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DC Comics Absolute Universe Collecting Guide & Reading Order

Updated Apr 6, 2026! A comprehensive guide to DC Absolute Universe, including Absolute Batman, Absolute Wonder Woman, Absolute Superman, and more! Find out how to read it via single issues, omnibuses, hardcovers, and trade paperback graphic novel collections. Part of Crushing Krisis’s Crushing Comics. Last updated April 2025 with titles scheduled for release through December 2026.

What is DC Absolute Universe?

DC All In Special (2024) #1 launched the DC Absolute Universe

DC Absolute Universe is an alternate universe newly established in the aftermath of the Absolute Power event in 2024. The Earth at the center of DC Absolute Universe was originally a primordial “Alpha World” born in the wake of the Death Metal event and obscured from the sight of Prime Earth’s heroes. Darkseid’s actions in DC All In Special (2024) #1 gave him a unique influence over this multiverse, and his influence created the Absolute Universe.

DC Absolute Universe is different than other past DC Elseworlds – including the similarly themed Earth One of the 2010s – because it is a single continuity shared by all of its characters. Each character is interacting with the same world, and all of their origins have been tweaked to be bleaker due to Darkseid’s influence. However, unlike Earth One, this is a fully fantastical Earth – full of plenty of super-powered individuals, magic, and dark gods, just like Prime Earth. The difference is that these aspects are emerging in the present day.

It’s easy to compare the DC Absolute Universe to the Marvel Ultimate Universe – in both of its incarnations. The original Marvel Ultimate Universe launched in 2000 was meant to give readers an easy on-ramp to beloved characters like Spider-Man, the X-Men, and the Fantastic Four while modernizing and streamlining their origins. Then, in 2023, Hickman had The Maker relaunch that Universe such that heroes did not emerge until the present day in a way that DC copied very closely in their launch of the Absolute Universe.

DC All In Special (2024) #1 by Scott Snyder & Joshua Williamson, Daniel Sampere & Alejandro Sánchez, Wes Craig & Mike Spicer, and Steve Wands (Oct 2024)

You do not need to read this series to understand the comics of DC Absolute! However, if you want to understand its (small and tenuous) connection to main DC continuity, this is the explainer – and it’s a big, bombastic, hugely satisfying issue!

#1: All-In Saga (2025 paperback, ISBN 978-1799506423 / digital)
Collects Absolute Power (2024) #4, DC All In Special (2024) #1, and four unconnected issues that kicked off All In story arcs – Justice League Unlimited (2024) #1, Batman (2016) #153, Wonder Woman (2023) #14, and Superman (2023) #19.
(Single Issue: Amazon #1 / eBay #1)

Absolute Batman (2024) #1-(ongoing)
by Scott Snyder, Nick Dragotta, & Frank Martin (Oct 2024 – ongoing)Absolute Batman (2024) #1, one of the launch titles of DC Absolute Universe

Absolute Batman introduces a version of Bruce Wayne who didn’t grow up with the resources of the familiar Bruce Wayne – including his connection with Alfred.

This is a cartoonishly hyper-violent take on Batman, heavy on his hyper-inflated physic and an “it’s all connected” approach to his villains all being his former friends.

#1-6: Vol. 1: The Zoo
(2025 hardcover, ISBN 978-1799505242 / 2025 paperback, ISBN 978-1799505259 / digital)
(Single Issues: Amazon #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 / eBay #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

#7-14: Vol. 2: Abomination
(2026 hardcover, ISBN 978-1799507505 / 2026 paperback, ISBN 978-1799507512 / digital)
(Single Issues: Amazon #7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 / eBay #7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)

#15-TBA: Vol. 3: Title TBA
(2026 hardcover, ISBN 978-1799508908 / 2026 paperback, ISBN 978-1799508915 / digital TBA)
Also collects Absolute Batman: Ark M Special (2026) #1
(Single Issues: Amazon #15 / eBay #15)

 

Absolute Wonder Woman (2024) #1-(ongoing)
by Kelly Thompson, Hayden Sherman (with Mattia De Iulis), & Jordie Bellaire (Oct 2024 – ongoing)Absolute Wonder Woman (2024) #1, one of the launch titles of DC Absolute Universe

Absolute Wonder Woman introduces a version of Diana who grew up away from the Amazons with a much stronger connection to magic than the familiar version of Diana.

#1-7: Vol. 1: The Last Amazon
(2025 hardcover, ISBN 978-1799505297 / 2025 paperback, ISBN 978-1799505303 / digital)
(Single Issues: Amazon #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 / eBay #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)

#8-14: Vol. 2: As My Mothers Made Me
(2026 hardcover, ISBN 978-1799507536 / 2026 paperback, ISBN 978-1799507543 / digital)
(Single Issues: Amazon #8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 / eBay #8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)

#15-20 & Annual 1: Vol. 3: Season of the Witch
(2026 hardcover, ISBN 978-1799508946 / 2026 paperback, ISBN 978-1799508953 / digital TBA)

 

 

Absolute Superman (2024) #1-(ongoing) by Jason Aaron, Rafa Sandoval & Carmine Di Giandomenico, and Ulises Arreola (Nov 2024 – ongoing)Absolute Superman (2024) #1, one of the launch titles of DC Absolute Universe

Absolute Superman introduces a version of Clark with a slightly different origin on Krypton who arrives on Earth later in life.

This is Jason Aaron in absolute “hopecore” mode – writing an abandoned Superman in a dark, grounded world in a way that still manages to inspire.

#1-6: Vol. 1: The Last Dust of Krypton
(2025 hardcover, ISBN 978-1799505327 / 2025 paperback, ISBN 978-1799505334 / digital)
(Single Issues: Amazon #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 / eBay #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

#7-14: Vol. 2: Son of the Demon
(2026 hardcover, ISBN 978-1799507758 / 2026 paperback, ISBN 978-1799507529 / digital)
(Single Issues: Amazon #7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 / eBay #7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)

#15-21: Vol. 3: The Neverending Begins
(2026 hardcover, ISBN 978-1799508922 / 2026 paperback, ISBN 978-1799508939 / digital TBA)

 

Absolute Flash (2025) #1-(ongoing) by Jeff Lemire & Nick Robles (Mar 2025 – ongoing)

Absolute Flash centers on Wally West, the teenage army brat son of an harsh and often-absent military-man father. When the scientist of the military base, Barry Allen, tries to take Wally under his wing there are immediate and disastrous results.

While the art in this series is lovely, I found it to be decompressed without much story happening in each issue.

#1-6: Vol. 1: Of Two Worlds
(2025 hardcover, ISBN 978-1799505181 / 2025 paperback, ISBN 978-1799505198 / digital)
(Single Issues: Amazon #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 / eBay #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

#7-12: Vol. 2: Still Point
(2026 hardcover, ISBN 978-1799508380 / 2026 paperback, ISBN 978-1799508397 / digital TBA)
(Single Issues: Amazon #7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 / eBay #7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)

#13-18: Vol. 3: Title TBA
(2026 hardcover, ISBN 978-1799509936 / 2026 paperback, ISBN 978-1799509943 / digital TBA)

Absolute Martian Manhunter (2025) #1-(ongoing) by Deniz Camp & Javier Rodríguez (Mar 2025 – ongoing)

John Jones is a family man and an FBI agent who is suffering from a concussion and PTSD after being caught in the bomb blast of a domestic terrorist. Or, is he a Martian pretending to be a mild-mannered man!?

This was originally announced as a six-issue mini-series but was immediately extended to at least a second arc due to its massive pre-orders and the rapturous response to issue #1.

#1-6: Vol 1: Martian Vision
(2025 hardcover, ISBN 978-1799505204 / 2025 paperback, ISBN 978-1799505211 / digital)
(Single Issues: Amazon #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 / eBay #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

#7-12: Vol. 2: The Agency
(2026 hardcover, ISBN 978-1799510871 / 2026 paperback, ISBN 978-1799510888 / digital TBA)
(Single Issues: Amazon #7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 / eBay #7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)

Absolute Green Lantern (2025) #1-(ongoing) by Al Ewing & Jahnoy Lindsay (Apr 2025 – ongoing)

Absolute Green Lantern imagines that all of the beloved human Lanterns – from Hal Jordan to John Stewart to Guy Gardner to Jo Mullein and more – all know each other from living in a single dusty, desert town… where one day their lives are interrupted when a giant Green Lantern symbol falls to the ground.

Al Ewing usually clicks for me, but I felt this series was a misfire – the issues took under three minutes each to read and the art isn’t up to the quality of DC’s standard house style, let alone the best-of-the-best level of the Absolute line.

#1-6: Vol. 1: Without Fear
(2025 hardcover, ISBN 978-1799505549 / 2025 paperback, ISBN 978-1799505556 / digital)
Also collects Absolute Evil (2025) #1
(Single Issues: Amazon #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 / eBay #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

#7-12: Vol. 2: Sojourner
(2026 hardcover, ISBN 978-1799508403 / 2026 paperback, ISBN 978-1799508410 / digital TBA)
(Single Issues: Amazon #7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 / eBay #7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)

#13-17: Vol 3: Title TBA
(2026 hardcover, ISBN 978-1799509950 / 2026 paperback, ISBN 978-1799509967 / digital TBA)

Absolute Evil (2025) #1 by Al Ewing & Giuseppe Camuncoli (Oct 2025)

Though penned by Al Ewing and collected with his Absolute Green Lantern (2025), this has less to do with the plots of that book and more to do with the assorted oligarch villains of the Absolute Universe – including how they collaborate and how they chafe against each other.

#1: Collected with Absolute Green Lantern (2025), above.

Absolute Green Arrow (2026) by Pornsak Pichetshote & Rafael Albuquerque (May 2026 – TBA)

Billed as “I Know What You Did Last Summer for billionaires,” this series has Black Canary as the main character investigating a series of murders of corrupt billionaires (the only kind!) where the only clue is a green arrow sticking out from the body.

#1 & on: TBA pending solicitation

Absolute Catwoman (2026) #1-(ongoing) by Scott Snyder, Che Grayson, & Bengal (Jun 2026 – ongoing)

After over a year of teases in the pages of Absolute Batman (2024), the Absolute Catwoman was fully revealed and then graduated to her own title!

#1 & on: TBA pending solicitation

Didn’t find what you were looking for?
Check Amazon for DC’s newest Absolute titles.

Back to Crushing Comics

New Comics & Collected Editions Releases: DC Comics – June 12 2024

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It’s the 24th new comic book day of the new year! This post covers DC Comics June 12 2024 releases, which actually hit comic stores on Tuesday June 11 2024. Missed last week’s releases? Check out last week’s post covering DC Comics June 5 2024 new releases.

(DC is still releasing their comics on Tuesday until the start of July, but I think most folks think of Wednesday as release day, so that’s how I’m labelling my posts until then.)

This week in DC Comics: Simone’s Secret Six in omnibus, Waid’s Year One JLA reprinted, Gaslit Gotham revisited, Hal Jordan’s lantern revolt, Batwoman outside the Outsiders, Dreamer vs. Waller, and more!

The Krisis Pick of the Week: Outsiders (2023) #8! Last issue left me speechless as a major fan of Planetary. This book has major WildStorm energy, with a pinch of Grant Morrison meta-textual commentary.

This list includes every comic and digital comic out from DC this week, plus collected editions including omnibus, hardcover, paperback, and digest-sized formats. I recap and review every new single issue. Plus, for every new release, I’ll point you to the right guide within my Crushing Comics Guide to DC Comics to find out how to collect each character in full – and, if a guide is linked from this post, that means it is updated through the present day!

DC Comics June 12 2024 Collected EditionsSecret Six by Gail Simone Omnibus Vol. 1, a DC Comics June 12 2024 new release

Batman Beyond: Neo-Gothic Vol. 1
(2024 hardcover, ISBN 978-1779525154 / digital)
This collects the complete Collin Kelly & Jackson Lanzing six-issue mini from 2023, continuing their run from a prior 2022 mini called “Neo-Year.”

JLA Year One
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1779525949 / digital)
See Guide to Justice League. This capitalizes on Mark Waid’s amazing resurgence in popularity at DC to reprint the 12-issue maxi-series exploring the Post-Crisis formation of the League that ran alongside his and Grant Morrison’s runs on JLA (1997).

Nightwing Vol. 3: The Battle for Blüdhaven’s Heart
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1779525222 / digital)
See Guide to Nightwing. This is one of the final “paperbacks of a hardcover” DC has left to release at a great delay before both formats begin to come out on the same day later this year. I really enjoyed this arc of Nightwing, which felt like one of the early peaks of the Tom Taylor’s ongoing plot.

Secret Six by Gail Simone Omnibus Vol. 1
(2024 oversize hardcover, ISBN 978-1779525956)
After many years out of print, Gail Simon’s run on this unlikely team of heroes gets the omnibus treatment! This volume collects Villains United (2005) #1-6, Villains United: Infinite Crisis Special (2006) #1, Birds of Prey (1999) #104-109, Secret Six (2006) #1-6, Secret Six (2008) #1-16, and stories from 52 (2006) #28 and Countdown [to Final Crisis [2007] #22.

There are still another 20 issues left to collect of this run, plus a crossover with Action Comics (1938) #897, Doom Patrol (2009) #19, and the Blackest Night revival issue of Suicide Squad #67. That’s pretty slim for an omnibus, so I suspect we’ll also get the complete Secret Six (2014) #1-14, also by Simone.

Read on for a summary of all of the DC Comics June 12 2024 single issues. [Read more…] about New Comics & Collected Editions Releases: DC Comics – June 12 2024

Announcing The Top 60 Most-Wanted DC Omnibuses of 2024!

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The results are in! Join me LIVE at 2:30 PM US ET with Omar of Near Mint Condition and the legendary, Jess the Omnidog, Lars of Mad Norwegian Press, and the elusive Tigereyes as we reveal the Top 60 most-wanted DC Omnibuses based on more than 1,800 votes on the Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus 1st Annual Poll!

Watch us announce the results of the Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus 1st Annual Poll on YouTube!

For more background on the poll and details on every one of the nearly 600 options, visit my Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus 1st Annual Poll page.

New Comics & Collected Editions Releases: DC Comics – June 5 2024

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It’s the 23rd new comic book day of the new year! This post covers DC Comics June 5 2024 releases, which actually hit comic stores on Tuesday June 4 2024. Missed last week’s releases? Check out last week’s post covering DC Comics May 29 2024 new releases.

(DC is still releasing their comics on Tuesday until the start of July, but I think most folks think of Wednesday as release day, so that’s how I’m labelling my posts until then.)

This week in DC Comics: DC debuts Compact Comics for Batman & Watchmen, Dawn of DC collections for Hal Jordan & Shazam, climaxes for Zdarsky Batman & GWW Ivy, a My Adventures with Superman cartoon comic and more!

This list includes every comic and digital comic out from DC this week, plus collected editions including omnibus, hardcover, paperback, and digest-sized formats. I recap and review every new single issue. Plus, for every new release, I’ll point you to the right guide within my Crushing Comics Guide to DC Comics to find out how to collect each character in full – and, if a guide is linked from this post, that means it is updated through the present day!

DC Comics June 5 2024 Collected EditionsBatman: The Court of Owls Saga - DC Compact Comics Edition, a DC Comics June 5 2024 new release

Barda
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1779511133 / digital)
A new out-of-continuity Big Barda graphic novel exploring her origins and relationship to Scott Free from author/illustrator. Ngozi Ukazu.

Batman: The Court of Owls Saga – DC Compact Comics Edition
(2024 smaller-than-digest-size paperback, ISBN 978-1779527271 / digital)
See Guide to Batman. DC’s new Compact Comics are upon us! These are chunky paperbacks that collect 10+ issues of massive hit runs for just $10 in a format that is slightly smaller than “digest” size. It’s a bane for old eyeballs like mine, but a perfect format for newer fans and manga readers! This book collects the first 11 issues of Scott Snyder’s New 52 Batman run, possibly the single best Batman book to hand to someone curious about the character’s in-continuity adventures.

Green Lantern Vol. 1: Back In Action
See Guide to Green Lantern – Hal Jordan. I disliked this opening Hal Jordan arc from Jeremy Adams, Xermánico, Romulo Fajardo Jr., & Dave Sharpe, but not for any deficiency in their craftsmanship. I didn’t like it because it gets Hal Jordan so right, and Hal is my least favorite main character in all of Big Two comics! In fact, you could almost say I loved to hate it, because the level of craft was pretty damned great on every issue.

Adams leans in to writing a Hal Jordan as a man without a ring and with no redeeming qualities other than his willpower. Quarantined to Earth and with no powers or influence left to his name, Hal leans heavily into his privilege to get exactly what he wants – from demanding a job flying test planes to forcing himself into moments alone with Carol Ferris.

Along the way, we really do see how Hal’s willpower makes him one of the most formidable Lanterns. There are moments of this where I feel like we’re on the knife’s edge between Hal Jordan being a “nice guy” who always gets what he wants versus him turning into a full on villain and sexual predator.

For me, that clearly echos his previous downfall as Parallax, which in a way brings this around from being hate-worth back to being intriguing. Is Adams playing these beats deliberately to try to show us how Hal’s willfulness brings him right to the edge of villainy? Or, is Adams writing Hal totally straight, thinking we would all root for him to get everything he wants?

Either way, I think if you are fascinated by Hal Jordan and want to see him tackling a new set of challenges, this book could work for you. And, beneath that, there is a tickle of mystery about why Hal is ringless on Earth and what the Green Lantern Corps are like under new management. Despite my hatred, I’m still reading every month! [Read more…] about New Comics & Collected Editions Releases: DC Comics – June 5 2024

New Comics & Collected Editions Releases: DC Comics – May 29 2024

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It’s the 22nd new comic book day of the new year! This post covers DC Comics May 29 2024 releases, which actually hit comic stores on Tuesday May 28 2024. Missed last week’s releases? Check out last week’s post covering DC Comics May 22 2024 new releases.

(DC is still releasing their comics on Tuesday until the start of July, but I think most folks think of Wednesday as release day, so that’s how I’m labelling my posts until then.)

This week in DC Comics: The Knight and Danger street collected, DC Pride, Brave Nightwing & Bold Deadman, Ram V’s Detective Comics crescendo, Spurrier’s deeply weird Flash, Power Girl and Crush, Green Arrow’s archer-off, and more!

This list includes every comic and digital comic out from DC this week, plus collected editions including omnibus, hardcover, paperback, and digest-sized formats. I recap and review every new single issue. Plus, for every new release, I’ll point you to the right guide within my Crushing Comics Guide to DC Comics to find out how to collect each character in full – and, if a guide is linked from this post, that means it is updated through the present day!

DC Comics May 29 2024 Collected EditionsDanger Street (2022) Vol. 2, a DC Comics May 29 2024 new release

Batman: The Knight
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1779525079 / digital)
See Guide to Batman (Post-Crisis, 1987 – Present). This collects all 10 issues of Chip Zdarsky’s “Year One” style of prelude story that set up many of themes of his ongoing run on the Batman flagship title.

Danger Street Vol. 2
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1779524959 / digital)
This is the first I’m hearing of this Black Label prestige book from Tom King, Jorge Fornés, Dave Stewart, and Clayton Cowles, which exists out of continuity and focuses on the journeys of several unlikely characters towards joining the Justice League.

Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths
(2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1779525185 / digital)
The paperback collection of DC’s 2022 mega-event, Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths. Much of the Dawn of DC status quo emerges from this event, although you don’t need to read it to understand what is currently happening in the DC Universe. This paperback professes to collect only issued #1-7, but a previous hardcover also included issue #0 and Justice League (2018) #75.

DC Pride: Better Together [AKA “Brave and Bold”]
(2024 hardcover, ISBN 978-1779525062 / digital)
This hardcover collects Collects the DC Pride (2023) #1 Pride month special along with exclusively collecting the Alan Scott story from DC Pride: Through the Years (2023) #1 – which was mostly reprints. It also add the first appearance of of Circuit Breaker from In Lazarus Planet: Dark Fate (2023) #1, which has been collected elsewhere).

Read on for a summary of all of the DC Comics May 29 2024 single issues. [Read more…] about New Comics & Collected Editions Releases: DC Comics – May 29 2024