Rob Liefeld says there is no Absolute Batman beef, and he just got backup from the one guy who would know.
The Deadpool co-creator fired back at a CBR story claiming he “practically condemned” the series and refused to play along with viral fan trolling, posting on X: “This is silly and untrue. I’ve been a constant and vocal supporter of AB BAT for 2 years. My podcast is a time stamp of my support. I just don’t want to draw the character.”
Absolute Batman writer Scott Snyder then jumped into the replies himself: “What Rob is saying here is 100% correct. He has been a giant supporter of the series (publicly and privately) from the beginning and Nick and I really appreciate it.”
The CBR post was even hit with a proposed Community Note, and the CBR editor replied that the article was meant to be a joke. Both Liefeld and Snyder apparently didn’t find it very funny.
How The ‘Beef’ Started
The whole thing traces back to Liefeld’s Whatnot livestream earlier this month, where a fan asked if he’d ever draw an Absolute Batman cover.
Liefeld answered, “I’m never doing anything with Absolute Batman,” joking he’d only do a cover for $1 million, calling it a waste of his time, and saying he’d rather take movie meetings for his own Brigade and Bloodstrike than draw Batman.
When the fan called him “dude,” Liefeld snapped back and blocked him.
The clip spread fast, and fans piled on the irony: a 2025 Youngblood #1 retailer exclusive through Third Eye Comics recreated the Absolute Batman #1 cover art with Shaft in the Dark Knight’s pose.
Then there’s the obvious joke that Absolute Batman’s intentionally massive proportions already look like a Liefeld drawing.
Artist BossLogic ran with it, posting a Liefeld-style Absolute Batman with a comically exaggerated chest referencing Liefeld’s infamous Captain America pose.
For what it’s worth, Liefeld took that one in stride. He later shared a rough copy of BossLogic’s piece, called it great work, and repeated that his own version isn’t happening.
What Liefeld Actually Said
Anyone who listened past the clip already knew the “condemned” framing was off.
On his Robservations podcast, Liefeld laid out that he loves Absolute Batman as a comic. His objection is drawing it.
Work-for-hire Batman pages, he argued, would eat time better spent building his own properties for film, games, and TV, he has nothing fresh to add to a book that’s already working, and his history with DC hasn’t exactly been smooth.
That tracks with where his time is actually going. Liefeld just lined up a Chapel one-shot with Geoff Johns writing and Liefeld on art, announced on the same podcast.
Why An Absolute Batman Cover Is Even A Question
The reason fans keep asking is simple: Absolute Batman is the biggest book in comics.
It has moved over six million copies, sells around 500,000 an issue, and drove the greenlight for an animated series, which has caused pricing on the first issue to skyrocket.
The variant market around it is so hot that a single #19 variant blew up into the DropGate controversy, and the original cover art has sold for close to $20,000.
It’s the line our insiders credit with putting DC on top of Marvel, big enough that Marvel just launched its own answer to it.
Which makes the Snyder reply the real story here.
Liefeld’s messy 2012 DC exit famously included a public back-and-forth with Snyder himself. Fourteen years later, Snyder is the one stepping in to vouch for him.
The beef everyone wanted isn’t there. Liefeld likes the book, Snyder likes Liefeld, and the only thing Rob Liefeld is refusing to do is draw hands, feet, and a bat-axe for someone else’s character.
And while Liefeld doesn’t want to do Absolute Batman, it looks as if Greg Capullo does.
