If there’s been a defining story to the past year in single-issue comics, it’s DC’s Absolute line. These six titles that took DC’s greatest heroes and reinvented them in often surprising ways have proven to be sales behemoths — for the most part — that have captured the imagination of readers in a way that’s rare. These aren’t just hits; they’re a moment, and one that has resulted in a mammoth uptick in enthusiasm from readers and retailers alike. More importantly to yours truly, though, I love the line, and it’s been a delight being a part of the fizzy, boundless energy that surrounds it.

Given all that heat, though, as well as the half dozen titles that comprise Absolute DC, it does make me wonder about the answer to an important question.

If all these titles are varying degrees of great, which one is the best?

That’s an impossible task. How could one even decide that? More than that, it’s a decision that would typically be left to the cruelty of subjectivity. That’s not how I work, though. When trying to define the undefinable, I do what I’ve always done: I turn to the powers of science!

That’s right, folks. Now that we’re at least four issues in on each Absolute series, it’s time to power rank the line to determine once and for all 14 which of these titles leads the pack. Is it one of the initial wave in Absolute Batman, Absolute Wonder Woman, or Absolute Superman? Or does the winner come from the trio that followed in Absolute Flash, Absolute Martian Manhunter, or Absolute Flash? Those are the questions at hand as we put in the dangerous work of power ranking this starry collection of titles.

But what scientific methods led the way for this process? Well, it was pretty simple. Five categories were created, each of which carried a maximum value of two points. To ensure I didn’t just give every title two points in every category, each was only allowed to have two top scores. In fact, no more than two titles were able to share any score — I worked with increments of .5 only — to ensure maximum differentiation. 15 The goal wasn’t just to rate these books, but to do so without any doubts in the mix.

The categories each title was judged on were:

• Does It “Get It”?: While these are new takes on old characters, you still want these books to feel reflective of the fundamentals of each character and their worlds. This category explores that.
• Fresh or Not: You need to reflect who these characters are, but each needs to feel different enough to stand out. The point of the Absolute line isn’t to be a cover song. It’s to do something fresh. This exists in a delicate balance with the first category, and that balance is at the heart of all this.
• The Eye Test: Art is what makes comics comics. But that might be especially true with these titles, where big swings were and are taken with the visuals. This is where that is scored, and that includes colors and lettering!
• The “I” Test: I stole this one from a previous scientific understanding piece, but this is about my personal biases. It’s good to be a great comic, but how much do I personally vibe with it? That’s a factor here.
• Intangibles: Everything that doesn’t fit into the first three categories goes here, for the most part. This is about the je ne sais quoi of each title, the little things that make each book stand out in their own way.

I rated each title using these five categories, and from there, a ranking was formed based on how each scored on a scale of one to ten. Please keep in mind as you read this, though, that it was created using a mathematical approach, 16 so these aren’t opinions but facts. 17 I’m sure you will “disagree” at times, or even think that my method is “stupid” and/or “flawed.” 18 But to say those things would be the equivalent of slapping science in the face, and who would ever do that in the year of 2025?

Without further ado, let’s get to the list, with the six titles being ranked in reverse order based on the extremely scientific score my irrefutable system gave each.