Clayface On Absolute Batman #23 Variant Cover Pays Homage To The Thing

5 days ago 12

Clayface taking the shape of Batman in Absolute Batman #21

Published Jul 17, 2026, 2:00 PM 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.

Some comic book villains are a terrifying sight to see, while others are more unsettling in concept. Among Batman's rogues' gallery, Clayface is the one who most effectively fits under both categories.

Anyone might be driven to a life of crime if they became a shapeshifting amorphous blob, and a new variant cover for the next issue of Absolute Batman reflects the horrors of that curse. It helps that the artwork is inspired by one of the body horror subgenre's most definitive films.

Absolute Batman #23 Variant Cover Channels The Thing

It was previously confirmed that Absolute Clayface will officially debut in Absolute Batman #23, which boasts cover art by Nick Dragotta that sees the Dark Knight trading fists with the foe, who has taken the form of the vigilante right before his eyes. However, there are also a few variant covers available that really prove why Absolute Clayface is the villain's scariest iteration yet.

Absolute Batman #23 Mark Brooks Variant Clayface

A foil cover by Mark Brooks also sees Clayface assume the appearance of Batman, holding his iconic battleaxe, but while surrounded by several other extensions of his shapeshifting power, who each appear more traumatized and suffering than the last. According to Dread Central, the award-winning artist cited two horror movie classics as inspiration for the image.

"Issue 23 features the first appearance of Clayface, which is one of my favorite Batman villains. As a massive horror film fan, I wanted to bring the gory idea of body horror, mixing influences from John Carpenter’s The Thing and House of Wax into an unsettling vision of Absolute Batman’s newest foe."

The eponymous extraterrestrial villain of John Carpenter's terrifying 1982 masterpiece The Thing, a more faithful adaptation of John W. Campbell Jr.'s short story "Who Goes There?" than 1951's The Thing from Another World, also involves an enemy who can appear as anyone it chooses. Brooks' design calls to mind some of the more inhuman forms the creature also takes when contending with a research crew stranded in the Arctic.

The influence of House of Wax is also clear in Brooks' design, especially in the texture of Clayface's "skin" that pops right off the page. The 1953 thriller, which would inspire a remake in 2005 starring Paris Hilton, stars Vincent Price as a murderer who creates stunningly realistic sculptures by encasing his victims in wax.

Two different editions of Brooks' Absolute Batman #23 variant cover are available from the artist's official website in limited supply, one with a blue dominant color that comes in 800 copies at $50 a piece, and a red one that sells for $65 and is limited to 700 copies. However, they can also be bundled together for $5 less in sets that come with multiple options, including one that features autographs by Brooks and author Scott Snyder on each copy.

Clayface Also Goes Full Body Horror On The Big Screen

Clayface is having one of the biggest years in the DC Comics villain's six-decade-plus history. Not only is his Absolute Universe iteration taking shape, but he is about to be the star of his own movie.

Set to hit theaters on Oct. 23, 2026, Clayface stars Tom Rhys Harries as an actor who takes desperate measures to cure his recent disfigurement, only to be transformed into a shocking, amorphous being. James Watkins, director of 2024's Speak No Evil, helms the DC Universe installment that was originally penned by acclaimed horror auteur Mike Flanagan before Drive scribe Hossein Amini stepped in for a second draft.

Harries' character is named Matt Hagen, who is only the second of many names associated with the Clayface moniker and the first to boast the Batman villain's signature shapeshifting ability in the comics. The original iteration was actor Basil Karlo, who merely adopted the eponymous alias from a character he once played to exact murderous revenge on his enemies in 1940's Detective Comics #40.

While Absolute Batman #23 is slated to be Absolute Clayface's first full appearance, his presence has been teased before, earliest in the acclaimed one-shot, Absolute Batman: Ark M #1. Some fans have even theorized that the shocking appearance of an alive, but imprisoned, Thomas Wayne in Absolute Batman #22 is really the shapeshifter in disguise.

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