Absolute Batman #24 Variant Cover Unveils Haunting New Bat Design Before Debut DC Comics is retiring the Batgirl alias in favor of the Bat for Barbara Gordon in the Absolute Batman series. A new variant cover by Seth Mann, exclusive to One Stop Comic Shop, showcases a striking, demonic design of the Bat that contrasts with previous depictions and previews her prominent role in future issues. DC Comics is officially retiring Batgirl in favor of the Bat in Absolute Batman #24. The name being novel is profound in and of itself, especially considering how paramount the symbology of bats has been in Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta's Absolute Batman series (both the literal nocturnal animals that Bruce Wayne molded his science fair project around as a child and the baseball bat he later wielded as an enforcer for Carmine Falcone), but the Bat's design is also remarkably more distinct than, say, Batman's Absolute redesign. Absolute Batman continues to mirror and subvert the traditions and tropes in mainline Batman stories, but Jim Gordon's murder and Absolute Barbara Gordon's backstory as a police officer in this universe don't seem all that conducive to her becoming Oracle in the future. In the meantime, Barbara's Bat is more haunting than either Bruce's Batman or Clayface's Batman, at least in one fantastic variant cover for Absolute Batman #24.Absolute Bat Stuns Before Official Debut Dragotta's main cover for Absolute Batman #24 and character design concept art for the Bat were revealed a while ago, but a brand-new variant cover was recently revealed that is unequivocal. Indeed, Seth Mann's One Stop Comic Shop-exclusive Absolute Batman #24 Bat variant cover is beautifully ominous and likely to endure as one of this specific iteration of the character's best depictions due to how eldritch and mythological she looks.In what little we've seen of the Bat's design, which is thematically layered and dynamic, Dragotta seems to draw the Bat's cape-tendril-laden coat a lot more stiff and static, while Mann has drawn her coat to look like the fanned-out wingspan of a demonic bat. There's a low likelihood that the cape will ever take a shape as fluid as this in actual interior artwork, and yet that's part of the beauty and leniency afforded to covers-many are thankfully allowed to be creative expressions from the artists they're assigned to, and do not need to concern themselves with interpreting character designs faithfully.The cherry on top of its gorgeous cupcake is that the Bat is perched here on her father's headstone in a cemetery, where one of the surrounding grave markers is actually sneakily Scarecrow, the supervillain who killed Gordon in Absolute Batman #19 and propelled Barbara into becoming the Bat in the first place. Will Barbara Gordon's Bat Be A Key Figure In Absolute Batman?Issue #25 is poised to be quite climactic across Absolute Batman, Absolute Superman, and Absolute Wonder Woman, with the Bat presumably playing a massive role thereafter in Absolute Batman #26 onward. Snyder teased at FAN EXPO Chicago 2026 that the Bat will soon receive her own "Year One" story (inspired by the seminal arc from Batman #404-407).Batgirl/The Bat has enormous shoes to fill if she's going to be as intimidating in this issue's pages as she is on Mann's variant cover, but Absolute Batman hasn't underwhelmed yet regarding any of its superb character reveals and depictions (aside from Tim Drake, maybe, as he was only around for five issues before being slain by Clayface). The solicitation for Absolute Batman #24 reads as follows: WITHOUT THE BADGE... WITHOUT HER FATHER... ABSOLUTE BAT ENTERS THE SCENE.In the battle of self, of Batman versus Batman, there can be only one. Everyone Bruce has ever known, ever cared about, or ever loved will face their ultimate inner demons. Absolute Batman #24 is scheduled to be released on September 23, 2026. Batman Created By Bob Kane, Bill Finger First Appearance Detective Comics Alias Bruce Wayne Alliance Justice League, Outsiders, Batman Family Race Human Franchise D.C.One of DC's most iconic heroes, Batman is the vigilante superhero persona of billionaire Bruce Wayne. Forged by tragedy with the death of his parents, Bruce dedicated his life to becoming the world's leading martial artist, detective, and tactician. Recruiting an entire family of allies and sidekicks, Bruce wages war on evil as the dark knight of his hometown, Gotham City. FIRST APP Detective Comics #27 (1939) Expand Collaps