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 5.5" x 8.5" (digest size), they are smaller than the traditional 6.6" x 10.2" 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 its 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 June 2025, up to a year after release, only Watchmen had dropped out of the monthly top-ten graphic novel chart.[8]

Meanwhile, new releases continued to launch near the top of the chart. In May 2025, Kingdom Come debuted at number two. A month later, DCeased went into the chart at two, with Superman: Birthright in five.[9][8] Superman-Batman Vol. 1 was the biggest seller of July 2025, which coincided with the release of DC Studios' Superman movie. Six of the top-ten best-selling graphic novels were Compact Comics.[10]

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".[11]

Later the same year, two more companies indicated they would be launching similar lines of digest-sized comics. First, Vault Comics launched their Vantage line, which are the same print size as Compact Comics.[12] The first three will be released in December 2025, but Vault has confirmed that more will be released in a second wave.[13]

Next, IDW Comics

List of volumes

Upcoming releases

Cancelled

See also

• DC Finest
• DC Omnibus
• DC Compendium
• Marvel Premier Collection
• Marvel Omnibus
• Marvel Epic Collection
• Marvel Complete Collections