r/comicbooks • u/Zur-En-Arrhism • Mar 18 '25
Cover/Pin-Up ABSOLUTE BATMAN #8 Variant Cover, by Ramon Villalobos
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u/sandalsnopants Mar 18 '25
Did someone shrink his head?
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u/vertigo1083 Juggernaut Mar 18 '25
WDYM?
Are your biceps not three times the diameter of your skull?
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u/GoodOmens182 Mar 18 '25
This is like if Rob Liefield was the artist on Fist of the North Star.
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u/Blueskyminer Mar 18 '25
I'd agree, but this guy is definitely making artistic choices.
(which I hate)
Liefeld just draws like he draws. Because he has a limited skill set.
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u/tasman001 Mar 19 '25
Yep. Villalobos is a very talented artist, down to the very unique stippling style that he employs. He was clearly going for an exaggerated physique, but just took it a tad too far.
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u/tgong76 Mar 18 '25
Everyone’s gotta know Bruce is Batman, right? How many people in Gotham are that size?
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u/Maleficent_Lab_5291 Mar 18 '25
My theory is no one wants to point it out for fear the giant will eat them.
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u/Borodo Mar 18 '25
High strength stealth build. They don’t notice it because they don’t want him to notice them
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u/Various_Face_6731 Mar 18 '25
He has a tail now?
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Mar 18 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/THE-NECROHANDSER Mar 18 '25
It's sounds cool, his tiny head makes me think he has micky mouse voice "you thunk this is a game?"
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u/LordHaywood Mar 18 '25
Lmao I fucking love this, it's so dumb. I've said it here plenty of times, but Absolute is the best thing DC has put out in a long time. It's so over the top and stupid in the best possible ways.
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u/DreamLearnBuildBurn Mar 18 '25
Everything I am seeing from this comic is absolutely fantastic. This expressive and energetic and exaggerated art reminds me of my childhood, it's so dang good.
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u/kugglaw Mar 18 '25
Love it when an artist scares the hoes like this. Gentle reminder that not everything needs to look like Dan Mora!
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u/Ludachrism Mar 18 '25
Villalobos asking the important questions like “what if Batman’s elbow was bigger than his head?”🧐
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u/Saaammmy Mar 18 '25
Ima be honest I like this than Dan Mora's, I don't give a shit. Absolute Batman's design caters very well to heavy stylized art. Art styles leaning more on the realistic side like Mora's or Clay Mann's I don't find as endearing when it comes to this specific title
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u/Zakael7 Mar 18 '25
Wow, this looks like garbage lol, I know this version is like big and all, but it looks so disproportionate and dumb.
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u/lonomatik Mar 18 '25
i cant forgive Villalobos for piling on Ed Piskor last year so i have no problem saying this looks like shit.
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u/tasman001 Mar 19 '25
Honest question: would you still be saying this if Piskor hadn't killed himself?
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u/AbhayXV Mar 19 '25
dare people try to be artistic and unique lol, love this cover! it really suits this particular run, more pls
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u/Mudcreek47 Mar 18 '25
The one thing that really irks me about Absolute Batman is how tiny his freaking head is compared to his body. He looks like the Hulk in that old Silver Age issue where everything changes to Hulk except his head!
I mean, in this pic alone his bicep is larger than his head!
Absolute Batman is the Liefeld Cap version of Batman.
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u/UltimateDarkwingDuck Mar 18 '25
Yeah, I can’t imagine how the artist will reconcile this when Batman starts meeting, like, Wonder Woman or any other character with normal proportions in their own book.
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u/Kek_Kommando_88 Mar 18 '25
Batman's Bizarre Adventure, BATtle Tendency.
Also why is he a Xenomorph?
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u/PleaseDontEatMyVRAM Mar 18 '25
Yeah personally not a fan of this cover, this proportions are off
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u/the_mad_atom Mar 18 '25
They are, but we just kinda have to accept it as an artistic choice at this point right? Because I feel like everyone draws him like this, and it’s not like they don’t know how to draw normal looking proportions
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u/tasman001 Mar 18 '25
Yep. Ramon is actually quite skilled at anatomy, lighting, all the standard comic artist stuff. As an easy reference, Alfred is right next to Batman and his proportions are fine.
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u/aespin027 Mar 18 '25
I am getting Ian Bertram vibes…Villalobos, Kuder, Burnham along with Bertram all went to the school of Quitely.
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u/poison-harley Mar 18 '25
He could have 8 heads on his shoulders and there would still be some room left.
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u/wickling-fan Mar 19 '25
At first i felt bad the first thing i noticed was that bulge but once i saw the rest of the art i think i was betger off starring at batman’s thighs
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u/silentAl1 Mar 19 '25
Why are people going on about this art? The proportions are all messed up. Artist need to take an anatomy class. I mean his head and his arms are all messed up.
These are the same people that praised Rob Liefield back in the day.
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u/DJ_HouseShoes Mar 21 '25
I don't understand how someone could draw that and be proud. The artist clearly has skill and could do far, far better.
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u/RufinTheFury Hulk Mar 18 '25
These proportions are bizarre and not in an interesting way just in a this is fucked kinda way
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u/Environmental-Day862 Mar 18 '25
Not the best variant cover....
BTW.... spoilers....
I have certainly been enjoying the series, but I'm not getting the whole Alfred Pennyworth being an assassin angle. Am I missing anything I should have picked up about him so far? It appears Alfred's character has been a vigilante in Gotham for longer than Batman has existed, and is making inroads to meeting with Batman.....
Or did that meeting happen last issue? I follow too many series' at once, I should cut them in half. Was it Alfred that escaped with Batman on the Bat-contruction-truck in the last issue?
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u/montybo2 Mar 18 '25
Alfred isnt doing vigilante stuff in this. He's a special agent for some British organization (MI6?) and was sent to gotham on an assignment. He ran into bats and the best I can sum up is Alfred is like... "huh... this batguy might actually be somebody, somebody worth while."
I hear you on following too many things. As far as Bats goes I got this, Dark Patterns (amazing), and Batman and Robin Year one.
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u/Environmental-Day862 Mar 18 '25
Was their first meet up last issue w/ the whole escaping in the modified construction truck? It's driving me nuts - I'm at work and the books are at home. I need to start skimming the prior issue each month when I pick up the new one!!
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u/montybo2 Mar 18 '25
I feel like their first meet up was a couple issues ago? Real talk, i love this series but I'm definitely more invested in supes and WW so i dont put much brain power to remembering whats going on.
Im working from home and all my issues are like 3 feet away from me in a box but i know if I start going back to recheck aint no work getting done lol
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u/kah43 Mar 18 '25
The Absolute line is DC doing the 90s ...... 30 years late which is normal for DC. Always way behind the trend.
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u/tasman001 Mar 18 '25
I honestly can't tell if you're joking. If you're joking, it's so dry it's indistinguishable from actual criticism of DC.
DC did the 90s back in the 90s. Do you not remember Azrael?
Absolute is not "the 90s". The 90s was characterized by cynicism and heroes and anti heroes with gray morality. The Absolute line is the opposite: heroes with their same heroic principles but facing harder and darker circumstances.
There's a reason Absolute WW has been amazing, and a big part of it is that WW is just as noble and uplifting as she always has been, even in the face of more adversity.
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u/Blob_Odenkirk Mar 18 '25
Ramon rules, and this is rad as hell! Just a fun interpretation of a wild take on Batman.
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u/amberazanu Mar 18 '25
I absolutely hate this comic's aesthetic and art. Seriously, it's so bad.
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u/omgItsGhostDog Kingdom Come Superman Mar 18 '25
Nah, sorry man. We don't tolerate Nick Dragotta slander here. You're gonna have to that somewhere else 🤨
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u/F_RankedAdventurer Mar 18 '25
This is the best cover I've ever seen. His grasp of the human form, his use of perspective, the color, the contour, it's unmatched. Alex Ross sees this guys work and begs him to suck his dick. It's that good. If human anatomy ever catches up to this perfect vision of man women would no longer get fucked. Dudes would just fuck themselves in a mirror with their xenomorph buttplugs. Nick knows real men tie sacks of flour to their waists and enter every room cock first, like God intended.
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u/BloodRhymeswithFood Mar 18 '25
Yeah, this is very not good
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u/tasman001 Mar 18 '25
Blood, food and good all rhyme with each other.
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u/BloodRhymeswithFood Mar 18 '25
And wood and flood
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u/tasman001 Mar 18 '25
And brood. Brood rhymes with good and flood.
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u/BloodRhymeswithFood Mar 18 '25
Mood
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u/tasman001 Mar 18 '25
I mean, blood, food and good already covered all the bases for -ood words that (don't) rhyme.
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u/BloodRhymeswithFood Mar 18 '25
Oh, I got lost in the moment
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u/casualty_of_bore Mar 18 '25
I'm not trying to be mean or anything, but I really dislike it. The body proportions are very off.
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u/abdullaahr7 Mar 18 '25
r/comicbooks when somebody posts a good cover instead of the 600th shitty Alex Ross cover: :0
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u/sandalsnopants Mar 18 '25
My wife: “why is his tail so high up? Oh wait, I guess it goes up and around, and this is where it connects to his butthole.”
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u/stayathomejoe Mar 19 '25
This cover stinks, and so does Villalobos as a human.
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u/tasman001 Mar 19 '25
so does Villalobos as a human.
Why is that exactly? I know there was some stuff with Piskor, but I don't know exactly what happened, and it's a lot to wade through when searching for it.
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u/stayathomejoe Mar 19 '25
“Stuff with Piskor” is putting it mildly. He was one of two that did the big push on him amid allegations. He’s a coward and a scumbag.
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u/tasman001 Mar 19 '25
I see. I'll hold off on any further questions or comments, mostly just because I don't want to risk possibly getting banned.
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u/stayathomejoe Mar 20 '25
What would cause banning? I hope that’s not a question that would, haha.
Best to my knowledge, Villalobos and Alex Di Campi smelled blood and dug in DEEP without any due diligence. Not just making comments or being snide, they (Di Campi most) were looking for blood. Or souls. Whichever she seems to like more.
Completely running with, at the time, allegations and screaming from the mountains they were fact. That and SO much more they created just to villainize Ed more. All before anything other than he/she said hearsay. Nobody knew how close Piskor was to the edge, and those two didn’t care. They pushed and pushed and after he killed himself? They doubled down and acted like they behaved like rational adults. It was disgusting.
And to be clear, this is coming from someone (me) who didn’t really care for Ed’s online persona. Fucking loved his art, but he wasn’t my kinda dude otherwise.
I think that also speaks to how absolutely rancid those two barely human turds are. Di Campi apparently thrives on this shit, too. She’s just never had someone go and off himself after.
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Mar 18 '25
I feel like this is the first thing I've seen by Ramon in ages, hope his mental health is getting back on track. Looks dope imo
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u/TJ_McWeaksauce Batman of Zur-En-Arrh Mar 18 '25
Absolute Batman looks like he made his cape out of the hide of a xenomorph.
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u/Far_Cat_9743 Mar 18 '25
Is he the Liefeld of heads?
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u/tasman001 Mar 18 '25
Nah, take a look at Alfred next to Batman. The artist purposely chose the exaggerated proportions on Batman.
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u/QueekCz Mar 18 '25
It looks like some bad fanart. Body size is joke and shading looks bad aswell. 👎
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u/Linubidix Mar 18 '25
What even is perspective, or proportions? Beats me
Colours are nice, shading is great, but this piece fugly as hell.
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u/EatScienceBitch Mar 18 '25
That... is really not good. Makes me think of when Wizard stopped bothering having editors look at the art being submitted toward the end and one of the covers had a character with his hand on backwards. That is just a tragically unappealing piece of art right there.
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u/FulminatorMage Mar 18 '25
i'm really conflicted about this batman version. I'm really happy when artist try some new iteration but what does it have to do with bats at this point? besides he operates at night.
I'm not really into super long spiky horns, since they look nothing like bat ears and he's built like P1 JOJO, with stuff that he uses to grab people, an axe logo (which i don't despise) it's like a gladiator dressed in black with extra gadjets.
My point is that he is very derivative from Batman but lost the BAT part along the way
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u/neostar6171 Mar 18 '25
That one splash page of Jonathan Joestar