Next week is the 11th new comic book day of 2025! This post covers DC Comics March 12 2025 new releases. Missed this week’s releases? Check out last week’s post covering DC Comics March 5 2025 new releases.
This week in DC Comics: Absolute destruction of Krypton, Finest Suicide Squad, Arrow in Omnibus, Black Lightning’s last strike, a new case full of Dark Patterns, and more!
The Krisis Pick of the Week: This is too hard… there are two books that have been embedded in my Top 10 out this week! But, after a long deliberation, I think I have to pick Batman: Dark Patterns (2024) #4 over Absolute Superman (2024) #5. Dark Patterns just wrapped up a very satisfying first arc in three issues, whereas Absolute Superman is alternating a main story with origin issues – a publishing strategy I’m not wild about, even if all of the content is absolutely stellar.
This post includes every comic out from DC Comics March 12 2025, plus collected editions in omnibus, hardcover, paperback, and digest-sized formats.
This isn’t the typical comic releases post you can find on other sites. Why? I explain each collection and review every in-continuity series with a new issue out this week. Plus, for most new releases, I’ll point you to a personally-curated guide within the Crushing Comics Guide to DC Comics to find out how to collect that title in full!
There’s no other website on the internet that can claim that.
And now, onto DC Comics March 12 2025 new releases!
DC Comics March 12 2025 Collected Editions
DC Finest: Suicide Squad [Vol. 2] – Trial by Fire TP
(2025 paperback, ISBN 978-1799500759)
See Guide to Suicide Squad. This collects not only the kickoff of John Ostrander’s revered 1987 run, but also the complete Legends (1986) event series that launched the Squad!
The only two downsides two picking up this excellent book are (1) there’s an omnibus collecting all of this material and more out in two months and (2) there’s already a complete series of paperbacks of this run with very similar contents, and there’s no telling if the DC Finest line will survive long enough to cover all of it.
But, with that said: If you love a good late-80s team read that stands up to the quality of Claremont’s X-Men, it’s hard to do better than Ostrander’s Suicide Squad!
Deadman Omnibus
(2025 oversize hardcover, ISBN )
See Guide to Deadman (eventually). This is a straight reprint of the existing 2020 omnibus collecting just about every possible Deadman story from 1967 to 1987, many of which are from Gerry Conway and/or Neal Adams.
Detective Comics Vol. 5: Gotham Nocturne – Act III
(2025 hardcover, ISBN 978-1799500698 / 2025 paperback, ISBN 978-1799500728 / digital)
See Guide to Detective Comics. This is the grand finale of Ram V’s multi-volume mega-arc on Detective Comics. You absolutely can not just jump in here! This is all major resolutions to ongoing conflicts from throughout his run.
Personally, I thought this run really lost its main thread of plot during Act II and got stuck in a bunch of repetitive hallucinations that really sapped the life from what was an amazing setup. I think this final act did get some of its energy book, so if you enjoyed the beginning of Ram V’s run but petered out over time it could be worth powering through.
Gotham City Sirens: Trigger Happy
(2025 hardcover, ISBN 978-1799505730 / 2025 paperback, ISBN 978-1799500704 / digital)
See Guide to Harley Quinn or Guide to Catwoman. An “intermission” during the Absolute Power event for Harley, Ivy, and Catwoman written by Leah Williams.
Green Arrow: Archer’s Quest Omnibus Vol. 1
(2025 oversize hardcover, ISBN 978-1799500681)
See Guide to Green Arrow. This is one of those rare dream omnibus mappings that presses a lot farther than it seemed like DC would ever go!
Not only does this pick up the often-reprinted Kevin Smith kickoff of this 2001 series from #1-15 and the similarly-reprinted Brad Meltzer run from #16-21, but it pushes way beyond that to collect some transitional issues from Scott Beatty and Ben Raab, and then a significant hunk of the Judd Winick run that follows beginning with issue #26!
When I mapped this last year for the Tigereyes DC Omnibus Poll, I (and our collaborators) assumed DC would cut this off at issue #25. DC has shown no hesitations about releasing slimmer omnibuses if they can keep volumes creator-centric, so I assumed they would try to hold off to make the next volume an all-Winnick book.
This mapping makes it much simpler to cover the remainder of Winick’s run from Green Arrow (2021) #40-75, Connor Hawke: Dragon’s Blood (2006) #1-6, Green Arrow / Black Canary (2007 ) #1-29, and Green Arrow (2010) #30-32 (plus a number of one-shots and crossovers) into a pair of reasonably-sized omnibuses. Before this book was announced, fitting in those 14 additional issues was starting to push the limits!
Green Arrow Vol. 3: Against the Wall
(2025 paperback, ISBN 978-1799500766 / digital)
See Guide to Green Arrow. This completes Joshua Williamson’s year of steering Green Arrow (2023).
I really loved this series, but this volume is all about tying up plot threads from Absolute Power (2024) and leaving the various Arrow family members in a place other writers can pick them up from. Even if you’ve been reading Arrow all along, I really don’t think this makes any sense without also reading Absolute Power (2024). In fact, it might be the most essential tie-in series to the event?
My Adventures with Superman
(2025 paperback, ISBN 978-1799500711 / digital)
See Guide to DC Elseworlds & Alternate Earths. This six-issue limited series continues directly from the finale of Season One of the much-loved cartoon of the same name.
I haven’t watched the cartoon, so this wasn’t really on my radar – but then I saw that it was written by Josie Campbell who just wrapped up a mega-delightful run on Shazam (2023)! I don’t know if that’s enough to get me to go back for this, but if you enjoyed the cartoon I think her name on it is a pretty strong recommendation to check it out.
Superman ’78
(2025 paperback, ISBN 978-1799503873 / digital)
See Guide to DC Elseworlds & Alternate Earths. This collects the entire original Robert Venditti series extending the Richard Donner Superman film continuity. I fee like this got a lot less attention than Batman ’89 (which is fair – that had the original screenwriter), but Venditti is a killer creator and the temptation of more of Christopher Reeves’ wholesome Superman in our lives is a strong one.
Read on for a summary of all of the DC Comics March 5 2025 single issue releases!
DC Comics March 12 2025 Physical Comic Releases
Absolute Superman (2024) #5 (digital) – See Guide to DC Absolute Universe. Every new issue of this Jason Aaron hopecore title makes my heart flutter in anticipation.
Last month we got to spent a lot of time with Lois Lane to understand how she is completely the same while being totally different in the Absolute Universe. This month we’re back to the final part of Kal-El’s corrupted origin with a version of Krypton that met its doom much later in this Darkseid-driven universe.
While I’d typically complain that we’re not focusing on our title character enough in the present day, I like the idea of Absolute Superman as an supernatural presence who is here one moment and gone the next. It’s the sort of writing that’s usually reserved for Batman… establishing him as a sort of mythological figure who grew from the nadir of his origin. That approach plays very differently when applied to the big blue boy scout (who is definitely more feral in this version of the world where he never had the Kents)… and I love it.
I am at 100% hype for the completion of Superman’s origin from Aaron with Rafa Sandoval & Ulises Arreola, who are turning in pages that make me stop and gawk, plus some outstanding lettering from Becca Carey.
Action Comics (1938 / 2016) #1084 (digital) – See Guide to Action Comics (1938 / 2016). This is thankfully the final issue of a mini “Superstars” arc from John Ridley that has been anything but super.
Ridley is writing a completely inert story that suggests having something to say about the carceral state and why villains feel like the have to be villains. That sounds like a big idea, but it feels very small and underdeveloped here. His version of Clark being a journalist is actually Clark being a detective. It’s a fine line, but the difference is that there’s no story here, just reveals of things we had no chance to intuit as readers. There’s no difference between his voice and Bruce’s in their flashback scene – it’s like they’re a single greek chorus.
Meanwhile, Inaki Miranda is drawing Superman in a clumsy way that only seems to work in talking-heads scenes (of which Ridley is happy to deliver plenty).
I’m eager to get this final issue over with and move on to the next Superstars arc from G. Willow Wilson – who rarely misses!
Aquaman (2025) #3 (digital) – See Guide to Aquaman. I was rough on the debut issue of this new Jeremy Adams run for playing the not-so-greatest hits of several recent Aquaman runs, but issue #2 definitely got its hooks in me.
It was… kinda great? Perhaps it didn’t feel quintessentially Aquaman, but it was a fun and potentially deadly one-shot adventure that made good use of Aquaman as a solo character out of his literal and figurative element. John Timms drew the hell out of a weird mirror world made of mud, and seeing Aquaman lean into the idea that Mera’s power has an amount of control over all moisture was fun.
Ultimately, I want this to feel more specific to Aquaman as a character as the run progresses. Right now I feel like there are a lot of heroes who would react similarly if they were wielding Mera’s aquakinesis powers. I’d like to see a little bit more of Arthur’s stubborn but resourceful personality shine through. He’s not King Arthur here, so I want to see more of who he is when he’s not the king.
Batman and Robin (2023) #19 (digital) – See Guide to Robin(s). After reading issue #18, I humbly submit that the PTSD-focused Bat-Book that Phillip K. Johnson should actually be writing is Red Hood.
Why? Because his Damian continues to be wildly out of character – and not just in one way, but with swings from petulant to overly emotional. Sure, the kid is in puberty, but I don’t think we’re supposed to chalk it all up to hormones. Worse, this Batman felt off to me too – and you have to try pretty hard to mess up the taciturn batman.
But… the art was great, as was every word out of Red Hood’s mouth. PKJ conjured up a monologue for Jason about how every Bat-Kid eventually hits that moment where things get too real for them. For a character who is usually written flatly as the BAD BOY of the Bat-Family, it was a real treat to hear Jason written with actual depth.
Wish I could say the same for the title characters! I much prefer the version of Batman and Robin in Tom Taylor’s Detective Comics run right now, which would be perfect for this book… and the next book could have easily taken over the Detective Comics run for a year!
Alas, without playing some musical chairs with titles, creators, and concepts, it feels like this might continue limping along for a while with PKJ making a mess of Damian’s characterization.
Batman: Dark Patterns (2024) #4 (of 12) (digital) – See Guide to Batman (1986 – Present). After an efficient and creepy 3-issue opening arc we’re onto a second case in what is unquestionably the best Bat-Book on the stands right now, from Dan Watters, Hayden Sherman, Tríona Farrell, & Frank Cvetkovic.
This is a terrific example of an entire creative team clicking all at once to elevate a book beyond the sum of its parts. The first arc wasn’t really all that thrilling if reduced to a log line: a medieval-style wound man seems to be punishing people involved in an obscure lawsuit, but why? Yet, Watters’s terse script with subtle pops of humor, Sherman’s intricate page layouts with gothic details, Farrell’s muted colors, and Cvetkovic smart lettering turned into a gripping suspense story with a tinge of horror.
Also? I appreciate that Watters had Batman be ever-so-slightly vindictive in meting out his justice last issue. This is somewhere in the Year 1.5 zone prior to Robin’s arrival, and it makes sense to me that this is a slightly more unforgiving version of Batman with a shorter temper.
There’s a reason this has stayed embedded deep in my Top 10 every week of this year so far, and I doubt it’s going anywhere. Having already delivered one of the best Batman stories I’ve read in years, now we press on to a new case! I can’t wait to see what this creative team has in store.
Black Lightning (2024) #5 (of 5) (digital) – See Guide to Justice League (for now). It’s a big finale for a series that feels like it never got off of the launch pad.
Brandon Thomas’s Black Lightning gave us some time with Lightning & Thunder, but has done very little with the title character of Black Lightning himself. The entire series has been about Thunder feeling bad about her powers being slightly out of control. Also, there was a break-in or something… honestly, the plot has been wobbly right from the start.
I’m intuiting this is going to roll into something related to The Power Company after their special last month and ticklers of them here. That’s all well and good, but I can’t help but be bummed by such an unremarkable series for a character I enjoy so much. I think Brandon Thomas has definitely got a spark to his writing, but lightning certainly didn’t strike on this one. (Sorry, I had to.)
DC vs. Vampires: World War V (2024) #7 (digital) – See Guide to DC Elseworlds & Alternate Earths. Matt Rosenberg’s vampire planet tale presses onward to a new arc featuring… Darkseid?!
Green Lantern Corps (2025) #2 (digital) – See Guide to Green Lantern Corps. Issue one of this Jeremy Adams Lantern spinoff with co-writer was a fine one-shot story of the Corps wrangling folks who have access to the new unchecked fractal spectrum of emotions.
And, of course, art from Fernando Pasarin was spectacular – he’s a must-see interiors artist for me and literally my favorite all-time Corps artist! Altogether, it was a decent one-shot story that didn’t feel decompressed at all, which is what I want from a new #1.
If I have a concern, it’s that it feels like this book is doing the exact same thing that Adams’ flagship Lantern title is doing – hunting for new folks on the emotional spectrum. While I’m all for showing off more of the extended cast of the Corps, right now I don’t see a good reason why this couldn’t be a single title double-shipping rather than two books doing the same exact thing as each other.
I’m not going to allow that extracurricular concern interfere for my excitement for more Corps comics drawn by Pasarin, but for the health of the line I hope the mission statements of these two books begin to diverge more over time.
That’s for DC Comics March 12 2025 new releases! What were you already pulling? And, did I convince you to check out anything new? Sound off in the comments below.
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