Posted in: Batman, Comics, DC Comics, Swipe File | Tagged: Absolute Batman, chainsaw man, separated at birth

Separated At Birth: Absolute Batman, Chainsaw Man And The Mann Boyz

A new Separated At Birth with Absolute Batman #18, the first cover for Chainsaw Man and The Mann Boyz, that's Clay Mann and Seth Mann

Published Tue, 17 Feb 2026 07:58:08 -0600

by Rich Johnston

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Article Summary

Clay Mann and Seth Mann's retailer variant for Absolute Batman #18 pays homage to Chainsaw Man's debut cover
The Mann Boyz introduce Absolute Poison Ivy on their Absolute Batman #18 exclusive variant cover release
Chainsaw Man, the hit manga by Tatsuki Fujimoto, shares striking creative parallels with Absolute Batman
Explore the creative process, homage, and influence in comics with the Separated At Birth Swipe File feature

Clay Mann and Seth Mann as The Mann Boyz have created a wraparound retailer variant for his own comic book creator store for the upcoming Absolute Batman #18, featuring the new Absolute Poison Ivy (as seen in this week's Absolute Batman #17.)

Absolute Batman #18 by Clay Mann and Seth Mann

And a homage to a very different cover from a very different creator, Chainsaw Man by Tatsuki Fujimoto. Or should that be Chainsaw Mann? And Absolute Batmann?

Chainsaw Man is a very popular, dark, violent, chaotic, and often deeply emotional shōnen-style manga mixed with horror, black comedy, romance, and existential weirdness. You can see why it might appeal to the world of Absolute Batman. In a world similar to ours, devils exist as supernatural beings born from human fears, and Denji, a dirt-poor, orphaned teenager drowning in his late father's massive debt to the Yakuza, scrapes by as a low-level devil hunter, helped by his only companion, Pochita, a chainsaw-headed devil dog. As part of a death pact, the two merge to become a Devil-Human hybrid, and now Denji can transform parts of his body into chainsaws, such as arms, legs, and famously his entire head, becoming Chainsaw Man…

Call it Separated At Birth or call it Swipe File, we present two or more images that resemble each other to some degree. They may be homages, parodies, ironic appropriations, coincidences, or works of the lightbox. We trust you, the reader, to make that judgment yourself. If you are unable to do so, we ask that you please return your eyes to their maker before any further damage is done. Separated At Birth doesn't judge; it is more interested in the process of creation, how work influences other work, how new work comes from old, and sometimes how the same ideas emerge simultaneously, as if their time has just come. The Swipe File was named after the advertising industry habit where writers and artists collect images and lines they admire to inspire them in their work. It was swiped from The Comics Journal, which originally ran a similar column, and the now-defunct Swipe Of The Week website, but Separated At Birth was considered a less antagonistic title.

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