DC Comics had an amazing 2025 year commercially and critically thanks to the Absolute line of comics, especially Absolute Batman.
‘Absolute Batman’ DOMINATED the Sales Charts
According to The Hollywood Reporter, DC sold over 8.2 million issues of Absolute comics. More impressively, December sales were not even counted at time of the reporting. Towering over the rest of the Absolute line was the blockbuster smash-hit Absolute Batman.
That title’s first 14 issues sold more than 3 million copies. Even more crazy, Absolute Batman is still making record sales. DC recently announced a 10th printing of issue one. The 10th printing will come out on January 21st. Keep in mind Absolute Batman #1 was the bestselling issue of 2024. The fact that it is continuing into another print run in 2026 is near mind-boggling.
Not to say that the later issues of Absolute Batman have seen steep declines in orders. Comic book retailers have ordered 300,000 copies of the most recent issue number 15. To give context, initial orders of issue one back before the Absolute titles launched were at 200,000 copies. So retailers actually significantly increased their orders of the title as the title continued. This is an impressive feat it being a year and half into its run.
Why the Absolute Imprint is so Successful
Not shockingly, DC is thrilled by the record-breaking sales news. DC Senior Vice President and General Manager Anne DePies noted that the continued success of the Absolute imprint stems from skirting the line of fresh, new ideas, while still being familiar enough. She also added that it helps that the Absolute line is not too big where it becomes intimidating for fans.
“It’s a fresh look that inverted the fundamentals of our characters, and it’s an update that surprised our fans. The tightness of the line gives retailers and fans something to wrap their heads around. It’s not so overwhelming that we are changing everything at once. That made a big difference. We knew it was going to do well, but we didn’t know it would do this well.”
While DePies did not directly mention it, another reason for the Absolute line’s success is the very little crossover. While the titles all take place in the same universe, there is very little overlap between comics with the exception of October’s Absolute Evil one-shot.
‘Batman’ Relaunch Also Sold Huge
Not to be outdone, the mainstream Batman title also factored heavily into DC’s wildly profitable 2025. The title boasted of both a best-selling sequel to Hush, as well as a relaunch under Matt Fraction. The first issue of the series relaunch sold over half a million copies.
Additionally, DC’s Batman/ Deadpool crossover, DC K.O., and the inclusion of Compact Comics reprint line made 2025 a watershed year for the publisher.
With such amazing sales, one can only hope that DC can top that with 2026!
Source: hollywoodreporter.com
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