Absolute Batman Art Sells For Ridiculous Price In Ludicrous Amount Of Time

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Published Jul 21, 2026, 8:01 AM EDT

Jason is an award-winning journalist whose writing career dates back to when he developed the ability to use a crayon. He, most notably, worked previously as a "professional fan," as he likes to call it, at CinemaBlend, for which he wrote about anything and everything under the pop culture umbrella... especially Batman. His passion for the art of cinema began even earlier, stemming from repeat viewings of The Wizard of Oz.
This initially led him to pursue a career in filmmaking -- and even work briefly in the industry as an extra in the straight-to-video family film, Alice Upside Down -- before deciding that his talents would be better served discussing and showing appreciation for the various forms of entertainment he is passionate about.

The title hero of Absolute Batman is not a billionaire playboy like more traditional iterations of Bruce Wayne. However, he could be if he earned a cut of the DC comic's astonishing profits.

However, the sales of the series itself make up just one portion of the incredible value of Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta's mega-popular series. Take, for example, an art print inspired by Absolute Batman that recently sold for a shocking amount in an even more shocking amount of time.

Jae Lee's $10,000 Absolute Batman Art Print Sells In Minutes

The original design for an Absolute Batman #23 variant cover was recently purchased for a whopping $10,000. Even more impressive, the sale, exclusively from Dynamite Entertainment's merchandise company, Dynamic Forces, was completed in just a matter of minutes, according to Bleeding Cool.

The image depicts the Absolute Universe's interpretation of the Dark Knight, seemingly unconscious and held up high in the sky by a tower consisting of the amorphous substance that makes up Absolute Clayface. At the top of the high-rise is the shapeshifting villain in his core form, but boasting several arms that each brandish a dagger of his creation that he threatens to stab the vigilante with.

The design comes courtesy of the now $10,000 richer Jae Lee, who has drawn his fair share of popular Absolute Batman variant covers, which likely helped boost the value of the art print. He is also famous for his acclaimed limited Marvel series, Inhumans, for which he and writer Paul Jenkins earned an Eisner Award for Best New Series in 1999.

This bewildering sale occurs not long after the absurd profits of Absolute Batman inspired restrictions on retailer price gouging on variant covers from DC Comics. This includes capping a markup at five times the cover price on unsigned books and 10 times for autographed books.

Absolute Batman #23 Has Inspired Many Impressive Variant Covers

Absolute Batman #23 Clayface Brooks Variant

The value of Jae Lee's Absolute Batman #23 art print does not only have to be determined by its $10,000 price tag. It also pays to see how it measures up to the other variant cover designs for the upcoming issue that have come out so far in terms of artistic ambition.

Considering the next chapter of writer Scott Snyder and artist Nick Dragotta's smash-hit is confirmed to depict the official debut of Absolute Clayface, it should come as no surprise that most of the variant covers feature the villain prominently. Many of them make a great case for why this interpretation of the character is the scariest Clayface yet.

For instance, artist Mark Brooks cites John Carpenter's 1982 horror classic The Thing as inspiration for his Absolute Batman #23 variant cover, and it is clear to see why. Also partly inspired by 1953's House of Wax, the foil cover (which comes in both red and blue) sees Clayface assume the appearance of the Caped Crusader holding his iconic battleaxe and sitting on a throne made from the tormented faces of the other people he has the ability to look like.

Absolute Clayface's presence in this story has been teased multiple times before, such as during one of Bruce Wayne's attempts to escape Ark M, at the end of the popular one-shot Absolute Batman: Ark M #1, and in the finale panel of Absolute Batman #21. Some fans have also theorized that the shapeshifter is actually the emaciated prisoner Scarecrow identifies as Bruce Wayne's believed dead father, Thomas, in the unsettling conclusion of Absolute Batman #22.

Absolute Batman #23 hits the shelves on Aug. 12, 2026.