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Rob Liefeld has created "four smartass bats" like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

A.C.R.O.BATS, Rob Liefeld’s latest series, is finally coming out after COVID forced him to shelve it

News by Joshua Lapin-Bertone, Contributing writer

Published on Tue Aug 18 2026

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If you like comics about bats, and Batman isn’t anthropomorphic enough for you, then Rob Liefeld has the perfect new series for you. Meet the A.C.R.O.BATS, a team of chemically enhanced bats. The team debuted in Collector’s Edition preview earlier this year, with a full series on the way. However, Liefeld says we would’ve seen the comic debut in 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic made bats a sensitive subject.

“I’ve been sitting on two different versions of it. One called the A.C.R.O.BATS, and another one called the CombatANTS, and I’m putting those out in the next six weeks,” Rob Liefeld says during a conversation with Andrew Parker and Alex Azor on the Escape Pod Podcast. “It’s a totally different vibe, but it’s because I love the [Ninja Turtles] and Usagi Yojimbo and all that stuff. The A.C.R.O.BATS, we were set to launch it in 2020, and then the world became affected by a diseased bat, and they’re like, ‘Why aren’t we doing this anymore?’ And I’m like, ‘Do you watch the news! This is not a time to put out anything with a bat!’ But now that’s all over, and I’m like, what am I thinking, the most popular character in the entire world is Batman. So, I have four smartass bats. That’s what’s coming out.”

A.C.R.O.BATS is currently available to purchase on Rob Liefeld’s official website.

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Joshua Lapin-Bertone: Joshua is a pop culture writer specializing in comic book media. His work has appeared on the official DC Comics website, the DC Universe subscription service, HBO Max promotional videos, the Batman Universe fansite, and more. In between traveling around the country to cover various comic conventions, Joshua resides in Florida where he binges superhero television and reads obscure comics from yesteryear.