This Week in DC Comics: Absolute Edition (Oct 16–23, 2026)
Next Wednesday is a big one for DC: Absolute Batman 25, the Bad Seeds finale and the debut of Absolute Cheetah all land October 28. On top of that, DC named 2027 the Year of Wonder, unveiled a grim new Green Lantern Elseworlds, and finished rolling out its New York Comic Con news. Here is everything that mattered this week, newest first: the date on each story is when it broke, or for next week's books, the day they hit shelves. Where we carry a book, the link is right there.
1. Absolute Batman 25 lands October 28
Oct 28 · On sale next week
Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta's Absolute Batman 25 is a 40-page anniversary issue, out Wednesday, October 28, with a J. Scott Campbell cover among a big variant lineup. It is also the last Snyder and Dragotta issue for a while. November brings the Absolute Batman: Beyond Ark M special, nothing ships in December, a special issue 26 focused on Barbara Gordon arrives in January, and the regular team returns with issue 27 in February.
Why it matters: this is the best-selling book in comics hitting a milestone right before a break. If you only grab one DC book this month, this is it.
👉 Preorder Absolute Batman 25 at LeapsLair, every cover including the Bryan Hitch connecting variant.
2. Batman: Bad Seeds ends with Sunrise 1
Oct 28 · On sale next week
The ten-week Gotham crossover wraps up October 28 in Batman: Bad Seeds – Sunrise 1, an oversized one-shot from Matt Fraction, G. Willow Wilson, Giuseppe Camuncoli and Cliff Rathburn. At sunset, Poison Ivy turned Gotham into a prehistoric jungle. If nobody stops her before dawn, the change is permanent. The same day, Greg Rucka starts the two-issue Batman: Bad Seeds – Gotham General.
Why it matters: Bad Seeds has run through Batman, Detective, Catwoman, Batwoman and more since August. Sunrise is where it all pays off.
👉 Preorder Bad Seeds: Sunrise 1 and Bad Seeds: Gotham General 1 at LeapsLair.
3. Absolute Cheetah arrives in Absolute Wonder Woman 25
Oct 28 · On sale next week
Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman's oversized Absolute Wonder Woman 25, also out October 28, wraps up the "Heretic" arc. Diana's search for Barbara Minerva ends, and the issue introduces Absolute Cheetah, a towering, body-horror take on the classic villain.
Why it matters: the first appearance of a major villain's Absolute version is exactly the kind of issue collectors chase.
👉 Preorder Absolute Wonder Woman 25 at LeapsLair.
4. Superman's Wedding Album turns 30
Oct 28 · On sale next week
Superman: The Wedding Album 30th Anniversary Special 1 brings back Dan Jurgens, Louise Simonson and Karl Kesel, joined by Rainbow Rowell, with art by Jurgens, Jerry Ordway, Cian Tormey, Jon Bogdanove and Tom Grummett. Jon Kent plans his parents' anniversary party, and Mister Mxyzptlk wants to help. Covers include a Jurgens and Ordway wraparound plus Artgerm, Terry Dodson and Joshua Middleton. Justice League: The Dark Realm Special 1 lands the same day.
Why it matters: the original 1996 creators back together for Clark and Lois is a love letter to longtime Superman readers.
👉 Preorder the Wedding Album 30th Anniversary Special and Justice League: The Dark Realm Special at LeapsLair.
5. 2027 is the Year of Wonder
Oct 21
DC announced that 2027 is the Year of Wonder, celebrating Diana's 1941 debut. Louise Simonson, writing the main Wonder Woman series for the first time, teams with Cian Tormey for a four-issue arc starting with Wonder Woman 41 on January 20. Diana fights to overturn the Amazon Safety Act, which keeps her sisters out of Man's World, with Lois Lane, Granny Goodness and the Female Furies in the story. Stephanie Williams and Elena Casagrande follow with a six-issue arc running through October 2027. Issue 41 has variants from Daniel Sampere, Walter Simonson and Tormey, plus a David Nakayama foil.
Why it matters: a full year of Wonder Woman celebrations means more launches and specials to come, and Simonson on the main book is a legend finally getting her turn.
6. New this week: Absolute Green Arrow 6 unmasks the killer
Oct 21 · On sale now
October 21 brought Absolute Green Arrow 6, where Pornsak Pichetshote and Rafael Albuquerque finally reveal the Green Arrow Killer, with Black Canary, Solomon Grundy and Hector Hammond all in the mix. Also out: Absolute Flash 20, with Wally West meeting the Absolute Atom, plus Action Comics 1103, Detective Comics 1114, Catwoman 92, Batwoman 8, Nightwing 143, Titans 40, Deathstroke the Terminator 8 and Dark Knights of Steel II 4.
Why it matters: Absolute Green Arrow's mystery has been one of the best reads in the line, and this issue sets up the newly extended run.
👉 Absolute Green Arrow 6 variants by Gerald Parel, Inhyuk Lee and the 1:25 Nimit Malavia are in stock, along with the Batman 14 Dan Quintana Halloween glow-in-the-dark variant.
7. Green Lantern: Doomed Cosmos
Oct 19
Dan Watters and Kyle Hotz launch Green Lantern: Doomed Cosmos, a six-issue Elseworlds, on January 20. In this universe humanity has conquered the galaxy as the Empire of Humanity, and the Green Lantern Corps is the only force fighting back. Hal Jordan, a soldier betrayed by Oliver Queen and left for dead, is the Corps' only human. Variants come from Björn Barends, Steve Beach and Ashley Wood, with a Barends foil.
Why it matters: Hotz's horror-tinged art on a beat-up, underdog Corps is unlike any Green Lantern book on the stands right now.
8. The New Gods join the All In Saga
Oct 19
DC All In Saga: The New Gods 1 is a 48-page one-shot from Ram V, Alex Paknadel and Joan Urgell, out January 13. Scott Free is now Highfather. With New Genesis occupied, the surviving New Gods take refuge on Earth, just as Fourth World technology starts being traded illegally. Variants come from Dustin Nguyen, Kyuyong Eom, Jason Shawn Alexander and Javi Fernández. First up, DC All In Saga: Darkseid vs. the World 1 (Scott Snyder, Joshua Williamson, Sanford Greene and Yasmine Putri) digs into Darkseid's past, present and future on October 28.
Why it matters: Ram V's New Gods series set up this status quo, and these one-shots tie the Fourth World into the saga that created the Absolute Universe.
👉 Our Darkseid vs. the World preorders sold through, but every new launch lands in New #1s & One-Shots first.
9. Absolute Justice assembles in April
Oct 16 · NYCC
At New York Comic Con, DC announced Absolute Justice, a five-issue series from Absolute Superman's Jason Aaron and Juan Ferreyra, launching April 2027. The Absolute Martian Manhunter pulls Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash and Green Lantern Jo Mullein together for a case, the first time the Absolute heroes work as a full team. There are no tie-ins, so the ongoing Absolute books keep their own stories.
Why it matters: it is the Absolute Universe's first team-up event, and number ones from this line have been the hottest books of the last two years.
10. Green Lantern: Dying of the Light
Oct 16 · NYCC
Jason Aaron and Tirso's Black Label series Green Lantern: Dying of the Light is set twenty years in the future. Hal Jordan sits in an intergalactic prison until he gets a depowered ring with limited construct abilities. It is a five-issue series slated for March.
Why it matters: Aaron has two big DC books coming in 2027, and this one is the Hal Jordan story with no rules.
11. More from New York Comic Con: Starfire, Superboy-Prime and Swamp Thing
Oct 16 · NYCC
DC's Next Level panel added a Starfire solo series from Alyssa Wong and Belén Ortega for early 2027, pitched as "Red Sonja meets One Piece," with Kory returning to a besieged Tamaran and Blackfire front and center. Joshua Williamson and Dan Mora are doing a Superboy-Prime Special that gives Prime a redemption story and sends him home. Steve Foxe and Riccardo Federici's The Swamp Thing: Hallowed Ground was teased with early art, with more details next year. DC and Legendary also announced Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong 3 from Brian Buccellato and Christian Duce, starring the Crime Syndicate and a new giant bat kaiju.
Why it matters: a Dan Mora one-shot and a Starfire number one are both books that tend to move fast on release day.
12. Joker/Harley: Malicious Intent
Oct 16 · NYCC
Kami Garcia returns with Joker/Harley: Malicious Intent, a sequel to Criminal Sanity that also reads on its own, with art by Mico Suayan, Cat Staggs and Jason Badower. Harley Quinn is a criminal profiler again, Black Canary and Selina Kyle join the story, and there are black-and-white flashbacks.
Why it matters: Criminal Sanity was one of Black Label's most talked-about books, and you can jump in fresh.
13. DC Black Label Presents and the return of 100 Bullets
Oct 16 · NYCC
DC Black Label Presents is a new anthology of artist-driven 48-page one-shots launching in summer 2027. The first three are Zatanna by Terry and Rachel Dodson, Poison Ivy by Amy Reeder, and a Jack Kirby tribute O.M.A.C. by Denys Cowan and Ho Che Anderson. Over at Vertigo, Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso are back with 100 Bullets: Enemigos, a seven-issue series following the original's survivors. Vertigo also previewed Adam Smith and Bob Quinn's supernatural noir Hide Nor Hair.
Why it matters: Azzarello and Risso on 100 Bullets again is a big deal for anyone who read the original run.
Preorder this week's books
Everything above that is open for preorder is in our preorders collection, and every new series launch lands in New #1s & One-Shots. Exclusive covers you will only find here are on the LeapsLair Exclusives wall.
Follow @leapslair for the daily drops. Marvel news lands here every Thursday, DC on Friday, and indie comics on Saturday.
Sources: DC.com (New York Comic Con roundup, Green Lantern: Doomed Cosmos, DC All In Saga: The New Gods, release listings); AIPT (Year of Wonder, NYCC Next Level panel); ICv2 (Absolute Batman schedule); The Beat (NYCC Black Label and Absolute Justice coverage); Comic Watch; ComixNOW; SuperHeroHype. Cover and promotional images are the property of DC and are used for news coverage.
