It's not every day that Batman shares a book with Batman. But Batman Day is that day.

Announced during DC's Gotham City panel at Comic-Con International: San Diego 2026, Batman of Two Worlds is an upcoming one-shot crossover event between Absolute Batman and DC's mainline Batman, all done for the annual Batman Day festivities which will take place this year on September 19.

 "The mission was to show what’s special about each version," says Absolute Batman writer Scott Snyder of the one-shot. "You don’t have to know anything about Batman, we tried to make something that can invite you in."

The Batman of Two Worlds one-shot will feature two intertwined stories, each focused on one of the Batmen. The Batman story will be by Batman series writer Matt Fraction and drawn by Javier Fernández, and the Absolute Batman story will be by Snyder and artist Nick Derrington.

”It feels like Batman is having such a moment, the chance to do this book and have the two takes exist on the same cover… was such a joy,” says Fraction.

In Batman of Two Worlds, the two Batmen will be confronted by essentially the same mystery despite in different universes, and the story will show how they investigate it in their own unique ways. DC stresses the two characters will not be crossing ovr and meeting each other in this one-shot (they appear to be saving that for its own event), but its about seeing two unique approaches to the same thing - a side-by-side comparison, if you will.

“At core, Bruce is just this boy who suffered this trauma, and wants to make the world better instead of falling into this dark place with it,” says Snyder. "The fun was showing how each one is special and how they both have the same heart."

”The challenge of any Batman thing for me is, the question is not ‘will he solve the problem,’ but ‘how will he solve the problem,’” adds Fraction.

“Our Batman kind of has to punch the wall down and go in,” Snyder says, referring to Absolute Batman if faced with entering a bank. "Our story is a bank robbery, and it’s largely about, for us, not just how he takes down the criminals, but who the real criminals are behind all of it. He forces the people in power to be seen as who they truly are… he’s kind of a juggernaut, he’s a force of nature." 

Fraction says that writing Batman requires you to get smarter each time

“[Matt’s] approach to writing Batman is so sincere…" says Snyder. "It isn’t just about taking down the bad guys, but again, getting to the root of it."

Batman of Two Worlds launches on Batman Day 2026, which is September 19. During a subsequent closed-door retailer presentation, a DC representative said this issue would be exclusive to comic shops, and therefore not available digitally or to any big box stores that carry DC comics.

Batman is the most well-known superhero in the world — surprisingly, given how much he loves hanging out in the dark. But between his comics, TV shows, movies, games, and more, DC's Dark Knight is the hero this city/country/world/universe needs, and we have all you need to enjoy him even more: 

• All the best Batman comics
• The best Batman villains, ranked
• How to watch all the Batman live-action movies in order
• How to watch all the Batman animated movies in order
• All the Batman actors, ranked
• All the Batman TV series, ranked
• All the Batman movies, ranked