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Scott Snyder wasn’t always going to be the writer for Absolute Batman. Although the Absolute Universe was his idea, he saw himself as more of a godfather or showrunner, delegating titles to different creators. However, Snyder found it difficult to lock down a writer and artist for the series. He offered it to a few creators, including Daniel Warren Johnson.

“I didn’t know that I would be the one that wrote Absolute Batman,” Scott Snyder says during a conversation with YG Panel at Fan Expo Chicago. “I had it as an idea of like if we do the Absolute Universe, what Batman was like, the example of how you could do it. So, I was pitching to other people.”

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“I asked Daniel Warren Johnson to do it himself. Like, do you want to write and draw it? And then he told me, ‘Actually, I have a new gig.’ And I was like, ‘What is it?’ He was like, ‘I’m on Transformers.’ I was like, ‘Dang. You should do that. It’s going to be awesome.’ Daniel, I asked to do it. A couple of other people before I knew I was going to do it.”

All in all, things seemed to work out for everyone. Snyder and Nick Dragotta’s Absolute Batman became the biggest hit DC Comics has had in years, and Johnson’s work on Skybound’s Transformers nabbed him two Eisner Awards. Johnson would still get his chance to work on Absolute Batman, contributing a story to Absolute Batman 2025 Annual #1. If you want to get a sense of what Daniel Warren Johnson’s version of Absolute Batman would’ve been like, that story (which pushed the envelope in the best possible way) gives you a great taste of what might have been.

Here's an updated guide on the Absolute Batman release schedule and a guide to all the Absolute Batman villains so far.