Mark Brooks, Jock, Andy Kubert, Absolute Batman And CoverGate

Posted in: Batman, Comics, DC Comics | Tagged: absolute, Absolute Batman, CoverGate, coverwatch, mark brooks

Mark Brooks, Jock, Andy Kubert, Absolute Batman And CoverGate

CoverGate: Mark Brooks and Absolute Batman with Jock, Andy Kubert, Cliff Biggers, Adam Phillips, Ian Jones and Rob Liefeld

Published Fri, 03 Jul 2026 12:57:12 -0500
by Rich Johnston
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Last updated Sat, 04 Jul 2026 07:52:45 -0500
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Article Summary

• Absolute Batman variant fever keeps surging, with retailer exclusives, huge sales, and back issues hitting four-figure highs.
• Mark Brooks moved Jock’s Absolute Batman #22 exclusive to his own store, sparking backlash over pricing, access, and retail bypass.
• Retailers, ex-execs, and dealers clashed with Brooks over profit splits, creator pay, sell-through risk, and membership discounts.
• As CoverGate grew, Rob Liefeld weighed in and Brooks unveiled a second Absolute Batman #22 exclusive by Andy Kubert.

As Bleeding Cool has noted, there seems to be an entirely new economy in the comic book industry built entirely around Absolute Batmanby Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta, with back issues not two years old, soaring to four or five-figure prices, retailers commissioning so many exclusive retailer variant covers that DC Comics had to put a cap on it, and sales of new issues topping half a million. The news of a new animated TV series (though not anime, some have it) has only focused the spotlight further. And it was in that bright light that Mark Brooks made the announcement that the exclusive Absolute Batman#22 cover by Jock, previously coming from ComicSketchArt, was now coming from his own webstore, Mark Brooks Art.

Mark Brooks is best known as a comic book cover artist. He also owns his Mark Brooks Art, which has been known to publish official, exclusive variant covers through comic book publishers featuring his own art. For which he charges a pretty penny. This has seen him criticised by some, as taking money away from comic book stores that usually run such exclusive variant covers. Especially when he announced that Jock was going to do an Absolute Batman variant cover through his webstore, as well as the language he used in doing so. He posted on social media;

“My good friend, and one of my absolute favorite artists, Jock and I have decided to do his upcoming Absolute Batman #22 release through my website! Jock and I have decided to partner for this release because he wants to cater directly to his fans rather than going through a store or dealer. He feels as strongly as I do that it’s you guys that make this happen for us so giving back this way feels like the right thing to do. I’ve also talked to Jock about these groups so I’m hoping he’ll drop in personally to say hello! I believe this is the first time Jock has offered remarked books, so this is a rare opportunity.”

Of course, in this situation, Mark Brooks Art is a store and Mark Brooks is a dealer. The comic was priced at $50 for the cardstock trade dress, limited to 750 editions online, and at $65 for the virgin foil, limited to 650 editions online. With additional price points to get copies signed by Jock and Scott Snyder, with remark and sketch options by Jock, and CGC slabbing. Those who subscribe to Mark Brooks Art, known as Brigade Members, for $3 a month or $30 a year, got early access and a discount.

• Cardstock Trade Dress: Unsigned – $50
• Bundle: Both Editions double signed – $150
• Bundle: Both Editions double signed plus Mystery Item (Mystery Item is NOT a book) – $200
• Cardstock Trade Dress: Signed by Andy Kubert – $50
• Cardstock Trade Dress: Signed by Andy Kubert & Scott Snyder – $70
• Cardstock Trade Dress: CGC Graded – Signed by Andy Kubert & Scott Snyder – $160
• Cardstock Trade Dress: Remarqued-Signed by Andy Kubert and Scott Snyder – $320
• Virgin Foil: Unsigned – $65 Virgin Foil: Signed by Andy Kubert – $65
• Virgin Foil: Signed by Andy Kubert & Scott Snyder – $85
• Virgin Foil: CGC Graded – Signed by Andy Kubert & Scott Snyder – $175
• Virgin Foil: Remarqued-Signed by Andy Kubert and Scott Snyder – $335
• Mystery Item (THIS IS NOT A BOOK): Signed by Andy Kubert and Scott Snyder – $50

One retailer who messaged me privately put it “after retailers who have overhead employees insurance, and the risk of 1-5 variants not making money. Meanwhile, he’s fine making at least five times the cost on his…for the people”. Mark Brooks, feeling the pushback, pushed back. And posted;

“I’m finding out more and more about some of these retailers and their exclusive Absolute Batman variants. In many cases the retailer is making mid to high 5 figures(sometimes even 6 figures) while only giving the artist 100 issues or so for them to sell themselves plus a little money(often around $1000). The more I hear about this the angrier I’m getting. If you’re a retailer making mid to high five figures and not cutting the artist in, I hope that artist figures it out and stops doing variants for you. If I find out a retailer is treating a creator that way, I’m going to go out of my way to make sure they know how they’re being taken advantage of. Those days need to be over. Respect and compensate the creator that’s making you a lot of money. There are methods and ways to do this that will benefit everyone and make the retailer more successful in the long run. Addendum- this is not against retailers that are ethical. I love and support retailers and do covers for them from time to time. Hell, I’m doing one for a retailer right now! I’m even doing a Whatnot stream next week for the charity BINC which benefits and supports retailers going though hard times. I just think there needs to be more transparency and respect. There’s plenty to go around for everyone”

Longstanding comic book retailer Cliff Biggers, who retired from owning Dr. No’s Comics and Games in Atlanta back in April commented;

“Several of the stores I have spoken to say that the sell through on their exlusive variants can be as low as 25%, which means that they have to amortize the cost of the unsold copies into the copies they do sell. But as I say, that’s a market that I’m viewing from the outside looking in…”

“That’s why I like the percentage model. If a book or store doesn’t make money off the book or is only able to recoup costs then there wouldn’t be anything for the artist. That’s the gamble everyone takes.”

Adam Phillips, a former DC Comics marketing executive for over twenty years, gave some insight

“The difference is that if you are not making money, and the store is LOSING money, as they are out of pocket thousands of dollars. Those aren’t the same thing. And let’s face it, the scenario where sales are middling or dismal is far more common than ones that make $100,000…and once the ABM phenomenon fades, the 100k makers (and I’d be interested to see the math on that) will be even less common or probably non-existent.”

Mark Brooks countered;

“But you understand that it’d be the same regardless, right? Whether the retailer partners with the artist or not, a flop is a flop, and they lose money either way. What I’m arguing is that the partnership model, where profits are split 50/50 after the retailer recoups costs, is a far better model with a higher success rate. The retailer would be able to harness the artist’s social media following and promotion, which could reach hundreds of thousands of people. Because let’s face it, on average, the creator has a much larger reach than the retailer. Why wouldn’t you want to take advantage of that?Scenario 1– You, as a retailer, contact DC and get Artist X to do a retailer variant for you. You don’t reach out to the artist and wait for the book to come in. Let’s say you spend $15K to get the book. The book comes in, and you sell it in your store or online. The artist may post the cover in their socials saying “Here’s a cover I did for a comic store”. The artist will rarely do much more than that because they have no incentive to do so. They got their cover rate, so the success or failure of your book has no bearing on them. You then end up making 25-30K on the book. After paying for printing, shipping, etc., you net 7k. The artist got their cover rate, and maybe you agreed to send them some comps.Scenario 2– You, as a retailer, contact DC and get Artist X to do a retailer variant for you. You then reach out to the artist, offering a partnership and setting out expectations. You spend $15K to print the book. The artist begins promoting the book/cover on all their social media pages. In some cases, this means reaching hundreds of thousands of people. They include links to your store, process shots of the cover, maybe a time-lapse video or 2, all while constantly mentioning your store and when the cover(s) will be available. They literally do the marketing for you. This is the artist’s buy-in to the partnership. The cover gets released, and you sell out. You pull in 70K for one book. After recouping printing, shipping, etc., you net 40K. You then split that with the artist so you each have 20K profit. Congrats, you just made more money than you would have made with the old method. Hope that helps better explain where I’m coming from.”

Adam Phillips rejected this

“It is not the same at all. If it is a flop, the retailer has spent 15K (using your numbers). That’s money out the door. The artist has at least received their page rate and is not out of pocket a dime. There is also a published cover that can be sold. Is it an opportunity cost, sure, but the artist isn’t out of pocket $10K, for argument’s sake. I have no issue with making a symbiotic relationship and leveraging each party’s strengths, but you want someone else to bear all the financial risks and then reap equal or greater rewards. I’m sure there are a decent number of ahole retailers – there are in every segment of society, EVERY segment, and I’m not defending their behavior, but the level of entitlement you’re displaying is baffling. You don’t even want to cover the cost of the variants you receive; you just want them gifted to you – that’s thousands more dollars out of your “partner’s” bank account. The scenario you are describing is by far the exception – the vast majority of these books don’t sell out; stores go out of business, dipping their toes in the variant pool and make sure to ride the Absolute Batman wave while you can because it won’t last forever.”

Ian Jones of online dealer Gnostic Comics shared his outrage at these deals as well as the prices, MArk Brooks told him

“Sorry, just telling you the facts from my experience with Absolute batman and what we are paying. You are welcome to believe whatever you like but I believe in transparency with my customers. I have a full time staff that I pay a livable wage to and we take great care in how we ship our books. Other artists and retailers have already confirmed the prices we pay elsewhere on the page and online. Have a great day!”

And as to why the prices were higher than, say, Guerrero Dexter’s covers for Big Time Collectibles, Mark Brooks replied;

“BTC orders huge quantities which makes the books cost less. They typically order 4-5000 copies so the price is much lower than most of us that order only 2000. I can’t speak to what they pay staff or how much they pay for supplies, etc.”

Ian Jones of Gnostic Comics hit the keyboard

“Transparency? So why charge a membership fee to save 10% on an overly priced book? How much do you generate a month on those membership fees? (Let’s be transparent now) Are you bragging about paying a livable wage to your employees, like its some kind of flex, pretty sure all businesses should do that and that not look for a round of applause. Let’s get real did this same staff exist before Absolute Batman? Did this same staff work for you before all the expensive drops? If so then why the drastic increase in Exclusives you are self-publishing now with Absolute Batman Titles? Cardstock from Lunar to do an exclusive is 7 dollars, foil 9 dollars. Pallet shipped via freight is 350 to 450 dollars. Let’s say you do a cardstock and foil virgin 1000 each before reducing the print run, with no profit if your pallet was 450 shipped. Spreading the cost over 2000 comics, it’s roughly 23 cents. Bags and board cost 10 to 12 cents unless you use mylar or clear boards like Trinity Comics, which you don’t so we will go with 12 cents. with cost of cardstock and b&b, and shipping cost to have comic made and shipped to you to sell its about 8 dollars and foil version about 10 dollars. Youe Robins cover was sold at 50 dollars for trade dress unsigned and 65 for virgin gitd. your cost all in on 2000 comics before reduction and not paying an artist to do the cover because you are the artist, but lets say you paid yourself 2000 dollars to design the cover, you are roughly 20k on cost thats with artist fee, shipping, and pages and boards. Lets say you reduce Trade to 600 and Virgin GITD to 600 for giggles, at 50 for trade dress and 65 for virgin gitd, before taxes at sellout you make 69k minus your 20k cost that becomes 49k so lets say after employee and taxes oh and you 10% off for members with it 3 dollar a month charge you clear 40k rough estimate. How many exclusives have you done at this price point now, how many CCG options, how many signature options, how many remarks? So, I venture to say rough estimate you are clearing over 60k per drop, if that’s not the case break it down for the masses, show us’ be transparent. So please educate me, as one business owner to another, why you need to have such a huge markup, reduce print run to ensure a sellout, and be all about the community. If you were about the community, you could get rid of the membership fee to ensure people can get a copy, just so you can generate additional profits each month from your supporters. You increase the print run to ensure all collectors get your exclusive and help relieve the secondary market. Your employees you hired, and I am 100% sure you do not maintain a high shipping staff except for at drops and shipment day or week, I am sure they are temp people you trust and work with regularly. I really don’t want to back and forth with you, as I like your work and I do appreciate how you communicate in this group, its refreshing to see, but you have to see what the community is saying. This was never directly focused toward you, but the industry as a whole, yes, you were used as an example because, sadly, you are kind of contributing to the problem presently. I understand business overhead and this and that. But these same exclusives 3 years ago on a regular Marvel or DC title were priced way differently. But behold, Absolute Batman hit the scene and changed everything. Artist and retailers alike saw the influx in people and the power of their buying, and collectively the industry went, that is our time to capitalize and maximize our profits. And Kudos to that, but now what is happening is you exploiting the people, limiting your buyers because in this economy, not all your supporters can afford the current price points when there are more pressing concerns inside households. No retailer or Artist can stand on the principle of “about the community” when you are directly contributing to the problem at hand. I say it again, increase print run, reduce prices, get rid of membership fees, and really stand with the community because they will rally behind you, and that 20-dollar trade will sell out and still generate you numbers and even more than you’ve seen. Volume is key and when you take care of those that take care of you, they will make sure you never fail. But please don’t ever stand on the ground that I am making a business and using your employees to justify your cost, when that cost would not and never did exist before Absolute Batman. We are all running businesses and surviving, the difference is some of us are actually really transparent like myself, and will go to bat with even the most elite to make sure the community is heard. You have a great day as well, and I hope you will be the Artist that will invoke change and show what and how this industry can be. Thanks, Mark. Sorry if these seemed rude or attacking. I am just a man of bluntness; I never meant to offend but to raise awareness.”

Comic book creator, with his own storefront and studio, indeed, he seems to have pioneered much of it, Rob Liefeld also posted on social media en route…

“Flying home reading a bunch of discourse about variant covers and compensation. Let’s do this with a K.I.S.S. – KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID. For 12 years, I have bought my own retail variants. I pony up all the expenses for the print run, 3000 minimum quantity, for 10 years at Marvel with their program. I create an Image I think will be inviting to the consumer, I pay for the costs to print them, then I share and sell them from my website and livestreams. I’ve made healthy, sometimes very lucrative profits from each cover. Some will no doubt perform better than ever. But they are all profitable. Well over 100 at this counting. This is the way. Better yet, I have a catalogue of characters I own. Those covers are not limited by a minimum print run. I can do as much or as many as I’d like. Obviously, I don’t pay myself a fee for my own covers, but I control every aspect of it. I make ’em foil. I make ’em metal. I make ’em glow. This is the way. Of late, I do a bunch of cover swaps, favors for other creators. Especially at Image. So if you see one of my covers on another comic, it was likely a favor. Anyways, the best remedy for receiving all the benefits is by bankrolling the license from the publisher or creating the product and owning the publishing aspects that include covers. Hope this helps. Also, I have a bunch of variants for San Diego Comic Con. Available exclusively online.”

And now Mark Brooks has announced a new Absolute Batman #22 exclusive cover from Mark Brooks Art, drawn by… Andy Kubert. These are the prices…

• Cardstock Trade Dress: Unsigned – $50
• Bundle: Both Editions double signed – $150
• Bundle: Both Editions double signed plus Mystery Item (Mystery Item is NOT a book) – $200
• Cardstock Trade Dress: Signed by Andy Kubert – $50
• Cardstock Trade Dress: Signed by Andy Kubert & Scott Snyder – $70
• Cardstock Trade Dress: CGC Graded – Signed by Andy Kubert & Scott Snyder – $160
• Cardstock Trade Dress: Remarqued-Signed by Andy Kubert and Scott Snyder – $320
• Virgin Foil: Unsigned – $65
• Virgin Foil: Signed by Andy Kubert – $65
• Virgin Foil: Signed by Andy Kubert & Scott Snyder – $85
• Virgin Foil: CGC Graded – Signed by Andy Kubert & Scott Snyder – $175
• Virgin Foil: Remarqued-Signed by Andy Kubert and Scott Snyder – $335
• Mystery Item (THIS IS NOT A BOOK): Signed by Andy Kubert and Scott Snyder – $50

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