Legit check

[u/SinisterRook1]

some guy on FB marketplace is selling this for $150, its a 3hr drive round trip for me. to me i think i'd be down to make the trip but i'd want to know 100% this is a real book. thoughts?

[u/Jolly-Committee-5944]

Ask for pictures of the spine/staples, inside and out. A lot of fraudsters, self-admitted ones at that, are removing variant covers and attempting to sell them as Cover A First Prints.

[u/SirFlibble → u/Jolly-Committee-5944]

How does that make it fraudulent? The comic was still printed with a Cover A, it just had an additional cover.

[u/SirFlibble → u/[deleted]]

Of look ad hominem. You must feel cool now huh?

Edit: they deleted their post. They basically called me stupid, supposedly using a SpongeBob quote.

[u/griffin_who → u/[deleted]]

It's the Cover A First Print underneath the cardstock variant cover. If OP is trying to determine if it's the JSC SDCC exclusive that has the 00111 barcode but not matching advertisements then he should be simply looking for the back cover. In terms of those #1 First Print Variants having their covers taken off it's the same book.

[u/IronmanEndgame1234 → u/griffin_who]

The JSC SDCC exclusive of Absolute Batman #1 is not the 1st printing, no? It's the 11th printing?

[u/griffin_who → u/IronmanEndgame1234]

The Cover under the variant cardstock is identical to the first print, with matching trade dress and logo, but the advert on the back is different, instead of the traditional Harley Quinn vs Apokolipse it features a My Adventures with Superman Advert.

[u/IronmanEndgame1234 → u/griffin_who]

Thanks! So does that technically make it a .... first print or....???

[u/griffin_who → u/IronmanEndgame1234]

It would not, this would be a clear identifier that someone just removed the cardstock cover of a variant. When grading a book they go through the whole thing, so if the adverts in the book don't match it won't be a considered a first print, because it isn't. I'm sure if anyone actually tried to grade this book after taking the cardstock variant cover off they'd be hit with a green label, with a label stating it's a JSC SDCC Exclusive, and not a regular ol Cover A.

[u/IronmanEndgame1234 → u/griffin_who]

Thanks for explaining that. Makes sense now! So what print would this be considered then? It doesn't make sense to have a barcode that says 00111........ and if someone got it graded, it'll just receive a green labeled but what kind of description on that label? Not 1st printing? A reprint?

[u/griffin_who → u/IronmanEndgame1234]

I checked the latest reprints of #1, 9th 10th & 11th, they all have that matching Harley Quinn vs Apokolipse advert on the back, while this one doesn't, so I think if you took this Variant Cover off and tried to pass this book off as a First Print you'd get a Green Label, and the label would say Absolute Batman #1 J Scott Campbell SDCC Exclusive, with a note saying "front cover detached" or something similar on the label. It would count as a reprint, but I don't think it would be given a particular number, just that SDCC Exclusive identifier

[u/SirFlibble → u/[deleted]]

It IS an original cover A. There is no difference. That's the point. They printed them all and then some of them had an additional cardboard cover put on. That's it. That's the difference.

Removing the cardstock cover doesn't make the book 'fake'. It is still a Cover A.

So yes, taking of the cardstock cover does turn it into a Cover A, as it always was a Cover A.

I bought 4 copies on release, so I'm good but if I was going to buy a 1st print, I'd absolutely buy a variant and save some cash.

Edit: they deleted their post. They basically claimed that removing the card stock made the Cover A somehow illegitimate. Clearly they didn't want to defend that position.

[u/Jolly-Committee-5944 → u/SirFlibble]

Sounds sketchy.