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Decline Of DC's Ratio Variant Covers Hits Comic Shops In Their Pocket

The decline of DC Comics' ratio variant covers hits comic book stores in their pockets

Published Mon, 01 Sep 2025 09:57:05 -0500

by Rich Johnston

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Article Summary

DC Comics is slashing the number of ratio variant covers, heavily impacting comic shop profits.
Ratio variants, especially 1:25 and above, have been a reliable way for retailers to boost margins.
October and November 2024 DC Comics releases will feature very few ratio variant covers.
Fewer ratio covers reduces retailer discounts and hurts stores, especially with expensive blind bags.

We've been looking at the 1:500 and 1:1000 ratio variants for the Batman #1 blind bag, which also has 1:25 and 1:50 variant covers for its release this week, but it has been pointed out to me that there are fewer and fewer other ratio variant covers after the end of the month from DC Comics. Because in August, DC Comics had 43 ratio variants, September has 36, October has 6 and November has 6 again. That's a massive drop. DC/Marvel Batman Vs Deadpool, with 21 variant covers, has no ratio variants. I understand that this a reflection of new DC Comics policy, in agreement with Lunar Distribution, to reduce the number of variant covers being made available to the direct market.

What does that mean? Retailers tell me that this, in effect, reduces their discount by around 10%. Because retailers can sell ratio variants for multiple times the cover price, and can add to the profitability of ordering those issues. Let's break that down. Say you have a 55% discount from DC Comics as a store, and comics are $4.99. Take a 1:25 ratio variant comic. You order 26 comics for 55% off the cover price and are charged $58.38, which works out at $2.25 per copy. You sell 25 comics and bring in $124.75 but that ratio variant cover you can easily sell for $14.99, which brings in $139.74. That's an extra $12-$13 than the $127 you would have made if you had just sold the 26 standard comics. That's about 50 cents less per copy sold. With a 1:25 ratio variant cover, a store is effectively getting a 65% discount, not a 55% discount. And so the retailer has an incentive to order those titles above others. And also, sometimes they can go for a lot more than $15.

But there had been some concerns in the latter days of Diamond Comic Distributors over just how well the ratio of the distribution for those covers was being preserved, and their value was based on the confidence that collectors had that they were as rare as they were advertised. Also the whole system is harder to maintain, and I understand it has been a challenge for Lunar, and a cost that someone has to bear. So, as a result of all this, the number of ratio variants for new comic books has been massively reduced. November and October solicitations only have them for the following.

October 1:25, DC K.O #1, Justice League: The Omega Act, Absolute Batman Annual, Absolute Batman #13, Batman #2 and a 1:50 for Absolute Batman #13.
November 1:25, Batman/Static Beyond #1, DC KO #2, Absolute Batman #14, Batman #3, Batman/Superman World's Finest #45 and a 1:50 for Absolute Batman #14.

DC K.O #1 has additional blind bag variants for 1:100, 1:250, 1:500 and 1:1000, but unless stores open them all, they are unlikely to get the value benefit that a ratio cover would bring them. And blind bag variants are based on a $10 cover price, harder to achieve, stores are less likely to order $10,000 worth of K.O. blind bags to get one Greg Capullo variant – if they even get it. And would have to open all those bags to find it. Either way, while it may be easier for publisher and distributor, it has made life harder for certain retailers who care about this kind of thing.

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