Marvel Comics Is Finally Stealing One of DC’s Best Ideas

One of the biggest success stories in comics in recent years has been DC’s Compact Comics line. First revealed in 2023, the line collects fan-favorite comic runs into paperbacks that are smaller and cheaper than traditional trade paperbacks. Marvel has spent years trying to catch up to DC’s genius idea. Now, Marvel may finally have done it.

The official Marvel Comics X account has announced new collected editions for the first year of Jonathan Hickman’s Ultimate universe. Each paperback will collect the first 12 issues of Ultimate Spider-Man, Ultimate Black Panther, Ultimate X-Men, and Ultimates. That is not incredibly noteworthy, as these series already have trade paperbacks available. The new format these editions use, however, is noteworthy.

In the announcement for the year one paperbacks, Marvel brands them as being published in the “compact comic” format. The cost of each individual volume will be $9.99, bringing it in line with the price of the DC Compact Comics line. While dimensions are not given for the new editions yet, it would not be surprising to learn that they are the same digest size as DC’s line. This means that Marvel is finally offering something of equal value to its readers, even if it means the company just had to more closely follow DC’s approach.

Marvel has tried to launch its own response to the Compact Comics line before. In 2024, the Marvel Premier Collection was revealed. While the idea is similar, these collected editions are slightly larger than DC’s line and cost $14.99 per volume. A major complaint for readers has also been the horrible covers, which include large Premier Collection branding that lacks the elegance of the Compact Comics design. Even with these drawbacks, Marvel has seen success with the line.

Several previously announced Premier Collection editions are still scheduled for release through the end of 2026 and into 2027. The announcement of these new Ultimate universe collections does raise questions about the future of both formats at Marvel. The Compact Comics line has become so ubiquitous that Marvel may need to accept that leaning into that branding is the best option going forward. The Marvel compact comics editions will release in April and June 2027.