Absolute Batman #22: The Harley Quinn Origin Issue That Topped the Charts
Share
Absolute Batman #22 is the best-selling comic book in North America for July 2026 — ranking #1 on the ICv2/ComicHub Top 50 Comics chart by both units and dollars, ahead of every other release that month from Marvel, DC, and Image. It's the latest chart-topper in a series that's been breaking its own sales records since its first issue.
A series that keeps climbing
Absolute Batman #1 was the best-selling comic of 2024. Since then, orders have climbed steadily with nearly every major arc: past 200,000 copies by issue #14, close to 300,000 by #15, and past 500,000 copies for issue #20, according to figures writer Scott Snyder shared directly. Issue #22 continues that trajectory, landing at the top of the national sales charts by a clear margin.
What happens in issue #22
Issue #22 finally reveals the Absolute Universe's version of Harley Quinn's origin. As the Robins nest in Gotham's backyard and Batman faces a serious defeat, the issue answers how Harley connects to Ark M and how the Robins went from hatchlings to full birds of prey — a key turn in Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta's reinvention of Batman for DC's Absolute Universe.
Why the sales keep climbing
Absolute Batman rebuilt Bruce Wayne from the ground up: no fortune, no mansion, just a 24-year-old engineer forced to fight Gotham's underworld with what he can build himself. That premise, paired with a rogues' gallery reworked into something genuinely unsettling — Joker, Scarecrow, Two-Face, Mister Freeze — has made it the flagship of DC's growing Absolute Universe line, which now also includes Absolute Superman, Absolute Wonder Woman, Absolute Catwoman, and Absolute Green Arrow.
Get the exclusive covers
We're stocking the full run of Unknown Comics exclusive covers for issue #22 — browse every Absolute Batman variant we carry, including the Stephen Segovia, Ejikure, and Creees trade dress and virgin covers, plus Tyler Kirkham's "Joker Battle Damaged" line in standard, virgin, and foil editions.
Also in stock: exclusive covers for issue #21, the direct lead-in to #22's Harley Quinn reveal. See everything confirmed on this month's national sales charts in our Best Sellers collection, or explore the wider line in our Absolute Universe collection.