Scott Snyder Grabs a Pencil for His First Absolute Batman Cover, Jock Inks the Result

Scott Snyder doesn't often pick up a pencil himself, but for Absolute Batman #25 he made an exception - sketching his own cover built around the Absolute Joker, with longtime collaborator Jock stepping in to ink and finish it. The two have paired up as writer and artist on previous Batman work, but this marks the first time Snyder has handed over his own line art for Jock to render, rather than scripting pages for Jock to draw outright.

The cover is shipping across a stack of finishes when the issue arrives October 28: a trade dress edition, a pencils-only version that leaves Snyder's raw artwork exposed, and several retailer-exclusive foil treatments in green, silver, and rose. Signed and remarqued copies offered through Mark Brooks' shop sold out almost immediately.

Absolute Batman has been one of the industry's biggest sales stories all year, with past issues like #19 setting records for retailer-exclusive variant counts and the series reportedly moving half a million copies an issue. A writer-drawn cover from Snyder himself is exactly the kind of collector hook that's kept the title at the center of the variant market.

Source: Bleeding Cool