It was just days before Christmas and all through the house, not an executive was stirring, not even to grouse.
Well, almost no one was stirring — except for the number crunchers at DC. This year, these fine folks are pouring the egg nog and toasting cheers, with nary a piece of Kryptonite in sight.
That is due to Burbank-based DC having a banner year, maybe even one for the modern record books, thanks to the muscular showing of Batman and the company’s year-old Absolute Universe imprint. The success is not just sales, it is also critical. The company, under senior vice president and general manager Anne DePies and president, publisher and chief creative officer Jim Lee, is also enjoying a creative renaissance that is winning accolades. It is a rare feat in modern, digital times.
The Absolute line launched in the fall of 2024 and revamped some key heroes – Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, on top of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman – in a pocket dimension. It allowed writer and artists, under the aegis of superstar comic author Scott Snyder, to turn concepts upside down or revamp them for modern times. Bruce Wayne, for example, had a father who was a simple teacher who saved his class from a mass shooting while on a trip to the zoo.
According to figures shared with The Hollywood Reporter, the Absolute Universe line of monthly comics has sold over 8.2 million units in total, not accounting for December sales. Absolute Batman, the flagship title, makes up around 35 percent, close to 3 million, of that total. The first issue of Absolute Batman continues to sell well and is now in its 10th printing, while the latest issue, Absolute Batman No. 15, has orders of over 300,000.
The comic, written by Snyder with art by Nick Dragotta, earned a best new series Eisner Award nomination this yaer, losing out to rival title Absolute Wonder Woman, by Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman. The line also racked up numerous other nominations.
But while Batman grabs the lion’s share of the spotlight, the success of the Absolute line has been broad. Insiders say that five of the six titles have outpaced and outperformed DC’s previous relaunches and reboots, 2011’s New 52 and 2016’s Rebirth. Even Absolute Martian Manhunter, focused on a hero who was never top tier, received orders in the six figures. The title from Deniz Camp and Javier Rodriguez is an artistically bold and risky take on the character.
“It’s a fresh look that inverted the fundamentals of our characters, and it’s an update that surprised our fans,” noted DePies, adding the keeping the imprint contained was also a factor in the success. “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.”
Added Lee: “To have something bringing in lapsed fans and new fans, you can’t see that on a spreadsheet and predict. It’s lighting in a bottle.”
Lee also credited Snyder, the longtime comics author who has been involved in several of the company’s reboots and who returned to DC to write Absolute Batman, as well as Joshua Williamson and the other creators, for walking a creative tightrope.
“If you change things too much, it’s unrecognizable. Change it too little, then fans go, ‘What was the point of it,’” noted Lee. “What they did struck a chord with the readership. They did the impossible.”
Batman remains by and far the company’s most popular character, guarding the DC slate perched on high. Four of the company’s top five titles were Bat-related. September’s Batman No. 1, a main line relaunch of the Caped Crusader by writer Matt Fraction and artist Jorge Jiménez, has sold over 500,000 copies. Sales of first issues are almost always the highest of a title, but the book has continued to surprise and outperform expectations, with sales rising, not dropping, as the book swings along at a monthly clip.
In a social media posting Dec. 19, Jiménez wrote, “Woaah, I’ve received some amazing news! Batman #5 has had more pre-orders than the previous issues, Batman #3 is having a SECOND print!, and Batman #2 is having a THIRD print!! Seriously, thank you all so much for your incredible support this year, one I’ll never forget!!”
While DC did not provide additional numbers, the company’s top five titles also included Batman No. 158, which featured the return of executive Lee to art duties; Absolute Batman No. 15; Batman Deadpool, DC’s inter-company venture with Marvel combining the two popular characters (Marvel Comics put out their version of the initiative, Deadpool Batman, a month earlier, in September). Also in the top five is DC K.O. No. 1, a mini-series centering on battle royale featuring many of the company’s heroes, including, of course, Batman. Most of the titles were published this past fall.
DC has also found success in finding new ways to attract readers using non-traditional formats and settings. Its line of Compact Comics, paperback collections of key stories or creative runs, is such a hit that other publishers have emulated the format. It has also struck up partnerships with supermarket chains to have certain comics, usually first issues, available for sale, bringing titles to locations they haven’t been seen in decades.
Some of this year’s triumphs can be attributed to how the company approaches the creation of its comics. Under Lee, who became sole publisher when co-publisher Dan DiDio left in 2020, the company spends more time planning its book launches and publishing initiatives. Even the Absolute line is just part of an overall plan.
“Absolute wasn’t just, ‘Hey, let’s do a crazy idea,’” says Lee, “but something that speaks to our creative planning with editorial and the creatives. It’s not an outlier, it’s part of the DC grand plan.”
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