DC Has Warned Retailers Not to Price Their Exclusive Variants Too High

Retailer-exclusive variants have been around for some time. A store buys the rights to make their own variant for a (potentially) popular comic, pays an artist to create some cool artwork, and then seel a number of copies--often one that has the text/"Trade Dress," and one with just the artwork/a "Virgin," cover. It's a thing that has exploded lately with, "Absolute Batman," however. Some stores release quite limited variants with pretty high prices compared to the, "Cover price," of a comic if it were a standard, "A," cover. Something that's normally $4.99 gets sold with the variant cover for $50-$100, depending on the material (cardstock, foil) and any signatures or such--with remarques/little drawings on the cover causing prices to sometimes get astronomical! Apparently, DC has concerns about being associated with any accusations of, "Price-gouging," on these Absolute Batman titles as they're beginning to warn retailers they should only, "Upcharge," a certain amount higher for any…