We all know that 2025 was a truly incredible year for DC Comics, but just how great? Could it come close to or even surpass Marvel in key metrics? We’ll probably never know just by answering our own headlines, but there are some clues.
As I have pointed out many times here, sales figures for comics as a whole will not be readily available after the coronavirus. ICV2 provides graphs based on ComicHub POS data from select comic shops, but this is a small sample, and we’re seeing a growing number of public and private complaints about the accuracy of these numbers.
The near-complete data blackout must have been particularly troublesome for DC Comics, at least from a PR perspective. They’ve had hit after hit in 25 years, including DC K.0, Matt Fraction’s Batman reboot, as well as the entire Absolute series. series, and an entire all-in-line refresh that seems to have elevated other titles. Marvel has been the number one comic book publisher for longer than many of you reading this have been alive, while DC made big profits in 2025. If ever there was a time when sales figures could be shouted from the rooftops, it’s now. However, there are no more screaming rooftops left.
But as 2025 draws to a close, DC has found a way to share some numbers via Boris Kitt’s article in The Hollywood Reporter. Batman Absolute Universe Comics Power DC’s Super Year includes some big numbers.
The “Absolute Universe” series of monthly comics sold more than 8.2 million copies in total, excluding December sales, according to figures shared with The Hollywood Reporter. The flagship title, Absolute Batman, accounted for approximately 35% of that total, or nearly 3 million. The first issue of “Absolute Batman” continues to sell well and is currently in its 10th printing, with orders for the latest issue, “Absolute Batman No. 15,” exceeding 300,000 copies.
When was the last time issue #15 sold over 300,000 copies? I guess we have to go back quite a long time for that. (Maybe John Jacobson Miller will rant in the comments?)
The rest of the song is an exercise in victory, which I take for granted. DC’s SVP/GM Anne DePies, President/Publisher/CCO Jim Lee, Editor-in-Chief Marie Javins, and absolute mastermind Scott Snyder have done everything right in 2025, helping readers and comic shops get excited about their lineup once again, and they deserve a place to make a little noise. Some more trivia from the shadowy “insiders”:
Five of the six absolute titles “outperformed” 2011’s New 52 and 2016’s Rebirth. Absolute Martian Manhunter was the most obscure Absolute release and grossed over six figures. Fraction and Jiménez’s Batman #1 sold over 500,000 copies, and sales of subsequent issues continue to increase. DC’s top five books of the year included Batman #1, Batman #158 (Lee on Art), Absolute Batman #15, Batman Deadpool, and DC KO #1. In a tidbit that’s likely to resonate with those who took part in my summer expeditions to peruse supermarket checkout shelves, DC is partnering with supermarket chains to “make certain comics (usually first issues) available for sale, bringing titles that haven’t been seen in decades to store shelves.”
Newsstand sales?In this economy?
This also has something to do with the success of the checkout aisle special issues given to Superman and Batman, which anecdotally I hear sold surprisingly well.
Longtime DC Kremlinists will find a lot to chuckle about in THR’s article, which includes some digs at previous DC reboots, but it also gave Lee and DePies a chance to brag a little.
DePies: “The tight lines give retailers and fans something to wrap their heads around. It’s not so overwhelming for us to change everything at once. It’s made a huge difference. We knew it would work, but we didn’t know it would work this well.”
Lee: “If you want something to happen that brings in lost fans and new fans, you can’t look at it in a spreadsheet and predict it. It’s like light in a bottle.”
Any more anecdotes on this? According to the latest data from ICv2, DC accounted for 9 of the top 10 comic periodicals in November and is increasing its market share, up to 29.5% market share in Q3 2025, but still behind Marvel’s 36.6% share. However, DC’s market share increased by 20.1% in Q3 2024, which is a significant increase.
It wasn’t just reading material that DC had a great year. Humberto Gonzalez proclaimed in The Wrap how DC finally beat Marvel at the box office in a headline that brought a smile to David Zazlav’s eyes. This story is protected by a paywall, but more insiders provided further information.
“Superman” brought in more than $100 million for Warner Bros. through theatrical revenue, streaming and merchandise, according to people familiar with the matter. But the bigger accomplishment may be what Mr. Safran and Mr. Gunn accomplished behind the scenes: uniting DC’s historically divided publishing, film, games and consumer products divisions for the first time.
“James Gunn and Safran went into this knowing they couldn’t do the same thing over and over again,” Sean Robbins, director of film analysis at Fandango, told TheWrap about the revamp. “But they also knew they had to connect with today’s young audiences and get them, and even some of the older generations, to get up off the couch and into the theaters to see the 10th Superman movie. That was a huge challenge for them.”
The Supergirl trade paperback ad at the end of the Supergirl teaser trailer is shining proof of this, and another point of great visibility for the comic line.
I think what DC Comics did in 2025 was a huge step forward for the industry, especially given the brutal layoffs and corporate uncertainty the company has had to deal with for years. I wish there was a sales graph that showed it in absolute numbers. DePies, Lee, Javins, and Snyder created a line that had critical success, not just blind bags (although they did sell blind bags), drew new readers into stores, and generally provided the leadership the industry really needed in the years of the diamond collapse.
Will the battle for supremacy on the sales charts become even more intense in 2026? Will we see more insiders leaking information to THR and elsewhere? Stay tuned.
Something like this:
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