10 freaky variant covers from DC's massive Knight Terrors drop

Poison Ivy surrounded by mushrooms. — (Image credit: DC Comics)

DC's upcoming Knight Terrors event is set to dominate the publisher's output throughout July and August. It's a huge, cross-title affair that sees many of the DC universe's heroes and villains pulled into the shadowy Nightmare Realm, a place where they must face their greatest fears thanks to new villain Insomnia. Along the way they'll also encounter Boston Brand - AKA Deadman - who is said to play a major part in the story.

It's gonna be big, then. How big? Very. In August's DC solicitations the company announced a massive 115 different cover variants for the 22 different books that are coming out as part of Knight Terrors. Together, they make up an undeniably impressive body of horror and fantasy-themed work from some of comics' best artists.

Knight Terrors #4 (open-to-order variant)

On Caspar Wijngaard's open-to-order variant, a pale-faced Batman gins manically as a swarm of bats flies out at the reader. We know from solicitations that the Knight Terrors story involves a "Nightmare League" - so could this be one of them, rather than our own beloved Bruce?

Knight Terrors: Batman #2 (1:25 variant)

That same evil Batman also features on James Stokoe's colorful 1:25 variant cover for the concluding issue of the Knight Terrors: Batman spinoff, where he's driving a pretty twisted take on the Batmobile.

Knight Terrors: Detective Comics #2 (open-to-order variant)

Kyle Hotz's open-to-order variant is a biomechanical monstrosity in striking monochrome, against a blood red backdrop. There's an easy-to-miss cameo from Batman at the top, too.

Knight Terrors: Harley Quinn #2 (open-to-order variant)

While less horrifying than the other pieces on this list, Jenny Frison's open-to-order variant for Knight Terrors: Harley Quinn #2 has fun with the playing card theme, presenting us with two contrasting sides of the Cupid of Crime.

Knight Terrors: Angel Breaker #2 (open-to-order variant)

Ivan Tao puts his usual impressionist style to one side for this dynamic open-to-order cover for Knight Terrors: Angel Breaker #2, redolent of classic fantasy art.

Knight Terrors: Wonder Woman #2 (open-to-order variant)

Sesbastian Fiumara's spectral open-to-order cover reinforces the skeleton theme that crops up a lot in these covers. It's a dynamic piece that makes super atmospheric use of its green color palette.

Knight Terrors: Nightwing #2 (1:25 variant)

We know from DC's solicitations that pigs are going to play a part in Nightwing's miniseries, and in Vasco Georgiev's 1-25 variant we get an alarming glimpse at precisely how.

Knight Terrors: Poison Ivy #2 (1:50 variant)

One of the most adventurous covers here, Jessica Dalva's 1:50 variant for Knight Terrors: Poison Ivy #2 looks like it could adorn a Vertigo comic from 1997 - and that's no bad thing!

Knight Terrors: Ravager #2 (open-to-order variant)

James Stokoe's open-to-order variant of Knight Terrors: Ravager #2 continues the freaky car theme of his previous Batman cover to delirious effect.

Knight Terrors: The Flash #2 (1:25 variant)

Kyle Hotz and Mike Spicer's 1:25 variant cover is a none-more-goth nightmare for Barry Allen.

When you've finished browsing DC's August books, why not check out Marvel's August solicitations, too.

Will Salmon is the Streaming Editor for GamesRadar+. He has been writing about film, TV, comics, and music for more than 15 years, which is quite a long time if you stop and think about it. At Future he launched the scary movie magazine Horrorville, relaunched Comic Heroes, and has written for every issue of SFX magazine for well over a decade. His music writing has appeared in The Quietus, MOJO, Electronic Sound, Clash, and loads of other places too.