Absolute DC has been on quite a tear since it began in 2024. It honestly seemed like it wouldn’t work at all. Ultimate Marvel had returned in 2023, creating a villain controlled version of the Ultimate Universe, and it sold like gangbusters. Much like the original Ultimate Universe and its success, DC tried to replicate it, even going so far as to make the Absolute Earth into a world created by a villain. Fans were optimistic, but we’d watched DC fail with this type of line before. Absolute Batman, Absolute Superman, and Absolute Wonder Woman dropped, and blew the roof off the sales charts, but more important stayed there. Since then, the Absolute books, joined by Absolute Flash, Absolute Green Lantern, Absolute Martian Manhunter, and Absolute Evil, have proven their staying power, beloved by fans and critics alike.
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The new Ultimate Universe has a year on the Absolute Universe, but I don’t think that has hurt the Absolute Universe at all. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the Absolute Universe has done a better job with its characters if you compare the two. The Ultimate books are great, but they aren’t as perfect as they once were; if we’re being real, they were never perfect to begin with. The Absolute books, however, are showing what you can do with an alternate universe line of books, and are getting better every month. The Absolute books have lapped the Ultimate books, and there are several reasons why.
The Absolute DC Universe Understands the Assignment
The Ultimate Universe of books are by no means bad; The Ultimates and Ultimate X-Men are praised for their unique takes on their characters, and Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate Black Panther, and Ultimate Wolverine all have their fans. However, there was really nothing ever cohesive about the books. There’s no real momentum, which is a probably with the whole thing coming to a head with Ultimate Endgame. We were given a ticking clock of two years, but I’ll be honest — I’ve rarely thought about that clock, because most of the books aren’t building towards it. The stories are great, but as an alternate universe line, this is just basic Marvel event-focused storytelling.
However, there have been something about the way the Absolute books are built that make it more exciting. Much of the first year has been taken up with establishing the power structures of the world, and we’re getting something very different from the main line universe, whereas the Ultimate books feel like more of the same from Marvel. It honestly seems like there’s more planning involved. The Ultimate books are cool, but it doesn’t really feel like the creators are actually talking to each other. The Absolute books are different. While the six books are all very different, it feels like the creators are working closely together to move things forward and make it all work. This is a group of creators working together (and they’ve shared the fact that they do on social media) and it feels like it.
The Absolute books are also using the idea of a universe where evil is the driving force of the universe better. The best of example of that is Absolute Evil #1. Readers had been wondering when they were going to see the Justice League in the Absolute Universe, and speculated who would be in it; they never thought it would be the villains. However, the Absolute Universe is a universe where Darkseid is the basis of everything. Of course, the villains will be the Justice League.
This is the perfect way to establish what kind of universe fans are dealing with. Evil has always won here, and the Justice League wouldn’t be this force for “good” as we see it. It would be a force for “good” as it is in the Absolute Universe. All of the Absolute books have something of this idea in them. The heroes we’re following aren’t the good guys in way we’re used to. The Absolute Universe works better than the Ultimate Universe because the creators are using the setting in the best possible way to subvert reader expectations.
DC Has Always Been Better at Alternate Universes
DC has quite a legacy when it comes to alternate universes, and that’s on display here with the Absolute Universe. DC one hundred percent copied some of the ideas of the Ultimate Universe, but it found ways to do the story better so far, using examples from its history to build a better mousetrap. There’s the feeling that the Absolute creators are working together to create something special. There’s an excitement around the Absolute books that we’re not getting anymore from the Ultimate books, and that’s helped DC ride to the top of the sales chart.
The Ultimate Universe is by no means bad, but each book feels like it’s building to something in its own pages instead of building an overall story… but we’re still getting an event book that hasn’t been built up. Meanwhile, the Absolute Universe has been building something for the whole, creating a universe that doesn’t just depend on the ideas of the main line universe. It’s using the villain controlled universe in a much better way, and it’s been a joy to behold.
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