EXCLUSIVE! Rounding out the year with more classics…
DC in December will publish five Facsimile Editions. One of them — 1996’s Kingdom Come #4 — was revealed in August. But there are four more being added to the mix, including three that deserve individual coverage. In addition, the cancelled Black Canary Super Powers variant cover has found a new home. Links to everything at the bottom of this post!
Among the four is the previously announced Watchmen #4 by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons, continuing the 1986-87 landmark series’ full, 12-issue Facsimile Edition run.
Dig the official solicitation, which will be formally released by DC later Friday:
WATCHMEN #4 FACSIMILE EDITION
Written by ALAN MOORE
Art and cover by DAVE GIBBONS
Foil variant cover by DAVE GIBBONS ($6.99 US)
Blank sketch cover ($4.99 US)
While on Mars, Dr. Manhattan contemplates the picture in his hand while simultaneously re-experiencing key moments of his life—from his earliest days repairing watches with his father to his accidental transformation during the Intrinsic Field experiments at Gila Flats to his darkest moments in Vietnam.
$3.99 US | 32 pages
ON SALE 12/23/26
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Buncha thoughts:
— This is one of my favorite issues of Watchmen, if not the favorite, exploring the fading humanity inside the practically omnipotent Dr. Manhattan.
— As noted above, there’s plenty more Facsimile Edition news for December — including something for Alan Moore fans. Links below!
— Obligatory Price Comparison: An unslabbed, high-grade original Watchmen #4 recently sold on eBay for $24.
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LINKS
— RITE OF SPRING: ALAN MOORE’s Landmark 1984 SWAMP THING #34 Will Get Facsimile Edition Treatment. Click here.
— 1980’s Beloved DETECTIVE COMICS #500 to Get FACSIMILE EDITION. Click here.
— KAMANDI #1: JACK KIRBY’s 1972 Classic to Be Re-Released as a Facsimile Edition. Click here.
— Cancelled BLACK CANARY SUPER POWERS Cover Gets a New Home. Click here.
September 18, 2026
Facsimiles by the numbers:
We’re getting close to 200 published/solicited facsimiles. (I’m counting ahead to the remaining issues of Watchmen even though this run won’t be finished until August 2027.)
By December, we’ll be at something like 71 Batman comics. I can’t imagine that category slows down at all. If I can suggest to anyone listening: Batman #400, please. Heck, hit us Gen X readers and run Batman #500 as well. Or, if you want to appease the Bronze Age readers: Detective #572 (the big anniversary issue with Sherlock Holmes. I consider this the unofficial “last” Bronze Age Batman story even though, yes, it post-dates the Crisis changes by a few months).
The increase in Alan Moore Swamp Thing issues is noticeable. Why not just keep them going? (I wasn’t a reader, but if I had a nickel for every Alan Moore Swamp Thing facsimile we’ve gotten…I’d have 15 cents.)
DC does continue to baffle on which stories get complete runs and which ones just get a single key issue.
Examples of complete runs:
– Batman Year One
– Batman Hush
– Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
– Batman Year Two
– Crisis
– Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow (but it took awhile!)
– Watchmen (in progress)
Examples of singular parts of a complete story:
– “The Laughing Fish”
– The Man of Steel
– Kingdom Come
– V for Vendetta
– Emerald Twilight (parts 2 and 3 but not 1?)
I’d love to hear from someone in DC’s rerun department how they decide which books get a full treatment and which don’t.
September 18, 2026
I love this service you provide, Adam! Thanks!
September 18, 2026
I’m a dork with a spreadsheet!
September 18, 2026
My kind of data!
September 18, 2026
Not a dork!
September 18, 2026
I’d rather have single issue facsimiles than full runs, especially of series that have been collected for years and/or and haunting back issue bins. Also, I’d like more Golden and Silver ages than any more Modern Age/post 1984 ones.
September 18, 2026
With the GL tv series out, you’d think DC would be dropping more GL facsimiles, especially the famous Adams run…
And what’s the hold-up on Batman Hulk, and an upscaled X-Men Teen Titans?
September 18, 2026
The driver of anything has to be “economics.” We all have specific comics that we’d like republished, but these things cost time and money and the big two aren’t going to publish thousands of copies of any specific reprint on the whims of singular fans wanting it. I imagine whoever runs these is looking for a specific moment in the market where they can reasonably guess: people would be interested in this, and likely buy it.
I’d love a reprinted Batman/Hulk and an upscaled X-Men/Teen Titans. There’s currently no new Marvel/DC crossovers on the horizion, let alone any specific new crossovers with those characters. (Plus, there’s a whole *legal* element to reprinting any of this stuff.) The Superman/Spider-Man reprints were very clearly driven by the new 2026 crossovers and they were striking while the iron was hot. Now? Not so much.
Would I love a Batman/Hulk facsimile reprint? Hell yes.
Am I putting money on them doing it? No.
The lack of GL reprints is a little weirder, and again, I’d love to hear from an insider on what drives reprint decisions. DC has only done six GL facsimiles with one more coming, and only one of those was from the O’Neil/Adams era. How about it, folks?
September 18, 2026
>> Would I love a Batman/Hulk facsimile reprint? Hell yes.
Am I putting money on them doing it? No.
>>
Never say never. Never is what we used to say about the 3 seasons of BATMAN ‘66.
September 18, 2026
Not saying “never.” I’m saying “unlikely under current market conditions.”
September 19, 2026
Green Lantern / Green Arrow #76 facsimile by O’Neil and Adams was supposed to release back in 2020, but was canceled due to Covid-19. If any facsimile needs, and wants to be released, it is this specific issue. The full Adams run would be even better. I don’t know of one soul who wouldn’t love this and buy at least two copies of each issue.