DC Comics' Absolute Universe continues to put a bold new spin on characters like Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. In the pages of Absolute Batman, we've been introduced to a terrifying new version of The Joker.
Next February, the curtain will finally be pulled back on this twisted Clown Prince of Crime. As we've known for a while, he's decidedly more monstrous than The Joker who frequently torments the Dark Knight in the main DC Universe.
Today, a new look at Absolute Batman artist Nick Dragotta's designs for the Absolute Joker has surfaced on social media. This demonic Joker should be more than a match for the hulking Caped Crusader, and he'd be right at home in a horror movie.
During a recent League of Comic Geeks AMA, Absolute Batman writer Scott Snyder teased the impending debuts of the Absolute versions of Scarecrow and Poison Ivy.
"Scarecrow is something very different [from] the other villains we've seen so far," he revealed. "Ivy is coming up again very soon, and you'll see that she has extremely powerful abilities. While she isn't exactly a monster like Mr. Freeze or Joker where she'd be strictly terrifying, she's also kind of wondrous and dazzling while not strictly being human."
"Scarecrow is human. He is a man obsessed with the power of fear," Snyder continued. "He has all of the gases and the things from history, a full kind of museum of fear that he loves to keep, but he's very modern. He's someone who uses fear to bring down government, to topple rulers. He's like a hired gun or a shadow that moves behind the scenes."
"I did some reading on the history of scarecrows, and some of the originals in ancient times contain nets that would catch birds so they could be killed, not just scare them away, but genuinely scare them to death. This Scarecrow is very dark in that way, but he's a man rather than a monster," the Absolute Batman scribe concluded.
The series has quickly become one of DC Comics' biggest sellers, and following his game-changing Batman run during The New 52, there's a lot of excitement to see where Snyder takes the hero.
Check out this new look at Absolute Batman's take on The Joker in the X post below.
SCOTT SNYDER REUNITES WITH LEGENDARY ARTIST JOCK! Alfred reveals to Bruce the story of the man he’s been chasing for years. Enter: Joker! Scott Snyder and Jock reunite for an epic tale in the Absolute Universe!
ABSOLUTE BATMAN #15
Written by SCOTT SNYDER
Art by JOCK
Cover by NICK DRAGOTTA
On Sale FEBRUARY 2026