Rob Liefeld's Awkward Absolute Batman Criticism Receives Backlash After Youngblood Cover

Image via DC Comics Published Aug 12, 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. The popularity of comic book variant covers has skyrocketed to an astonishing degree lately. The nuclear-sized boom has widely been credited to Absolute Batman, which has released numerous examples of striking alternative artwork to accompany its latest chapters. As a result, fans have been eager to see DC commission a variant cover for the smash-hit series by their personal favorite comic b...