People are loving the new Absolute takes on Batman, Wonder Woman, and other heroes that’ve been hitting comic stores every month.<\/b>
\nIn 2024, DC Comics launched the Absolute Universe, which offered interesting new spins on A-listers like Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, and Flash. The entire line just completed its first full year, and the publisher used the opportunity to brag about how good it\u2019s doing. And spoiler: it\u2019s doing really good.
Per the Hollywood Reporter, the entire line has sold 8.2 million copies up, as of November 2025. The big earner is Absolute Batman, Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta\u2019s very viral ongoing that sees a blue collar (and pretty big) Bruce Wayne fight crime and reinvented versions of his classic enemies in Gotham. That book accounts for 35% of the Absolute book\u2019s success\u2014so around 3 million copies overall\u2014and its first issue is now on its 10th printing. Its five-bestselling books of 2025 include the recent Absolute Batman #15, Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee\u2019s Batman #158, Matt Fraction and Jorge Jimenez\u2019s Batman #1, the publisher\u2019s Batman\/Deadpool crossover, and Snyder and Javier Fernandez\u2019s DC K.O. #1.
Anne DePies, DC\u2019s general manager, credited the decision to keep the universe in its own continuity as a big win, ditto its \u201cfresh look that inverted the fundamentals of our characters, and it\u2019s an update that surprised our fans. It\u2019s 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\u2019t know it would do this well.\u201d
Even beyond Batman, the majority of Absolute books are reportedly doing better than 2011\u2019s New 52 and 2016\u2019s Rebirth relaunches. Those five specific books weren\u2019t listed by THR, which is the only outlet to see those retail numbers, but it did note that Absolute Martian Manunter from Deniz Camp and Javier Rodriguez has gotten orders in the six figures, something remarkable considering Manhunter\u2019s not high-tier like his fellow headliners.
That book will be ending soon, but the Absolute books will continue for apparently as long as its various creative teams want, so if a particular book\u2019s caught your eye, go ahead and jump in.<\/p>\n