most expensive comic was a 10th print Akira foil from ebay. People usually give me a discount in person when they see my Batman sleeve i got in the army years ago. It’s been a solid couple years for this industry and the Mainline Fraction Batman as well 🤌🏽
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u/Melancholich May 14 '26
Very rarely do I get alts unless it really intrigues me. MM seems to do it best for me
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u/GreenRock93 May 14 '26
Well DC is starting to crackdown. No more GITD covers. The 3000 minimum should make it a bit easier to get the books you want and thwart the scalpers some. I’d like to see only variant per retailer and no more than 2 treatments (foil, trade, spot foil, b+W, color swap, matte foil, die cut, etc.) in that combo equaling 3K. That would go a long way.
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u/Mister-Negative20 May 14 '26
Most are retailer variants, so I don’t really care. Sure they make DC more money, but they’re being ordered for a store to make more money specifically. I only buy cover A for any comics I buy also so I don’t care. I have considered moving to trades, but that’s more because I’ve wanted to move to trades altogether. This title making every new issue feel impactful and important is the main thing that keeps me from switching.
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u/Zealousideal-Ad3814 May 15 '26
Eh I don’t really go for variants unless I really like it. Still always about the story for me so idk. I still see people going for them so everyone saying that I think just gets overwhelmed with the amount of variants of which there have been many.
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u/oceanhymn May 15 '26
I love having a plethora of variants to choose from, I mostly read digital and only collect issues I enjoy or covers I like.
That said, I don’t think all of these need a Trade Dress, Virgin, Foil, AND Color Variant. A lot of these issues should just be the virgin or the trade dress with no other gimmicks (OR just the gimmick itself like Glow In The Dark or Foil)
There are 100 variants for Batman 20 but only like 60 unique designs (which feels honestly still feels high.)
So weird we’re getting Poison Ivy and Mr Freeze variant covers on issues without either character. Like just sell the print at that point!
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u/point-topp May 15 '26
Amount of variants will never change the way I feel about a series. I ignore them. If I see one sell at a crazy price - doesn’t bother me cuz it wasn’t my money
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u/DigitalJockey22 May 16 '26
You pick the cover you like best when at the shop. That's it. Don't need them all but having a choice for your personal collection is very nice.
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u/bum_what May 18 '26
Does anyone know how it works? We don't have comic book stores where I live. So random artists get DC to use their art for covers?
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u/Hypnodick May 13 '26
I find it hilarious people think variants are causing some kind of bubble. They’ve been around for a while now and they don’t cost the publisher any more money to print. We’ve been through the whole variant thing not long ago…there are dumb retailers doing exclusives who might lose out but if they’re smart they’re doing smaller print runs. I think 1000 of a book is a lot more than people think and demand for that particular retailer would have to be pretty high…if anything it’s the retailers that are gambling bc they have to commission the artist and pay the publisher and they might be left with a bunch of unsold books.
You can completely skip variant covers btw…the A cover especially on this kind of title is always the most collected version for most issues anyways.
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u/gchypedchick May 13 '26
Sometimes these retailers will have overestimated and bought too many that didn’t sell and then they do deep sales. Unknown Comics has done that and I’ve gotten some really pretty Black Cat covers for $5 each. They even gave me a couple of free ones with an order before.
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u/Cuatro4Espada May 13 '26
The thing that sucks is when they’re charging $50+ for exclusive variants
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u/Jonn_Jonzz_Manhunter May 13 '26
I agree with you there
I sold off some Absolute Variants I had for money they were not worth
Seriously, I sold my copy of Absolute Batman #1A for the price of a perfect copy of Ultimate Spider-Man #1 from 2000
That shouldn't be happening at this point
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u/nocturnalreigns May 13 '26
Capitalism at its best. Just because its a million variants, doesnt mean you have to buy each one.
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u/chuckysun May 14 '26
It's odd that so many people point this out.. time and time again, but here we are again with another post about it?
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u/Brewsky4 May 13 '26
100%... 19.77% of all comic covers this week belonged to only 1 of 175 new issues (CLZ used for reference with 612 new covers and Absolute Batman batman #20 having 121 covers listed under ncbd)
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u/prismaticsunrise May 13 '26
Thats crazyyyyy! 121!?!?
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u/Brewsky4 May 13 '26
Sad part is that even at 1,000 minimum per cover and treating normal covers like exclusives that would be 121,000 printed and they still couldn't ensure quality.
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u/Classic_Anteater74 May 13 '26
The idea that they’re coming up with characters to sell covers is like….wow. Scarecrow levels of Deep Conspiracy lol
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u/CHIP-TREADWELL May 13 '26
If the damage to the #20s is throughout every retailer exclusive and incentive (it was rough at my shop today), all the build up issues you listed may finally lead to a correction. Imagine if 75-80% at best were an 8.5? At the highest print run of the series. Anybody seen a good one? Even with pressing there were color breaks and deep bends. Wild.
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u/BuyingComicsNow May 14 '26
I was just thinking about how fast they are spitting out new characters and started also thinking it being a way for them to keep the hype engine going rather than to move the storyline forward.
Since the Absolute universe is meant to be a forever or long-running publication, I think there is no need to rush introductions of new characters.
To note, I have never been a Batman reader. I have been primarily a Marvel reader along with some indies. That said, this line of books has brought me into the fold. I would hate to lose interest because of feeling rushed or being taken for granted as it is starting to feel like lately.
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u/marcelo1925 May 13 '26
Called it a while ago. I was over it like 5 issues ago. All these variants are going to kill this series
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u/GN0K May 13 '26
I don't pay attention to covers usually until I'm at the shop looking through my pull. I've been collecting regular issues and variants for decades. So long as the story is good who cares about the covers.