TOP50 Best-Selling Single Issues in October 2025

(Commentary by Walt)

Welcome to the October '25 sales numbers for single issues! These sales are counted up to the 10th of November, which is when most (!) pull-listers have payed their monthly invoice, which means reservations officially turn into sales etc.

If you’re seeing this chart for the first time: all covers are consolidated into one publication, which is a tedious, but also helpful work, since we're fighting with so many versions of the same book that it's easy to lose track.

At this point I could basically copy-paste my comments from the past months… It’s a recurring theme and it goes a little something like this: Either it’s “Absolute” or it’s “Batman” and if both of them turn up in one title it’s just KILLING everything else. 

I did some funky math (because I am a numbers nerd, which, in my eyes, is a good thing to be as a retailer!):

The amount of sales of Absolute Batman alone, of course including all issue numbers, Annual, multiple printings etc, would classify it as the THIRD biggest publisher, right behind IMAGE. That’s when it's counting the sales. 

When counting the dollar volume, it easily surpasses Image. Or to put it differently: Absolute Batman alone sells more than everything IDW, Dynamite, Boom, Titan Comics, Dark Horse and Oni Press publishes in one month. And decisively so. 

OK, I don’t think I can find any more spectacular comparisons. It’s just pure madness. And the numbers are still climbing every month, and whatever crazy amount of books we’re ordering, we’re constantly selling out (though later than other stores, so yeah, Absolute Batman was also if not mainly responsible for growing our customer reach in the past year.)

But now main-universe-Batman is hot on its heels! Already challenging the number #1 spot for subscriptions, and while it might spread out over multiple months, I am curious to see the year-end chart and am pretty sure the first few issues will land in the TOP10 best of the year. 

Let’s see what November brings: due to shipping problems, this month’s biggest DC books (inc Batman vs Deadpool and Absolute Bats #14) will probably arrive early December, so this could be a chance for other publishers to shine…