A comic retailer that burned copies of its own Absolute Batman #23 exclusive variant to shrink supply has been cut off from DC’s retailer-exclusive covers, Bleeding Cool reported on Monday, October 5. According to the report, the ban also cost the store a planned Alex Maleev cover for Absolute Batman #25.
The store had co-commissioned a Frank Cho retailer-exclusive cover for #23, showing the Absolute Batman fighting the Absolute Clayface. Screenshots posted by Bleeding Cool show the store promoting a live “burn” of copies ahead of a Whatnot sale, using AI-generated images of Batman setting the books on fire and messages telling buyers not to wait “until the fire starts.”
The response was harsh. Bleeding Cool says the store’s Whatnot channel appears to have been shut down, and it reports that DC banned the retailer from future exclusive retailer variants. The store’s own posts complain about losing the Maleev #25 cover, and in replies it defended the stunt, arguing that retailers have destroyed unsold stock before. Bleeding Cool points out that a publisher once did something similar itself.
RCG has not found a public statement from DC Comics or Whatnot about the store, and the ban is reported here as Bleeding Cool’s reporting. Neither the store nor DC has commented on the record beyond social posts, and this story follows Bleeding Cool’s reporting without naming the retailer.
The story lands at a sensitive moment for the line. Absolute Batman #25 is the series’ landmark issue before a planned break, as RCG covered when DC put Absolute Batman on hiatus after #25. The issue has drawn dozens of retailer-exclusive variants, which makes access to DC’s exclusive program valuable to the shops that use it. Losing that access over a sales stunt is a costly penalty for a store that depends on variant sales.
For collectors, the episode is another sign of how much speculation now surrounds Absolute Batman variants. Destroying copies to create scarcity, and promoting it with AI art of the character, crossed a line that drew a public response from buyers, other retailers, and apparently the platform.
