DC Comics just released Crisis on Infinite Earths: Compact Comics Edition on November 4, just in time for the holidays. If you know of a comic book fan (or know someone interested in getting into comics), this $10 collection is the perfect gift for them.

Just to get it out of the way, for everyone who is asking. Yes, the Compact Edition uses the exact remaster and recoloring that was printed in Crisis on Infinite Earths: Absolute Edition (July 2026). The only difference is that the Compact is half the size (and is really cheap). You can literally buy 12 copies of Compact to one Absolute.

Every DC Comics fan already own Crisis on Infinite Earths, so most likely, you’re not going to buy this Compact Edition. Instead, this book is aiming for new readers, at the attractive $10 price point. It’s incredible value, getting about 370 pages of a reprint of Crisis #1-12, for a Hamilton. You are not going to find a better deal.

I know many, and I mean many!, comic book fans hate and poo-poo the size of the Compact Edition. I don’t know why they hate this size so much. They say it’s hard to read, but I found the new remastered artwork, with its clean and crisp colors (and great paper too), that it was completely readable. To me, it’s more readable than some old newsprint of Crisis.

Again, I know most of you guys aren’t going to buy the Compact, but it was really not meant for you. If you are new to comics and want to read a classic book, check out Crisis on Infinite Earths: Compact Comics. And best of all, your Compact is just the same as the Absolute (except much smaller). Available now for less than $10.

P.S. I was surprised to see that DC threw in a couple of bonus covers, at the end of the collection: Amazing Heroes #91 and Crisis Index #1, and Absolute (2005). In addition to the standard DC Compact house-ads, there is also a one-page house ad to promote others books by Marv Wolfman and George Perez: New Teen Titans: Judas Contract Deluxe, DC Finest: Terra in the Night, and New Titans Omnibus Volume 1. Hopefully that will inspire new readers to check out more Perez books.