Originally Posted by
The_Dark_Knight
This Absolute talk got me thinking about the various titles spread across what's become a pretty diverse line. I thought it'd be interesting to separate and aggregate the line by creator to see which creators have the most Absolutes which may be instructive in speculating about future releases. I'll only list the creators with more than one Absolute to their name. Additionally, I'm not going to include the artist unless he is the primary artist on the book (books with multiple artists such as Sandman, B&R, etc. would overly complicate things).
9 - Alan Moore (V for Vendetta, Watchmen, LoEG 1, 2, Black Dossier, Promethea 1-3, Top Ten)
6 - Neil Gaiman (Sandman 1-5, Death)
6 - Jeph Loeb (Long Halloween, Dark Victory, Haunted Knight, Hush, Superman/Batman 1-2)
4 - Grant Morrison (Batman & Robin, Batman Inc., Final Crisis, All-Star Superman)
3 - Warren Ellis (Authority 1, Planetary 1 & 2)
3 - Geoff Johns (Rebirth, Sinestro Corps, Blackest Night)
3 - Jim Lee (Hush, For Tomorrow, All-Star Batman)
3 - Frank Miller (DKR, Ronin, All-Star Batman)
3 - Kevin O'Neil (LoEG 1, 2, Black Dossier)
3 - Alex Ross (Kingdom Come, Justice, World's Greatest Superheroes)
3 - Tim Sale (Long Halloween, Dark Victory, Haunted Knight)
3 - JH Williams III (Promethea 1-3)
2 - Brian Azzarello (For Tomorrow, Luthor/Joker)
2 - John Cassaday (Planetary 1-2)
2 - George Perez (Crisis on Infinite Earths, JLA / Avengers)
2 - Frank Quitely (Authority 2, All-Star Superman)
So, though Absolutes are often categorized as "art books," or books aimed primarily at the display of great art, this list seems to indicate that it's the writer, not necessarily the artist, who has the greatest impact on Absolute selection. Granted, this isn't a perfect analysis as each of these writers tend to work with extraordinary artists. Interesting to note that while Geoff Johns and Grant Morrison seem to be kings of the DC omnibus, Alan Moore is the undisputed king of the Absolute. Could this mean Absolute Swamp Thing and Absolute Tom Strong are in our future?
I think it's also interesting to break the books up by primary characters. Again, only characters with more than one Absolute to their name are listed. Here's how that looks:
11 - Batman (DKR, Long Halloween, Dark Victory, Haunted Knight, Hush, Batman & Robin, Batman, Inc., Superman / Batman 1-2, Luthor / Joker, All-Star Batman)
8 - JLA (Crisis on Infinite Earths, Identity Crisis, Final Crisis, Justice, JLA / Avengers, Kingdom Come, World's Best Superheroes, New Frontier)
7 - America's Best Comics (LoEG 1, 2, Black Dossier, Promethea 1-3, Top Ten)
6 - Sandman (Sandman 1-5, Death)
5 - Superman (For Tomorrow, All-Star Superman, Luthor / Joker, Superman / Batman 1-2)
4 - Wildstorm (Authority 1-2, Planetary 1-2)
4 - Green Lantern (Rebirth, Sinestro Corps, Blackest Night, Green Lantern / Green Arrow Collection ["proto-Absolute"])
No Flash, no Wonder Woman. Only Vertigo books are the Sandman related ones (I'm not really counting V for Vendetta or the re-branding of ABC books as Vertigo post-dissolution of Wildstorm).