Party like it’s 1986…
On Thursday, we broke the news that Watchmen #1 would be re-released as a Facsimile Edition in September, timed to the 1986 landmark series’ 40th anniversary year.
I had long expected that the entire Alan Moore/Dave Gibbons masterpiece would be published as 12 monthly reprints, similar to titles such as Crisis on Infinite Earths, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, and Batman: Year One. But there was no immediate information that would be the case.
Well, guess what: We’ve now confirmed that, yes, the complete Watchmen will be reprinted across 12 months, giving readers an opportunity to experience the comic the same way it was originally released.
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Buncha thoughts:
— Issue #1 is due September 23. Click here for more info.
— More news: Watchmen #1 in September is also getting a WIP edition, showing off Gibbons’ original art at 11″ x 17″ size. (The Dark Knight Returns #1 is also getting a WIP.) Check out the link below for the skinny.
— Obligatory Price Comparison: A complete, unslabbed, midgrade set of the original series recently sold on eBay for about $250.
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MORE
— DC to Publish Original Art for DARK KNIGHT RETURNS #1 and WATCHMEN #1 as Gigantic Comics. Click here.
— DC COMICS to Offer SEVEN Facsimile Editions in SEPTEMBER. Click here.
— 1960’s SUPERMAN #141: One of the Man of Steel’s Greatest to Be Released as a Facsimile Edition. Click here.
— 1942’s Landmark BATMAN #11 to Get Facsimile Edition — Finally! Click here.
— DC to Re-Release the BATMAN #251 Facsimile Edition — This Time With Foil and Sketch Variants. Click here.
— DC to Salute JOE KUBERT’s CENTENNIAL With a Facsimile Edition and a Special Retrospective Issue. Click here.
June 19, 2026
If it was going to be like 1986 they should put the twelfth issue out months later
June 19, 2026
Zing!
June 19, 2026
I was waiting for that.
June 19, 2026
Nice!!! Thank you, Dan!
Yes, DC! You’ve got my purchase. Looking forward to getting the regular set as well as a set of the foil covers.
June 19, 2026
I’m in.
Now if only we could get Man of Steel #2-6, we’d complete all the 1986 hits.
June 19, 2026
YES! I want facsimiles of them ALL!
June 19, 2026
Wow, DC is bound & determined to take ALL my money…
June 19, 2026
Wow, DC is determined to not give Moore & Gibbons anything ever…
June 19, 2026
This story has been beaten to death, but the short answer is that both still get royalties from Watchmen.
I got Gibbons to autograph my trade a few years ago and he was happy to sign it.
June 20, 2026
Gibbons & Moore knowingly signed a standard contract, I infer no illegality on the part of DC. However, DC took advantage of a new reprint/collector market to keep the thing in constant production. I was not referring to royalties but to potential control of the property. The capitalism of it all is distasteful. It is a far cry from a Kirby or Siegel & Shuster situation, which really required a public outcry. Moore and Gibbons are not hurting, money-wise, but it is disrespectful, in my opinion. I trust it does not keep them up at night by this point.
June 20, 2026
I always love how people think a constant stream of income coming your way is disrespectful.
I’ll always understand what it is that’s annoyed Moore about this but at the same time, I’ll never understand how he can be mad over the fact he wrote something that has stayed so popular to new generations that it helps give him financial comfort for the rest of his life, something we can only dream of especially in this current economy/climate.
Mad about disrespectful treatment yes, but mad about perpetual income? Especially as he’s getting older?
Neither Magic or just the NHS is going to continue to make things easier for him.
June 20, 2026
“The capitalism of it all is distasteful.”
Jeebers, man. Moore transparently copied a bunch of Charlton characters he doesn’t own, and a media conglomerate supplied the industry to mass produce their work into a marketplace that just happened to go crazy over the work and supply it to you, the reader, who has total free will in deciding to purchase the work.
If the contract had gone in Moore’s favor, it’d have been because the market wasn’t interested in the story. Moore and Gibbons would retain ownership, but it’d have been over an obscure work that audiences weren’t interested in seeing in perpetuity.
If you want to argue greed is a factor, fine. Capitalism keeps the book available to you. You’re free to not buy it.
June 20, 2026
This.
June 20, 2026
Our points do not contradict each other. I am not speaking for Moore. From what I have read he is not angry about it, and if he is that would be foolish. I am just stating my reaction. I bought Watchmen when it came out, I have no need to buy it again. People should read it. It is entertaining and a prime example of the comic arts. The marketplace may support constant reprintings and iterations, but there were several years when DC was just milking it out. I can see the attraction of facsimile editions of rarely reprinted or collectible comic books but many just seem to be appealing to nostalgia. You too are free to buy them. It diminishes nobody.
June 20, 2026
I think I’ve misread the solicits. I genuinely thought there would also be a foil set of variants for these.
Just as well. I’m already going to be spending too much on all the upcoming facsimiles and other reprints. September will be especially brutal on my wallet with the Batman Bronze Age omnibus, Absolute Batman by Neal Adams, Batman by Grant Morrison Book three, and of course The Dark Knight Returns deluxe edition.
June 20, 2026
I’m wondering if the $3.99 price is correct, since the original was printed in the Prestige Format. Dark Knight Returns facsimiles were $4.99 for the regular issues. I’m surprised that one did not have cardstock covers. (I bought the foils.)
June 20, 2026
The original was not prestige format. It was Baxter paper.
June 22, 2026
Thanks for the correction. I asked AI if it was Prestige and it said that it was considered Prestige (or something to that sort).
June 21, 2026
I’m actually glad there isn’t going to be foils. LOL I’d end up buying them if there were (I am a sucker for foils), so I’m happy to just let these be regular facsimilies.
June 22, 2026
I mostly buy foils too, but even if there are foils for this series, the covers aren’t that appealing to me to pay the extra $3.00 for.
I think I’m starting to be a bit more choosy 🙂 . For example that Batman facsimile, with “Thor”, coming up, I’m going to stick with the regular. Meanwhile, I bought both for Batgirl 😀 .
June 23, 2026
@ Evan Meadow –
I’m relieved to realize that this facsimile set will not be available in foil variants. I’m just going to be grateful that we are actually getting the full set of 1-12.
There’s so many excellent upcoming releases from DC Comics in the near future that I’m already overextended as it is. I’m going to really have to reconsider my spending budget going forward. Too much stuff that I want! Lol