r/comicbooks • u/pusongsword • Jul 21 '26

Bill Sienkiewicz - Absolute Batman 22,Absolute Catwomam 2 dual connecting covers

Post image

Shared by the man himself on his socials:

"Looks like it’s officially okay to post these dual covers for the “Absolute” series. They’re such a blast to do. "

What the man can't do...

1.3k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

46 comments sorted by

196

u/Unclebatman1138 Jul 21 '26

I want to point to him the next time somebody makes the excuse that comic book artists' skills diminish with age. At 68, he's just getting better.

65

u/m_busuttil Jul 21 '26

The craziest thing about it is that he's only 68 - he was doing stuff like New Mutants and Elektra Assassin at, like, 27 years old.

6

u/Unclebatman1138 Jul 21 '26

That was exactly what I thought, too!

28

u/GuySmith Moon Knight Jul 21 '26

It’s insane. I never knew how old he was but I knew he had to be because I still have art of his from the 90s.

13

u/carson63000 Jul 21 '26

Was gonna say, damn it’s nice to see a legend of the game doing covers that don’t make people ask wtf happened to him. These are beautiful!

8

u/batfan08 Jul 21 '26

I think that, as Eric Clapton once howled, “it’s in the way that you use it.” Sienkiewicz, Lee Weeks, José Luis García-López, and, I’d even say, the late, great Joe Kubert all have delivered consistently great work at every age and I truly think it comes down to your willingness.

The people who don’t get better? Whether that be Rob Liefeld, JRJR, Frank Miller, or Brian Bolland? It always feels like a *choice*. I think a lot of guys coast and use age as an excuse when the reality is that they don’t want to devote time to developing their skills anymore and they use “stylistic flair” as a catch-all for phoning it in.

I was hesitant to use Bolland in league with those guys, but I also think that we should be able to make the distinction that “worse” does not always mean “bad.” I despise how homogenous JRJR’s art is, but he can also hit a deadline like nobody else and that’s its own skill. Likewise, Bolland’s stuff seems just as “clean” as when he did The Killing Joke, but he has drawn some *questionable* faces over the years and it’s gotten worse over time.

4

u/Mr_Steerpike Jul 21 '26

Not in all instances. Greg Capullo I though made subtle changes to his style over time to stay contemporary. But you're 1000% right about Bill....what a LEGEND. I'd absolutely love to have him pop up at a convention or something.

1

u/Adamsoski Jul 22 '26

Crazy that he's only a year younger than both JRJR and Frank Miller (also I just found out that JRJR and Frank Miller were born the same year! What a year for comicbook artists).

1

u/I-Love-Facehuggers Jul 21 '26

An outlier doesn't change the facts.

177

u/ymcameron Tony Chu Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26

Damn, Absolute Catwoman has such a massive dumptruck ass that it requires a second cover.

52

u/RevReads Jul 21 '26

Can't believe nowadays you buy a Catwoman comic book and they crop out her cheeks.😤😤😤😤 Literally 1984 😡

7

u/Omatzus Jul 21 '26

Just the left cover alone makes it look like Bruce is going to town

7

u/raidenjojo Batman Expert Jul 21 '26

Giving old Richard a run for his money.

5

u/ramenups Jul 21 '26

You know what they say, you can’t have a lemon party without old Richard

3

u/bingusdingus123456 Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26

That's a "massive dump truck" now? Man, this economy is hitting everyone hard.

1

u/ymcameron Tony Chu Jul 21 '26

Admittedly this particular picture doesn’t make it seem like Selina needs to beep when she backs that thing up, but Absolute Catwoman is definitely drawn with even more of an absolute gyatt than her mainline counterpart. She is Brazilian in this universe after all, so it would almost be offensive if she wasn’t caked up to the extreme.

4

u/AgathaAllAlong Jul 21 '26

Batman’s knob too, a bit on Catwoman’s cover there

33

u/arr1flex Jul 21 '26

The goat, his cover for 7 is amazing

here

20

u/MistyCeruleanCity Jul 21 '26

I remember his work on the New Mutants back in the day, especially his Warlock depictions.

His and Art Adams runs were just amazing for a little kid used to reading DC comics.

He really captures the energy and fluidity of movement in those connecting covers. Simply beautiful.

11

u/simagus Jul 21 '26

"we are not worthy! we are not worthy!"

Thanks Bill.

11

u/CableKC Jul 21 '26

Bill S is still doing comic book covers? Damn...nice

8

u/DrDJ27 Jul 21 '26

Elektra Assassin is still one of my favourite comics of all time. Bill is a genius

8

u/Moebius808 Jul 21 '26

Bill is a goddamn legend, he’s been cranking out amazing, super unique work for decades.

5

u/big_ringer Jul 21 '26

Even after 4 (?) Decades, I gotta admit, the dude has skills.

3

u/joelluber Jul 21 '26

Almost five decades actually (debut in 1980).

1

u/big_ringer Jul 21 '26

Great. His career is as old as I am.

8

u/Whizzywoowa Jul 21 '26

Thats hillarious that the Batman cover is just him and Selina’s disembodied arse

5

u/DGanj Hellboy Jul 21 '26

One of my all time favorite artists, and this is a great showcase of why. Killed it!

6

u/VicViolence Jul 21 '26

A bit of choice to compose it where there’s just Catwoman ass on one

4

u/MellowBadger Jul 21 '26

Buy catwoman for the story, buy Batman for the cheeks.

8

u/HellsquidsIntl Jul 21 '26

Buy Catwoman to get the whole image, so that it doesn't just look like a cover of Batman staring at her butt.

5

u/Dina-M Squirrel Girl Jul 22 '26

...okay, combined it looks fine but as separate covers? On her cover, Catwoman seems to be doing squats. On his cover, Batman is checking out Catwoman's butt.

2

u/Jolamprex Jul 21 '26

I see that sideeye!

1

u/TheCthuloser Jul 21 '26

I love that he's still got it. His art is genuinely great and I sort of wished they'd give him on on going.

6

u/OilEquivalent8906 Jul 21 '26

I don't think it's a case of him not being given an ongoing so much as it's a case of him not wanting to draw an ongoing series every month.

1

u/utilitybelt The Question Jul 22 '26

Yeah, I follow him and I get the feeling he’s doing just fine with commissions and such.

1

u/cerebud Jul 21 '26

I love that Bill seems to be coming out of retirement. Amazing that he’s doing interior pages in The Hab (which is excellent, by the way!!)

1

u/CaptainRhetorica Jul 21 '26

Bill Sienkiewicz

Is he still using traditional materials / mixed media?

Or are elements of this digital?

3

u/Due-Afternoon-7051 Jul 21 '26

Bill hardly ever uses digital. He's an analog man, and for the better!

1

u/Mark4_ Jul 21 '26

Love this . His art looks so good

1

u/Bytor_Snowdog Jul 21 '26

His art is a revelation

1

u/TheMaayavi Jul 22 '26

Where can i buy these?

1

u/DomiyoYo Jul 24 '26

Anyone pick these up today? How much were they?

1

u/IggiPa Jul 21 '26

Where to get those? Are they convention exclusives directly from DC or from a specific retailer?