Deadpool/Batman is 2025’s best-selling comic. Comic Book legend Sal Buscema has died. Ultimate Universe maybe not done after all.
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Episode Transcript:
Deadpool/Batman is 2025’s best-selling comic.
Sal Buscema has died at age 89.
Ultimate Universe… Continues?
This is Comic Book Club News for January 28, 2026.
Deadpool / Batman Is 2025’s Best-Selling Comic:
What is the biggest selling single issue of 2025? Marvel’s side of their DC Comics crossover, Deadpool / Batman #1.
That’s per ICv2, which culled together sales from only 125 stores that use the ComicHub system, so take this all with a grain of salt. But per their numbers, Deadpool/Batman was number one, while DC’s version was number three. The number two slot? Batman #1, from DC Comics.
In fact, while Marvel tended to dominate the monthly Top 50 lists shared by ICv2 over the course of the year, it was DC which came out on top cumulatively, with 40 slots on the Top 50, versus only eight titles from Marvel.
On the DC side, DC K.O. #1 came in at number five, with Batman #158, the first part of H2SH, at number six. That’s followed by Absolute Batman, which snagged 16 different slots on the Top 50, including individual issues and the Annual.
As for Marvel, Ultimate Wolverine #1 ranked second highest at number 22, followed closely by Amazing Spider-Man #1 at number 25. Other titles include One World Under Doom #1, Godzilla vs. Spider-Man #1, Marvel Rivals #1, Ultimate Spider-Man #16, and Fantastic Four #1.
As for other publishers, Image Comics came in hot at number four with Invincible Universe Battle Beast #1, which kicked off the current Blind Bag trend, while Mark Spears Monsters: The Monster & The Wolf #1 came in at number 29.
Sal Buscema Dies At Age 89:
Sal Buscema, a comic book legend known for his decade-long run on The Incredible Hulk, eight-year run on The Spectacular Spider-Man, and more, passed away last Friday at age 89. Monday would have been his 90th birthday.
Originally from Brooklyn, Buscema started in the comic book industry as an inker, working with his brother John Buscema on art at Dell Comics. Though he bumped around to different jobs over time, it wasn’t until 1968 that he came into his own.
That’s when he interviewed at Marvel, under encouragement from his brother, and eventually got some work working on Western comics. He also worked with John on Silver Surfer, inking his brother’s pencils, before Sal Buscema started pencilling Avengers.
Other runs for Marvel over the course of three decades include stints on The Uncanny X-Men, Sub-Mariner, Captain America, and Marvel Team-Up. In the latter, he created Jean DeWolff, and helped debut the spinoff Spider-Man title Spectacular Spider-Man. He also worked on New Mutants, and Thor with Walt Simonson.
Then in the ’90s he jumped over to DC for some work on Batman, Superman and others — though that only lasted two years before he moved back to Marvel.
Buscema married his wife, Joan, in 1960, and had three sons: Joe, Tony, and Mike.
Ultimate Universe Continues At Marvel, Somehow:
In a huge, shocking twist, Marvel Comics may not be done with the Ultimate Universe after all. While the House of Ideas has been making a lot of hay out of the end of Ultimate Endgame and the Ultimate Universe Finale special hitting in April, in May, get ready for… Reborn: Ultimate Impact.
Per a new teaser sent over by Marvel, the publisher explains, “As the Ultimate Universe ends, May’s REBORN: ULTIMATE IMPACT reveals how the Ultimate Universe’s legacy will reverberate across the Marvel Universe. Stay tuned later this week for the full announcement.“
And the teaser image itself says, “The end of the Ultimate Universe is here. Its legacy will live on,” with the title — initiative? — coming in May.
To be clear, Marvel is not saying the Ultimate Universe will continue, necessarily. This week’s final issue of Miles Morales: Spider-Man teases an Ultimate Universe connection, Miles brought “Origin Boxes” back with him to the regular universe after the end of the Incursion miniseries, and the upcoming Armageddon event ties in somehow. So perhaps it’s just the repercussions? We’ll know more very soon.
For Comic Book Club News, I’m Alex Zalben. And perhaps the real Ultimate Universe was the friends we made along the way.
Got tips or stories you’d like us to cover? Email us at comicbookclublive@gmail.com.
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