DC Compact Comics

DC Compact Comics is a line of full-color paperbacks from DC Comics. Announced in November 2023, ahead of a June 2024 launch, they were described as "perfect for readers of prose and manga looking to pick up a new-reader-friendly storyline in a self-contained full color graphic novel".[1]

At 8.5in x 5.5in, they are smaller than the traditional 10.2in x 6.6in of a collected trade paperback comic.

The initial 10 titles released in 2024 were: Batman: The Court of Owls, Watchmen, All-Star Superman, Far Sector, Batman: Hush, Wonder Woman: Earth One, Harley Quinn & The Gotham City Sirens, Joker, American Vampire Book One, and Catwoman: Trail of the Catwoman – with a further 15 books announced for 2025.[2]

One of those 15, Death, a spin-off from the Sandman series, was cancelled following sexual assault allegations against writer, Neil Gaiman.[3]

As well as being dedicated to a specific character or series, each release is also designated by genre via a tag in the top right of the cover. These genres include science fiction, thriller, horror, fantasy, adventure, and mystery.

Reception

The announcement was largely greeted positively in the comics community with SKTCHD's David Harper saying the line was, "...honestly the best thing to come from one of the Big Two in I don't even know how long".[4] Gordon Jackson at Gizmodo noted that "DC's Compact Comics Line Is the Smartest Thing It's Done in Years".[5] In Comicsbeat, Joe Grunenwald stressed that "the size, price and content are all suitable for mass market".[6]

Sales

Four of 2024's overall top-10 bestselling graphic novels came from DC's Compact Comic line. Batman: The Court of Owls ranked fourth, with All-Star Superman fifth, Batman: Hush sixth, and Watchmen seventh.[7] By February 2025, up to eight months after release, all four books remained in the monthly top-ten graphic novel chart.[8]

Impact

The line launched five months ahead of the DC Finest series, which was aimed at a similar market to the Marvel Epic Collection.

In 2025, Marvel Comics released Premier Collection, a similar line of digest-sized 9in x 6in releases "featuring Marvel's most celebrated and prestigious storylines and creators from its entire comic book legacy".[9]

List of volumes

American Vampire

Title Years covered Issues collected Writers Artists Genre Pages Pub. date ISBN
Book One 2010–2011 Scott Snyder, Stephen King Rafael Albuquerque Horror 320 1 Oct 2024 978-1779527349

The Authority

Title Years covered Issues collected Writers Artists Genre Pages Pub. date ISBN
Relentless 1999–2000, 2017
  • The Authority (vol. 1) #1–12
  • Planetary/The Authority: Ruling the World #1
  • "Requiem" from WildStorm: A Celebration of 25 Years
 Warren Ellis Bryan Hitch Adventure 360 1 Jul 2025 978-1799501992

Batman

Title Years covered Issues collected Writers Artists Genre Pages Pub. date ISBN
Arkham Asylum 1989
  • Batman: Arkham Asylum - A Serious House on Serious Earth OGN
 Grant Morrison Dave McKean Thriller 248 2 Sep 2025 978-1799506997
Gotham By Gaslight 1989
  • Batman: Gotham By Gaslight OGN
 Brian Augustyn Mike Mignola Thriller 120 20 Jan 2026 978-1799506652
The Long Halloween 1996–1997
  • Batman: The Long Halloween #1–13
 Jeph Loeb Tim Sale Mystery 376 7 Oct 2025 978-1799502883
Hush 2002–2003 Jeph Loeb Jim Lee Mystery 312 6 Aug 2024 978-1779527264
The Court of Owls Saga 2011–2012
  • Batman (vol. 2) #1–11
 Scott Snyder Greg Capullo Thriller 304 4 Jun 2024 978-1779527271

Batwoman

Title Years covered Issues collected Writers Artists Genre Pages Pub. date ISBN
Elegy 2009–2010 Greg Rucka J. H. Williams III Adventure 240 17 Jun 2025 978-1799501824

Catwoman

Title Years covered Issues collected Writers Artists Genre Pages Pub. date ISBN
Trail Of The Catwoman 2001–2002 Darwyn Cooke, Ed Brubaker Darwyn Cooke Adventure 336 1 Oct 2024 978-1779527288

DCeased

Title Years covered Issues collected Writers Artists Genre Pages Pub. date ISBN
DCeased 2019
  • DCeased #1–6
 Tom Taylor Trevor Hairsine Horror 216 3 Jun 2025 978-1799501633

Harley Quinn

Title Years covered Issues collected Writers Artists Genre Pages Pub. date ISBN
Harley Quinn and the Gotham City Sirens 2009–2010 Paul Dini, Guillem March Guillem March Adventure 320 3 Sep 2024 978-1779527301
Wild at Heart 2013-2014 Amanda Conner Jimmy Palmiotti Adventure 392 16 Sep 2025 978-1799503033

Joker

Title Years covered Issues collected Writers Artists Genre Pages Pub. date ISBN
Joker 2008
  • Joker
 Brian Azzarello Lee Bermejo Thriller 136 3 Sep 2024 978-1779527318

Static

Title Years covered Issues collected Writers Artists Genre Pages Pub. date ISBN
Season One 2021–2022
  • Static: Season One #1–6
 Vita Ayala, Reginald Hudlin Adventure 184 27 May 2025 978-1799501541

Supergirl

Title Years covered Issues collected Writers Artists Genre Pages Pub. date ISBN
Woman Of Tomorrow 2021–2022
  • Supergirl: Woman of Tomorow #1−8
 Tom King Bilquis Evely Adventure 296 6 Jan 2026 978-1799506904

Superman

Title Years covered Issues collected Writers Artists Genre Pages Pub. date ISBN
All-Star Superman 2005–2008
  • All-Star Superman #1–12
 Grant Morrison Frank Quitely Fantasy 296 2 Jul 2024 978-1779527257
Birthright 2003–2004
  • Superman: Birthright #1–12
 Mark Waid Leinil Francis Yu, Gerry Alanguilan Adventure 312 24 Jun 2025 978-1799501916

Superman/Batman

Title Years covered Issues collected Writers Artists Genre Pages Pub. date ISBN
Book One 2003–2004
  • Superman/Batman (vol. 1) #1–13
  • "When Clark Met Bruce" from Superman/Batman Secret Files & Origins 2003
 Jeph Loeb Ed McGuinness, Michael Turner Adventure 304 15 Jul 2025 978-1799502135

Wonder Woman

Title Years covered Issues collected Writers Artists Genre Pages Pub. date ISBN
Blood And Guts 2011–2012 Brian Azzarello Cliff Chiang, Tony Akins Adventure 280 19 Aug 2025 978-1799502494
Earth One 2016–2021
  • Wonder Woman: Earth One Vol. 1–3
 Grant Morrison Yanick Paquette Fantasy 376 6 Aug 2024 978-1779527332

Y: The Last Man

Title Years covered Issues collected Writers Artists Genre Pages Pub. date ISBN
Book One 2002–2003
  • Y: The Last Man #1-10
 Brian K. Vaughan Pia Guerra, José Marzan Jr. Science fiction 248 21 Oct 2025 978-1799502890

Miniseries

This section includes books that have self-contained miniseries and are unlikely to have a sequel.

Title Years covered Issues collected Writers Artists Genre Pages Pub. date ISBN
DC: The New Frontier 2004–2005
  • DC: The New Frontier #1-6
  • Justice League: The New Frontier Special
 Darwyn Cooke Dave Stewart Science fiction 416 5 Aug 2025 978-1799502340
Far Sector 2019–2021
  • Far Sector #1–12
 Nora Keita Jemisin Jamal Campbell Science fiction 296 2 Jul 2024 978-1779527295
Kingdom Come 1996
  • Kingdom Come #1–4
 Mark Waid Alex Ross Fantasy 208 6 May 2025 978-1799501299
V For Vendetta 1982–1989
  • TBC
 Alan Moore David Lloyd Thriller 368 4 Nov 2025 978-1799503132
Watchmen 1986–1987
  • Watchmen #1–12
 Alan Moore Dave Gibbons Thriller 416 4 Jun 2024 978-1779527325
We3 2004
  • We3 #1–3
 Grant Morrison Frank Quitely Science fiction / Adventure 144 18 Nov 2025 978-1799503255

Upcoming releases

Title Pub. date ISBN
Superman/Batman: Book One 15 Jul 2025 978-1799502135
DC: The New Frontier 5 Aug 2025 978-1799502340
Wonder Woman: Blood and Guts 19 Aug 2025 978-1799502494
Batman: Arkham Asylum 2 Sep 2025 978-1799506997
Harley Quinn: Wild at Heart 16 Sep 2025 978-1799503033
Batman: The Long Halloween 7 Oct 2025 978-1799502883
Y: The Last Man Book 1 21 Oct 2025 978-1799502890
V For Vendetta 4 Nov 2025 978-1799503132
We3 18 Nov 2025 978-1799503255
Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow 6 Jan 2026 978-1799506904
Batman: Gotham By Gaslight 20 Jan 2026 978-1799506652

Cancelled

Title ISBN
Death 978-1799502647

See also

References

  1. ^ "DC Announces 'DC Compact Comics'". DC. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  2. ^ David Brooke (12 November 2024). "New 'DC Compact Comics' coming in 2025 with 2nd printings on the way too". AIPT comics. Archived from the original on 12 November 2024. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
  3. ^ Johnston, Rich (5 February 2025). "DC Comics Has Pulled Neil Gaiman's Death Compact Edition For Now". Bleeding Cool. Archived from the original on 5 February 2025. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
  4. ^ Says, Linus (2023-11-03). "Comics Disassembled: Nine Things of Note from the Past Week in Comics, Led by DC Going Compact". SKTCHD. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  5. ^ Jackson, Gordon (2024-08-16). "DC's Compact Comics Line Is the Smartest Thing It's Done in Years". Gizmodo. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  6. ^ Grunenwald, Joe (2023-11-02). "Syndicated Comics". The Beat. Retrieved 2024-09-25.
  7. ^ "TOP 20 GRAPHIC NOVELS - FULL YEAR 2024". ICv2. 23 January 2025. Archived from the original on 24 January 2025. Retrieved 24 January 2025.
  8. ^ "TOP 20 GRAPHIC NOVELS - FEBRUARY 2025". ICv2. 5 March 2025. Archived from the original on 6 March 2025. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
  9. ^ Nico Marjolin (17 October 2024). "Marvel Comics Unveils All-New 'Marvel Premier Collection'". Penguin Random House. Archived from the original on 23 October 2024. Retrieved 23 October 2024.
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