DC Compact Comics is a line of full-color paperbacks from

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

. 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". 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 ''Watchmen'' is a comic book Limited series (comics), limited series by the British creative team of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colorist John Higgins (comics), John Higgins. It was published monthly by DC Comics in 1986 and 19 ...

'', ''

All-Star Superman ''All-Star Superman'' is a twelve-issue American comic book series featuring Superman that was published by DC Comics. The series ran from November 2005 to October 2008 (on sale date). The series was written by Grant Morrison, drawn by Frank Qu ...

'', '' 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. One of those 15, ''Death'', a spin-off from the ''

Sandman The Sandman is a mythical character originating in Germanic and Scandinavian folklore who puts people to sleep and encourages and inspires beautiful dreams by sprinkling magical sand onto their eyes. Representation in traditional folklore The San ...

'' series, was cancelled following sexual assault allegations against writer,

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman (; born Neil Richard Gaiman; 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, audio theatre, and screenplays. His works include the comic series ''The Sandman (comic book), The Sandma ...

. 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 Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

, thriller, horror,

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

, and

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' *Mystery, a seahorse that SpongeBob SquarePants adopts in the episode " My Pre ...

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". Gordon Jackson at Gizmodo noted that "DC's Compact Comics Line Is the Smartest Thing It's Done in Years". In ''Comicsbeat'', Joe Grunenwald stressed that "the size, price and content are all suitable for mass market".

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. By February 2025, up to eight months after release, all four books remained in the monthly top-ten graphic novel chart.

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 Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

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".

List of volumes

American Vampire

The Authority

Batman

Batwoman

Catwoman

DCeased

Harley Quinn

Joker

Static

Supergirl

Superman

Superman/Batman

Wonder Woman

Y: The Last Man

Miniseries

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

Upcoming releases

Cancelled

References

{{DC Comics DC Comics lines