Absolute Batman #25 is turning its 25th issue celebration into an unusually sprawling cover event. Forty-six retailer-exclusive editions have been revealed so far, spanning a long list of artists, stores and cover treatments, while further editions remain pending. If Batman’s usual utility belt was built to solve any problem, this particular issue appears to have added a separate pocket for every possible cover configuration.

The comic is currently listed for October 28, 2026, at $5.99/$6.99. Scott Snyder is credited as writer and Nick Dragotta as artist and cover artist on the broadly distributed edition. Its solicitation promises a 25-issue milestone bringing together “all the villains,” “all the heroes” and escalating stakes, before asking what is left of Absolute Batman.

The practical headline for readers and collectors is less about one definitive cover than a growing menu of choices. Some editions are already identified by retailer, artist and format; some have stated print quantities; and others are known to be on the way without a full shown edition yet. That distinction matters. A planned cover should not be treated as the same thing as a revealed, purchasable edition, and an announced format is not a guarantee of final availability.

What has been revealed for Absolute Batman #25

The 46 editions identified so far include work credited to Mark Brooks, Dave Johnson, Ian Bertram, Sean Galloway, Martin Simmonds, Ryan Benjamin, Carla Cohen, Travis Mercer, J. Scott Campbell, Mark Texeira, Stanley “Artgerm” Lau, Sanford Greene, Stephen Segovia, Marco Mastrazzo, Maria the Wolf and Mike Spicer.

Some entries are presented simply as distinct covers, while others are clearly grouped into multiple formats of the same underlying artwork. The revealed lineup includes the following:

  • Mark Brooks: a standard-listed cover and a colour version.
  • Dave Johnson: a Yellow Bird/Radioactive Comics edition.
  • Ian Bertram: a Third Eye edition.
  • Sean Galloway: a Comic Mint edition.
  • Martin Simmonds: Big Time Collectibles trade and virgin editions, limited to 1,000 and 800 copies respectively.
  • Ryan Benjamin: Indie Collectors Emporium trade, virgin and black-and-white editions, with stated quantities of 3,000, 1,000 and 1,000 copies.
  • Carla Cohen: 616 Comics trade, virgin and colour editions.
  • Travis Mercer: Infinity6comics Color Splash Virgin and foil editions.
  • J. Scott Campbell: webstore connecting covers featuring Catwoman, Batman and Joker.
  • Mark Texeira: Leaps Lair foil virgin and trade editions.
  • Stanley “Artgerm” Lau: webstore foil virgin, trade and virgin editions.
  • Sanford Greene: Third Eye Comics foil virgin and trade editions.
  • Stephen Segovia: Unknown Comics editions centered on Batman and Joker, with trade, virgin, foil virgin and black-and-white virgin variations across the two character groupings.
  • Marco Mastrazzo: ComicXposure trade, virgin and foil editions.
  • Maria the Wolf and Mike Spicer: a colour edition and a black-and-white edition.

The language on the listings: trade, virgin, foil and connecting

For anyone trying to make sense of the roll call, the edition labels are as important as the artist names. They indicate that the retailers are offering more than one presentation of certain images. In this set, trade, virgin, foil, black-and-white, colour and connecting are all used to separate cover editions.

The information presently available does not assign a print quantity to every one of those editions. Only the Simmonds and Benjamin listings in the revealed group carry explicit copy counts. That is a useful boundary for collectors: it is accurate to say those five listed editions have stated limits, but not accurate to infer a print run for every other retailer version merely because it is a virgin, foil or black-and-white edition.

The Campbell trio is notable because it is described as connecting, with Batman, Catwoman and Joker each receiving a separate cover. The term signals that the covers are intended to work together as a visual arrangement. For a reader who wants one copy to read, that may be a simple aesthetic decision. For somebody assembling the three-part presentation, it makes the set rather than any individual issue the meaningful unit.

Likewise, a retailer offering trade, virgin and foil versions gives buyers a format decision before they have even reached the story inside. It is worth keeping the hierarchy clear: all of these are versions of Absolute Batman #25; they are not separate chapters of the narrative. The central comic remains the Snyder and Dragotta issue listed for late October. The variants change the exterior presentation and the collection path, not the numbered place of the installment.

More editions are named, but not yet shown

The cover count is not necessarily finished. Additional retailer editions have been identified as still to come from Unknown Comics, Sequence Art and PCB Hobby. The pending list includes:

  • Tyler Kirkham trade, virgin and foil editions through Unknown Comics.
  • Tony Daniel trade, virgin and black-and-white editions through Unknown Comics.
  • Don Aguillo trade, virgin and foil editions through Unknown Comics.
  • An Eric Canet edition through Sequence Art and PCB Hobby.

These names explain why the revealed total should be read as a snapshot, not an endpoint. The 46 announced editions are already enough to make the issue a sizeable cover chase, but the pending covers mean the final selection could grow. Readers hoping to avoid endless refreshes may sensibly decide which artist, character or retailer presentation matters most to them rather than treating every new listing as an obligation. The Caped Crusader is a detective, after all, not a command to buy 46 copies.

A rejected Dexter Soy concept will not join the lineup

One cover that will not enter the released assortment is a rejected Dexter Soy design. Soy shared that the piece had been declined for being too edgy and too violent. Its existence is a reminder that visible retailer-variant lineups are curated end results, not every concept considered along the way.

There is no basis here to treat the rejected work as a scheduled edition, a forthcoming replacement or part of the announced 46. It is simply a disclosed proposal that did not make the approved cover program. That distinction is especially useful in a collectible market where a circulated image can quickly be mistaken for an official release.

The standard release remains the simplest route

Not every interested reader has to navigate retailer exclusives. In addition to the store-specific covers, editions will be available through Lunar, Universal and Diamond UK Distributors. The standard solicitation identifies Snyder and Dragotta, the October 28 date and the $5.99/$6.99 pricing.

That broad-distribution route is the cleanest choice for readers whose priority is the comic itself. Retailer variants instead make sense for someone drawn to a particular artist, format, character arrangement or explicitly stated limited quantity. Neither approach is more “correct”; they are different ways of engaging with a milestone issue.

For a related look at how Absolute-branded comics can intersect with comic-shop sales attention, see this report on Absolute Cassandra Cain #1 and comic-shop sales.

What collectors should keep straight before ordering

With dozens of similarly named editions, careful record-keeping is more valuable than trying to memorize a giant wall of Bat-logo thumbnails. A retailer’s name, artist credit, character subject and format label can all be necessary to identify the exact edition. “Stephen Segovia Batman Virgin,” for example, is not the same listed item as “Stephen Segovia Joker Virgin,” and neither should be conflated with their foil or trade counterparts.

  1. Choose the edition, not only the artist. Several artists have more than one version, and those versions are individually listed.
  2. Separate confirmed details from assumptions. The disclosed quantities apply to the specific Simmonds and Benjamin editions named with numbers.
  3. Treat pending covers as pending. Kirkham, Daniel, Aguillo and Canet editions are identified, but they are not part of the fully revealed group described above.
  4. Remember the cover does not alter the issue number. Every edition remains Absolute Batman #25, with the same milestone story at its core.
  5. Watch the listed release date with appropriate caution. The current date is October 28, though the schedule was noted as potentially subject to slipping into November.

Absolute Batman #25 is therefore shaping up as both a narrative milestone and a substantial physical-collecting event. There is a Nick Dragotta cover credit on the widely distributed issue, a gallery of retailer-specific alternatives from a deep artist roster, clearly labeled format permutations and more art still waiting in the wings. For readers, it is issue 25. For completionists, it is a Batcave with a suspicious number of display cases.