No Absolute Batman Homage Covers Unless It’s Something Warner Bros Own

Posted in: Comics | Tagged: absolute, Absolute Batman, akira, Berserk, chainsaw man, coverwatch, one piece

No Absolute Batman Homage Covers Unless It’s Something Warner Bros Own

No Absolute Batman Homage Covers at DC Comics unless it’s from something Warner Bros. already owns…

Article Summary

• No Absolute Batman homage covers at DC now, after Aldrin Aw says his Thor-inspired variant was rejected.
• Matthew Clark says DC editors confirmed a wider no-homage policy affecting Absolute Batman and other titles.
• Earlier Absolute Batman variants referenced Akira, Chainsaw Man, Death Note, One Piece, Berserk, and The Shining.
• Warner Bros.-owned or controlled imagery appears safer, while unflagged homages reportedly slipped through unnoticed.

Aldrin Aw posted the following Absolute Batman cover that homaged Thor by Walter Simonson to social media, saying, “I had my rejected cover proposal to Absolute Batman ( no more homages at DC) colored up by amazing Dash Martin. If you want to see what I did with it for NYCC ’26 come see me at Hotflips booth (# HB 904) in the Artist Alley.” New York Comic-Con kicks off from this Thursday…

Here’s the original from Thor #337 by Walter Simonson. Matthew Clark confirmed the news, “I found out from an editor months ago that DC isn’t doing homage covers anymore. I tried one myself. Great homage, especially including the broken logo.”

While the Absolute Batman #1 cover by Nick Dragotta has become a major homagen from elsewhere. One of the earliest and clearest nods came in the form of a New York Comic Con exclusive variant of Absolute Batman #1 by Javier Fernández, limited to 1,000 copies. It recreates the famous composition from Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira. But since then, not so much

Javier Fernández
Katsuhiro Otomo

Especially as many look at the manga influence on the Absolute Batman series by Scott Snyderand Nick Dragotta. Absolute Batman #18 pushed the manga connection into the open. Clay Mann and Seth Mann‘s wraparound cover shows Batman dual-wielding chainsaws against a green-and-red splash field, directly echoing the Vol 1 cover of Chainsaw Man by Tatsuki Fujimoto

Absolute Batman #18 by Clay Mann and Seth Mann
Chainsaw Man by Tatsuki Fujimoto

Absolute Batman #19 continued the pattern with a Clay Mann variant that mirrors the cover of Death Note Volume 1. Absolute Scarecrow stands in Light Yagami‘s composed, suited pose, axe in hand, while a grotesque Absolute Joker looms behind him in the role of the shinigami Ryuk. Scott Snyder has noted that his son is a Death Note fan

A Dexter Soy cover for Absolute Batman #20, released through Big Time Collectibles, recreates Monkey D. Luffy‘s Gear 2 stance from the Enies Lobby arc of One Piece, steam effects included.

The same issue also carried a Martin Simmonds variant widely read as a nod to Kentaro Miura‘s Berserk Volume 1, with Batman’s massive axe standing in for Guts’ Dragon Slayer—fitting, given how often the series’ Abomination arc has been compared to Berserk‘s dark-fantasy brutality.

Dexter Soy returned for a #21 wraparound that restages the “Here’s Johnny!” door-axing sequence from Stanley Kubrick‘s The Shining as Absolute Batman chops through a door with an axe formed from his chest emblem as a Big Time Collectibles exclusive.

Dexter Soy
Dexter Soy

But here’s the thing. Warner Bros. owns The Shining movie and associated imagery. They previously had the Akira rights. They don’t have the Chainsaw Man, Berserk, or One Piece rights. And while homages are generally considered fine across the industry, especially when labelled and credited to their source, it seems that Warner Bros. and DC Comics aren’t taking chances. So how did the others sneak through? Because I am told that the artists and stores didn’t tell DC that they were homages, and no one realised until they were published… now, however, DC Comics is making sure that everyone knows the policy, for Absolute Batman and every other comic…

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