DC has released an ad for its new Compact Comics line, a range of some of the company’s most popular titles, scaled to a portable 5.5″ x 8.5″ and going for just $9.99 each.

Just one inch taller than the average manga volume, the new line eschews the unwieldiness of traditional graphic novels, which are typically printed around the size of a paper magazine you cannot fold. Better still, these small books contain the entirety of their story arcs, instead of the multi-volume format of trade paperbacks or even the average manga series. Also unlike most manga, each volume will remain in full color, but printed on a paper stock slightly less glossy than the average $20+ graphic novel.

These are the four titles currently available, followed by the line’s upcoming slate:

  • Watchmen by Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons
  • Batman: The Court of Owls by Scott Snyder, Greg Capullo
  • All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely
  • Far Sector by N.K. Jemisin, Jamal Campbell

Coming soon:

  • Wonder Woman: Earth One by Grant Morrison, Yanick Paquette – August 6
  • Batman: Hush by Jeph Loeb, Jim Lee – August 6
  • Joker by Brian Azzarello, Lee Bermejo – September 3
  • Harley Quinn & the Gotham City Sirens by Paul Dini, Peter Calloway, Tony Bedard, Guillem March, Andres Guinaldo – September 3
  • American Vampire Book One by Scott Snyder, Stephen King, Rafael Albuquerque – October 1
  • Catwoman: Trail of the Catwoman by Darwyn Cooke, Ed Brubaker – October 1
  • Kingdom Come – by Mark Waid, Alex Ross – May 6, 2025
  • Static: Season One – May 27, 2025
  • DCeased – June 3, 2025
  • Batwoman: Elegy – June 17, 2025
  • Superman: Birthright – June 24, 2025
  • Superman/Batman: Book One – July 15, 2025
  • @AndrewZabar
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    44 months ago

    This is a really cool idea. I’d love to see Marvel and Dark Horse follow suit. I think there are quite a few I would be I retested in.

    • @[email protected]
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      34 months ago

      As a kid I actually had an X-men book that was exactly this. It was a story about Arcade trapping them in an amusement park.

      It was black and white, but I read it way more than my other comics because I didn’t want to take them anywhere and wreck them.